Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
17. I proclaim unto you a liberty ] The people, hitherto God’s servants, and secure in that service, shall be cast oft by Him, and shall accordingly, being no longer under His protection as their Owner, become subject to the perils which follow.
tossed to and fro ] better, as mg. a terror unto. See on Jer 15:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
17 22. See introd. summary to section.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 34:17
Ye have not hearkened unto Me, in proclaiming liberty.
The liberty of sin
The Word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah that all bondservants in Israel should be forthwith emancipated. At first the princes obeyed, and the enslaved were allowed to go free. But eventually the princes played falsely, and once more brought their old servants into bondage. Then comes the text with its terrible irony.
I. The mutiny against the law. In the first instance the governors felt the reasonableness of the commandment, they agreed to it, but at length they resisted it, violated it. And this spirit of revolt against the higher law is ever working in us and displaying itself in some form of disobedience.
1. There is a theoretical repudiation of the law. Literary men are ever urging upon us that the moral law as given in revelation is unphilosophical, and the sooner it is renounced by all educated people the better. One by one they ingeniously find us a way out of all the ten great precepts. In our simplicity we thought the Saviour taught us that heaven and earth might pass away, but that the moral commandments should persist in absolute authority and force, but eloquent writers affect to show that the commandments are mere bye-laws, ripe for repeal.
2. And if there is a theoretical repudiation of the law on the part of the literary few, is there not a personal, practical mutiny against it on the part of us all? In manifold ways we criticise the law, fret at it, evade it, violate it. We spurn the circumscriptions which deny us so much, and in blind passion break into forbidden ground. And yet how gracious and beautiful is the law! How generous is the law referred to in the text enjoining upon the rich and great mercy and brotherliness! And the whole of the moral law as expressed in revelation is equally rational and benign. The commandments are not grievous. No, indeed, they are gracious. Every commandment is an illumination, a light shining in a dark place to guide our feet in a dim and perilous way. Every commandment is a salvation. The commandment enjoining love is to save us from the damnation of selfishness; enjoining meekness to save us from the devil of pride; enjoining purity to save us from the hell of lust. Every commandment is a benediction. Scientists are always descanting on the grandeur of natural law, the law which builds the sky, which transfigures the flower, which rules the stars. The scientist, the mathematician, the musician will tell you that law is good, that the secret of the worlds beauty is to be found in the wonderful laws which God wrote in tables of stone long before Moses came. And ii natural law, which rules things, is so sublime, how much does that moral law, which rules spirits, excel in glory! And yet how blindly do we mutiny against the great words of light and love! Some time ago it was told in the paper that a herd of cows was being driven through a long, dark, wooden tubular bridge. Here and there in the woodwork were knotholes, which let in the sun in bars of light. The animals were afraid of these sun-bars; they shied at them, were terrified at them, and then, leaping over them, made a painful hurdle-race of it, coming out at the other end palpitating and exhausted. We are just like them. The laws of God are golden rays in a dark path, they are for our guidance and infinite perfecting and consolation. But they irritate us, they enrage us, we count them despotic barriers to our liberty and happiness, and too often we put them under our feet. So foolish was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast before Thee.
II. The liberty of licence. Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord. These nobles wished to be free themselves in enslaving their brethren, but in doing this they gave themselves away into servitude; they wished to enrich themselves, and they lost everything; they sought personal indulgence at the expense of their neighbours, and they suffered sword and famine and pestilence. Disobedience always means bondage, disgrace, suffering, death. A liberty to the sword, the famine, and the pestilence! Most awful is the liberty of unrighteousness; who can express the fulness of its woe! Some of you have visited the Castle of Chillon on the Lake of Geneva. In that castle is a dungeon which contains a shaft, at the bottom of which you see the waters of the lake; that shaft is called the way of liberty. Tradition says that in the old days the jailor in the darkness of the dungeon would whisper to the prisoner, Three steps and liberty, and the poor dupe, hastily stepping forward, fell down this shaft, which was planted full of knives and spikes, the mutilated, bloody corpse finally dropping into the depths. That is precisely the liberty of sin. The dupe of sin takes a leap in the dark, he is forthwith pierced through with many sorrows, and mangled and bleeding falls into the gulf. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
1. I want you to feel the madness of contending with God, for that is exactly what sin means.
2. I want you to believe that only through self-limitation can you find the highest liberty and blessedness. All civilisation is the giving up of liberty to find a nobler liberty.
3. If you are to keep the law, you must seek the strength of God in Christ. Born of God, living in fellowship with Him, full of faith, of love, of hope, we shall find the yoke of the law easy, and its burden light. The inner force is equal to the outward duty. (W. L. Watkinson.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. I proclaim a liberty for you] Ye proclaimed liberty to your slaves, and afterward resumed your authority over them; and I had in consequence restrained the sword from cutting you off: but now I give liberty to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and to the captivity, to destroy and consume you, and enslave you: for ye shall be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth. The prophet loves to express the conformity between the crime and its punishment. You promised to give liberty to your enslaved brethren; I was pleased, and bound the sword in its sheath. You broke your promise, and brought them again into bondage; I gave liberty to the sword, pestilence, and famine, to destroy multitudes of you, and captivity to take the rest. Thus you are punished according to your crimes, and in the punishment you may see the crime. Sword, pestilence, and famine are frequently joined together, as being often the effects of each other. The sword or war produces famine; famine, the pestilence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They had turned and given a liberty, Jer 34:20; how doth God say here they had not? So God accounteth none to have done those good acts which they do in a fit, or merely to serve themselves of God; he saith they had not done it, because they did not persist to do it; in such a case mens righteousness shall by God never be remembered, but they shall die in the sins they have committed. Seeing you have refused to manumise your servants at my command, I will manumise you, and set you free from my protection and care. You shall perish by the sword, famine, and pestilence; and those of you who escape them shall see how pleasant a thing it is to be slaves, and in servitude, for you shall be dispersed in many nations, and be servants to the rulers of them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. not . . . proclaiminglibertyThough the Jews had ostensibly emancipated theirbond-servants, they virtually did not do so by revoking theliberty which they had granted. God looks not to outward appearances,but to the sincere intention.
I proclaim alibertyretribution answering to the offense (Mat 7:2;Mat 18:32; Mat 18:33;Gal 6:7; Jas 2:13).The Jews who would not give liberty to their brethren shallthemselves receive “a liberty” calamitous to them. God willmanumit them from His happy and safe service (Ps121:3), which is real “liberty” (Psa 119:45;Joh 8:36; 2Co 3:17),only to pass under the terrible bondage of other taskmasters, the”sword,” c.
to be removedTheHebrew expresses agitation (see on Jer15:4). Compare Deu 28:25Deu 28:48; Deu 28:64;Deu 28:65, as to the restlessagitation of the Jews in their ceaseless removals from place toplace in their dispersion.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore thus saith the Lord,…. This being the case, and this their crime, which was provoking to the Lord;
ye have not hearkened unto me in proclaiming liberty everyone to his brother, and everyone to his neighbour; for though they did proclaim liberty, they did not act according to it; they did not give the liberty they proclaimed, at least they did not continue so to do; as soon almost as they had granted the favour, they took it away again; and because they did not persevere in well doing, it is reckoned by the Lord as not done at all:
behold, I proclaim liberty for you, saith the Lord; or rather against them; he dismissed them from his service, care, and protection, and consigned them to other lords and masters: he gave them up
to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; to rule over them; and gave them liberty to make havoc of them, and destroy them, that what was left by the one might be seized on by the other:
and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth: or, “for a commotion” t; to be moved, and wander from place to place in great fear and terror, not knowing where to settle or live comfortably. This was a liberty to go about in foreign countries where they could, for relief and shelter, being banished from their own land; but this was a liberty very miserable and uncomfortable; and indeed no other than captivity and bondage; and so it is threatened that what remained of them, who were not destroyed with the sword of the Chaldeans, or perished not by pestilence and famine, should be carried captive, and be miserable vagabonds in each of the kingdoms and nations of the world.
t “in commotionem”, Vatablus, Cocceius, Schmidt, “commotioni”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Vs. 17-22: THE HIGH COST OF PROFANING GOD’S NAME
1. Since Judah has acted falsely, with regard to God’s covenant, and the release of their bondsmen, the Lord will liberate them, (vs. 17); having perverted her own liberty into license, she has, by her self-will, loosed herself from the sphere of God’s protecting providence to become enslaved (Lev 26:34-39; comp. Mat 7:2): to the sword, (Jer 32:24; Jer 38:2), to pestilence, to famine and to captivity – being scattered among “all the kingdoms of the earth”, (Jer 29:18; comp. Deu 28:25; Deu 28:64).
2. The covenant that God had made with them was ratified, on their part, by the cutting in half of a calf (their “cutting” of that which symbolized the covenant), and passing between the two parts, (vs. 18-19; comp. Gen 15:10): this was their solemn pledge to abide by the stipulations of the covenant.
3. Since they have “transgressed the- covenant” (Deu 17:2; Hos 6:7; Hos 8:1) in failing to do as they had promised, the Lord will deliver them into the hands of their enemies (comp. Jer 11:21-23; Jer 21:7; Jer 22:24-26) where their dead bodies, like that of the calf, will “be meat for the fowls of the heaven” and the beasts of the earth, (vs. 20; 19:7; comp. 1Sa 17:44-46).
4. Though the army of Babylon has temporarily lifted the siege against Jerusalem, Jeremiah insists that the Lord will still deliver Zedekiah and his princes into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, (vs. 21; Jer 32:3-4; Jer 39:6-8; 2Ki 25:18-21; Eze 17:16-21).
5. The Lord Himself will command the Babylonians to take Jerusalem, to burn it with fire, and to make the cities of Judah so desolate that they will be without inhabitant, (vs. 22; Jer 4:7; Jer 33:10; Jer 44:22).
6. God’s name may still be profaned by:
a. Despising and rebelling against His right to lordship over our lives;
b. Libeling His character – in professing to practice all sorts of wickedness in His name; and
c. Robbing Him of the honor and glory that are rightfully due him, by failing to render such faithful, humble and joyful service as should be inspired by His very GOODNESS toward us!
And the cost of such profanation is exceedingly high! (Heb 10:26-31).
What Lesson Does this Have for us Today?
The “Name of God” still stands as a revelation of His character, His honor and His authority – all of which are summed up in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord! Every name and title of God found in the Scriptures is a suggestion, and unveiling, a REVELATION of what God is! His name was SACRED, (Exo 20:7; Neh 9:5-6; Pro 18:10; Isa 50:10; Mal 1:11-12). And blessing was associated with His name, (Num 6:23-27).
I. IT STANDS AS A SYMBOL OF DIVINE RESPECT FOR MEN.
A. JESUS CLEARLY IDENTIFIED HIMSELF WITH MEN in His incarnation, and in the humbling of Himself in obedience, even unto death, FOR OUR SIN!
B. The true glory and worth of humanity is revealed in His voluntary laying aside of His divine rights and privileges that He might be tempted “in all points” as we are – triumphing over it all IN OUR BEHALF!
C. Humanity is NOT degraded by the stripping of the Son of Man in our behalf – nor by His loneliness and poverty in human life; instead, it is ENNOBLED: He manifested the divine outlook upon humanity -revealing GOD’S RESPECT FOR MAN!
D. When Jesus was in the world He was not attracted by poverty or wealth; He loved and respected men AS MEN! The “Name of the Lord” also stands as:
II. A SYMBOL OF GOD’S LOVING CARE FOR MANKIND a care that is manifested in His giving to every man adequate opportunity for the realization of his highest potential in life. THAT is the real MEANING OF SALVATION!
A. Salvation is NOT some METHOD whereby God reaches down to a depraved, ruined sinner – transforming him into an entirely different being with a different nature.
B. Nor is it that by which God takes hold of one who is a BEAST and transforms him into an ANGEL!
C. SALVATION is that whereby God reaches down to man and makes it possible for him TO BE SUCH A MAN AS MAN WAS INTENDED TO BE!
D. We talk about being “born again”; we OUGHT to talk about it; it is our Lord’s teaching -the revelation of the Gospel; but, the New Birth is the way whereby man is RE-ADMITTED into the potentialities and possibilities of his ORIGINAL CREATION!
1. Man must be viewed as the very “offspring of Deity”!
2. But, we have, through sin, LOST OUR BIRTHRIGHT-and, with it, our sense of relationship with God, and the powers inherent in that relationship.
3. Salvation comes in our RESTORATION to that which has been lost -that each of us may FIND and REALIZE experimentally the TRUE MEANING OF LIFE!
4. THIS is God’s care for man – as symbolized in His very NAME!
What Practical Bearing Ought this to Have on Our Living?
I. IF WE USE THE NAME OF GOD, let us make sure that we HALLOW IT instead of PROFANING it; there is the terrible possibility of our profaning that holy name while IMAGINING that we are hallowing it.
A. The name of God is not profaned so terribly by the man from the slum – born with the language of vulgarity on his lips – as by the one who prays in the house of God, but fails to recognize that the hallowing of God’s name involves RIGHT ATTITUDES toward his brother, his sister, and his fellow men! To USE the Lord’s name, or His word, as a WEAPON for forcing others into a mold of our own making, is to PROFANE His holy name!
B. TO “HALLOW” GOD’S NAME IS:
1. To REVERENCE His character.
2. To defend His honor, and
3. To OBEY His authority.
C. THE REAL TEST COMES IN ONE’S ATTITUDE TOWARD HIS FELLOW MEN. We hallow God’s name when we respect one another, care for one another, and endeavor to lovingly SERVE one another.
D. One of the most difficult commandments in the entire New Testament is that which admonishes: “Honor ALL men!”
II. THOUGH ONE EMPLOYS THE WORDS OF THE MODEL PRAYER, in expressing the desire to “hallow” God’s name, while holding contempt within his heart for some other person, THAT HOLY NAME IS PROFANED IN THE VERY ACT OF PRAYING!
Contempt of another person, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, is NOT Christianity; it is a PROFANING OF THE NAME – the character, honor and authority OF GOD!
III. BECAUSE ISRAEL HAD NEGLECTED JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS – component parts of LOVE – God said “I will give you to the liberty of the sword, and pestilence and famine!”
IV. If the covenant nation so defaces, as to obliterate, the divine image and superscription upon their national character – thrcu:71 h e. scandalous neglect of humanity-THEN GOD WILL REMINT THE COIN in the furnace of affliction! (Jas 5:1-6; 1Jn 3:15-19).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here the Prophet shews that a just reward was prepared for the Jews, who robbed their brethren of the privilege of freedom, for they also would have in their turn to serve after the Lord had made them free. But he alludes to the way then in use in which they had granted freedom, and says, Ye have not proclaimed liberty They had indeed proclaimed it, as we have seen; but not in sincerity, for they who had been for a short time made free, were soon afterwards constrained to serve. God then makes here no reference to the outward act which the Jews had performed, but shews that faithfulness and integrity are so pleasing to him, that he makes no account of what is merely done outwardly. Hence the promulgation of liberty is not before God the verbal one, but that which is carried into effect. With men it is enough to profess a thing, but God regards as nothing all false professions. He therefore complains that the Jews did not obey his word. We have already said that it was not right according to the law to retain servants longer than six years; for in the seventh year the law ordered those who had given themselves up to servitude to be set free. But God restored this law as it were by way of recovery, as it had become almost obsolete. And this is the reason why he says that they hearkened not For he had not only taught by Moses what was right, but had also shewn by Jeremiah that the Jews impiously and wickedly disregarded this humane command. We hence learn what it is to obey God’s word, even when we not only embrace what he declares, but also persevere in obedience to him: for it is not enough to exhibit some kind of a right feeling for a short time, except we continue to obey God. The Jews had with their mouth made a profession, and gave some evidence of a disposition to obey; the servants were allowed their liberty; but as the masters shortly after returned to their previous injustice, we see the reason why God says that they had not hearkened to him
It is added, that he would proclaim liberty to them, that is, against them. If we read, “Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,” then the meaning is, “I will emancipate you,” that is, “I shall have nothing more to do with you; go and enjoy your own liberty; but ye shall immediately become a prey to other masters, even to the sword, to the pestilence, and to famine.” This meaning is not unsuitable; for it was the happiness of the ancient people alone to be under the protection of God: but when they became disobedient, he dismissed them, and would not have them under his guardianship. But nothing can be more miserable than such emancipation, that is, when God rejects those over whom he had been pleased to rule, and whose patron he had for a time been; for all kinds of evils will soon come upon them, and God will not interpose his hand. This, then, is the liberty of those who are not willing to bear, as it becomes them, the yoke of obedience to God, even to be exposed to all evils, for it is only by him we can be defended. We hence see that the meaning is very suitable, when we read “Behold, I proclaim to you liberty, but it is to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine.”
We may, however, take another view, “Behold, I proclaim liberty for you,” that is, against you; for ל , lamed, has this sense: “I proclaim liberty against you,” — how? to the sword, etc., that is, “I order the sword to exercise power against you, and I will permit also the same right to the pestilence, and I will permit a like dominion to the famine: the sword, then, and the pestilence, and the famine, shall rule over you, for ye cannot bear my authority.” For though the Jews boasted that they were God’s chosen people, yet as they were so refractory as to despise the Law and the Prophet, it is quite evident that what they wished was unbridled licentiousness. God then renounces here his own right, and says that it was their fault that they were not free, for he would no more defend them, as an advocate his clients, or as a master his servants. So also it is said in the Psalms,
“
Behold, our eyes are to God, as the eyes of servants who look to their masters, as the eyes of a maid to her mistress.” (Psa 123:1)
We indeed know that servants formerly were exposed to all sorts of wrongs; they dared not move a finger, when grievously treated; but if any servant was wronged by another man, his master would undertake his cause and defend him. Then the Psalmist compares the people to servants and slaves, and says that their whole safety depended on the help of God. But God now declares that he will be no longer their guardian; and when he dismissed them, all kinds of evils, as we have said, would come upon them, even the sword, the pestilence, and the famine.
He at length adds, And I will give you for a commotion to all the kingdoms of the earth The words may mean two things. Some take them as though God threatened that they should become unsettled, and vagrants through all the kingdoms of the world; and others, that they would be for a commotion, for every one either seeing or hearing of their miserable state would tremble. The passage is taken from Deu 28:25, where we read,
“
I will give thee for a commotion.”
The latter meaning is what I mostly approve, — that the Jews would be for a commotion; for the vengeance which God would take on them would be so dreadful, that all would be greatly moved or affected, according to what is said by Isaiah,
“
The, commotion shall be for amazement.” (Isa 28:19)
We then perceive what the Prophet means, — that God would so severely punish perjury and treachery, that the Jews would become an example to all people; for it would be a sad spectacle for all nations to see the children of Abraham, whom God had adopted, the most miserable of human beings. Their condition, then, would be an object of horror; and this is what the Prophet now declares and threatens. It follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you . . . The phrase proclaim liberty, prominent in connexion with the law which had been broken (Lev. 25:10; Isa. 61:1), is emphasised with an indignant irony. They had refused to act as the servants of Jehovah (Lev. 25:55) under His protection, finding in that service their perfect freedom; and He, therefore, in His righteous wrath, would punish them by giving them the emancipation which they denied to others. He would set them free from His service, and therefore from His protection, and leave them to their fateto the sword, to the famine, to exile. They had refused the obedience which was freedom: they should have the freedom which would be bondage.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. I proclaim a liberty for you I will punish you according to your offence. I will set you free from my care and guidance will manumit you from my safe and happy service will substitute a liberty to calamity and death for a service of prosperity and life. Make you to be removed, etc. Make you to be a dread unto. Others translate, make you an agitation.
Keil, make you a tossing hither and thither. According to these last there is here predicted the condition of unrest in which the Jewish people have been.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 34:17. Behold, I proclaim a liberty “I will now make public proclamation, that I give free commission and liberty for the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, to destroy you utterly.” The reader will observe a turn upon the words in this denunciation, which is not uncommon in the sacred writers.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 34:17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
Ver. 17. Ye have not hearkened unto me in proclaiming liberty. ] Ye have not done it, because ye have not continued to do it; ye have lost the things that you had wrought.
Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 34:17-22
17Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the LORD, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts 19the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf 20I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. 21Zedekiah 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. 22Behold, I am going to command,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’
Jer 34:17 The leaders of Jerusalem swore in God’s name to free their Hebrew slaves but they did not. Now YHWH will free (lit. liberty, BDB 204 I) the sword (BDB 352), pestilence (BDB 184), and famine (BDB 944) on them (see note at Jer 14:12).
and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth This same phrase is used in Jer 29:18 and Deu 28:25. God’s covenant people were meant to be a light to the nations but they had become a proverb of disaster! This was an exact reversal of God’s purposes (cf. Eze 36:22-38)!
Jer 34:19 who passed between the parts of the calf This was an ancient method of ratifying a covenant (cf. Gen 15:9-10; Gen 15:17). See Special Topic: Covenant .
Jer 34:20 An improper burial was a horror to ancient Jewish people (cf. Jer 19:7; 1Sa 17:44; 1Sa 17:46; 1Ki 14:11; 1Ki 16:4). It functioned as a threat and curse.
Jer 34:22 I will bring them back to this city As Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem in 588 B.C., the Egyptian army appeared in Judah. The Babylonians withdrew their siege of Jerusalem for a brief period to meet the new threat (cf. Jeremiah 37), but there was no battle and the siege of Jerusalem was quickly reestablished.
Notice it is YHWH (lit. I am going to command – BDB 845, KB 1010, Piel ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) who directs the Babylonian military (cf. 2Ki 24:3). Remember the concept of monotheism (see Special Topic: Monotheism ) is often communicated by the absence of secondary causes! YHWH is in control of individual, national, and international (as well as physical) events!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
liberty . . . liberty. Figure of speech Antanaclasis, by which the same word is used in two different senses in the same sentence.
to. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, and Syriac, read “and to”, completing the Figure of speech Polysyndeton.
make you to be removed. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 28:25, Deu 28:64). App-92. Compare Jer 24:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
behold: When they proclaimed liberty to their slaves, God restrained the sword from cutting them off; but now having resumed their authority over them, He proclaimed liberty to these dire judgments to seize upon, and destroy them. Lev 26:34, Lev 26:35, Deu 19:19, Jdg 1:6, Jdg 1:7, Est 7:10, Dan 6:24, Mat 7:2, Luk 6:37, Luk 6:38, Gal 6:7, Jam 2:13, Rev 16:6
to the sword: Jer 15:2, Jer 21:7, Jer 24:10, Jer 32:24, Jer 32:36, Jer 47:6, Jer 47:7, Eze 14:17-21
I will: Jer 15:4, Jer 24:9, Jer 24:10, Jer 29:18, Deu 28:25, Deu 28:64
to be removed: Heb. for a removing, Lam 1:8, *marg.
Reciprocal: Gen 42:21 – we saw Pro 21:13 – at Isa 65:12 – will I Jer 12:12 – the sword Jer 16:4 – consumed Jer 21:6 – they Jer 24:8 – So will Jer 29:17 – Behold Jer 29:19 – General Jer 34:8 – to proclaim Jer 38:2 – He Eze 23:46 – to be removed and spoiled Mic 2:3 – do Mal 2:2 – ye will not hear
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 34:17. I proclaim a liberty for you means the Lord was going to punish these trucebreakers who were His servants by releasing them from their present servitude, In other words, their present Master was going to turn them over to another master who would treat them very cruelly. He was to punish them with the sword and other harsh measures, then remove them from their own country.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
34:17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened to me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to {g} the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
(g) That is, I give the sword liberty to destroy you.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Because the people had not released their servants, the Lord was going to release them from His protection to experience the sword, disease, and starvation. They would become an awful example to the other kingdoms of the earth. Then there would be no distinction between Hebrew masters and servants; they would all be servants of Nebuchadnezzar.