Zedekiah's Covenant (34:1-22) 563
case, came to Jeremiah after Zedekiah cut the covenant and after the people
reneged on it (vv 8, 11).
- Thus said Yahweh, God ofisrael. The LXX omits "God of Israel;' which
could be an abridgment, but could also he another loss due to haplography
(homoeoarcton: >aleph ... >aleph).
I, I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day I brought them out from the
land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. While references to Israel's former
"house of slavery" (bet 'abadfm) in recalling the Exodus are found in the early
sources (Exod 13:3, 14; 20:2), they occur with greater frequency in Deuter-
onomy (Deut 5:6; 6:12; 7:8; 8:14; 13:6, ll[Eng 13:5, 10). Mention of this sla-
very in the context of the Sinai covenant, which is precisely what occurs in
Deut 5:6, sets the stage for what Yahweh will say next.
- After seven years' time you shall send away each person his Hebrew kin who
was sold to you and served you six years, yes you shall send him away free from
your midst. This is the law from Exod 21:2 and Deut 15: 12.
After seven years' time. Hebrew miqqe$ seba' sanfm, where qe$ means not
"end," but "period of time" (Wallenstein 1954: 211-13, who cites later Qum-
ran usage; cf. NJV n.). The same expression occurs in Deut 15: I. In Hebrew
reckoning, both the first and last years are counted. So, for example, circumci-
sion occurs on the eighth day, which is the seventh day after birth; Jesus' resur-
rection is on the third day, the second day after his death. The Sabbatical law
states that Hebrew slaves work for six years, then in the seventh they go free
(Exod 21 :2; Deut 15: 12). The LXX in the present verse has "six years" (cf. LXX
"sixth day" in Gen 2:2), which Giesebrecht takes to he a deliberate change by
the T .XX transfator. The reading "six" was adopted by the RSV, but changed to
"seven" in the NRSV Aquila, Symm, T, S, and Vg all have "seven."
from your midst. Hebrew me'immak. The LXX omits, but Giesebrecht notes
that other ancient witnesses have the term (CL, Vg, S, T). It is present also in
Deut 15:12-13.
But your fathers did not listen to me and did not bend their ear. It appears
that previous generations also neglected to implement the Sabbatical release
The LXX omits "your fathers" (cf. 11:8; 35:15), which can be attributed to
haplography (homoeoarcton: >aleph ... >aleph). The omission is of no conse-
quence, however, since "your fathers" in the LXX carries over as the subject
from v 13.
- And you, you turned around. Hebrew wattasubu > attem. The assumption
here is that Jerusalem's present population has failed to obey the Sabbatical
law, although now they have turned around (i.e., repented) and done right by
releasing their Hebrew slaves. The emphatic pronoun "you" plural ('attem),
contrasts with the emphatic "I" (' anokf) in v 13 and should not be omitted with
the LXX (pace Janzen 1973: 51; Holladay). The LXX carries on in the verse
with third-person verbs from the end of v 14, which eliminates the direct
speech to the people of Jerusalem. Read the MT.
one day. Hebrew hayyom, which could also be translated "recently" (Ehrlich
1912: 331).
