Jeremiah 34:21

Complete Jewish Bible

Tzidkiyahu king of Y'hudah and his officials I will hand over to their enemies, to those who seek their lives and to the army of the king of Bavel, which has withdrawn.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I will hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies, to those who intend to take their lives, to the king of Babylon’s army that is withdrawing.

Hebrew Names Version
Tzidkiyahu king of Yehudah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Bavel's army, who have gone away from you.

King James Version
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.

English Standard Version
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

New American Standard Bible
'Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

New Century Version
I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officers over to their enemies, and to everyone who wants to kill them, and to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have left Jerusalem.

Amplified Bible
'Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will place into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

World English Bible
Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, who have gone away from you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Zedekiah King of Iudah, and his princes will I giue into the hand of their enemies, and into the hande of them that seeke their life, and into the hande of the King of Babels hoste, which are gone vp from you.

Legacy Standard Bible
And as for Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life and into the hand of the military force of the king of Babylon which has gone away from you.

Berean Standard Bible
I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you.

Contemporary English Version
These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.

Darby Translation
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.

Easy-to-Read Version
I will give King Zedekiah of Judah and his leaders to their enemies and to everyone who wants to kill them. I will give Zedekiah and his people to the army of the king of Babylon, even though that army has left Jerusalem.

George Lamsa Translation
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will deliver into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives and into the hand of the king of Babylons army, who are coming back against them.

Good News Translation
I will also hand over King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials to those who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the Babylonian army, which has stopped its attack against you.

Lexham English Bible
And Zedekiah the king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of the seekers of their lives, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, who retreated from you.

Literal Translation
And I will give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his rulers, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their life, even into the hand of the king of Babylon's army that has gone up from you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
As for Sedechias the kinge of Iuda & his prynces, I will delyuer them in to the power of their enemies, and of them that desyre to slaye them, and in to the honde of the kynge of Babilons hooste, which now is departed from you:

American Standard Version
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, that are gone away from you.

Bible in Basic English
And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his rulers I will give into the hands of their haters and into the hands of those who have designs against their lives, and into the hands of the king of Babylon's army which has gone away from you.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, that are gone up from you.

King James Version (1611)
And Zedekiah king of Iudah, and his Princes will I giue into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seeke their life and into the hand of the king of Babylons armie, which are gone vp from you.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
As for Zedekias the king of Iuda and his princes, I wyll deliuer them into the power of their enemies, & of them that desire to slay them, and into the hande of the kyng of Babylons hoast, whiche nowe is departed from you.

English Revised Version
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y schal yyue Sedechie, the kyng of Juda, and hise princes, in to the hond of her enemyes, and in to the hond of hem that seken her lijf, and in to the hond of the oostis of the kyng of Babiloyne, that yeden awei fro you.

Update Bible Version
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, that have gone away from you.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.

New English Translation
I will also hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the army of the king of Babylon, even though they have temporarily withdrawn from attacking you.

New King James Version
And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army which has gone back from you.

New Living Translation
"I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials to the army of the king of Babylon. And although they have left Jerusalem for a while,

New Life Bible
I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his captains over to those who hate them and to those who want to kill them. I will give them to the army of the king of Babylon which has left from you.

New Revised Standard
And as for King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials, I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Zedekiah king of Judah also with his princes, will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them who are seeking their life, - even into the hand of the force of the king of Babylon, who are going up from you.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Sedecias the king of Juda, and his princes, I will give into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their lives, and into the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which are gone from you.

Revised Standard Version
And Zedeki'ah king of Judah, and his princes I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

Young's Literal Translation
`And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his heads, I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their soul, and into the hand of the forces of the king of Babylon, that are going up from off you.

THE MESSAGE
"‘As for Zedekiah king of Judah and his palace staff, I'll also hand them over to their enemies, who are out to kill them. The army of the king of Babylon has pulled back for a time, but not for long, for I'm going to issue orders that will bring them back to this city. They'll attack and take it and burn it to the ground. The surrounding cities of Judah will fare no better. I'll turn them into ghost towns, unlivable and unlived in.'" God 's Decree.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has gone away from you.

Contextual Overview

⁸ This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai after King Tzidkiyahu had made a covenant with all the people in Yerushalayim to emancipate them. ⁹ Everyone who had a male or female slave who was Hebrew was to let him go free; none was to keep as his slave a fellow Jew. ¹⁰ All the leaders and all the people listened who had entered into the covenant, wherein everyone was to free his male and female slaves and not keep them in bondage any longer. They listened, and they let them go. ¹¹ But afterwards, they changed their minds; they made the male and female slaves, whom they had freed, return; and they brought them back into subjection as slaves. ¹² Therefore this word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai : ¹³ "Here is what Adonai the God of Isra'el says: ‘When I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, where they lived as slaves, I made this covenant with them: ¹⁴ "At the end of seven years every one of you is to set free his brother Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years. You are to let him go free from you." But your ancestors did not listen to me or pay any attention. ¹⁵ Now you repented, you did what is right from my viewpoint when each of you proclaimed freedom to his fellow; and you made a covenant before me in the house bearing my name. ¹⁶ But then you changed your minds. You profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free to live as they wished, and brought them back into subjection as your slaves.' ¹⁷ Therefore here is what Adonai says: ‘You did not heed me and proclaim freedom, each to his brother and each to his neighbor; so now I proclaim for you a freedom,' says Adonai , ‘for sword, plague and famine. I will make you an object of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Zedekiah: Jeremiah 34:3-5, Jeremiah 39:6, Jeremiah 52:10, Jeremiah 52:24-27, 2 Kings 25:18-21, Lamentations 4:20, Ezekiel 17:16

which are: Jeremiah 37:5-11

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 25:6 - they took Jeremiah 22:25 - I Jeremiah 34:11 - General Jeremiah 36:29 - The king Jeremiah 37:8 - General Jeremiah 37:17 - thou shalt Jeremiah 44:30 - as I Jeremiah 49:37 - their enemies Jeremiah 52:8 - General Lamentations 1:14 - delivered Ezekiel 16:27 - delivered

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes,.... These were either the princes of the blood, the sons of Zedekiah, and his nobles and courtiers, as distinct from the princes in Jeremiah 34:19; these shall not be spared, neither the king, nor his sons, nor those of the privy council: but those

will I give I to the hands of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; as in Jeremiah 34:20;

and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army; or, "even into the hand" b c. and so this is an explanation of the former, and shows who their enemies were, and those that sought their life. The accomplishment of this may be seen in Jeremiah 52:9

which are gone up from you; departed from Jerusalem, as the Chaldean army did upon hearing that Pharaoh king of Egypt was marching with his army to raise the siege of Jerusalem; upon which they left it, and went forth to meet him; and this encouraged the wicked Jews to break their covenant, and reduce their servants to bondage again, they had let go free; see Jeremiah 37:5.

b וביד "in manum, inquam, exercitus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It is usual with commentators to say that, the laws dealing with the emancipation of the Hebrew slaves, as also that of the land resting during the sabbatical year, were not observed. The narrative teaches us the exact contrary. The manumission of the slaves on the present occasion was the spontaneous act of Zedekiah and the people. They knew of the law, and acknowledged its obligation. The observance of it was, no doubt, lax: the majority let their own selfish interests prevail; but the minority made might give way to right, and Zedekiah supported their efforts though only in a weak way.

Early in January, in the ninth year of Zedekiah, the Chaldaean army approached Jerusalem. The people made a covenant with the king, who appears as the abettor of the measure, to let their slaves go free. Possibly patriotism had its share in this: and as Jerusalem was strongly fortified, all classes possibly hoped that if the slaves were manumitted, they too would labor with a more hearty good-will in resisting the enemy. In the summer of the same year the Egyptians advanced to the rescue, and Nebuchadnezzar withdrew to meet their attack. The Jews with a strange levity, which sets them before us in a most despicable light, at once forced the manumitted slaves back into bondage. With noble indignation Jeremiah rebukes them for their treachery, assures them that the Chaldaean army will return, and warns them of the certainty of the punishment which they so richly merited.

Jeremiah 34:8

As the Chaldaean army swept over the country the wealthier classes would all flee to Jerusalem, taking with them their households. And as the Mosaic Law was probably more carefully kept there than in the country, the presence in these families of slaves who had grown grey in service may have given offence to the stricter classes at the capital.

To proclaim liberty unto them - The words are those of the proclamation of the year of jubile to the people, whereupon it became their duty to set their slaves free.

Jeremiah 34:9

Should serve himself of them - Should make them serve him (see Jeremiah 25:14).

Jeremiah 34:11

They turned, and caused ... to return - But afterward they again made the slaves return.

Jeremiah 34:13

The house of bondmen - The miserable prison in which, after being worked in the fields all day in gangs, the slaves were shut up at night.

Jeremiah 34:16

At their pleasure - literally, for themselves.

Jeremiah 34:17

I will make you to be removed into - “I will cause you to be a terror unto.” Men would shudder at them.

Jeremiah 34:18

The words ... - The Jews spoke of “cutting” a covenant, because the contracting parties cut a calf in twain and passed between the pieces. Thus cutting a covenant and cutting a calf in twain, meant the same thing.

Jeremiah 34:21

Which are gone up from you - i. e., which have departed for the present, and have raised the siege.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 34:21. The king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you. — Nebuchadnezzar, hearing that there was an Egyptian army coming to the relief of Jerusalem, raised the siege, went out, and met and defeated the Egyptians. It was in the interim this prophecy was delivered.