Yirmeyah 34:17

17 Therefore thus saith Hashem; Ye have not paid heed unto Me, in proclaiming deror (freedom), everyone to his brother, and every ish to his neighbor; hineni, I proclaim deror (“freedom”) for you, saith Hashem, to the cherev, to the dever, and to the ra’av; and I will make you to be a horror to all the mamlechot ha’aretz.

Yirmeyah 34:17 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 34:17

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" ^F20; 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 (hewzl) "in commotionem", Vatablus, Cocceius, Schmidt, "commotioni", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Yirmeyah 34:17 In-Context

15 And recently ye turned, and did hayashar (the right) in My sight, in proclaiming deror (liberty) every ish to his neighbor; and ye cut a Brit (covenant) before Me in the Beis which is called by Shmi;

16 But ye turned around and profaned Shmi, and caused every ish his eved, and every ish his shifchah, whom he had set at liberty at their desire, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for avadim and for shfakhot.

17 Therefore thus saith Hashem; Ye have not paid heed unto Me, in proclaiming deror (freedom), everyone to his brother, and every ish to his neighbor; hineni, I proclaim deror (“freedom”) for you, saith Hashem, to the cherev, to the dever, and to the ra’av; and I will make you to be a horror to all the mamlechot ha’aretz.

18 And I will give the anashim that have transgressed My Brit, which have not performed the Devarim of the Brit (covenant) which they had cut before Me, when they cut the egel (calf) in two, and passed between the parts thereof,

19 The sarim of Yehudah, and the sarim of Yerushalayim, the sarisim, and the kohanim, and kol Am HaAretz, which passed between the parts of the egel (calf);