Jeremiah 34:18

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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through Jeremiah to the officials, priests, and common people of Judah and Jerusalem immediately after they broke their oath to free Hebrew slaves. This pronouncement follows the declaration of sword, plague, and famine in Jeremiah 34:17.

The words — The Hebrew verb נָתַתִּי (na.tatTi) means "I will make" or "I will treat," while עֹבְרִים (o.berim) translates literally to "those passing through." These terms directly describe the ritual action the covenant-breakers will undergo.

The thread — The split-calf imagery traces to Genesis 15:10 and 15:17, where Abram lays out halves and God passes between them, and aligns with Hosea 6:7, which names Israel's unfaithfulness as a covenant transgression. Jeremiah 34:19 immediately lists the officials and priests who performed the same passing ritual.

Why it lands — The text states that covenant violators will receive the same fate as the sacrificed animal, without adding theological commentary. It requires the reader to acknowledge that sworn oaths before God carry binding, irreversible consequences.

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

King James Version

And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,

Cross-references

Genesis 15:10 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.
Hosea 6:7 But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
Genesis 15:17 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.
Deuteronomy 17:2 If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant
Joshua 23:16 If you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from this good land He has given you.”
Psalms 50:1 A Psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets.
Hosea 8:1 Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
Joshua 7:11 Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions.