Jeremias 34

ARC · Chapter 34/52

1A palavra que do Senhor veiu a Jeremias, quando Nabucodonozor, rei de Babylonia, e todo o seu exercito, e todos os reinos da terra, que estavam sob o dominio da sua mão, e todos os povos, pelejavam contra Jerusalem, e contra todas as suas cidades, dizendo:

2Assim diz o Senhor, Deus de Israel: Vae, e falla a Zedekias, rei de Judah, e dize-lhe: Assim diz o Senhor: Eis que eu dou esta cidade na mão do rei de Babylonia, e queimal-a-ha a fogo.

3E tu não escaparás á sua mão; antes decerto serás preso, e serás entregue na sua mão: e teus olhos verão os olhos do rei de Babylonia, e elle te fallará bocca a bocca, e entrarás em Babylonia

4Todavia ouve a palavra do Senhor, ó Zedekias, rei de Judah: assim diz o Senhor de ti: Não morrerás á espada.

5Em paz morrerás, e conforme as queimas de teus paes, os reis precedentes, que foram antes de ti, assim te queimarão a ti, e prantear-te-hão, dizendo: Ah Senhor! porque eu disse a palavra, diz o Senhor.

6E fallou Jeremias, o propheta, a Zedekias, rei de Judah, todas estas palavras, em Jerusalem,

7Quando o exercito do rei de Babylonia pelejava contra Jerusalem, e contra todas as cidades de Judah, que ficaram de resto: contra Lachis e contra Azeca; porque estas fortes cidades ficaram de resto, d'entre as cidades de Judah.

8A palavra que do Senhor veiu a Jeremias, depois que o rei Zedekias fez concerto com todo o povo que havia em Jerusalem, para lhes apregoar a liberdade;

9Que cada um despedisse forro o seu servo, e cada um a sua serva, hebreo ou hebrea; de maneira que ninguem se fizesse servir d'elles, sendo judeos, seus irmãos.

10E ouviram todos os principes, e todo o povo que entrou no concerto, que cada um despedisse forro o seu servo, e cada um a sua serva, de maneira que não se fizessem mais servir d'elles: ouviram pois, e os soltaram.

11Porém depois se arrependeram, e fizeram voltar os servos e as servas que largaram livres, e os sujeitaram por servos e por servas.

12Veiu pois a palavra do Senhor a Jeremias, da parte do Senhor, dizendo:

13Assim diz o Senhor, Deus de Israel: Eu fiz concerto com vossos paes, no dia em que os tirei da terra do Egypto, da casa de servos, dizendo:

14Ao fim de sete annos largareis cada um a seu irmão hebreo, que te fôr vendido a ti, e te houver servido a ti seis annos, e despedil-o-has forro de ti; porém vossos paes me não ouviram, nem inclinaram os seus ouvidos.

15E vos havieis hoje convertido, e tinheis feito o que é recto aos meus olhos, apregoando liberdade cada um ao seu proximo; e tinheis feito diante de mim um concerto, na casa que se chama pelo meu nome:

16Porém vos tornastes, e profanastes o meu nome, e fizestes voltar cada um ao seu servo, e cada um á sua serva, os quaes já tinheis despedido forros conforme a sua vontade; e os sujeitastes, para que se vos fizessem servos e servas.

17Portanto assim diz o Senhor: Vós me não ouvistes a mim, para apregoardes a liberdade, cada um ao seu irmão, e cada um ao seu proximo; pois eis que eu vos apregôo a liberdade, diz o Senhor, para a espada, para a pestilencia, e para a fome; e dar-vos-hei por espanto a todos os reinos da terra.

18E entregarei os homens que, traspassaram o meu concerto, que não confirmaram as palavras do concerto, que fizeram diante de mim, com o bezerro, que fenderam em duas partes, e passaram pelo meio das suas porções;

19A saber, os principes de Judah, e os principes de Jerusalem, os eunuchos, e os sacerdotes, e todo o povo da terra que passou por meio das porções do bezerro;

20Entregal-os-hei, digo, na mão de seus inimigos, e na mão dos que procuram a sua morte, e os cadaveres d'elles serão para mantimento ás aves dos céus e aos animaes da terra.

21E até o rei Zedekias, rei de Judah, e seus principes entregarei na mão de seus inimigos e na mão dos que procuram a sua morte, a saber, na mão do exercito do rei de Babylonia, que já se retirou de vós.

22Eis que eu darei ordem, diz o Senhor, e os farei tornar a esta cidade, e pelejarão contra ella, e a tomarão, e a queimarão a fogo; e as cidades de Judah porei em assolação, que ninguem habite n'ellas.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jeremiah announces to Zedekiah that he will be captured but will die in peace. The chapter also tells how the people temporarily freed their Hebrew slaves, but then enslaved them again, breaking the promise.

Explanation

This episode exposes a serious hypocrisy: faced with the Babylonian threat, the people made a solemn covenant to free their Hebrew slaves, finally fulfilling an ancient law (Exodus 21:2) about release after six years of service — but as soon as the pressure of the siege seemed to ease (when the Egyptian army approached), they reversed course and enslaved these same people again. God responds by announcing that, since they did not carry out the freedom promised to the slaves, He would proclaim 'freedom' for them instead — to the sword, famine, and plague. It is a timeless warning against promises made under pressure and forgotten once the situation seems to improve.

Fun facts

  • The law releasing Hebrew slaves after six years of service comes from Exodus 21:2 and Deuteronomy 15:12, one of the most advanced social laws of the ancient Near East for its time.
  • The covenant ritual of 'passing between' the parts of a divided animal (v.18-19) was a solemn practice documented throughout the ancient Near East, also used by God with Abraham in Genesis 15.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 34:1Explicit wartime context: Nebuchadnezzar was leading not only the Babylonian army but troops from vassal kingdoms as well, all besieging Jerusalem and the rest of Judah’s cities at the same time.
  2. Jeremias 34:2A direct, uncompromising message for Zedekiah: the city will be handed over to the king of Babylon and burned — the same prophecy repeated at several points in the book.
  3. Jeremias 34:3It details the king’s personal fate: captured, brought face to face with Nebuchadnezzar, and led away to Babylon — which would come true, though in an even more brutal way (he would be blinded first, in chapter 39).
  4. Jeremias 34:4A seemingly contradictory promise: Zedekiah will not die by the sword, despite everything — a note of personal mercy in the middle of the city’s overall judgment.
  5. Jeremias 34:5It details that mercy: he would have a king’s funeral, with ritual mourning, like the kings before him — even losing the throne and his freedom, he would not die like a common criminal.
  6. Jeremias 34:6It confirms that Jeremiah delivered this message personally and publicly to Zedekiah in Jerusalem — this is not a secondhand account.
  7. Jeremias 34:7A military detail: by this time only two fortified cities besides the capital were still holding out — Lachish and Azekah — the rest had already fallen to the Babylonians.
  8. Jeremias 34:8During the siege, King Zedekiah made a covenant to free the Hebrew slaves, fulfilling an old law (Exodus 21, Deuteronomy 15) that had long been ignored — but as soon as the Babylonian pressure temporarily eased (see chapter 37), the people enslaved those same servants again, showing the reform had only been wartime desperation.
  9. Jeremias 34:9The content of the agreement: to free every Hebrew slave, man or woman, because enslaving a fellow Jew went against the longstanding Mosaic law (a limit of seven years of servitude).
  10. Jeremias 34:10The agreement was carried out at first: the officials and the people obeyed and actually freed the Hebrew slaves — a rare moment of social reform in the midst of crisis.
  11. Jeremias 34:11But the commitment did not last: after freeing them, the same owners went back on their word and enslaved again the people they had let go — the broken promise that triggers the judgment that follows.
  12. Jeremias 34:12A transition formula: God’s answer to the betrayal of the release agreement arrives.
  13. Jeremias 34:13God recalls the law’s origin: a condition of the covenant made at Sinai, right after bringing the people out of slavery in Egypt — the logic is that He set them free, so they too must set others free.
  14. Jeremias 34:14It cites the specific rule: freeing the Hebrew slave after six years of service — a law their ancestors had already been ignoring for generations, it is nothing new.
  15. Jeremias 34:15It acknowledges that this time, under the pressure of the siege, the people had finally done the right thing, making a formal covenant inside the temple itself to free the slaves.
  16. Jeremias 34:16The central charge: after making the solemn covenant in the temple, the people profaned God’s name by going back on it and enslaving again those who had already been freed.
  17. Jeremias 34:17The wordplay is cruel: since they refused to give real freedom to the slaves, God will give them a very different kind of freedom, over to the sword, famine, and plague. It is prophetic irony, using the same word in two opposite senses.
  18. Jeremias 34:18It describes the ritual of the broken covenant: cutting a calf in half and walking between the pieces was the ancient gesture that sealed a pact (Genesis 15) — whoever broke the agreement accepted the fate of the dismembered animal.
  19. Jeremias 34:19It lists who took part in the broken covenant: officials, court officers, priests, and the common people — all of Jerusalem’s leadership was involved both in the promise and in its betrayal.
  20. Jeremias 34:20The punishment mirrors the ritual of the cut calf: the bodies of those who broke the covenant will become food for birds and wild animals, just like the calf itself was cut apart.
  21. Jeremias 34:21Not even Zedekiah and his officials escape this sentence: they would be handed over to the Babylonian army, which at that moment had temporarily withdrawn (see chapter 37, when Egypt intervened).
  22. Jeremias 34:22It confirms that the relief from the siege would be temporary: the Babylonians would come back, finish the conquest, and burn the city, leaving the rest of Judah’s cities uninhabited.

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