15 And now, turning away from evil, you had done what is right in my eyes, giving a public undertaking for every man to make his neighbour free; and you had made an agreement before me in the house which is named by my name:
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made an agreement with all the people in Jerusalem, to give news in public that servants were to be made free;
And the king took his place by the pillar, and made an agreement before the Lord, to go in the way of the Lord, and keep his orders and his decisions and his rules with all his heart and all his soul, and to keep the words of the agreement recorded in the book; and all the people gave their word to keep the agreement.
They were united with their brothers, their rulers, and put themselves under a curse and an oath, to keep their steps in the way of God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to keep and do all the orders of the Lord, our Lord, and his decisions and his rules;
And come and take your place before me in this house, which is named by my name, and say, We have been made safe; so that you may do all these disgusting things? Has this house, which is named by my name, become a hole of thieves to you? Truly I, even I, have seen it, says the Lord.
Hearing these words, Ahab, in great grief, put haircloth on his flesh and went without food, sleeping in haircloth, and going about quietly. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Do you see how Ahab has made himself low before me? because he has made himself low before me, I will not send the evil in his life-time, but in his son's time I will send the evil on his family.
And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in doing what is right in my eyes and effecting all my purpose for the family of Ahab, your sons will be kings of Israel to the fourth generation. But Jehu did not take care to keep the law of the Lord with all his heart: he did not keep himself from the sin which Jeroboam did and made Israel do.
Jehoash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because he was guided by the teaching of Jehoiada the priest.
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, though not like David his father; he did as Joash his father had done.
I have made an oath and kept it, to be guided by your upright decisions.
Though they make prayer to me every day, and take pleasure in the knowledge of my ways: like a nation which has done righteousness, and has not given up the rules of their God, they make requests to me for the right orders, it is their delight to come near to God.
And this was done by all the rulers and the people who had taken part in the agreement, and every one let his man-servant and his servant-girl go free, not to be used as servants any longer; they did so, and let them go. But later, they took back again the servants and the servant-girls whom they had let go free, and put them again under the yoke as servants and servant-girls.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 34
Commentary on Jeremiah 34 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 34
In this chapter we have two messages which God sent by Jeremiah.
Jer 34:1-7
This prophecy concerning Zedekiah was delivered to Jeremiah, and by him to the parties concerned, before he was shut up in the prison, for we find this prediction here made the ground of his commitment, as appears by the recital of some passages out of it, ch. 32:4. Observe,
Jer 34:8-22
We have here another prophecy upon a particular occasion, the history of which we must take notice of, as necessary to give light to the prophecy.