Jeremiah 34:11

but later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed, and they forced them to become slaves again.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The narrator reports on the officials and people of Judah immediately after they freed their Hebrew servants in obedience to a covenant. This action occurs between their initial release and the subsequent delivery of God's judgment to Jeremiah.

The words — The verb וַ/יָּשׁ֙וּבוּ֙ (va/i.ya.Shu.vu) translates literally as "they turned back," while וַ/יָּשִׁ֗בוּ (va/i.ya.Shi.vu) means "they took back." These paired terms highlight the reversal of their commitment regarding the עֲבָדִים (slaves) and שְׁפָחֹת (female slaves).

The thread — This pattern of reversal aligns with Proverbs 26:11, which compares a fool repeating folly to a dog returning to vomit, and Ecclesiastes 8:11, which links delayed justice to hardened hearts. The New Testament applies the same principle in 2 Peter 2:20 regarding those who escape corruption only to return to it.

Why it lands — The text records a concrete breach of covenant where released servants are forcibly re-enslaved. It requires the reader to confront the practical consequences of reversing a sworn commitment and to identify where personal or communal promises are abandoned for convenience.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיָּשׁ֙וּבוּ֙va/i.ya.Shu.vuand/ they turned back אַחֲרֵי־'a.cha.rei-after כֵ֔ןKhenthus וַיָּשִׁ֗בוּva/i.ya.Shi.vuand/ they took back אֶת־'et-<obj.>הָֽעֲבָדִים֙ha./'a.va.Dimthe/ [male] slaves וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>הַשְּׁפָח֔וֹתha./she.fa.Chotthe/ female slaves אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhom שִׁלְּח֖וּshi.le.Chuthey had let go חָפְשִׁ֑יםcha.fe.Shimfree [people]וַֽיִּכְבְּשׁ֔וּםva/i.yakh.bi.shu/mand/ they subjugated/ them לַעֲבָדִ֖יםla./'a.va.Dimfor/ [male] slaves וְלִשְׁפָחֽוֹת׃ סve./li/sh.fa.Chotand/ for/ female slaves

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

2 Peter 2:20 If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.
Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
Matthew 12:43 When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.
Exodus 8:8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.”
Exodus 8:15 When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
Exodus 9:28 Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”
Exodus 9:34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart—he and his officials.
Exodus 10:17 Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”
Exodus 14:3 For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’