Jeremiah 34 Study Notes: Freed Slaves Taken Back
During the Babylonian siege, the LORD tells King Zedekiah that Jerusalem will be burned and he will be taken to Babylon, though he will die peacefully. The people free their Hebrew slaves by covenant, then reclaim them, so God sentences them to war, disease and famine and vows to bring Babylon’s army back.
General
True or False: Because the Babylonian army had pulled back from Jerusalem, the LORD told Zedekiah that the city was now safe and would not be attacked again (Jeremiah 34:21-22).
Answer: False
This is false. Babylon’s army had withdrawn from Jerusalem for a time (34:21), but the LORD said He would give the order and bring them back. They would fight against the city, capture it, burn it, and leave the towns of Judah empty of people (34:22). Later in the book the Babylonians are again described pulling back from Jerusalem, and the LORD’s word through Jeremiah warns that they will return and burn the city (37:5, 8).
- Jeremiah 34:21-22 (BSB)“And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you. Behold, I am going to give the command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.””The LORD says the withdrawn Babylonian army will return at His command.
- Jeremiah 37:5 (BSB)“Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.”The book describes the Babylonians pulling back from Jerusalem for a time.
- Jeremiah 37:8 (BSB)“Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.”The LORD’s message through Jeremiah: the Chaldeans will come back, take the city and set it on fire.
Theological
True or False: In Jeremiah 34:21-22 the LORD treats the Babylonian army’s withdrawal as the end of the threat to Jerusalem.
Answer: False
This is false. The withdrawal of Babylon’s army was only a pause (34:21). The LORD declares that He will issue the command and bring the army back to take and burn the city and make Judah’s towns a desolation (34:22). Nebuchadnezzar’s forces move at the LORD’s word. The book later describes the Chaldeans withdrawing when Pharaoh’s army came out, and repeats the warning that they would return to capture and burn Jerusalem (37:5, 8).
- Jeremiah 34:21-22 (BSB)“And I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives, to the army of the king of Babylon that had withdrawn from you. Behold, I am going to give the command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.””The LORD says the withdrawn Babylonian army will return at His command.
- Jeremiah 37:5 (BSB)“Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.”The book describes the Babylonians pulling back from Jerusalem for a time.
- Jeremiah 37:8 (BSB)“Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.”The LORD’s message through Jeremiah: the Chaldeans will come back, take the city and set it on fire.
General
While Nebuchadnezzar’s army was attacking Jerusalem, what did the LORD send Jeremiah to tell King Zedekiah (Jeremiah 34:1-3)?
Answer: Jerusalem would be burned, and Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem with a huge army drawn from many kingdoms (34:1). The LORD sent Jeremiah to tell Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, that He was giving the city over to Babylon’s king, who would set it on fire. Zedekiah himself would not get away: he would be caught, would meet Nebuchadnezzar in person, and would go to Babylon (34:2-3). Zedekiah hears a similar message elsewhere in the book (32:4-5; 37:17). The fall of the city is presented as the LORD’s own act, carried out through Babylon.
- Jeremiah 34:2-3 (BSB)“The LORD, the God of Israel, told Jeremiah to go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. And you yourself will not escape his grasp, but will surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face; and you will go to Babylon.”The LORD’s message to Zedekiah while Babylon’s army attacks Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 32:4-5 (BSB)“Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hands of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’””Earlier in the book Zedekiah is told in the same terms that he will meet Babylon’s king and be taken to Babylon.
- Jeremiah 37:17 (BSB)“Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.””When Zedekiah later asks Jeremiah privately whether the LORD has spoken, the answer is still that he will be handed over to Babylon’s king.
Theological
What does the LORD’s word to Zedekiah in Jeremiah 34:1-3 announce about Jerusalem and its king?
Answer: Jerusalem would be burned, and Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon
With Nebuchadnezzar’s coalition army attacking Jerusalem and its towns (34:1), the LORD declares that He Himself is handing the city to Babylon’s king to be burned, and that Zedekiah will be captured, will face Nebuchadnezzar in person, and will be taken to Babylon (34:2-3). A similar verdict is given to Zedekiah in 32:4-5 and again in his private interview with Jeremiah in 37:17. Babylon is the instrument, but the LORD is the One who delivers the city over.
- Jeremiah 34:2-3 (BSB)“The LORD, the God of Israel, told Jeremiah to go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. And you yourself will not escape his grasp, but will surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You will see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face; and you will go to Babylon.”The LORD’s message to Zedekiah while Babylon’s army attacks Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 32:4-5 (BSB)“Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the hands of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will stay until I attend to him, declares the LORD. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed.’””Earlier in the book Zedekiah is told in the same terms that he will meet Babylon’s king and be taken to Babylon.
- Jeremiah 37:17 (BSB)“Later, King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah and received him in his palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there a word from the LORD?” “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.””When Zedekiah later asks Jeremiah privately whether the LORD has spoken, the answer is still that he will be handed over to Babylon’s king.
General
During the siege King Zedekiah made a covenant (a solemn, binding agreement) with the people of Jerusalem. What did it commit them to do (Jeremiah 34:8-10)?
Answer: To set free their fellow Hebrews, both men and women, held as slaves
Zedekiah made a covenant, a solemn binding agreement, with everyone in Jerusalem to announce release: every owner was to free his Hebrew servants, men and women alike, so that no Jew would keep another Jew enslaved (34:8-9). The officials and the people agreed and actually let them go (34:10). This was in keeping with the law God had given, which said a Hebrew servant was to go free after six years of service (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12).
- Jeremiah 34:8-10 (BSB)“After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage. So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them,”Zedekiah’s covenant with the people and their initial obedience in releasing their servants.
- Exodus 21:2 (BSB)“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.”The law already required a Hebrew servant to be released after six years of service.
- Deuteronomy 15:12 (BSB)“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.”Deuteronomy restates the release law and includes women as well as men, as Zedekiah’s covenant did.
Theological
What was the content of the covenant Zedekiah made with the people of Jerusalem in Jeremiah 34:8-10?
Answer: To set free their fellow Hebrews, both men and women, held as slaves
Zedekiah’s covenant with the people proclaimed release for every Hebrew servant, male and female, so that no Judean would hold a fellow Judean in bondage (34:8-9). The officials and people entered the covenant and carried it out (34:10). The act brought them into line with the Mosaic statute requiring the release of a Hebrew servant after six years (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12).
- Jeremiah 34:8-10 (BSB)“After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage. So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them,”Zedekiah’s covenant with the people and their initial obedience in releasing their servants.
- Exodus 21:2 (BSB)“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.”The law already required a Hebrew servant to be released after six years of service.
- Deuteronomy 15:12 (BSB)“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.”Deuteronomy restates the release law and includes women as well as men, as Zedekiah’s covenant did.
General
After the people of Jerusalem released their Hebrew servants, what did they do next (Jeremiah 34:11, 16)?
Answer: They forced the people they had freed back into slavery again
The release did not last. The owners changed their minds, took back the men and women they had released, and made them slaves once more (34:11). The LORD said this was not just a broken promise to people: the covenant had been made before Him in His temple, so going back on it brought dishonor on His name (34:15-16). Scripture treats a vow made to God as binding; a promise to God left unkept is worse than one never made (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5; Numbers 30:2).
- Jeremiah 34:11 (BSB)“but later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed, and they forced them to become slaves again.”The people reverse their release of the servants.
- Jeremiah 34:15-16 (BSB)“Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name. But now you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each of you has taken back the menservants and maidservants whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.”The LORD contrasts their brief obedience with their later betrayal, which profaned His name.
- Numbers 30:2 (BSB)“If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.”Anyone who binds himself to the LORD by a vow or oath is obligated to keep his word in full.
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (BSB)“When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.”Promising God something and then failing to do it is worse than never promising.
Theological
How did the people of Jerusalem violate the release covenant, according to Jeremiah 34:11 and 16?
Answer: They forced the people they had freed back into slavery again
Having released their servants, the owners reversed course, reclaimed them, and subjected them again to slavery (34:11). Because the covenant had been cut before the LORD in His own temple, its violation was a profaning of His name, not merely a breach of social obligation (34:15-16). The law held anyone who bound himself with a promise to God to do all that he promised (Numbers 30:2), and the wisdom literature warns that an unkept vow is worse than none (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5).
- Jeremiah 34:11 (BSB)“but later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed, and they forced them to become slaves again.”The people reverse their release of the servants.
- Jeremiah 34:15-16 (BSB)“Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name. But now you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each of you has taken back the menservants and maidservants whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.”The LORD contrasts their brief obedience with their later betrayal, which profaned His name.
- Numbers 30:2 (BSB)“If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.”Anyone who binds himself to the LORD by a vow or oath is obligated to keep his word in full.
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (BSB)“When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.”Promising God something and then failing to do it is worse than never promising.
General
The people had refused to give freedom to their brothers. What kind of freedom did the LORD say He would now announce for them (Jeremiah 34:17)?
Answer: He would hand them over to be destroyed by war, disease and hunger
The LORD answered their broken promise with a grim turn of their own word. They had refused to grant freedom to their fellow Hebrews, so He would grant them freedom of another kind: freedom to die by war, disease and hunger, and to become a horror to every kingdom (34:17). This echoes the curses the law had warned would come on covenant breakers (Deuteronomy 28:25-26). The penalty fits the offense, in line with the broader biblical principle that people harvest what they have sown (Galatians 6:7).
- Jeremiah 34:17 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”The LORD turns the language of releasing slaves into a sentence of judgment.
- Deuteronomy 28:25-26 (BSB)“The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.”The law warned that covenant breakers would be beaten by their enemies, become a dreadful sight to other kingdoms, and have their corpses left to birds and beasts.
- Galatians 6:7 (BSB)“Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.”A related New Testament principle: God cannot be mocked, and people harvest what they have sown.
Theological
What ironic proclamation of liberty does the LORD make against the people in Jeremiah 34:17?
Answer: He would hand them over to be destroyed by war, disease and hunger
Since they would not proclaim liberty to their brothers, the LORD proclaims a liberty of His own for them: release to the sword, plague and famine, and to becoming a horror among the nations (34:17). The sentence draws on the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28:25-26, and the correspondence between sin and penalty fits the wider biblical principle, stated in Galatians 6:7, that what people sow they later harvest. The punishment is measured to fit the offense.
- Jeremiah 34:17 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares the LORD—freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine! I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”The LORD turns the language of releasing slaves into a sentence of judgment.
- Deuteronomy 28:25-26 (BSB)“The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the air and beasts of the earth, with no one to scare them away.”The law warned that covenant breakers would be beaten by their enemies, become a dreadful sight to other kingdoms, and have their corpses left to birds and beasts.
- Galatians 6:7 (BSB)“Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.”A related New Testament principle: God cannot be mocked, and people harvest what they have sown.
General
The LORD said He would treat the covenant breakers like a calf used in making the covenant. What had been done with that calf (Jeremiah 34:18-20)?
Answer: They had cut a calf in two and walked between its pieces
When the leaders and people made the covenant to free their servants, they cut a calf in half and walked between the two pieces (34:18-19). Walking between divided animals was a solemn way of making a covenant; long before, when the LORD made His covenant with Abram, the animals were split in two and a smoking pot and a blazing torch went between the halves (Genesis 15:9-10, 17-18). Because the officials, priests and people broke their word, the LORD said He would make them like that divided calf and hand them over to their enemies, leaving their bodies exposed to birds and wild animals (34:18-20).
- Jeremiah 34:18-20 (BSB)“And those who have transgressed My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces. The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf, I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”The LORD pronounces judgment on those who walked between the halves of the calf and then broke the covenant.
- Genesis 15:9-10 (BSB)“And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.” So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.”Abram cuts the heifer, goat and ram in two and arranges the halves facing each other.
- Genesis 15:17-18 (BSB)“When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—”After dark a smoking pot and a blazing torch pass through the divided animals as the LORD makes His covenant with Abram.
Theological
In Jeremiah 34:18-20, what covenant ceremony does the LORD turn into a sentence on those who broke the release covenant?
Answer: They had cut a calf in two and walked between its pieces
The release covenant had been ratified by cutting a calf in two and passing between the pieces (34:18-19), the same form of covenant-making seen when the LORD made His covenant with Abram, and a smoking pot and blazing torch went between the divided animals (Genesis 15:9-10, 17-18). Since the officials, court officials, priests and people transgressed the covenant they had sworn this way, the LORD declares He will deal with them as with the calf, giving them over to their enemies with their bodies left exposed to birds and beasts (34:18-20). The ritual they performed becomes the pattern of their judgment.
- Jeremiah 34:18-20 (BSB)“And those who have transgressed My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two in order to pass between its pieces. The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf, I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”The LORD pronounces judgment on those who walked between the halves of the calf and then broke the covenant.
- Genesis 15:9-10 (BSB)“And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.” So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half.”Abram cuts the heifer, goat and ram in two and arranges the halves facing each other.
- Genesis 15:17-18 (BSB)“When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the halves of the carcasses. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—”After dark a smoking pot and a blazing torch pass through the divided animals as the LORD makes His covenant with Abram.
General
When the LORD rebuked the people for taking back their servants, what earlier covenant did He point to (Jeremiah 34:13-14)?
Answer: The command He gave their ancestors after rescuing them from Egypt
The LORD reminded Jerusalem of the covenant He made with their forefathers when He rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt. In it He commanded that a Hebrew who had sold himself into service must be set free after six years of work (34:13-14). God had once freed Israel from slavery, so His people were to free their own brothers (Deuteronomy 15:15). The LORD added that their fathers had not listened to this command (34:14), and the present generation, after briefly obeying, had turned away as well.
- Jeremiah 34:13-14 (BSB)““This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying: 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 did not listen or incline their ear.”The LORD recalls the covenant and the release law He gave Israel at the exodus.
- Exodus 21:2 (BSB)“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.”The original law: a Hebrew servant works six years and then goes free at no cost.
- Deuteronomy 15:15 (BSB)“Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.”Israel’s own redemption from slavery in Egypt is the reason given for the release command.
Theological
To what prior covenant obligation does the LORD appeal in Jeremiah 34:13-14?
Answer: The command He gave their ancestors after rescuing them from Egypt
The LORD grounds His charge in the covenant made at the exodus, when He brought Israel up from bondage in Egypt: a Hebrew brother who had sold himself was to be released after six years’ service (34:13-14; Exodus 21:2). The rationale is redemptive: Israel, redeemed from slavery by the LORD, must not keep its own brothers enslaved (Deuteronomy 15:15). The fathers had already ignored this statute (34:14), and the present generation repeated their unfaithfulness.
- Jeremiah 34:13-14 (BSB)““This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying: 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 did not listen or incline their ear.”The LORD recalls the covenant and the release law He gave Israel at the exodus.
- Exodus 21:2 (BSB)“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.”The original law: a Hebrew servant works six years and then goes free at no cost.
- Deuteronomy 15:15 (BSB)“Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.”Israel’s own redemption from slavery in Egypt is the reason given for the release command.
General
True or False: The LORD told Zedekiah that he would not be killed by the sword but would die in peace, and that spices would be burned in mourning for him as for the kings before him (Jeremiah 34:4-5).
Answer: True
This is true. Alongside the hard news that Jerusalem would fall and he would be taken to Babylon, the LORD gave Zedekiah a personal word: he would not be killed in battle but would die peacefully, and people would burn spices and mourn for him as they had for earlier kings (34:4-5). When King Asa was buried, he was laid on a bier heaped with spices and blended perfumes, and a large fire was lit to honor him (2 Chronicles 16:14), while King Jehoram’s people lit no honoring fire for him at his death, unlike their custom for the kings before him (2 Chronicles 21:19). The LORD sealed the promise by saying that He Himself had spoken it (34:5).
- Jeremiah 34:4-5 (BSB)“Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die in peace. As spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so people will burn spices for you and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ For I Myself have spoken this word, declares the LORD.””In the middle of the message of judgment, the LORD speaks to Zedekiah about his own death.
- 2 Chronicles 16:14 (BSB)“And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes; then they made a great fire in his honor.”At King Asa’s burial he was laid on a bier heaped with spices and blended perfumes, and a large fire was lit to honor him.
- 2 Chronicles 21:19 (BSB)“This continued day after day until two full years had passed. Finally, his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died in severe pain. And his people did not make a fire in his honor as they had done for his fathers.”At King Jehoram’s death his people withheld the honoring fire they had lit for the kings before him.
Theological
True or False: In Jeremiah 34:4-5 the LORD promises Zedekiah a peaceful death rather than death by the sword, honored with the burning of spices and lament as for his royal predecessors.
Answer: True
This is true. Within the oracle of judgment the LORD addresses Zedekiah personally: he will not be killed in battle but will have a peaceful death, and spices will be burned and lament raised for him as for the former kings (34:4-5). Asa was laid on a bier heaped with spices and blended perfumes, and a large fire was lit in his honor (2 Chronicles 16:14), whereas Jehoram’s people lit no such fire for him, unlike their practice for his ancestors (2 Chronicles 21:19). The promise is grounded in the LORD’s own word (34:5).
- Jeremiah 34:4-5 (BSB)“Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the LORD says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; you will die in peace. As spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so people will burn spices for you and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ For I Myself have spoken this word, declares the LORD.””In the middle of the message of judgment, the LORD speaks to Zedekiah about his own death.
- 2 Chronicles 16:14 (BSB)“And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes; then they made a great fire in his honor.”At King Asa’s burial he was laid on a bier heaped with spices and blended perfumes, and a large fire was lit to honor him.
- 2 Chronicles 21:19 (BSB)“This continued day after day until two full years had passed. Finally, his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died in severe pain. And his people did not make a fire in his honor as they had done for his fathers.”At King Jehoram’s death his people withheld the honoring fire they had lit for the kings before him.