Jeremiah 32:17-25

17 'Ah Lord Yahweh! Look, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. {Nothing} is too difficult for you,

18 showing loyal love to the thousands, and repaying the guilt of {parents} into the laps of their children after them. Powerful, great, mighty, his name [is] Yahweh of hosts,

19 great in counsel and great [in] deed, whose eyes [are] opened to all the ways of the children of humankind, to give to each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds,

20 who accomplished signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, up to this day, and in Israel, and among humankind, and you have made for yourself a name, as [it is] this day.

21 And you brought out your people Israel from the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an arm stretched out, and with great terror.

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

23 And they entered and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice, and they did not follow your law. They did nothing of all that you commanded to them to do, and you caused to happen [to] them all this disaster.

24 Look, the siege ramps have come up [to] the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you [are] seeing [it].

25 Yet you have said to me, Lord Yahweh, "Buy for yourself the field with the money, and call witnesses as witness," though the city has been given into the hand 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "Not all a thing"
• [b]. Literally "fathers"
• [c]. Hebrew "lap"
• [d]. Or "fathers"
• [e]. Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation