Jeremiah 32:9

9 I bought the field from Hanamel and weighed out the money to him; the price came to seventeen pieces of silver.

Jeremiah 32:9 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 32:9

And I bought the field of Hanameel mine uncle's son; that
[was] in Anathoth
The prophet agreed with his cousin to take his field of him, at a certain price hereafter mentioned; which may seem strange in one that was a poor prophet, now a prisoner, and the land just going to be subject to the Chaldeans: but the design of this was to show that there would be a return from captivity, when houses and fields should be bought and sold again, of which this was a pledge: and weighed him the money;
agreed upon, which was reckoned not by tale, but by weight: [even] seventeen shekels of silver;
which, reckoning a shekel at half a crown, were no more than two pounds, two shillings, and sixpence; a small sum of money to make a purchase of a field with; though this may be accounted for by the scarcity of money, the field in the hand of the enemy, there being only his kinsman's life in it, the prophet bought the reversion, being his of right; and, besides, it might be only an orchard or garden that is so called. In the Hebrew text it is, "seven shekels and ten [pieces of] silver": and Kimchi and Ben Melech say, that by "shekels" are meant minas or pounds; and by "pieces of silver", selahs or shekels: and so the Targum renders it,

``seven minas, and ten shekels of silver.''

Now a minah or maneh, according to ( Ezekiel 45:12 ) ; was equal to sixty shekels, and so of the value of seven pounds, ten shillings; seven of these made fifty two pounds, ten shillings; and the other ten shekels being one pound, five shillings, the whole amounted to fifty three pounds, fifteen shillings, which would purchase a considerable field.

Jeremiah 32:9 In-Context

7 that Hanamel, my uncle Shallum's son, would come to me with the request to buy his field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, because I was his nearest relative and had the right to buy it for myself.

8 Then, just as the Lord had said, Hanamel came to me there in the courtyard and asked me to buy the field. So I knew that the Lord had really spoken to me.

9 I bought the field from Hanamel and weighed out the money to him; the price came to seventeen pieces of silver.

10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the money on scales.

11 Then I took both copies of the deed of purchase - the sealed copy containing the contract and its conditions, and the open copy -