jeremiah 34–36 are generally not categorized together as a unit; the larger unit is typically formed via the connections already observed in chs. 26 and 36. It is clear from the shape of Jeremiah 27–32:15 (and even from the subsequent material added in Jeremiah 33), however, that a new category begins in Jeremiah 34, as the tone shifts dramatically from the promise of redemption to harsh castigation. That critical tone appears to stop in Jeremiah 35 and then resurfaces in Jeremiah 36. However, the purpose of Jeremiah 35 contributes to the overall criticism in Jeremiah 34–36, and as we shall see, there is a reason why Jeremiah 35 appears between these two chapters, both of which have more in common than commentators have generally noticed.

THE ANTICIPATION OF THINGS TO COME: JEREMIAH 34:1–7

Jeremiah 34 turns attention from the possibilities of covenantal life in exile to the vapidity of life in Judah. Unlike the community of Babylon, which now holds the promise of redemption, the reader is reminded of the alternative embodied by the desperate and dire circumstances of what is left of Judah.