8 The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the making by the king Zedekiah of a covenant with all the people who `are' in Jerusalem, to proclaim to them liberty,
`And when thy brother becometh poor with thee, and he hath been sold to thee, thou dost not lay on him servile service; as an hireling, as a settler, he is with thee, till the year of the jubilee he doth serve with thee, -- then he hath gone out from thee, he and his sons with him, and hath turned back unto his family; even unto the possession of his fathers he doth turn back. `For they `are' My servants, whom I have brought out from the land of Egypt: they are not sold `with' the sale of a servant; thou rulest not over him with rigour, and thou hast been afraid of thy God. `And thy man-servant and thy handmaid whom thou hast `are' of the nations who `are' round about you; of them ye buy man-servant and handmaid, and also of the sons of the settlers who are sojourning with you, of them ye buy, and of their families who `are' with you, which they have begotten in your land, and they have been to you for a possession; and ye have taken them for inheritance to your sons after you, to occupy `for' a possession; to the age ye lay service upon them, but upon your brethren, the sons of Israel, one with another, thou dost not rule over him with rigour.
and the king goeth up to the house of Jehovah, and every man of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, from small unto great, and he readeth in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that is found in the house of Jehovah. And the king standeth by the pillar, and maketh the covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commands, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all the heart, and with all the soul, to establish the words of this covenant that are written on this book, and all the people stand in the covenant.
And there is a great cry of the people and their wives, concerning their brethren the Jews, yea, there are who are saying, `Our sons, and our daughters, we -- are many, and we receive corn, and eat, and live.' And there are who are saying, `Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.' And there are who are saying, `We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, `on' our fields, and our vineyards; and now, as the flesh of our brethren `is' our flesh, as their sons `are' our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards `are' to others.' And it is very displeasing to me when I have heard their cry and these words, and my heart reigneth over me, and I strive with the freemen, and with the prefects, and say to them, `Usury one upon another ye are exacting;' and I set against them a great assembly, and say to them, `We have acquired our brethren the Jews, those sold to the nations, according to the ability that `is' in us, and ye also sell your brethren, and they have been sold to us!' and they are silent, and have not found a word. And I say, `Not good `is' the thing that ye are doing; in the fear of our God do ye not walk, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies? And also, I, my brethren, and my servants, are exacting of them silver and corn; let us leave off, I pray you, this usury. Give back, I pray you, to them, as to-day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, and the hundredth `part' of the money, and of the corn, of the new wine, and of the oil, that ye are exacting of them.' And they say, `We give back, and of them we seek nothing; so we do as thou art saying.' And I call the priests, and cause them to swear to do according to this thing; also, my lap I have shaken, and I say, `Thus doth God shake out every man, who doth not perform this thing, from his house, and from his labour; yea, thus is he shaken out and empty;' and all the assembly say, `Amen,' and praise Jehovah; and the people do according to this thing.
`When thou buyest a Hebrew servant -- six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought; if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he `is' owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him; if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters -- the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself.
`And six years thou dost sow thy land, and hast gathered its increase; and the seventh thou dost release it, and hast left it, and the needy of thy people have eaten, and their leaving doth the beast of the field eat; so dost thou to thy vineyard -- to thine olive-yard.
and they enter into a covenant to seek Jehovah, God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul, and every one who doth not seek for Jehovah, God of Israel, is put to death, from small unto great, from man unto woman. And they swear to Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets, and rejoice do all Judah concerning the oath, for with all their heart they have sworn, and with all their good-will they have sought Him, and He is found of them, and Jehovah giveth rest to them round about.
and the king goeth up to the house of Jehovah, and every man of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, even all the people, from great even unto small, and he readeth in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that is found in the house of Jehovah. And the king standeth on his station, and maketh the covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commands, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to do the words of the covenant that are written on this book. And he presenteth every one who is found in Jerusalem and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem do according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah turneth aside all the abominations out of all the lands that the sons of Israel have, and causeth every one who is found in Israel to serve, to serve Jehovah their God; all his days they turned not aside from after Jehovah, God of their fathers.
At the end of seven years ye do send forth each his brother, the Hebrew, who is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, yea, thou hast sent him forth free from thee: and your fathers hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear. `And ye turn back, ye to-day, and ye do that which is right in Mine eyes, to proclaim liberty each to his neighbour, and ye make a covenant before Me in the house over which My name is called.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 34
Commentary on Jeremiah 34 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 34
In this chapter we have two messages which God sent by Jeremiah.
Jer 34:1-7
This prophecy concerning Zedekiah was delivered to Jeremiah, and by him to the parties concerned, before he was shut up in the prison, for we find this prediction here made the ground of his commitment, as appears by the recital of some passages out of it, ch. 32:4. Observe,
Jer 34:8-22
We have here another prophecy upon a particular occasion, the history of which we must take notice of, as necessary to give light to the prophecy.