Jeremiah 34:8

SLAVES FREED AND PROMPTLY ENSLAVED AGAIN (JER. 34:8-22)

"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; that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, that is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bondmen of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. And all the princes and all the people obeyed, that had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his man-servant, and everyone his maid-servant, go free, that none should make bondmen of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go."

As evident later in the chapter, this solemn covenant was entered into in the holy Temple itself, and was witnessed by the priesthood and attested by all of the appropriate ceremonies.

"Made a covenant ..." (Jeremiah 34:8,10). Evidently, the covenant here resembled that of Genesis 15:2, in which one or more birds or animals or both were cut in half, and the contracting parties walked between the divided portions of the living creatures that were slain, thus calling all men and God Himself to witness that any violator of the solemn agreement entered into by this ceremony would himself be destroyed after the manner of the slain creatures.

"They obeyed, and let them go free ..." (Jeremiah 34:11). In the abbreviated account here, it is not clear whether or not the Jews freed all of their slaves, or only those who were being kept in bondage contrary to the Law of Moses; but, in any case, the number of manumissions must have been very considerable, as "all the princes and the people" entered into the covenant to do so.

Again the existence of the Pentateuch, and the Jews' familiarity with its teachings, is emphatically evident in the events of this prophecy. The laws appealed to here were those of Exodus 21:2,7 and Leviticus 25:39-55. The Jews knew all about those laws but simply refused to obey them. What induced the change here?

Early in the final siege of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar's immense composite army approached the city. It was early January in Zedekiah's ninth year. The evident danger quickened the conscience of the king and his people; and they at once "cut the covenant" to free their slaves, no doubt praying that, as a reward, God might spare their city.

This good deed was evidently a case of "death-bed repentance,"[10] as indicated in a quotation which Green attributed to Peake. Feinberg called it, "panic piety."[11]

Since there seems to have been no genuine religious devotion whatever behind this maneuver, we are led to inquire what was behind it?

REASONS FOR THIS MANEUVER

(1) In the approaching siege, by freeing their slaves, the evil masters would be no longer obligated to feed them.

(2) The shortage of defenders of the city might have been somewhat alleviated by making freemen of all the slaves, who then would be expected to fight for "their" city.

(3) The lack of opportunity to employ the slaves on the surrounding farm lands of Jerusalem, due to the occupation of this land by the enemy, could have made the quartering, clothing, and feeding of the slaves a very unwelcome burden.

Whatever the reasons, we can find nothing whatever honorable in this conduct of the Hebrew people.