Jeremiah 32:17-25

17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is ¹you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by ²your outstretched arm! ³Nothing is too hard for you.

18 ⁴You show steadfast love to thousands, ⁵but you repay the guilt of fathers ⁶to their children after them, O great and ⁷mighty God, whose name is the ⁸Lord of hosts,

19 ⁹great in counsel and ¹⁰mighty in deed, ¹¹whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, ¹²rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

20 You have shown ¹³signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, ¹⁴and have made a name for yourself, as at this day.

21 ¹⁵You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and ¹⁶outstretched arm, ¹⁷and with great terror.

22 And you gave them this land, ¹⁸which you swore to their fathers to give them, ¹⁹a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 And they entered and took possession of it. ²⁰But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them.

24 Behold, ²¹the siege mounds have come up to the city to take it, and ²²because of sword and famine and pestilence ²³the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What you spoke has come to pass, and behold, you see it.

25 Yet you, O Lord God, have said to me, ²⁴“Buy the field for money ²⁵and get witnesses”—though ²⁶the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans. ’”

Jeremiah 32:17-25 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.

Cross References

• 1. 32:17 Isa. 37:16
• 2. 32:17 See ch. 21:5
• 3. 32:17 ver. 27; See Gen. 18:14
• 4. 32:18 Ex. 20:6; 34:7; Deut. 5:9, 10
• 5. 32:18 Ex. 20:6; 34:7; Deut. 5:9, 10
• 6. 32:18 [Ps. 79:12; Isa. 65:6-7]
• 7. 32:18 Isa. 9:6
• 8. 32:18 See ch. 10:16
• 9. 32:19 Isa. 28:29
• 10. 32:19 [Ps. 66:3, 5]
• 11. 32:19 See ch. 16:17
• 12. 32:19 See ch. 17:10
• 13. 32:20 Ps. 135:9
• 14. 32:20 2 Sam. 7:23; See Neh. 9:10
• 15. 32:21 Ex. 6:6; Deut. 4:34; 1 Chr. 17:21
• 16. 32:21 See ch. 21:5
• 17. 32:21 Ex. 6:6; Deut. 4:34; 1 Chr. 17:21
• 18. 32:22 Deut. 26:15; See Ex. 3:8
• 19. 32:22 Deut. 26:15; See Ex. 3:8
• 20. 32:23 Neh. 9:26, 27; See ch. 11:8; Dan. 9:10-14
• 21. 32:24 ch. 33:4; See ch. 6:6
• 22. 32:24 ver. 36; See ch. 14:12
• 23. 32:24 See ver. 3
• 24. 32:25 ver. 7
• 25. 32:25 ver. 10
• 26. 32:25 [See ver. 24 above]