Jeremiah 34
ButlerManumission and Re-enslavement of Servants.
34: 1 THE word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying: 2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, 3 and he shall burn it with fire: and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, 4 and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus saith the LORD concerning thee, Thou 5 shalt not die by the sword; thou shalt die in peace; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they make a burning for thee; and they shall 6 lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have spoken the word, saith the LORD. Then Jeremiah 7 the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fenced cities. 8 The word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made 9 a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrew, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother: 10 and all the princes and all the people obeyed, which had entered into the covenant, that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve 11 themselves of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go: but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought 12 them into subjection for servants and for handmaids: therefore the word of the LORD came 13 to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of 14 the house of bondage, saying, At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. 15 And ye were now turned, and had done that which is right in mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which 16 is called by my name: but ye turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and 17 ye brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore thus saith the LORD: Ye have not hearkened unto me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim unto you a liberty, saith the
LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed to 18 and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before 19 me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof; the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the 20 land, which passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be 21 for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from 22 you. Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
This chapter contains two distinct portions. This first part (verses 1-7) predicts the capture of the city and of its king by the Chaldeans; specifies distinctly that King Zedekiah would personally be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and would see him face to face, yet would not die by the sword, and would have at his death the usual honors of the earlier Jewish kings. This passage closely resembles chap. 32: 3, 5, and, therefore, probably bears the same date, and is essentially the same message. The second portion gives the history of a remarkable manumission of Hebrew servants and their subjection again to servitude. King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people, and with the princes, to set free their Hebrew servants and handmaids. They did so; but subsequently forced them all back into bondage. The Lord denounced judgments upon them for this sin. Verses 21, 22, taken in connection with other known facts in their history, give us a clew to the circumstances under which both this manumission and the subsequent re-enslavement took place. The history (especially chap. 37) shows that after the Chaldeans had commenced the siege of Jerusalem, the Egyptians sent forward an army to aid their Jewish friends, and to act against the Chaldeans; that the latter, hearing of their approach, raised the siege and marched against the Egyptian army; but subsequently, after driving them back, returned to the siege and captured the city. In God’s threatening of judgment on Jerusalem for re-enslaving her manumitted servants, He says (chap. 34: 21, 22): “I will give Zedekiah and his princes into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army which are gone up from you.” Also, “Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city, and they shall fight against it and take it.” Hence this threatened judgment, recorded in the latter portion of the chapter, was revealed to the prophet before the Chaldeans resumed the siege. And, moreover, there can be no doubt that this general manumission was made after the siege of the city had commenced, or, at least, after it had become morally certain; and that the measure was prudential, its objects being probably twofold—viz., to propitiate the favor of God, and to gain the good-will and the more effective service of the freedmen in defence of the city. Then, upon the withdrawal of the Chaldean forces, the fears of the people subsided, and consequently they re-enslaved their freedmen and brought on themselves the curse of the Almighty, who loves to show Himself the God and Father of the oppressed. H. C.
4, 5. “Thou shalt not die by the sword.” He did not die by the sword, he did not fall in battle. “But thou shalt die in peace.” He did die in peace; he expired neither on the rack nor on the scaffold; was neither strangled nor poisoned—no unusual fate of captive kings; he died peaceably in his bed, though that bed was in a prison. “And with the burnings of thy fathers shall they burn odors for thee.” It cannot be proved from history that this part of the prophecy was accomplished, though the probability is that it was so; the probability is grounded on these two reasons: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, to say nothing of other Jews, were men of great authority in the court of the king of Babylon before and after the commencement of the imprisonment of Zedekiah; and Daniel continued in power till the subversion of the kingdom of Babylon by Cyrus. Now it seems very probable that Daniel and the other Jews would have both inclination to request, and influence enough with the king of Babylon to obtain, permission to bury their deceased prince, Zedekiah, after the manner of his fathers. But if there had been no Jews at Babylon of consequence enough to make such a request, still it is probable that the king of Babylon would have ordered the Jews to bury and lament their king after the manner of their country. Bp. Watson.—Comparing what is said here of Zedekiah’s death with what is said of Jehoiakim (chap.
22:18, 19), the former is decidedly the more honored and the less despicable. Jehoiakim stands on the page of history supremely wicked, mean and despised. Zedekiah had some to mourn his death.
7. Lachish and Azekah were strong cities, and, like Jerusalem, required to be reduced by siege. They were in the southwest part of Judah. Lachish withstood Sennacherib in the times of Hezekiah. The history (2 Chron. 32:9) states that “he laid siege against it with all his power,” and even remained himself to direct the operations there, while he sent his subordinate officers to Jerusalem. This celebrated siege is supposed by Layard to be depicted on certain slabs disinterred from the ruins of Nineveh. H. C.
8. To proclaim liberty unto them. By the law of Moses, the Israelites were not allowed to detain their brethren of the Hebrew race in perpetual bondage, but were required to let them go free after having served six years. This law had fallen into disuse, but King Zedekiah, upon the approach of the Chaldean army, whether from religious motives or a political view to employ the men who were set free in the service of the war, engaged the people to act conformably to the law; and they released their brethren accordingly. But no sooner were their fears abated by the retreat of the Chaldeans than, in defiance of every principle of religion, honor and humanity, they imposed the yoke of servitude anew upon those unhappy persons (verse 11). Blayney.
14. Hebrews of either sex, compelled by the necessities of subsistence to attach themselves to the household of some one who had wealth enough to give them employment and bread, were to have the opportunity after six years’ service of becoming free. The tone of Lev. 25 shows that such cases were often the result of debt and misfortune, from which a man could not extricate himself so as to gain subsistence in any other way. He must anticipate his earnings by selling his labor in advance. These Hebrew statutes originated in God’s regard for the interests and rights of the poor. Hence He guarded and enforced them with a vigilance and beneficence worthy of an infinite Father. These statutes had fallen into neglect. For many years past the people had not hearkened to the voice of God in this matter. How long they had been disregarded does not appear from the history; probably during the administration of all their apostate kings.
15,16. In this recital of the case by the
Lord Himself He shows that they had done right in releasing their servants according to the law, that they had made that covenant in His own Temple and under the most solemn religious sanctions; and that in turning back to violate this covenant they had polluted the very name of Jehovah their God. The original word used here implies that they had recklessly abused and contemned that sacred name. H. C.—As soon as ever they let their servants go free, God let them go free. When they began to think themselves safe from the besiegers, they made their servants come back into subjection to them (verse 11, and again verse 16). This was a great abuse to their servants, to whom servitude would be more irksome after they had had some taste of the pleasures of liberty. It was a great shame to themselves, that they could not keep in a good mind when they were in it. But it was especially an affront to God; in doing this they polluted His name (verse 16). It was a contempt of the command He had given them, as if that were of no force at all, but they might either keep it, or break it, as they thought fit. It was a contempt of the covenant they had made with Him, and of that wrath which they had imprecated on themselves, in case they should break that covenant. H.
17. The terms of the threatening correspond to the terms which express the sin. As the people would not proclaim liberty to their oppressed brethren, God would proclaim liberty to the sword, the pestilence, and the famine to do their work of destruction upon the guilty oppressors. This form of statement serves to bind together the punishment and the sin, so that the form of announcing the punishment should perpetually remind them of the sin for which it was sent. Hence, when the people saw and felt the sword, the pestilence, and the famine, coming down upon themselves with the fullest liberty and with no restraint, they would remember that they had given no liberty to the poor servants whom the Lord bade them set free. When the oppressed poor had none among the kings and great men of the earth to plead their cause and avenge their wrongs, the Lord Almighty came down and the thing was done! done to purpose; done with terrible vengeance! H. C.
22. I will cause them to return. They did return, reinvested the city, and after an obstinate defence took it, plundered it, and burned it to the ground, taking captives Zedekiah and his princes. A. C.
night, summer and winter, alternate. To-day’s grace will not last for to-morrow; but new grace will be bestowed then if we seek it. The succession does not fail in nature, nor will it in grace. Adeney.
26. Christ is that seed of David that is to be perpetual Dictator to the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and as this people shall never want such a king, so this king shall never want such a people. Christianity shall continue in the dominion of Christ, and the subjection of Christians to Him, till day and night come to an end. And as a pledge of this, that promise is again repeated, I will cause their captivity to return; and, having brought them back, I will have mercy on them. Whom this promise refers to appears Gal. 6:16, where all that walk according to the Gospel rule are made to be the Israel of God, on whom peace and mercy shall be. H.