Jeremiah 34:20

20 and I shall give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and the dead carrion of them shall be into meat to the volatiles of the air, and to the beasts of (the) earth. (and I shall give them into the hands, or into the power, of their enemies, and into the hands of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.)

Jeremiah 34:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 34:20

I will even give them into the hand of their enemies
The Chaldeans, who were the enemies of the Jews, that were come from a far country to invade, dispossess, ravage, and plunder them; and what can be a greater punishment than to be given up into an enemy's hand, to be in his power, and at his mercy? and into the hand of them that seek their life;
not their wealth and substance only, but their lives also; nothing less will content them: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven,
and to the beasts of the earth;
not only such should be the cruelty of their enemies that sought their lives, that they should slay them with the sword, and give them no quarter; but such their inhumanity, that they should not suffer their carcasses to be buried, but leave them exposed to birds and beasts of prey; of the princes of Judah, see ( Jeremiah 52:10 ) .

Jeremiah 34:20 In-Context

18 And I shall give the men, that brake my bond of peace, and kept not the words of [the] bond of peace, to which they assented in my sight, and kept not the calf which they cutted into two parts; (And I shall make those who broke my covenant, and did not keep, or obey, the words of the covenant, to which they assented before me, to become like the calf which they cut into two parts;)
19 and (they be) the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, and the honest (and chaste) servants, and priests (that) went between the partings thereof, and all the people of the land, that went between the partings of the calf; (and these be the leaders of Judah, and the leaders of Jerusalem, and the eunuchs, and the priests who went between its parts, and all the people of the land, who went between the parts of the calf;)
20 and I shall give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and the dead carrion of them shall be into meat to the volatiles of the air, and to the beasts of (the) earth. (and I shall give them into the hands, or into the power, of their enemies, and into the hands of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.)
21 And I shall give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the hosts of the king of Babylon, that went away from you. (And I shall give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his leaders, into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of those who seek their lives, and into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, that went away from you.)
22 Lo! I command, saith the Lord, and I shall bring them again into this city; and they shall fight against it, and shall take it, and shall burn it with fire; and I shall give the cities of Judah into wilderness, for there is no dweller. (Lo! I command, saith the Lord, and I shall bring them again into this city; and they shall fight against it, and shall take it, and they shall burn it down; and I shall make the cities of Judah like a wilderness, or like a desert, where there be no inhabitants.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.