Jer 34:8-35:19 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Jer 34:8-35:19: 34:8–35:19 Here are faithless (34:8-22 ) and faithful (35:1-19 ) examples of covenant-keeping. Summary for Jer 34:8-22: 34:8-22 Zedekiah ordered the people to free their slaves ; he was apparently trying to curry favor with God by enforcing the covenant requirements regarding the Hebrew ownership of slaves (Exod 21:2-4 ) that had been neglected since Moses’ time. However, the order was worse than useless because the people soon went back on this new affirmation of the covenant , just as they had broken their treaty with Nebuchadnezzar (see Ezek 21:23-24 ) and their original covenant with the Lord. The Lord would punish them as their treachery deserved.

Summary for Jer 34:8-35:19: 34:8–35:19 ^a Here are faithless (34:8-22 ^b) and faithful (35:1-19 ^c) examples of covenant-keeping.
Summary for Jer 34:8-22: 34:8-22 ^d Zedekiah ordered the people to free their slaves; he was apparently trying to curry favor with God by enforcing the covenant requirements regarding the Hebrew ownership of slaves (Exod 21:2-4 ^e) that had been neglected since Moses’ time. However, the order was worse than useless because the people soon went back on this new affirmation of the covenant, just as they had broken their treaty with Nebuchadnezzar (see Ezek 21:23-24 ^f) and their original covenant with the Lord. The Lord would punish them as their treachery deserved.
Summary for Jer 34:15-16: 34:15-16 ^g The slaveholders had done what was right in releasing their slaves; they had obeyed God’s command. But their covenant had been made in the Temple, and when they broke their covenant, they defiled God’s name and treated it with contempt (in violation of Deut 5:11 ^h).
Summary for Jer 34:17-20: 34:17-20 ⁱ Because of their sin in breaking the terms of their covenant, the Lord would cut them apart and separate them from his protective care. This expression relates to the covenant ceremony of killing and cutting a calf sacrifice into two parts from head to tail. Those making a covenant walked between the laid-out portions to indicate their willingness to be similarly cut apart if they violated the covenant (see Gen 15:9-18 ^j). All classes of people in Judah had broken their oath, so they would all receive the punishment to which they had agreed.
Summary for Jer 34:21-22: 34:21-22 ^k Pharaoh Hophra had a treaty with Zedekiah to help him if he were attacked (Isa 30:1-3 ^l; 31:1-3 ^m). The Babylonians left Jerusalem to fight against Pharaoh Hophra (Jer 37:5-7 ⁿ), but their departure was temporary.

‏ Jeremiah 35

Summary for Jer 35:1-36:32: 35:1–36:32 ^o These two chapters look back two decades to the time when Jehoiakim was on the throne.
Summary for Jer 35:1-19: 35:1-19 ^p The Recabites’ obedience to their ancestor contrasted sharply with the Israelites’ rebellion against the Lord their God. 35:1 ^q This incident took place during Jehoiakim’s reign, when the Babylonian army first attacked Jerusalem (605 BC; see 35:11 ^r).
35:2 ^s The Recabites were descendants of Jehonadab son of Recab, a Kenite who had served under Jehu, king of Israel (2 Kgs 10:15 ^t, 23 ^u; 1 Chr 2:55 ^v). Jeremiah probably knew that the Recabites did not drink wine, but he obeyed the Lord’s command.
35:3 ^w The Jeremiah mentioned here was not the prophet; he and the others represented the Recabite community.
35:4 ^x Jeremiah the prophet carefully described the location of the room in the Temple, taking note that Hanan, the man in charge, was a man of God. During this idolatrous time in Judah’s history, the prophet had some friends in high places who remained believers in the one true God.
Summary for Jer 35:6-10: 35:6-10 ^y Jehonadab had bound his descendants to a nomadic lifestyle free of the trappings of sedentary life, and the Recabites had been obedient.
Summary for Jer 35:12-19: 35:12-19 ^z The Lord applied the Recabites’ example in stark contrast to the people of Judah. The Recabites had been deprived of many good things in life, yet they remained obedient.
Summary for Jer 35:14-16: 35:14-16 ^aa The Recabites never drank wine, simply because their human ancestor had told them not to. The people of Israel should have been even more willing to listen and obey when the Lord told them to turn from their wicked ways and live according to his laws.
Summary for Jer 35:17-19: 35:17-19 ^ab The Lord pronounced punishment on Judah’s sin.
35:19 ^ac One of the descendants of Jehonadab son of Recab apparently returned from Babylon after the Exile and helped to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem (see Neh 3:14 ^ad).