Jeremiah 32:9

9 And I bought the field, which is in Anathoth, of Hanameel, the son of my father's brother (And so I bought the field, which is in Anathoth, from Hanameel, the son of my uncle). And I paid to him silver, seven staters, and ten 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 Lo! Hanameel, the son of Shallum, the son of thy father's brother, shall come to thee, and say, Buy thou to thee my field, which is in Anathoth; for it befalleth to thee by nigh kindred, that thou buy it. (Lo! Hanameel, the son of Shallum, the son of thy uncle, shall come to thee, and say, Buy thou for thyself my field, which is in Anathoth; for it befalleth to thee by the right of next of kin, that thou may buy it.)

8 And Hanameel, the son of my father's brother, came to me, by the word of the Lord, to the porch of the prison, and said to me, Wield thou my field, which is in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin; for why the heritage befalleth to thee, and thou art the next of blood, that thou wield it. Forsooth I understood, that it was the word of the Lord. (And Hanameel, the son of my uncle, indeed did come to me, after the word of the Lord, to the courtyard of the prison, and said to me, Buy thou my field, which is in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin; for the inheritance befalleth to thee, and thou art the next of blood, or the next of kin, and so thou may buy it. And so I understood, that it was the word of the Lord.)

9 And I bought the field, which is in Anathoth, of Hanameel, the son of my father's brother (And so I bought the field, which is in Anathoth, from Hanameel, the son of my uncle). And I paid to him silver, seven staters, and ten pieces of silver;

10 and I wrote (it up) in a book, and I sealed (it), and I gave (it to) witnesses. And I weighed silver in a balance; (and I signed, and sealed, the deed of purchase, and I had it witnessed, and copied. And I weighed out the silver on a balance;)

11 and I took the book asealed of possession, and [the] askings and [the] answerings of the seller and [the] buyer, and [the] covenants, and [the] seals withoutforth. (and I took both copies of the deed of purchase, the sealed one, as by law and custom, and the unsealed one;)