34:1 Nebuchadnezzar See note on Jer 21:2. Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Judah, including the siege of Jerusalem (v. 7), is underway at this time.

34:2 Zedekiah Judah’s last Davidic king. See note on 21:1.

into the hand of the king of Babylon Jeremiah was imprisoned for this statement (see 32:2–4).

34:3 you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye Later, Zedekiah is indeed brought before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, where he is forced to watch the execution of his sons before being blinded and taken to Babylon (see 2 Kgs 25:6–7).

34:5 as there was burning for your ancestors Zedekiah would receive a funeral appropriate for his status as a king of Judah.

34:7 Lachish and Azekah Border fortresses in the hill country of Judah, southwest of Jerusalem.

the cities of Judah, the cities of fortification See note on Jer 4:5.

Covenants in the Old Testament Table

34:9 let go each one his male slave and each one his female slave, the Hebrew and the free The law provided only for indentured servitude of fellow Israelites, not for long-term slavery (see Exod 21:2 and note).

34:10 the covenant The agreement was a formal contract with the accompanying oaths and penalties (see Jer 34:16–20).

34:11 afterward they turned back Jeremiah uses the Hebrew word for “turn” repeatedly in this passage to describe the people wavering between doing the right thing and returning to their wicked ways.

The Significance of “Shuv” in Jeremiah

34:13 from the land of Egypt See Exod 20:2. Biblical laws about slavery were grounded in the nation’s experience of slavery in Egypt (Lev 25:39–46).

34:14 At the end of seven years Paraphrases the legal stipulation from Exod 21:2 and Deut 15:12.

34:15 you turned back recently Here, the Hebrew word for “turn” indicates repenting. See note on Jer 34:11.

proclaim release Alludes to the Year of Jubilee, during which property was to revert to its original owner and slaves were to be set free (see Lev 25:10 and note on Lev 25:1–7).

you made a covenant before me The covenant to free the slaves must have invoked Yahweh as a witness. His act of punishment is an appropriate response to the breaking of the covenant, since He was made guarantor by their oaths in His name.

34:16 you profaned my name They did so by breaking the promise that was sworn in Yahweh’s name (see Jer 34:15 and note).

34:17 the sword, to the plague, and to the famine An ironic reversal: Yahweh frees His people from their covenant with Him, releasing them to judgment by the sword, pestilence, and famine. On this triad of punishments, see note on 14:12.

34:18 I will make the men who transgressed my covenant, who have not kept the words of the covenant that they made before me, like the calf They had ratified the covenant by passing through the parts of a sacrificial animal cut in half (Gen 15:7–21; see Gen 15:10 and note; 1 Sam 11:1 and note).

34:19 all the people of the land The judgment oracle indicates that everyone was party to the covenant because everyone is about to experience the judgment equally.

34:20 food for the birds of the heavens Part of the curse for breaking the covenant. See Jer 7:33 and note.

34:21 the king of Babylon, who retreated Indicates that this incident occurred while Babylon had lifted the siege to face Egypt in battle. See 37:6–15.

34:22 I will bring them back to this city The Babylonians’ siege of Jerusalem was, in fact, lifted only temporarily. The people were acting as though Egypt’s appearance meant they were saved.