Breach of Covenant and Punishment for Oppression
Jeremiah 34:8-22
Jer.34.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הדבר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- ירמיהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מאת: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אחרי: PREP
- כרת: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- המלך: NOUN,m,sg,def
- צדקיהו: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ברית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בירושלם: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לקרא: VERB,qal,infc
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- דרור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 15:12-18 (thematic): Command to release Hebrew servants in the seventh year and treat them kindly parallels the covenant to free servants in Jerusalem; provides the legal background for 'proclaiming liberty.'
- Leviticus 25:10 (verbal): Jubilee command to 'proclaim liberty throughout the land' (Heb. keraʾ dror) echoes the language and concept of declaring freedom in Jeremiah 34:8.
- Exodus 21:2-6 (thematic): Regulation for release of Hebrew servants after six years similarly frames the social-legal issue of servitude and liberation addressed by Zedekiah's covenant.
- Nehemiah 5:1-13 (structural): Narrative of leaders oppressing compatriots and Nehemiah enforcing a covenant to restore fields and free people parallels the Jerusalem episode of a pledged release and its social implications.
- Isaiah 58:6 (thematic): Prophetic call to 'let the oppressed go free' and to break unjust yokes resonates thematically with the proclamation of liberty and concern for social justice in Jeremiah 34:8.
Alternative generated candidates
- The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:
- The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them.
Jer.34.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לשלח: VERB,qal,inf
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- עבדו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- ואיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- שפחתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- העברי: ADJ,m,sg,def
- והעבריה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,def
- חפשים: ADJ,m,pl
- לבלתי: PART,neg
- עבד: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- בם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- ביהודי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אחיהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 21:2-6 (verbal): Prescribes release of a Hebrew servant after six years and procedures if he chooses to remain, closely paralleling Jeremiah's command to set Hebrew male and female servants free.
- Deuteronomy 15:12-15 (verbal): Commands the humane release of Israelite servants in the seventh year and instructs masters to send them away generously—legal and ethical background for Jeremiah's demand to free Hebrew slaves.
- Leviticus 25:39-41 (allusion): Declares that an Israelite who becomes poor must not be treated as a slave but as a hired worker, and points to Jubilee principles that undergird Jeremiah's insistence on freeing fellow Israelites.
- Nehemiah 5:1-13 (thematic): Narrates a crisis where nobles had exacted usury and sold brethren into servitude; Nehemiah's rebuke and covenant to restore and free them echo Jeremiah's call to release Hebrew servants and uphold justice among Israelites.
Alternative generated candidates
- To send every man his male slave and every man his female slave, a Hebrew man and a Hebrew woman—free, that they should not be servants to them.
- To send every man his male slave and every man his female slave—the Hebrew man and the Hebrew woman—free, so that they would not be slaves to a fellow Judean.
Jer.34.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישמעו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- כל: DET
- השרים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- באו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בברית: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לשלח: VERB,qal,inf
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- עבדו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- ואיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- שפחתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- חפשים: ADJ,m,pl
- לבלתי: PART,neg
- עבד: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- בם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- עוד: ADV
- וישמעו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- וישלחו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 15:12-15 (verbal): Prescribes freeing a Hebrew servant in the seventh year and using language of sending him away with provisions—legal background and similar phrasing to Jer 34:10’s release of servants.
- Exodus 21:2 (verbal): Law that a Hebrew servant serves six years and goes out free in the seventh; provides the statutory basis for the practice described in Jer 34:10.
- Leviticus 25:39-41 (thematic): Commands that Israelite brethren sold as servants are not to be treated as slaves and are to be released (in Jubilee), relating to the social-ethical concern for freeing fellow Israelites reflected in Jer 34:10.
- Jeremiah 34:11-17 (structural): Immediate continuation of the episode: God’s denunciation and punishment when the people break the covenant to free their servants—directly tied to the action reported in v.10.
Alternative generated candidates
- All the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant to send every man his slave and every man his maidservant free heard this, and they obeyed and sent them away.
- All the officers and all the people who had come into the covenant heard this, that every man should send away his male and female slaves free, so that they would no longer be servants to them; and they listened and sent them away.
Jer.34.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישובו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,pl
- אחרי: PREP
- כן: ADV
- וישבו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- העבדים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- ואת: CONJ
- השפחות: NOUN,f,pl,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- שלחו: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,pl
- חפשים: ADJ,m,pl
- ויכבשום: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- לעבדים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ולשפחות: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 15:12–18 (allusion): Law requiring release of Hebrew servants in the seventh year; Jeremiah’s account presupposes and violates this Deuteronomic command about freeing fellow Israelites.
- Leviticus 25:39–43 (thematic): Jubilee/Levitical material forbids harsh rule and permanent enslavement of Israelite kin — the ethical background for Jeremiah’s rebuke of re-enslavement.
- Nehemiah 5:1–13 (structural): Narrative parallel: wealthy leaders had exacted loans/enslaved brethren and were rebuked and forced to restore freedoms and property, echoing the social-justice crisis addressed in Jeremiah.
- Jeremiah 34:14–16 (verbal): Immediate context: God’s command and covenant to release the servants (v.14) and the people’s breaking of that covenant (v.15–16) directly explain the wrongdoing described in v.11.
- Isaiah 58:6–7 (thematic): Prophetic ideal of ‘loosening the bonds’ and freeing the oppressed contrasts true covenantal worship with the injustice of imprisoning or oppressing the needy.
Alternative generated candidates
- But afterward they turned and took back the male and female slaves whom they had set free, and brought them into bondage, making them servants and maidservants.
- But afterwards they turned back and took again the male and female slaves whom they had set free, and made them servants and handmaids.
Jer.34.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- ירמיהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מאת: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- Jeremiah 1:4 (verbal): Same prophetic superscription—'the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah'—introducing a divine message and calling.
- Jeremiah 7:1 (verbal): Identical introductory formula ('The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying'), used to introduce a major prophetic pronouncement.
- Jeremiah 25:1 (structural): Same type of prophetic introduction but with a chronological and situational tag ('in the fourth year of Jehoiakim'), showing the common structural pattern in Jeremiah.
- Ezekiel 1:3 (verbal): Parallel prophetic formula in Ezekiel—'the word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel'—demonstrating the wider prophetic convention of 'the word of the LORD came to...'.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:
- Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:
Jer.34.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כה: ADV
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- כרתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- ברית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- אבותיכם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,pl
- ביום: PREP
- הוצאי: VERB,hif,perf,1,?,sg
- אותם: PRON,3,m,pl,obj
- מארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- מבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עבדים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- Jeremiah 11:4 (verbal): Nearly identical wording within Jeremiah—calls Israel to obey the covenant made 'in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,' echoing the same covenantal formulation.
- Exodus 24:7-8 (quotation): The formal ratification of the Mosaic covenant at Sinai (the covenant ceremony with blood) corresponds to Jeremiah's reference to God's covenant made when bringing Israel out of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 5:2-3 (verbal): Declares that the LORD made the covenant with Israel at Horeb (Sinai) when he brought them out of Egypt—parallel language about the covenant's origin.
- Exodus 6:6 (thematic): Part of God's deliverance formula ('I will bring you out... I will rid you... I will take you to me for a people') that frames the Exodus as the basis for God's covenant relationship.
- Leviticus 26:42 (thematic): God's pledge to 'remember' his covenant with Jacob/Isaac/Abraham connects the covenantal promise to the patriarchs ('your fathers') invoked in Jeremiah 34:13.
Alternative generated candidates
- Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:
- Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:
Jer.34.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- מקץ: PREP
- שבע: NUM,card
- שנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- תשלחו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- אחיו: NOUN,3,m,sg,abs
- העברי: ADJ,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- ימכר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- ועבדך: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs-2ms
- שש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שנים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- ושלחתו: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg+obj:3,m,sg
- חפשי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מעמך: PREP+PRON,2ms
- ולא: CONJ
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- אבותיכם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,pl
- אלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- הטו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- אזנם: NOUN,f,pl,abs+3,m,pl
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 15:12-18 (quotation): Direct legal parallel: the command to release a Hebrew servant in the seventh year and to send him away free, including language about not serving as a slave forever.
- Exodus 21:2-6 (verbal): Earlier formulation of the law on Hebrew servants—limits servitude to six years with release in the seventh; Jeremiah echoes this legal tradition.
- Leviticus 25:39-55 (thematic): Addresses the proper treatment of fellow Israelites in servitude (versus foreign slaves), the institution of release/redemption and the Jubilee framework that protects kinship dignity.
- Nehemiah 5:10-13 (allusion): Narrative parallel where leaders are rebuked and compelled to restore fields and free their Jewish servants under oath—a postexilic enforcement of the same social-justice principle Jeremiah invokes.
- Jeremiah 34:11-13 (structural): Immediate literary context: the earlier verses recount the princes' covenant to release their Hebrew slaves and God's command, which the people later break—directly tied to v.14's accusation of disobedience.
Alternative generated candidates
- After six years you shall send away your fellow Hebrew who was sold to you; in the seventh year he shall go free from you. But your fathers did not listen to me nor incline their ear.
- After seven years you shall let every one his brother go free—him who was sold to you—and he shall serve six years and be released free from you. But your fathers did not listen to me nor inclined their ear.
Jer.34.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותשבו: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,pl
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- היום: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ותעשו: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- הישר: ADJ,m,sg,def
- בעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- לקרא: VERB,qal,infc
- דרור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לרעהו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,poss3ms
- ותכרתו: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- ברית: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לפני: PREP
- בבית: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- נקרא: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- שמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 15:12-15 (thematic): Commands the release of Hebrew servants in the seventh year and instructs generosity at their departure—directly parallels Jeremiah’s injunction to free fellow Israelites and act rightly before the LORD.
- Leviticus 25:10 (verbal): The Jubilee command to 'proclaim liberty throughout the land' echoes Jeremiah’s language of declaring liberty (לקרא דרור) and frames freedom as a divinely mandated social order.
- Nehemiah 5:12 (structural): Narrates a post-exilic crisis where nobles are forced to restore property and enter into a binding oath/covenant before God—parallels Jeremiah’s emphasis on making a covenant before the house called by God’s name and restoring rights to brethren.
- Isaiah 61:1 (allusion): Proclaims liberty for the oppressed (’to proclaim liberty to the captives’), using similar liberation language and presenting freedom as a central element of God’s saving action.
Alternative generated candidates
- Yet you turned and did what was right in my sight—proclaiming liberty to each his neighbor—and you made a covenant before the house that is called by my name.
- And now you have returned and done what is right in my sight: you have proclaimed liberty each man to his neighbor, and you made a covenant in the house that is called by my name.
Jer.34.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ותשבו: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,pl
- ותחללו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- שמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- ותשבו: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,pl
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- עבדו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- ואיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- שפחתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,sg
- אשר: PRON,rel
- שלחתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- חפשים: ADJ,m,pl
- לנפשם: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,suff3mp
- ותכבשו: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- להיות: VERB,qal,inf,NA,NA,NA
- לכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- לעבדים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ולשפחות: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 15:12-15 (verbal): Law commanding the release of a Hebrew servant in the seventh year and instructing generosity at release—direct legal background to Jeremiah's rebuke for re-enslaving those set free.
- Leviticus 25:39-43 (verbal): Jubilee legislation forbidding harsh rule over a fellow Israelite and prescribing that relatives not be made permanent slaves—echoed in Jeremiah's condemnation of reverting freed servants to bondage.
- Exodus 21:2-6 (structural): Regulation on Hebrew servitude and conditions for release or retention by mutual agreement; provides the wider Mosaic legal framework that Jeremiah invokes by criticizing the return to servitude.
- Jeremiah 34:8-11 (structural): Immediate narrative context describing the covenant to free servants and the subsequent reversal—this verse is part of the same incident and summarizes the violation charged by God.
- Nehemiah 5:1-13 (thematic): Postexilic protest against nobles who had compelled their poorer countrymen into servitude and the subsequent restoration and covenant—parallel case of social injustice and official reparation for forced labor.
Alternative generated candidates
- But you returned and profaned my name by bringing back every man his male and female servant whom you had set free, and made them to be servants and maidservants to yourselves.
- Yet you have turned back and profaned my name; you returned and made every man his servant, every man his maid whom you had sent away free, and you enslaved them to be your servants and your handmaids.
Jer.34.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לכן: ADV
- כה: ADV
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- לא: PART_NEG
- שמעתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- אלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- לקרא: VERB,qal,infc
- דרור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לאחיו: PREP
- ואיש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לרעהו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,poss3ms
- הנני: PRT+PRON,1,sg
- קרא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לכם: PREP,2,m,pl
- דרור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- החרב: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אל: NEG
- הדבר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ואל: CONJ+PREP
- הרעב: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ונתתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- אתכם: PRT+PRON,2,m,pl
- לזעוה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לכל: PREP
- ממלכות: NOUN,f,pl,cs
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Leviticus 25:10 (verbal): The Jubilee formula 'proclaim liberty throughout the land' closely parallels Jeremiah's injunction to proclaim release for fellow Israelites.
- Deuteronomy 15:12-15 (thematic): Law commanding the release of Hebrew servants in the seventh year provides the legal/ethical background for Jeremiah's rebuke that they failed to free their brothers.
- Leviticus 26:25-38 (allusion): The covenant curses list penalties—sword, pestilence, famine, exile and becoming a horror to the nations—which echo the punishments Jeremiah announces in 34:17.
- Deuteronomy 28:20-22 (thematic): Deuteronomic curse tradition (disease, famine, military defeat) parallels Jeremiah's specific threats of sword, pestilence and famine as consequences of disobedience.
- Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18 (verbal): The prophetic motif 'to proclaim liberty' appears in Isaiah and is cited by Jesus in Luke, reflecting the recurring theme of proclaiming release and restoration found in Jeremiah 34.
Alternative generated candidates
- Therefore thus says the LORD: Because you did not obey me in proclaiming liberty, each to his brother and each to his neighbor, behold, I proclaim liberty for you, declares the LORD—liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine—and I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
- Therefore thus says the LORD: Because you did not obey me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor, behold, I proclaim against you—declares the LORD—the sword, pestilence, and famine; and I will give you over to be plunder to all the kingdoms of the earth.
Jer.34.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ונתתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- האנשים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- העברים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- את: PRT,acc
- ברתי: NOUN,f,sg,poss1
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- הקימו: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- הברית: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- כרתו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- לפני: PREP
- העגל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- כרתו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- לשנים: PREP+NUM,m,du,abs
- ויעברו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- בין: PREP
- בתריו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss3m
Parallels
- Genesis 15:9-17 (structural): Describes the covenant ritual of cutting animals and passing between the pieces (the patriarchal 'cutting a covenant'); Jeremiah invokes that same ritual-form to highlight the seriousness of the oath Israel made and then broke.
- Exodus 24:3-8 (thematic): Mosaic covenant ratification—sacrifices, blood, and the people's pledge to obey—parallels the theme of making a solemn covenant before Yahweh and the binding nature of such vows.
- Jeremiah 34:16-20 (verbal): Immediate context: the people covenant to free Hebrew slaves, then revoke it; God pronounces judgment—'I will give them to their enemies'—using language and threat parallel to v.18.
- Deuteronomy 28:25 (thematic): Part of the covenant curses for disobedience predicting defeat and being delivered into the hands of enemies; echoes Jeremiah's declaration that covenant-breakers will be handed over to their foes.
Alternative generated candidates
- And I will give the men—Hebrews—who have violated the covenant which they made before me, who cut the calf in two and passed between its parts,
- And I will give up the men of Judah who transgressed my covenant, who did not keep the words of the covenant that they made before the calf, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts.
Jer.34.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שרי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- ושרי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ירושלם: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הסרסים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- והכהנים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- עם: PREP
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- העברים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- בין: PREP
- בתרי: NUM,card,dual,cons
- העגל: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Genesis 15:9-10,17 (structural): Abraham cuts animals and passes between the pieces as a covenant ritual—Jeremiah's phrase about passing 'between the pieces of the calf' echoes this covenant-making imagery.
- Exodus 32:1-6 (thematic): The golden calf episode: leaders/people participate in calf-worship. Jeremiah's reference to the calf and the involvement of princes, priests, and people recalls Israelite idolatry centered on a calf.
- 1 Kings 12:28-30 (thematic): Jeroboam sets up two calves and institutes priests at Bethel and Dan—parallels Jeremiah's linkage of political/religious leaders with calf-worship and communal complicity.
- Jeremiah 34:8-11 (structural): Immediate context: the covenant to free Hebrew slaves is made and then broken. Verses 18–19 name the same leaders and priests, tying the covenant ritual language to their covenant violation.
Alternative generated candidates
- the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf,
- The princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf.
Jer.34.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ונתתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- אותם: PRON,3,m,pl,obj
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- איביהם: NOUN,m,pl,suff_3mp
- וביד: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מבקשי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- נפשם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,pl
- והיתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- נבלתם: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,pl
- למאכל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg
- לעוף: INF,qal
- השמים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- ולבהמת: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 28:26 (allusion): Deuteronomy's curse language—"your carcasses will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth"—is the Deuteronomic model Jeremiah echoes for punitive exile and destruction.
- Jeremiah 7:33 (verbal): Nearly identical wording earlier in Jeremiah: the people's carcasses become food for birds and beasts, showing a recurring prophetic formula of judgment within the book.
- Ezekiel 39:4 (thematic): Ezekiel uses the same image of enemies' bodies given to birds and beasts in the context of divine defeat of hostile forces, reflecting the common prophetic motif of total humiliation and defeat.
- 1 Kings 14:11 (verbal): A closely parallel royal-judgment statement: dogs and birds will consume the dead of Jeroboam—similar language linking divine punishment with corpses as food for animals.
Alternative generated candidates
- I will give them into the hand of their enemies and to those who seek their life; their corpses shall become food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.
- I will give them into the hand of their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and their corpses shall be food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer.34.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואת: CONJ
- צדקיהו: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- ואת: CONJ
- שריו: NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss3m
- אתן: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- ביד: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- איביהם: NOUN,m,pl,suff_3mp
- וביד: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מבקשי: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- נפשם: NOUN,f,sg,abs+3,m,pl
- וביד: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חיל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- בבל: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- העלים: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,pl
- מעליכם: PREP+PRON,2,pl
Parallels
- Jeremiah 39:5-7 (structural): Narrative parallel describing the capture of Zedekiah by the army of Babylon and his being handed over to Nebuchadnezzar—same event promised in Jer 34:21.
- 2 Kings 25:7 (structural): Historical account of Zedekiah's capture and transfer to the king of Babylon at Riblah, mirroring the outcome foretold in Jer 34:21.
- Jeremiah 52:8-11 (verbal): Latter-day recension of Jeremiah’s account that records Zedekiah’s seizure and removal to Babylon, using language and details that echo Jer 34:21.
- Deuteronomy 28:36 (thematic): Part of the covenant curses promising that God will bring the king you set over you to a foreign nation—the theological precedent for God handing rulers into enemy hands as judgment.
- 2 Chronicles 36:13 (thematic): Summary of Zedekiah’s rebellious reign against Babylon and the ensuing consequences, thematically linked to the prophecy that he would be delivered into his enemies’ hands.
Alternative generated candidates
- And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies and to those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon that has come up against you.
- And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon that has withdrawn from you.
Jer.34.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הנני: PRT+PRON,1,sg
- מצוה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- והשבתים: CONJ+VERB,hiphil,imperfect,1,_,sg
- אל: NEG
- העיר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
- ונלחמו: WAW+VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,pl
- עליה: PREP,3,f,sg
- ולכדוה: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ושרפה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- באש: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואת: CONJ
- ערי: NOUN,f,pl,cons
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- אתן: VERB,qal,impf,1,sg
- שממה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מאין: ADV,interrog
- ישב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 52:12-14 (quotation): A near-verbatim recounting within Jeremiah's book: Nebuchadnezzar's forces take the city and burn the house of the Lord and the houses of Jerusalem, matching the prediction of capture and burning.
- 2 Kings 25:9-10 (verbal): Historical report of the Babylonian capture: the city is taken and burned (including the temple and royal houses), paralleling the outcome Jeremiah predicts.
- 2 Chronicles 36:19-21 (verbal): Chronicles describes the burning of the temple and the making of Judah's cities desolate, linking the destructive judgment announced in Jeremiah with the exile narrative.
- Leviticus 26:31-33 (thematic): Part of the covenant curses promising that God's people will be scattered, their cities devastated, and the land left desolate as divine punishment—same theological motif of covenantal retribution.
- Deuteronomy 28:49-52 (thematic): The curse passages foretell foreign invaders coming from far to besiege and lay waste to the land and cities—themewise parallel to Jeremiah's prophecy of enemy capture and desolation.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, I will command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city; they shall fight against it, capture it, and burn it with fire; and as for the cities of Judah I will make them a desolation, without inhabitant.
- Behold, I will command—declares the LORD—and I will bring them back to this city; they shall fight against it, capture it, and burn it with fire, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:
to send every man his male Hebrew servant, and every man his Hebrew maid, to set them free so that they should not be servants to them—each to his neighbor—
all the officers and all the people who had entered into the covenant to send every man his servant and every man his maidservant free hearkened and did so; and they sent them away. But afterward they turned and took back the male and female servants whom they had set free and made them to be servants and maidservants again.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:
At the end of seven years you shall send away every man his brother the Hebrew whom he has sold to you; your male and female servants shall serve six years, and in the seventh year they shall go out free from you. But your fathers did not obey me or incline their ear. And you have turned and done what is right in my sight: you proclaimed liberty every man to his neighbor, and made a covenant before the house that is called by my name.
Yet you have turned back and profaned my name; each one returned his male and female servants whom you had set free to their former service and made them servants and maidservants to you.
Therefore thus says the LORD: Because you did not obey me to proclaim liberty every man to his brother and every man to his neighbor, behold, I call liberty for you—declares the LORD—by the sword, by pestilence, and by famine; and I will make you an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
I will give up the men who are Hebrews, the men who violated my covenant, who did not keep the words of the covenant which they cut in two and passed between its parts.
The princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf.
I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives; their corpses shall be food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.
I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon that has gone up from you.
Behold, I will command—declares the LORD—and I will bring them back to this city; they shall fight against it, take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.