Jeremiah 32:1-19

Jeremiah Imprisoned

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the ¹tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth * year of Nebuchadnezzar.

2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging * Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the ²court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah,

3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had ³shut him up, saying, "Why do you ⁴prophesy, saying, '⁵Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am about to ⁶give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it;

4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will ⁷not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will ⁸speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye;

5 and he will ⁹take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him," declares the LORD. "If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will ¹⁰not succeed "'?"

6 And Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

7 'Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, "Buy for yourself my field which is at ¹¹Anathoth, for you have the ¹²right of redemption to buy it."'

8 "Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the ¹³court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said to me, 'Buy my field, please, that is at ¹⁴Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the ¹⁵word of the LORD.

9 "I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son, and I ¹⁶weighed out the silver for him, seventeen * ¹⁷shekels of silver.

10 "I ¹⁸signed and ¹⁹sealed the deed, and ²⁰called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

11 "Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the ²¹terms and conditions and the open copy;

12 and I gave the deed of purchase to ²²Baruch the son of ²³Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.

13 "And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying,

14 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time."

15 'For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "²⁴Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land."'

Jeremiah Prays and God Explains

16 "After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I ²⁵prayed to the LORD, saying,

17 '²⁶Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have ²⁷made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! ²⁸Nothing * * is too difficult for You,

18 who ²⁹shows lovingkindness to thousands, but ³⁰repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O ³¹great and ³²mighty God. The ³³LORD of hosts is His name;

19 ³⁴great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose ³⁵eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, ³⁶giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

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Jeremiah 32:1-19 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 36

1. 2 Kings 25:1, 2; Jeremiah 39:1, 2
2. Nehemiah 3:25; Jeremiah 33:1; Jeremiah 37:21; Jeremiah 38:6; Jeremiah 39:14
3. 2 Kings 6:32
4. Jeremiah 26:8, 9
5. Jeremiah 21:3-7; Jeremiah 34:2, 3
6. Jeremiah 21:4-7; Jeremiah 32:28, 29; Jeremiah 34:2, 3
7. 2 Kings 25:4-7; Jeremiah 37:17; Jeremiah 38:18, 23; Jeremiah 39:4-7
8. Jeremiah 39:5
9. Jeremiah 27:22; Jeremiah 39:7; Ezekiel 12:12, 13
10. Ezek 17:9, 10, 15
11. Jeremiah 1:1; Jeremiah 11:21
12. Leviticus 25:25; Ruth 4:3, 4
13. Jeremiah 32:2; Jeremiah 33:1
14. Jeremiah 1:1; Jeremiah 32:7
15. 1 Samuel 9:16, 17; 1 Samuel 10:3-7; 1 Kings 22:25; Jeremiah 32:25
16. Genesis 23:16; Zechariah 11:12
17. Genesis 24:22; Exodus 21:32; Nehemiah 5:15; Ezekiel 4:10
18. Isaiah 44:5; Jeremiah 32:44
19. Deuteronomy 32:34; Job 14:17
20. Ruth 4:1, 9; Isaiah 8:2
21. Luke 2:27
22. Jeremiah 32:16; Jeremiah 36:4, 5, 32; Jeremiah 43:3; Jeremiah 45:1
23. Jeremiah 51:59
24. Jeremiah 30:18; Jeremiah 31:5, 12, 24; Jeremiah 32:37, 43, 44; Jeremiah 33:12, 13; Amos 9:14, 15; Zechariah 3:10
25. Genesis 32:9-12; Jeremiah 12:1; Philippians 4:6, 7
26. Jeremiah 1:6; Jeremiah 4:10
27. 2 Kings 19:15; Psalms 102:25; Isaiah 40:26-29; Jeremiah 27:5
28. Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:27; Zechariah 8:6; Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37; Luke 18:27
29. Exodus 20:6; Exodus 34:6, 7; Deuteronomy 5:9, 10; Deuteronomy 7:9, 10
30. 1 Kings 14:9, 10; 1 Kings 16:1-3; Matthew 23:32-36
31. Psalms 145:3
32. Psalms 50:1; Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 20:11
33. Jeremiah 10:16; Jeremiah 31:35
34. Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 28:29
35. Job 34:21; Jeremiah 23:24
36. Psalms 62:12; Jeremiah 17:10; Jeremiah 21:14; Matthew 16:27; John 5:29

Footnotes 4

[a]. Lit "mouth to mouth"
[b]. Or "wrote...on the document"
[c]. Lit "stand many days"
[d]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD