Jeremiah 34:19

Verse

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,

American Standard Version (1901)

the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf;

Bible in Basic English

The rulers of Judah and the rulers of Jerusalem, the unsexed servants and the priests and all the people of the land who went between the parts of the ox,

Douay-Rheims 1899

The princes of Juda, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land that passed between the parts of the calf:

Free Bible Version

I will hand them over to their enemies who are trying to kill them. This includes the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and everyone else who passed between the pieces of the calf.

Geneva Bible 1599

The princes of Iudah, and the princes of Ierusalem, the Eunuches, and the Priestes, and all the people of the lande, which passed betweene the partes of the calfe,

King James (Authorized) Version

The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

Unlocked Literal Bible

and then the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land walked between the parts of the bull.

Noah Webster Bible

The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf;

World English Bible

the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf.

Young's Literal Translation

heads of Judah, and heads of Jerusalem, the officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land those passing through between the pieces of the calf —

Context

Freedom for Hebrew Slaves

¹⁸And 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.¹⁹The 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,²⁰I 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.

Summary

In Jeremiah 34:19, God pronounces judgment upon the people of Judah for breaking their covenant with Him. Despite making a covenant to release their Hebrew slaves after seven years, they had gone back on their word and enslaved their own people. As a result, God declares that He will bring judgment upon them, allowing their enemies to conquer Jerusalem and bring about destruction. This verse serves as a reminder of the importance of honoring commitments and the consequences of disobedience to God's commands.

Commentary

John Gill

John Gill Bible Commentary

The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem,.... Here is a particular enumeration of the persons that had made the covenant, and transgressed it, and that should suffer for so doing; the princes of Judah, distinguished from the princes of Jerusalem, design such princes as lived without Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, and presided over them, though now at Jerusalem, having fled thither, upon the invasion of the king of Babylon, for their safety; as the princes of Jerusalem, or the magistrates of that city, are distinguished from the princes of the blood, and from the courtiers, both in this and Jer 34:21; the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land; that is, as many as had got into Jerusalem to secure themselves from the common enemy: the "priests" also were concerned herein, who had menservants, and maidservants, as well as others; and, besides, were persons doubtless concerned in drawing up the covenant and the form of an oath, as well as in slaying the sacrifice, and cutting it into pieces, and laying the parts in order: it is more surprising that there should be "eunuchs" here; that such should be in the court of the king of Judah, and have offices in it, and preside in them, as among the Gentiles. The Targum renders the word "princes": which passed between the parts of the calf; signifying their assent to the covenant, and wishing they might be so used if they broke it.