Jeremiah 34:16

Jeremiah 34:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
• New International Version (NIV)But now you have turned around and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.
• English Standard Version (ESV)but then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then you turned around and profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’

Context of Jeremiah 34:16

14“At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall send him out free from you; but your forefathers did not obey Me or incline their ear to Me. 15Although recently you had turned and done what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each man took back his male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants and female servants.”’ 17“Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts--

Jeremiah 34:16 word by word

וַתָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ וַתְּחַלְּל֣וּ אֶת־שְׁמִ֔י וַתָּשִׁ֗בוּ אִ֤ישׁ אֶת־עַבְדּוֹ֙ וְאִ֣ישׁ אֶת־שִׁפְחָת֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־שִׁלַּחְתֶּ֥ם חָפְשִׁ֖ים לְנַפְשָׁ֑ם וַתִּכְבְּשׁ֣וּ אֹתָ֔ם לִֽהְי֣וֹת לָכֶ֔ם לַעֲבָדִ֖ים וְלִשְׁפָחֽוֹת׃ סRead the interlinear

• turnedשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
• profanedחָלַלchâlal · to profane/begin: profaneH2490
• My nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• and eachאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• tookשׁוּבshûb · to return: rescueH7725
• backשׁוּבshûb · to return: rescueH7725
• his maleעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• his femaleשִׁפְחָהshiphchâh · maidservantH8198
• whomאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• you had setשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: let goH7971
• freeחׇפְשִׁיchophshîy · freeH2670
• according to their desireנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
• and you broughtכָּבַשׁkâbash · to subdueH3533

Cross-references for Jeremiah 34:16

• Jeremiah 34:11But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection for male servants and for female servants.
• 1 Samuel 15:11“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
• Ezekiel 3:20Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.
• Ezekiel 18:24“But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.
• Ezekiel 33:12And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’
• Luke 8:13Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
• Exodus 20:7“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
• Leviticus 19:12You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
• Ezekiel 17:16As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die.
• Ezekiel 20:39“As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says the Lord God, “Go, serve everyone his idols; but later you will surely listen to Me, and My holy name you will profane no longer with your gifts and with your idols.
• Ezekiel 39:7“My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
• Malachi 1:7You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’
• Matthew 18:28But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’

Commentaries on Jeremiah 34:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Ye - polluted my name - Had made the covenant in my name, calling me to witness it; now ye have dishonored my name, by breaking that covenant, and acting contrary to my law.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8-22Verses 8-22 It is usual with commentators to say that, the laws dealing with the emancipation of the Hebrew slaves, as also that of the land resting during the sabbatical year, were not observed. The narrative teaches us the exact contrary. The manumission of the slaves on the present occasion was the spontaneous act of Zedekiah and the people. They knew of the law, and acknowledged its obligation. The observance of it was, no doubt, lax: the majority let…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-22Verses 8-22 A Jew should not be held in servitude above seven years. This law they and their fathers had broken. And when there was some hope that the siege was raised, they forced the servants they had released into their services again. Those who think to cheat God by dissembled repentance and partial reformation, put the greatest cheat upon their own souls. This shows that liberty to sin, is really only liberty to have the sorest judgments. It is just…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-16The slaveholders did the right thing by freeing their slaves; they followed God's command. However, they made their promise in the Temple, and when they broke it, they disrespected God's name and showed contempt (breaking the rule in Deuteronomy 5:11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. polluted my name--by violating your oath (Ex 20:7).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 34:16

• Covenant
• Liberty
• Sabbatic Year
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Covenant, in the Old Testament
• Handmaid
• Pleasure
• Zedekiah

Commentaries on Jeremiah 34

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings