Passage

Jeremiah 34.8-11

Book: Jeremiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"6. Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7. when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities."

"8. The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; 9. 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. 10. And all the princes and all the people obeyed, that had entered into the covenant, that every one should let his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, go free, that none should make bondmen of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go: 11. but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids."

"12. Therefore the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 13. Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying," (Jeremiah 34:6-13, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"6. Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7. when the king of Babylon’s army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities."

"8. The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them; 9. that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother. 10. All the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant, go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go: 11. but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids."

"12. Therefore Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 13. “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying," (Jeremiah 34:6-13, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"6. Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7. When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah."

"8. This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; 9. 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. 10. Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. 11. But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids."

"12. Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 13. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying," (Jeremiah 34:6-13, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"6. And Jeremiah the prophet speaketh unto Zedekiah king of Judah all these words in Jerusalem, 7. and the forces of the king of Babylon are fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that are left, against Lachish, and against Azekah, for these have been left among the cities of Judah, cities of fortresses."

"8. The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the making by the king Zedekiah of a covenant with all the people who [are] in Jerusalem, to proclaim to them liberty, 9. to send out each his man-servant, and each his maid-servant, the Hebrew and the Hebrewess, free, so as not to lay service on them, any on a Jew his brother; 10. and hearken do all the heads, and all the people who have come in to the covenant to send forth each his man-servant and each his maid-servant free, so as not to lay service on them any more, yea, they hearken, and send them away; 11. and they turn afterwards, and cause the men-servants and the maid-servants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for men-servants and for maid-servants."

"12. And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying: 13. 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I, I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying," (Jeremiah 34:6-13, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Defining Chattel Slavery and Biblical Servitude (ris3n)

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.