“For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he has given his hand, and yet has he done all these things. He will not escape.”
The solemn nature of Zedekiah's vows is brought out, made ‘an oath' and ‘a treaty' and ‘gave his hand', all signs of fealty. There would seem to be implied that he did this willingly, probably to obtain the kingship. Such oaths and treaties were strange things, they were seen as sacredly binding, and yet it was generally recognised that an oath made under duress was only binding until you became strong enough to break it. Indeed had Jerusalem surrendered when Nebuchadnezzar approached Zedekiah might well have retained the kingship (Jeremiah 38:17-18). But the point was that such oaths and treaties justified strong reprisals.
‘He will not escape.' He was doomed.