Jeremiah 34:15

Jer 34:15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

Ver. 15. And you were now turned.] Being frightened into a temporary reformation: but all was in hypocrisy, as now well appeareth. Falling stars were never but meteors.

In proclaiming liberty every one to his neighbour.] Your servants were your neighbours, and "their flesh as your flesh," {Neh 5:5} and should have been so considered. In the law the servant paid the half shekel as well as his master. And in the gospel, as there is "neither Jew nor Greek, so neither bond nor free, but all are one in Christ Jesus," {Gal 3:28} whether he be lord or lowlies. Servus est domini sui συναδελφος.

And ye had made a covenant before.] And have not all done so in baptism, that Beersheba, or Well of an oath?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 34:15-17. And ye were now turned — That is, reformed in this particular; and had done right in my sight — In proclaiming liberty to your servants. And ye had made a covenant before me — Had entered into solemn engagements in my presence and temple to that purpose. This was probably such a covenant as Josiah and all the people had made formerly, (2Ki 23:2-3,) whereby they obliged themselves to serve God, and obey his laws in general, and this concerning giving freedom to their servants in particular. But ye turned — Declined from these good beginnings; and polluted my name — That is, profaned it, in swearing, or solemnly promising in and by it, to do that which you have not done. Certainly, whoever uses the name of God, by way of sanction to his promises, that the greater confidence may be placed in them, and afterward does not perform them, profanes or pollutes the name of God. Therefore, behold I proclaim liberty for you to the sword, &c. — I now declare that I give free commission and liberty to my sore judgments, the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, to invade and destroy multitudes of you. See Jer 32:24; Jer 32:36. The expressions here used import, that these calamities come upon men by direction and commission from God, as the executioners of his justice. And to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth — Those of you who escape destruction shall be dispersed through different nations, where you shall learn by experience how great are the hardships and miseries attendant on a state of servitude. See note on Jer 24:9.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34:15-16 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).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, in the Temple, to declare that it was a most solemn and straight covenant, made in the Name of the Lord.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

in the house . . . called by my name--the usual place of making such covenants (Kg2 23:3; compare Kg1 8:31; Neh 10:29).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And ye now turned, and did what was right in my eyes, by proclaiming liberty every one to his neighbor: God seems at first to commend the people; and no doubt it ought to have been deemed praiseworthy, that the people, after having been reminded that they had perversely disregarded God’s law, willingly engaged in doing their duty; but as they gave but a false proof of repentance, and did not really perform what they had promised, it was, as I have said, a great aggravation of their crime. So then God commended the repentance of the people, in order to shew how detestable is hypocrisy; for they shewed for a short time some feeling of humanity, but soon after proved that it was nothing but dissimulation. He therefore says, that they did what was right by proclaiming liberty And hence it also appears that they had not gone astray through ignorance, for God had required this kindness from them, that is, to restore what had been wickedly taken away from servants and maids, and to let them free again: except they had been constrained by the clear testimony of the Law, they would have never thus given up their private advantages. But after having made a pretense that they wished to obey God, they again soon remanded their servants and their maids. It hence appears evident that they trifled with God, and that it was a mere fraud to set free their servant only for a short time.

He says that they made a covenant in the house on which his name had been called, and also, that they had profaned his name All this added to their wickedness; for not only liberty had been proclaimed and confirmed by an oath, but this had also been done in the Temple. Hence he aggravates the sin of the people by this circumstance, — that they had made the covenant which they afterwards violated in the presence of God. For though the eyes of God penetrate into the most hidden recesses, yet the wickedness of the people became greater, and it was an evidence of men lost to all shame, that they dared to violate their pledged faith, and thus to shew no regard for the Temple, as though they had lost all reverence for God and all fear. It is hence evident how profane they were become, that they dared to come to the Temple and to make an oath before God, and then immediately to forfeit their faith.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(15) Ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name.—The words point to the solemnity with which the new engagements had been contracted. It was not merely that the king had issued an edict, or that judges had given their decisions in accordance with the old law, but princes and people had met together in the courts of the Temple, and there, in the presence of Jehovah, had entered into this covenant, as did their descendants afterwards in the days of Nehemiah (Neh_5:12-13), with Him and with each other. Their sin in breaking their covenant was therefore a sin against Him as well as against their brethren.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And ye were now turned,.... Or, "today indeed ye were turned" (r) some little time ago, indeed, it must be owned, that ye turned from the evil ways of your fathers, for which you were to be commended, as having acted a better part than they:

and had done right in my sight; what was acceptable to the Lord, approved of by him, being agreeably to his law; and it would have been well if they had continued so doing:

in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; for a manservant, or maidservant, was his neighbour, and to be treated as such, and loved as himself, especially a Hebrew one, of the same nation and religion; and not to be used as a slave, or retained for ever in bondage:

and ye made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; this circumstance is mentioned as an aggravation of the breach of the covenant they had made, to dismiss their servants according to law; it was made in a very solemn manner, in the presence of God, appealing to him as a witness; it was done in the temple, a sacred place, devoted to him and his worship; which was called by his name, the temple of the Lord, and where his name was called upon, and where were the symbols of his presence.

(r) "jam, vel et quidem conversi fuistis hodie", Schmidt; "reversi quidem vos hodie", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ye were now turned; that is, reformed in this particular, in which you had done the thing which I commanded you,

proclaiming a liberty to your servants. And you

made a covenant in my presence to that purpose, and that in the temple, where it seemeth this covenant was made.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ye were now turned; or, ye returned (the primary meaning is simply "to turn;" hence

(1) to turn away, as in ver. 16;

(2) to return, as here; comp. (Jer_8:4)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now you yourselves repented

Here the word "now" is used to draw attention to the important point that follows.

right in my eyes

"Eyes" here is a metonym for someone's opinion or idea. AT: "what I consider to be right" (See: Metonymy)

the house that is called by my name

This can be translated in active form. AT: "the house that belongs to me" or "the building in which they worship me" (See: Active or Passive Metonymy)

turned and polluted my name

A person's name is a metonym for what people think of him. AT: "stopped doing what was right and did evil things that have made people think that I am evil" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

repent

preach

neighbor

call

name

turn

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.