Mishpatim
Nebuchadnezzar’s first siege of Jerusalem, ca. 597 BCE, concluded with Judah’s king, Jeconiah, and the city’s elite exiled to Babylon, followed by the installation of Zedekiah, Jeconiah’s uncle, a king subservient to Babylon. A decade later, Nebuchadnezzar had conquered all of Judah except for two fortified cities. His second siege of Jerusalem was stretching into its second year, the city and its inhabitants increasingly desperate. Judah’s ally, Egypt, then arrived, ending the siege as the Babylonians departed to battle the Egyptians.
At that moment of relief, the Haftarah recounts Zedekiah’s decision to address a longstanding socioeconomic injustice and violation of Judean brotherhood: for generations, Jerusalem’s powerful and wealthy elite had enslaved many of Judah’s poor men and women. Zedekiah summons the slave owners to a dramatic ceremony in the Temple. There in God’s presence, they voluntarily pledge to free their slaves, walking between the two halves of a slaughtered calf to symbolize that their pledge has the legal force of a solemn covenant. They then free their slaves - only to re-enslave them a short while later.
Jeremiah praises the mass emancipation as unprecedented in Israelite history, and as fulfilling God’s command, recorded in the Parashah, to liberate Hebrew slaves after seven years of service. Jeremiah emphasizes that after freeing the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, God issued this command as part of the Sinai covenant. He then blasts the re-enslavement for desecrating their own voluntary pledge, as well as their ancient Sinai covenant with God. God will therefore punish them by bringing back the departed Babylonians. They will capture Zedekiah and his court, and brutally destroy Judah and Jerusalem and kill their inhabitants.
To conclude on a redemptive note, the Haftarah unusually reverses direction in the Biblical text, to a brief passage that just precedes its main narrative in the book of Jeremiah. These two verses declare that God’s eventual restoration of David’s royal line over Israel, descendants of the Patriarchs, is as certain as God’s covenantal promise to govern Creation with His laws.
Haftarah Breakdown
Verses 34:8-10: Due to Zedekiah’s royal edict, Jerusalem’s residents liberate their Hebrew slaves…
Jeremiah 34:10
All the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant heard that every one should send forth his manservant, and every one his maidservant, [to become] free, never again to enslave them. They obeyed and sent them forth [to be free].
וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ֩ כׇל־הַשָּׂרִ֨ים וְכׇל־הָעָ֜ם אֲשֶׁר־בָּ֣אוּ בַבְּרִ֗ית לְ֠שַׁלַּ֠ח אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־עַבְדּ֞וֹ וְאִ֤ישׁ אֶת־שִׁפְחָתוֹ֙ חׇפְשִׁ֔ים לְבִלְתִּ֥י עֲבׇד־בָּ֖ם ע֑וֹד וַֽיִּשְׁמְע֖וּ וַיְשַׁלֵּֽחוּ׃
Verses 34:11: …and then re-enslave them.
Jeremiah 34:11
Afterward, they relapsed, and brought back the servants and handmaids they had sent off [to be] free. They conquered them as servants and handmaids.
וַיָּשׁ֙וּבוּ֙ אַחֲרֵי־כֵ֔ן וַיָּשִׁ֗בוּ אֶת־הָֽעֲבָדִים֙ וְאֶת־הַשְּׁפָח֔וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר שִׁלְּח֖וּ חׇפְשִׁ֑ים וַֽיִּכְבְּשׁ֔וּם לַעֲבָדִ֖ים וְלִשְׁפָחֽוֹת׃
Verses 34:12-15: As part of the covenant at Sinai, God commanded His people to release their Hebrew slaves after seven years of service. Jeremiah commends the Jerusalemites for doing so, unlike previous generations…
Jeremiah 34:15
You have now turned and done that which is right in My eyes, every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the House called by My name.
וַתָּשֻׁ֨בוּ אַתֶּ֜ם הַיּ֗וֹם וַתַּעֲשׂ֤וּ אֶת־הַיָּשָׁר֙ בְּעֵינַ֔י לִקְרֹ֥א דְר֖וֹר אִ֣ישׁ לְרֵעֵ֑הוּ וַתִּכְרְת֤וּ בְרִית֙ לְפָנַ֔י בַּבַּ֕יִת אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָ֥א שְׁמִ֖י עָלָֽיו׃
Verses 34:16: …but their subsequent re-enslavement desecrates God’s name.
Jeremiah 34:16
You have [now relapsed and desecrated My name. Each of you has retrieved his servant and his handmaid, whom you all had sent forth to be free on their own. You conquered them to be servants and handmaids for yourselves.
וַתָּשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ וַתְּחַלְּל֣וּ אֶת־שְׁמִ֔י וַתָּשִׁ֗בוּ אִ֤ישׁ אֶת־עַבְדּוֹ֙ וְאִ֣ישׁ אֶת־שִׁפְחָת֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־שִׁלַּחְתֶּ֥ם חׇפְשִׁ֖ים לְנַפְשָׁ֑ם וַתִּכְבְּשׁ֣וּ אֹתָ֔ם לִֽהְי֣וֹת לָכֶ֔ם לַעֲבָדִ֖ים וְלִשְׁפָחֽוֹת׃
Verses 34:17-20: Particularly since the re-enslavement occurred after a covenantal oath ceremony to free them before God in the Temple, God will punish the powerful enslavers by “freeing” them to suffering, death, and humiliation after death.
Jeremiah 34:17
Therefore thus says the Lord: “You did not listen to Me, that each man should proclaim liberty to his brother, and each man [liberty] to his neighbor. Behold me as I proclaim liberty for you,” declares the Lord, “to the sword, pestilence, and famine. I will make you into a source of trembling for all earth’s kingdoms.”
לָכֵן֮ כֹּֽה־אָמַ֣ר הֹ' אַתֶּם֙ לֹא־שְׁמַעְתֶּ֣ם אֵלַ֔י לִקְרֹ֣א דְר֔וֹר אִ֥ישׁ לְאָחִ֖יו וְאִ֣ישׁ לְרֵעֵ֑הוּ הִנְנִ֣י קֹרֵא֩ לָכֶ֨ם דְּר֜וֹר נְאֻם־הֹ' אֶל־הַחֶ֙רֶב֙ אֶל־הַדֶּ֣בֶר וְאֶל־הָרָעָ֔ב וְנָֽתַתִּ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ לְזַעֲוָ֔ה לְכֹ֖ל מַמְלְכ֥וֹת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Verses 34:21-22: God will return the departed Babylonians to Jerusalem. They will capture Zedekiah and his court, and complete the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 34:21
I [God] will place Judah’s king, Zedekiah, and his princes into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those seeking their lives, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army who [are presently departed from you.
וְאֶת־צִדְקִיָּ֨הוּ מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֜ה וְאֶת־שָׂרָ֗יו אֶתֵּן֙ בְּיַ֣ד אֹֽיְבֵיהֶ֔ם וּבְיַ֖ד מְבַקְשֵׁ֣י נַפְשָׁ֑ם וּבְיַ֗ד חֵ֚יל מֶ֣לֶךְ בָּבֶ֔ל הָעֹלִ֖ים מֵעֲלֵיכֶֽם׃
Verses 33:25-26: Just as God will never violate His covenant to govern nature with His laws, so will He never reject the Patriarchs’ descendants or King David’s descendants as their rulers.
Jeremiah 33:26
Similarly, I [God] will never reject Jacob’s offspring or My servant, David, [or fail to] take from [David’s] offspring to be rulers for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Indeed, I will return their captivity and have compassion upon them.
גַּם־זֶ֣רַע יַעֲקוֹב֩ וְדָוִ֨ד עַבְדִּ֜י אֶמְאַ֗ס מִקַּ֤חַת מִזַּרְעוֹ֙ מֹֽשְׁלִ֔ים אֶל־זֶ֥רַע אַבְרָהָ֖ם יִשְׂחָ֣ק וְיַעֲקֹ֑ב כִּֽי־אָשִׁ֥יב אֶת־שְׁבוּתָ֖ם וְרִֽחַמְתִּֽים׃
With emendations, all translations are from Sefaria.org. To dedicate, comment, or subscribe, email haftarahhelper@gmail.com.