Jeremiah 34:8

The NET Bible®

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to grant their slaves their freedom.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom to them.

Hebrew Names Version
The word that came to Yirmeyahu from the LORD, after that the king Tzidkiyahu had made a covenant with all the people who were at Yerushalayim, to proclaim liberty to them;

King James Version
This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord , after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

English Standard Version
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them,

New American Standard Bible
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 release to them:

New Century Version
The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. This was after King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem to free all the Hebrew slaves.

Amplified Bible
The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant (solemn pledge) with all the [Hebrew] people who were [slaves] in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:

World English Bible
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

Geneva Bible (1587)
This is the worde that came vnto Ieremiah from the Lorde, after that the King Zedekiah had made a couenant with all the people, which were at Ierusalem, to proclaime libertie vnto them,

Legacy Standard Bible
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after King Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them:

Berean Standard Bible
After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD

Contemporary English Version
King Zedekiah, his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom.

Complete Jewish Bible
This word came to Yirmeyahu from Adonai after King Tzidkiyahu had made a covenant with all the people in Yerushalayim to emancipate them.

Darby Translation
The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them:

Easy-to-Read Version
King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem to give freedom to all the Hebrew slaves. A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah after Zedekiah had made that agreement.

George Lamsa Translation
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were in Jerusalem: Proclaim liberty to them;

Good News Translation
King Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem had made an agreement to set free

Lexham English Bible
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after king Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them,

Literal Translation
The Word that was to Jeremiah from Jehovah after King Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
These are the wordes that the LORDE spake vnto Ieremy the prophet, when Sedechias was agreed with all the people at Ierusalem, that there shulde be proclamed a liberte:

American Standard Version
The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

Bible in Basic English
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem, to give news in public that servants were to be made free;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
The word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

King James Version (1611)
This is the word that came vnto Ieremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a couenant with all the people which were at Ierusalem to proclaime liberty vnto them,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
These are the wordes that the Lorde spake vnto Ieremie the prophete, when Zedekias was agreed with all the people at Hierusalem, that there shoulde be proclaymed a libertie:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the nation and kingdom, all that shall not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword and famine will I visit them, saith the Lord, until they are consumed by his hand.

English Revised Version
The word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The word that was maad of the Lord to Jeremye, aftir that kyng Sedechie smoot boond of pees with al the puple in Jerusalem,

Update Bible Version
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

Webster's Bible Translation
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who [were] at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;

New King James Version
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:

New Living Translation
This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves.

New Life Bible
This is the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made an agreement to set free

New Revised Standard
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them—

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The word which came unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh, - after that King Zedekiah had solemnised a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, proclaiming unto them liberty:

Douay-Rheims Bible
The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, after that king Sedecias had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem making a proclamation:

Revised Standard Version
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedeki'ah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them,

Young's Literal Translation
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,

THE MESSAGE
God delivered a Message to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people of Jerusalem to decree freedom to the slaves who were Hebrews, both men and women. The covenant stipulated that no one in Judah would own a fellow Jew as a slave. All the leaders and people who had signed the covenant set free the slaves, men and women alike.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them:

Contextual Overview

⁸ The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to grant their slaves their freedom. ⁹ Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved. ¹⁰ All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to free their male and female slaves and not keep them enslaved any longer. They originally complied with the covenant and freed them. ¹¹ But later they had changed their minds. They had taken back their male and female slaves that they had freed and forced them to be slaves again. ¹² That was when the Lord spoke to Jeremiah, ¹³ "The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. It stipulated, ¹⁴ "Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free." But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me. ¹⁵ Recently, however, you yourselves showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own. ¹⁶ But then you turned right around and showed that you did not honor me. Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again. ¹⁷ So I, the Lord , say: "You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the Lord , affirm it! I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

had: 2 Kings 11:17, 2 Kings 23:2, 2 Kings 23:3, 2 Chronicles 15:12-15, 2 Chronicles 23:16, 2 Chronicles 29:10, 2 Chronicles 34:30-33, Nehemiah 9:38, Nehemiah 10:1-27

to proclaim: Jeremiah 34:14, Jeremiah 34:17, Exodus 21:2-4, Exodus 23:10, Exodus 23:11, Leviticus 25:10, Leviticus 25:39-46, Deuteronomy 15:12, Nehemiah 5:1-13, Isaiah 61:1

Reciprocal: Exodus 8:8 - and I will 2 Kings 25:1 - in the ninth Nehemiah 5:12 - I called Isaiah 58:6 - to loose Jeremiah 34:15 - ye had

Cross-References

Genesis 34:3
Then he became very attached to Dinah, Jacob's daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her.

1 Kings 11:2
They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, "You must not establish friendly relations with them! If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods." But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them.

Psalms 63:1

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness.

O God, you are my God! I long for you! My soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Psalms 84:2
I desperately want to be in the courts of the Lord 's temple. My heart and my entire being shout for joy to the living God.

Psalms 119:20
I desperately long to know your regulations at all times.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,.... Here begins a new prophecy, which was delivered some time after the former; that was given out while the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem; this after he had quitted the siege for a while, and was gone to meet the king of Egypt, who was coming to the relief of the city, as appears from Jeremiah 34:21; though the Jews k say this was delivered in the seventh year of Zedekiah, in the first month, and tenth day of the month; at the same time that the elders of Israel came to Ezekiel, to inquire of the Lord by him, Ezekiel 20:1; which was two years before the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem; but this seems not likely. It is said to be

after that the King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people that [were] at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; not unto the people, or to themselves, the king and the people; unless the sense is, that the king and the people entered into an agreement among themselves to make proclamation, that liberty would be granted by them to their servants; for the liberty proclaimed was to the servants, and not to them. This seems to confirm it, that it was while the city was besieged that this covenant was made; since it was made only with the people at Jerusalem, which were pent up in it; for otherwise it would in all probability have been made with all the people of the land; and seems to have been done with this view, to obtain this favour of the Lord, that they might gain their freedom from the enemy, and come not under the yoke and into the servitude of the king of Babylon: and very probable it is that they did not do this of their own accord, but were exhorted to it by Jeremiah; who perhaps, among other sins, had reproved them for the breach of the law respecting the liberty of servants.

k Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 74.

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 34:8. The word that came unto Jeremiah — Here the second discourse begins, which was delivered probably a short time, even a few days, after the former.

Zedekiah had made a covenant — We find no account elsewhere of this covenant: "Every man should let his man-servant and his maid-servant go free;" i.e., as we learn from Jeremiah 34:14, on the sabbatical year; for the seventh year was the year of release. See Deuteronomy 15:12.