34:18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they {h} cut the calf in two, and passed between the parts of it,
(h) Concerning the manner of solemn covenant which the ancients used by passing between the two parts of a beast, to signify that the transgressor of the same covenant should be so divided in pieces, read Ge 15:10.
34:18 Cut the calf - It seems these Jews in their making of the solemn covenant with God about releasing their servants used this rite; they caused a calf, or heifer to be cut in pieces, and the parts to be laid in the temple, right over - against one another; then they recited this covenant, and passed between the parts of the heifer so cut; silently agreeing that God should cut them in pieces like that beast if they did not make their words good.
34:8-22 A Jew should not be held in servitude above seven years. This law they and their fathers had broken. And when there was some hope that the siege was raised, they forced the servants they had released into their services again. Those who think to cheat God by dissembled repentance and partial reformation, put the greatest cheat upon their own souls. This shows that liberty to sin, is really only liberty to have the sorest judgments. It is just with God to disappoint expectations of mercy, when we disappoint the expectations of duty. And when reformation springs only from terror, it is seldom lasting. Solemn vows thus entered into, profane the ordinances of God; and the most forward to bind themselves by appeals to God, are commonly most ready to break them. Let us look to our hearts, that our repentance may be real, and take care that the law of God regulates our conduct.
