Jeremiah 34:20

Jer 34:20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

Ver. 20. And their dead bodies.] Jer 7:33; Jer 16:4.

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.

I will even give--resuming the sentence begun, but not completed (Jer 34:18), "I will give," &c.

seek their life--implacably: satisfied with nothing short of their blood; not content with booty.

dead bodies--The breakers of the covenant shall be cut in pieces, as the calf between whose parts they passed.

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

He confirms and explains what he had before said, and expresses how the punishment would be executed, — that he would deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and he adds, who seek their life, in order to shew that their enemies would not be content with the spoils, or with a moderate punishment, but would be their inveterate enemies, who would not be satisfied until they destroyed them. Now this passage teaches us also that the ungodly are God’s scourges, for the punishment he resolved to inflict on the transgressors of his law, he executed through them. Though then the Chaldeans had another object than to be God’s ministers in punishing the Jews, yet they performed God’s work as though they were his hired servants, subject to his own will and pleasure. Nor is there a doubt but that their minds had been greatly exasperated against the Jews, so that they shed blood indiscriminately withoat mercy: for as God often says,

“I will give you favor in the sight of your enemies,” (Exodus 3:21; 11:3)

so also on the other hand, he declares, that when enemies raged cruelly against them, it was through hls secret influence, he having resolved severely to punish them. This is the reason why he now says, that he would deliver the Jews into the hand of those who sought their life, that is, who were not intent on prey or spoils, and would not be satisfied with moderate punishment, but would be implacable enemies, until they destroyed the people.

Another kind of punishment follows, Their carcases shall be for food to the birds of heaving, and to the beasts of the earth, as though he had said, that God’s vengeance on the Jews would be made evident even after death. We said last week, that it would be no loss to us were we to he unburied, for burial brings no advantage to us; but yet it is a sign of God’s vengeance. As then famine, and nakedness, and cold, and diseases, and other evils, are evidences of God’s wrath against men, so also it is when the body of a dead man is cast forth, and is either torn by wild beasts, or eaten by birds. If any one objects and says, that this has sometimes happened to the best and holiest of God’s servants; to this we answer, that temporal punishment happens in common to the good and the bad; but when God by famine and want, by diseases also, or by exile, or by prison, or by any other evils, tries and chastises his servants, all this is to them as a help to their salvation. Yet this special mercy of God towards the faithful, which is a peculiar privilege, is no reason why all miseries should in themselves be deemed evidences of God’s wrath, for they are everywhere called curses. And we also know that from the same fountain flow all the evils which men suffer in this life, even from God’s judgment, who in this manner executes punishment. It is not then without reason that the Prophet here declares, that so severe and dreadful would be God’s judgment towards the Jews, that it would extend beyond death itself, for they would become meat to the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the earth. It follows —

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.

(20) Their dead bodies shall be for meat . . .—As in Jer_7:33; Jer_16:4; Jer_19:7, this takes its place as the extremest penalty of transgression. The sentence on Zedekiah and his princes—i.e., those who were more immediately connected with his policy—is as before (Jer_34:5) somewhat milder, probably because he, though too weak and vacillating to stop the evil which the prophet condemned, had not been actively prominent in the transgression of the covenant, and showed more disposition, as in Jer_37:17, to listen to his counsels.

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

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 Jer 52:10.

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

God doth not threaten all the Jews, but those only who had made this covenant, and formally confirmed it, by killing a beast, and passing through the parts of it thus divided and laid opposite one to another. Of these he spareth none, but threatens both the king, and nobles, and great courtiers, as well as the people, that he would give them into the hand of their enemies that thirsted after their blood; they should be slain, and their dead bodies should not be buried. Herein the righteousness of God appeared, by doing to them as they desired (by passing betwixt the calf) that God would do in case they did not keep to the promise they had made, and called God to witness, and challenging him to destroy them if they did not fulfil what they covenanted for.

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

And their dead bodies, etc. One of Jeremiah"s repetitions. (Jer_7:33)

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

I will give them into the hand of their enemies

The word "hand" here is a metonym for the power or control that the enemies will exercise using their hands. AT; "I will allow their enemies to have complete control over them"

seeking their lives

This is a polite way to say that they wanted to kill them. AT: "seeking to kill them" (See: Euphemism)

this is Yahweh's declaration

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

into the hand of their enemies

Here the word "hands" represents control. AT: "to be conquered by their enemies" or "over to the control of their enemies" (See: Metonymy)

risen up

"come to fight"

bring them

bring the Babylonian armies

translationWords

hand

life

body

heaven

beast

raise

command

ruin

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