Later text
Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.
Intertextuality Pair
Jeremiah 34:14 → Deuteronomy 15:1
Allusion
Earlier text
At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
Significance
Jeremiah 34:14 explicitly appeals to the Deuteronomic slave-release law: "Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you" (שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים... שִׁלַּחְתּוֹ חָפְשִׁי, shesh shanim... shillachto chofshi). This directly references Deuteronomy 15:1's Sabbatical year principle and the slave-release law of 15:12. Jeremiah recounts that Zedekiah and the people initially proclaimed a release (דְּרוֹר, deror) but then reneged, re-enslaving those they had freed. The violation becomes the basis for divine judgment: because they "profaned My name" by breaking the covenant, God proclaims a counter-release — "freedom to fall by sword, by plague, and by famine" (34:17). The Deuteronomic law thus becomes the standard by which Judah's final covenant violation is judged.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Allusion
- Connection Method(s)
- Redemptive-Historical Progression — the Deuteronomic release law (Deut 15:1, 12) is invoked as the covenant standard by which Judah's last-hour breach is judged: the proclaimed and then revoked deror of Zedekiah's Jerusalem (Jer 34:14-17) turns the law's mercy into the measure of the nation's final violation, and God's counter-proclamation of "freedom" to sword, plague, and famine seals the movement from covenant obligation to exile.
Linked Mentions 2