Why does the Lord proclaim to his people that they will have “liberty to the sword, to pestilence and to famine”?
As is normally the case in Jeremiah, the word therefore
at the beginning of Jeremiah 34:17 introduces words of judgment that follow the description of the people’s disobedience. They have not obeyed the Lord by staying true to the covenant Zedekiah had made. They had not proclaimed liberty every one to his brother and neighbour.
Not only had they disobeyed the Lord, but they had betrayed each other by taking back the freedom of their slaves. The Lord therefore says he will proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine.
Just as they had failed to proclaim liberty
to their slaves, so will the Lord proclaim liberty
for them to be handed over to the invading Babylonians. The words sword,
pestilence,
and famine
have been used many times in Jeremiah to describe the Babylonian invasion.
17 C'est pourquoi ainsi parle l'Eternel: Vous ne m'avez point obéi, en publiant la liberté chacun pour son frère, chacun pour son prochain. Voici, je publie contre vous, dit l'Eternel, la liberté de l'épée, de la peste et de la famine, et je vous rendrai un objet d'effroi pour tous les royaumes de la terre.