Jeremiah 32:1-9

Jeremiah's Land Purchase

1 [This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah[a] king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.[b]
2 At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard's courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah.
3 Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: "Why are you prophesying, 'This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon's king, and he will capture it.
4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon's king. They will speak face to face[c] and meet eye to eye.[d]
5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon where he will stay until I attend to him'-[this is] the Lord's declaration. 'You will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed'?"[e]
6 Jeremiah replied, "The word of the Lord came to me:
7 'Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say: Buy my field in Anathoth[f] for yourself, for you own the right of redemption[g] to buy it.'
8 "Then my cousin Hanamel [came] to the guard's courtyard as the Lord had said and urged me, 'Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out to him the money-17 shekels[h] of silver.

Jeremiah 32:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 32

This chapter contains an account of Jeremiah's imprisonment, and the cause of it; of his buying a field of his uncle's son, and the design of it; of his prayer to God, and of the answer returned to him. The time of his imprisonment, the place where, and the reasons of it, are observed in Jer 32:1-5; that his uncle's son would come and offer the sale of a field to him was told him by the Lord, which he did accordingly, Jer 32:6,7; of whom he bought the field, paid the money, had the purchase confirmed in a legal way, before witnesses, Jer 32:8-12; and the writings of it he committed to Baruch, to put in an earthen vessel, where they were to continue some time as a pledge of houses, fields, and vineyards, being possessed again after the captivity, Jer 32:13-15; then follows a prayer of his to the Lord, in which he addresses him as the Maker of all things; as the Lord God omnipotent; as a God of great grace and mercy, as well as strict justice; as a God of wisdom, counsel, and might, and an omniscient and righteous Being, Jer 32:16-19; and recounts the wonderful things he had done for the people of Israel, Jer 32:20-22; and observes the ingratitude and disobedience of that people, which were the cause of the present siege of the city, which should surely be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, Jer 32:23-25; to which prayer an answer is returned, Jer 32:26; in which the Lord describes himself as the God of all flesh, and as able to do what he pleases, Jer 32:27; and confirms the delivery of the city of Jerusalem unto the Chaldeans, Jer 32:28,29; and assigns the causes of it, the backslidings, disobedience, and dreadful idolatry of the people, Jer 32:30-35; and, notwithstanding, promises a restoration of them to their own land again, Jer 32:36,37; when an opportunity is taken to insert the covenant of grace, and the special articles and peculiar promises of it, for the comfort of the spiritual Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, Jer 32:38-40; and the chapter is concluded with a fresh assurance of the return of the captivity, and of the punctual performance of the promise of it; when fields should be bought in every part of the land, in like manner as Jeremiah had bought his, Jer 32:41-44.

Footnotes 8

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