Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryJeremiah 34

When Nebuchadnezzar. This chapter begins by relating events that evidently took place at the beginning of the final siege of Jerusalem, while the prophet was still at liberty, for the prophecy here delivered to Zedekiah (vs. 2, 3) was quoted by the king as the reason for imprisoning Jeremiah (see on ch. 32:2).

Behold the eyes. See on ch. 32:4.

Not die by the sword. This assurance was very likely given to Zedekiah to persuade him to cease resisting the Babylonians and to come to terms with Nebuchadnezzar. Though Zedekiah would be taken captive to Babylon, submission on his part would secure for him a peaceful life and an honorable burial.

Burnings of thy fathers. This is apparently a reference to the spices and perfumes that were burned at the burial of kings and high-ranking individuals (2 Chron. 16:14; 21:18, 19). There is no allusion here to cremation, which the Jews almost never practiced. They will lament thee. Contrast this with the prediction Jeremiah made regarding the burial of Jehoiakim (ch. 22:18, 19). Zedekiah is assured that no such dishonorable end would be his if he would only yield to Babylon.

Lachish. This city is mentioned because, next to Jerusalem, it was one of the strongest defenses of Judah (2 Kings 18:13, 14, 17; 2 Chron. 32:9), and because it and Azekah longest resisted Nebuchadnezzar. In 1935 and 1938, 21 letters written in ink on ostraca, or potsherds (see Vol. I, pp. 123, 125; Vol. II, pp. 97, 98), were discovered in the ruins of Lachish. Several of these were written by a certain Hoshaiach, evidently an officer stationed nearby, to Yaosh, the commander of Lachish, preceding the Babylonian invasion. They vividly reveal the unsettled condition of the country on the eve of Judah’s downfall. One letter states: “And let (my lord) know that we are watching for the signals of Lachish, according to all the indications which my lord hath given, for we cannot see Azekah” (W. F. Albright, trans., in J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts [Princeton: University Press, 1950], p. 322). The vehemence with which Lachish was soon after destroyed is evidenced by the fact that so fiercely was the city burned that much of the brickwork of the wall was turned a bright red. These finds at Lachish may reflect the severity of the destruction that befell Jerusalem at the same time. The ruins are now called Tell ed–Duweir. Azekah. This also was one of the “fenced cities” of Judah (2 Chron. 11:5–12). The site is now called Tell ez–Zakariyeh.

To proclaim liberty. While the Mosaic law permitted the Israelites to be placed only under a limited time bondage (see on Ex. 21:2), many masters had exceeded their rights. The nobles of Judah, like those of Athens before Solon, applied the law of debt so as to place a large number of their fellows in slavery. Now, under the pressing danger of the Babylonian attack, either to assure his receiving the willing cooperative service of freemen instead of the forced help of slaves, or for some other reason, Zedekiah promised freedom to all those in slavery in Jerusalem.

They obeyed. In view of the dangers that threatened from without, and the danger that an oppressed class of people might rise up to assist an invader (see Ex. 1:10), Zedekiah’s order to free the slaves met with general compliance on the part of princes and people.

But afterward they turned. When the Chaldeans temporarily raised the siege to meet the Egyptian army that was approaching (see v. 21; ch. 37:5), causing most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem to believe vainly that the danger to their city was passed, they again “brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.”

At the end of seven years. This was the law (see on Ex. 21:2) the people had violated (Jer. 34:8–11; see Isa. 58:6).

A covenant before me. This agreement to free the slaves was solemnly entered into by the king and by “all the princes, and all the people” (vs. 8–10) in the Temple

courts, and so was made, in a sense, with God Himself (see Neh. 5:8–13). Therefore, in breaking this “covenant,” the people transgressed not only against their fellows but also against their God. Called by my name. See Jer. 7:10, 11; see on Deut. 12:5.

I proclaim a liberty. The God-ordained freedom (Lev. 25:10) the people denied to their fellows would be turned by God’s judgment into a “liberty” that would leave the transgressors “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine,” and also to the Captivity.

Cut the calf in twain. For the significance of this ritual see on Gen. 15:10.

Eunuchs. Often these were of foreign birth (see on ch. 38:7), who became proselytes when entering the service of the king. It was not uncommon for eunuchs to hold high position in Oriental courts, and those mentioned here, like the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, had probably made themselves rich by lending money to the poorer Israelites and then making them slave to secure compensation.

For meat. This dishonor was considered an extreme punishment for transgression (see chs. 16:4; 19:7).

From you. Literally, “from against you.” This shows, as indicated before (see on v. 11), that the Babylonians had raised the siege of Jerusalem, giving the princes of Jerusalem the false idea that danger had passed, and the false hope that help was coming from Egypt (ch. 37:5–10).

With fire. See ch. 52:12–14. Without an inhabitant. See on ch. 32:43.