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Jeremiah 34:9

in Jeremiah 34

that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, that is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bondmen of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.

KJV

That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.

This verse in Jeremiah 34

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew, or an Hebrewess, go free,.... This is the proclamation that was agreed to be made, that every manservant and maidservant, that serve six years an apprenticeship, should be freed from their servitude, according to the law in Exo 21:1; a law founded upon justice and equity, mercy and compassion; done for the honour of the Jewish nation, that they might be a free people, and in commemoration of their deliverance from their servitude in Egypt.

This site's exposition

After King Zedekiah had made a

on Jeremiah 34:8-12

Under the siege, Zedekiah made a covenant with the people “to proclaim liberty,” “that each man should free his Hebrew slaves.” The reversal followed, “later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed,” and verse 12 brings the LORD's answer.

This site's exposition

free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female

The release applied to Hebrew slaves, men and women alike. John Gill traces it to the law of Exodus 21 and reads that law as a memorial of Israel's own release from slavery in Egypt. A people once freed was to hold no brother in bondage.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • לְ֠שַׁלַּחto let go

    leshalachH7971 →845 times

  • אִ֣ישׁeveryone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • עַבְדּ֞וֹ[male] slave his

    avdoH5650 →799 times

  • וְאִ֧ישׁand everyone

    veishH376 →1663 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • שִׁפְחָת֛וֹfemale slave his

    shifchatoH8198 →63 times

  • הָעִבְרִ֥י<the> Hebrew [masc]

    haivriH5680 →34 times

  • וְהָעִבְרִיָּ֖הand <the> Hebrew [fem]

    vehaivriyahH5680 →34 times

  • חָפְשִׁ֑יםfree [people]

    chafeshimH2670 →17 times

  • לְבִלְתִּ֧יto not

    leviltiH1115 →112 times

  • עֲבָד־to work

    ʾavod-H5647 →288 times

  • בָּ֛םby <the> them

    bam

  • בִּיהוּדִ֥יby a Jew

    bihudiH3064 →75 times

  • אָחִ֖יהוּbrother his

    ʾachihuH251 →630 times

  • אִֽישׁ׃anyone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 6:8

    Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers!

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 4:6

      and no one should ever violate or exploit his brother in this regard, because the Lord will avenge all such acts, as we have already told you and solemnly warned you.

  • Through

    Exodus 2:6

    When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 8:50

      May You forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all the transgressions they have committed against You, and may You grant them compassion in the eyes of their captors to show them…

    • 1 Peter 3:8

      Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

    • Acts 7:21

      When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 15:12

    If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 34:14

      Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers…

    • Exodus 21:2–6

      If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.

    • Leviticus 25:39–41

      If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 14:11

    So the two of them showed themselves to the outpost of the Philistines, who exclaimed, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they were hiding!”

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 13:6

      Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.