Jeremiah 34:19

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;)

Jeremiah 34:19 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 34:19

The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem
Here is a particular enumeration of the persons that had made the covenant, and transgressed it, and that should suffer for so doing; the princes of Judah, distinguished from the princes of Jerusalem, design such princes as lived without Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, and presided over them, though now at Jerusalem, having fled thither, upon the invasion of the king of Babylon, for their safety; as the princes of Jerusalem, or the magistrates of that city, are distinguished from the princes of the blood, and from the courtiers, both in this and ( Jeremiah 34:21 ) ; the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land;
that is, as many as had got into Jerusalem to secure themselves from the common enemy: the "priests" also were concerned herein, who had menservants, and maidservants, as well as others; and, besides, were persons doubtless concerned in drawing up the covenant and the form of an oath, as well as in slaying the sacrifice, and cutting it into pieces, and laying the parts in order: it is more surprising that there should be "eunuchs" here; that such should be in the court of the king of Judah, and have offices in it, and preside in them, as among the Gentiles. The Targum renders the word "princes": which passed between the parts of the calf;
signifying their assent to the covenant, and wishing they might be so used if they broke it.

Jeremiah 34:19 In-Context

17 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Ye heard not me, that ye preached freedom, each man to his brother, and each man to his friend; lo! (so now) I preach to you freedom, saith the Lord, and to sword, and to hunger, and to pestilence; and I shall give you into stirring to all realms of (the) earth. (And so the Lord saith these things, Ye did not listen to me, ye who proclaimed freedom, each person to their brother, and each person to their friend; so now lo! I proclaim freedom to you, saith the Lord, yea, freedom to the sword, and to hunger, and to pestilence; and I shall give you into stirring, or into loathing, by all the kingdoms of the earth.)
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.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.