Jeremiah 32 commentary

JEREMIAH 32 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Jeremiah Buys a Field
1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the
Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah,
which was the eighteenth year of
Nebuchadnezzar.
BARNES, "The siege of Jerusalem began in Zedekiah’s ninth year Jer_39:1, but was
temporarily raised upon the approach of an Egyptian army. See Jer. 37; 38.
CLARKE, "The word that came - This prophecy bears its own date: it was
delivered in the tenth year of Zedekiah, which answered to the eighteenth of
Nebuchadnezzar. It appears from 2Ki_25:8, that the eleventh year of Zedekiah was the
nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar; and consequently, that the eighteenth of that monarch
must have been the tenth of the Jewish king.
GILL, "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,.... The word of
prophecy, as the Targum, concerning Jeremiah's buying the field of his uncle's son, Jer_
32:6; and concerning the delivery of the city of Jerusalem into the hands of the
Chaldeans, Jer_32:26; and the return of the captivity, Jer_32:36;
in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year
of Nebuchadrezzar; the same with Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a year before the
taking of the city by him; for that was in the eleventh of Zedekiah, and the nineteenth of
Nebuchadnezzar; see Jer_52:1.
HENRY 1-5, "It appears by the date of this chapter that we are now coming very nigh
to that fatal year which completed the desolations of Judah and Jerusalem by the
Chaldeans. God's judgments came gradually upon them, but, they not meeting him by
repentance in the way of his judgments, he proceeded in his controversy till all was laid
waste, which was in the eleventh year of Zedekiah; now what is here recorded happened
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in the tenth. The king of Babylon's army had now invested Jerusalem and was carrying
on the siege with vigour, not doubting but in a little time to make themselves masters of
it, while the besieged had taken up a desperate resolution not to surrender, but to hold
out to the last extremity. Now,
I. Jeremiah prophesies that both the city and the court shall fall into the hands of the
king of Babylon. He tells them expressly that the besiegers shall take the city as a prize,
for God, whose city it was in a peculiar manner, will give it into their hands and put it
out of his protection (Jer_32:3), - that, though Zedekiah attempt to make his escape, he
shall be overtaken, and shall be delivered a prisoner into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar,
shall be brought into his presence, to his great confusion and terror, he having made
himself so obnoxious by breaking his faith with him, he shall hear the king of Babylon
pronounce his doom, and see with what fury and indignation he will look upon him (His
eyes shall behold his eyes, Jer_32:4), - that Zedekiah shall be carried to Babylon, and
continue a miserable captive there, until God visit him, that is, till God put an end to his
life by a natural death, as Nebuchadnezzar had long before put an end to his days by
putting out his eyes. Note, Those that live in misery may be truly said to be visited in
mercy when God by death takes them home to himself. And, lastly, he foretels that all
their attempts to force the besiegers from their trenches shall be ineffectual: Though you
fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper; how should they, when God did not
fight for them? Jer_32:5. See Jer_34:2, Jer_34:3.
II. For prophesying thus he is imprisoned, not in the common goal, but in the more
creditable prison that was within the verge of the palace, in the king of Judah's house,
and there not closely confined, but in custodia libera - in the court of the prison, where
he might have good company, good air, and good intelligence brought him, and would
be sheltered from the abuses of the mob; but, however, it was a prison, and Zedekiah
shut him up in it for prophesying as he did, Jer_32:2, Jer_32:3. So far was he from
humbling himself before Jeremiah, as he ought to have done (2Ch_36:12), that he
hardened himself against him. Though he had formerly so far owned him to be a
prophet as to desire him to enquire of the Lord for them (Jer_21:2), yet now he chides
him for prophesying (Jer_32:3), and shuts him up in prison, perhaps not with design to
punish him any further, but only to restrain him from prophesying any further, which
was crime enough. Silencing God's prophets, though it is not so bad as mocking and
killing them, is yet a great affront to the God of heaven. See how wretchedly the hearts of
sinners are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Persecution was one of the sins for
which God was now contending with them, and yet Zedekiah persists in it even now that
he was in the depth of distress. No providences, no afflictions, will of themselves part
between men and their sins, unless the grace of God work with them. Nay, some are
made worse by those very judgments that should make them better.
JAMISON, "Jer_32:1-14. Jeremiah, imprisoned for his prophecy against Jerusalem,
buys a patrimonial property (his relative Hanameel’s), in order to certify to the Jews
their future return from Babylon.
tenth year — The siege of Jerusalem had already begun, in the tenth month of the
ninth year of Zedekiah (Jer_39:1; 2Ki_25:1).
K&D 1-5, "The time and the circumstances of the following message from God. - The
message came to Jeremiah in the tenth year of Zedekiah, i.e., in the eighteenth year of
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Nebuchadrezzar (cf. Jer_25:1 and Jer_52:12), when the army of the king of Babylon was
besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah was kept in confinement in the fore-court of the
royal palace. These historical data are inserted (Jer_32:2-5) in the form of
circumstantial clauses: '‫ז‬ ָ‫א‬ ְ‫ו‬ ‫יל‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ‫,וגו‬ "for at that time the army of the king of Babylon was
besieging Jerusalem." The siege had begun in the ninth year of Zedekiah (Jer_39:1; Jer_
52:4), and was afterwards raised for a short time, in consequence of the approach of an
auxiliary corps of Egyptians; but, as soon as these had been defeated, it was resumed
(Jer_37:5, Jer_37:11). Jeremiah was then kept confined in the court of the prison of the
royal palace (cf. Neh_3:25), "where Zedekiah, king of Judah, had imprisoned him,
saying: Why dost thou prophesy, 'Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into
the hand of the king of Babylon, so that he shall take it; Jer_32:4. And Zedekiah, the
king of Judah, shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall assuredly be
delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with his
mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; Jer_32:5. And he shall lead Zedekiah to
Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord. Though ye fight with the
Chaldeans, ye shall not succeed?'" - We have already found an utterance of like import in
Jer_21:1-14, but that is not here referred to; for it was fulfilled at the beginning of the
siege of Jerusalem, and did not bring on Jeremiah the consequences mentioned here.
From Jer 37 we learn that Jeremiah, during the siege of Jerusalem, on till the time when
it was raised through the approach of the Egyptian army, had not been imprisoned, but
went freely in and out among the people (Jer_37:4.). Not till during the temporary
raising of the siege, when he wanted to go out of the city into the land of Benjamin, was
he seized and thrown into a dungeon, on the pretence that he intended to go over to the
Chaldeans. There he remained many days, till King Zedekiah ordered him to be brought,
and questioned him privately as to the issue of the conflict; when Jeremiah replied,
"Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon." On this occasion
Jeremiah complained to the king of his imprisonment, and requested that he might not
be sent back into the dungeon, where he must soon perish; the king then ordered him
(Jer_37:11-21) to be taken into the court of the prison-house (‫ר‬ַ‫ֲצ‬‫ח‬ , Jer_37:21), where
he remained in confinement till the city was taken (Jer_38:13, Jer_38:28; Jer_39:14).
The statement in our verses as to the cause of this imprisonment does not contradict,
but agrees with the notice in Jer 37, as soon as we perceive that this account contains
merely a brief passing notice of the matter. The same holds true of the utterance of the
prophet in Jer_32:3-5. Jeremiah, even at the beginning of the siege (Jer_21:3.), had sent
a message of similar import to the king, and repeated the same afterwards: Jer_34:3-5;
Jer_37:17; Jer_38:17-23. The words of our verses are taken from these repeated
utterances; Jer_32:4 agrees almost verbatim with Jer_34:3; and the words, "there shall
he remain ‫י‬ ִ‫ד‬ ְ‫ק‬ָ‫ד־פּ‬ַ‫ע‬ ‫ת‬ֹ‫א‬, till I regard him with favour," are based upon the clearer
utterance as to the end of Zedekiah, Jer_34:4-5. - The circumstances under which
Jeremiah received the following commission from the Lord are thus exactly stated, in
order to show how little prospect the present of the kingdom of Judah offered for the
future, which was portrayed by the purchase of the field. Not only must the kingdom of
Judah inevitably succumb to the power of the Chaldeans, and its population go into
exile, but even Jeremiah is imprisoned, in so hopeless a condition, that he is no longer
sure of his life for a single day.
CALVIN, "The Prophet here declares, that though he was shut up in prison, the
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Word of God was not bound, and that he himself was not less loose and free in his
confinement than if he rambled through the whole city and visited all the lanes and
the streets. He then did not desist from his office as a Prophet, though he was cast
into prison. And thus we see that the course of heavenly truth cannot be impeded,
how much soever the world may rage against all its ministers, and bind them in
order to make them mute: and then also we see here that the constancy of the
Prophet was invincible, because he was not cast down with fear, though he was a
captive and not beyond the reach of danger; for we find that even then he proceeded
in the discharge of his office.
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
JEREMIAH 32
JEREMIAH PURCHASES A FIELD IN ANATHOTH
This chapter records another historical incident in the life of the prophet Jeremiah.
The time was during the final months of the siege of Jerusalem which resulted in the
final capture and destruction of the city and the deportation of the population to
Babylon. Zedekiah was on the throne of Judah, this being in his tenth year as king,
which was the eighteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, that Isaiah 588-87
B.C. There is no point whatever in complaining that, according to the Babylonian
method of reckoning the reign of kings, this was only the seventeenth year of
Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonians did not count the year of accession to the throne;
but the Hebrews did.
George DeHoff noted that the siege, "Began the year before and apparently lasted
eighteen months and twenty-seven days (2 Kings 25:18)."[1]
In the year preceding this chapter, "The siege had been lifted for a short while by
the arrival near Jerusalem of an Egyptian army led by Pharaoh-Hophra (Jeremiah
44:30), the Apries of Herodotus, an ally of Zedekiah against Babylon (Ezekiel
17:15); but the Egyptians were either defeated quickly or decided to withdraw. In
any case, the siege was promptly renewed with increased vigor";[2] and in the
meanwhile, famine, and disease were daily rendering Jerusalem less and less able to
defend itself.
At the time of this chapter, Jeremiah was a prisoner of Zedekiah, who, distressed by
Jeremiah's prophecies concerning Jerusalem and its king, had imprisoned the
prophet; but, at the time of the incident recorded here, Zedekiah had yielded to
Jeremiah's request to be removed from the dungeon and had quartered him in the
stockade area of the palace, where, it seems, Jeremiah enjoyed some privileges.
A broad outline of the chapter is: (1) a statement of the historical situation
(Jeremiah 32:1-5); (2) Jeremiah was commanded to purchase a field in Anathoth,
which he promptly did (Jeremiah 32:6-15); (3) perplexed by what God had
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commanded him to do, and perhaps entertaining some doubt, the prophet poured
out a long prayer to God (Jeremiah 32:16-25); (4) God's first answer (Jeremiah
32:26-35; (5) God's second answer (Jeremiah 32:36-44).
Jeremiah 32:1-5
"The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the tenth year of Zedekiah king
of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Now at that time the
king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah was shut up in the
court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house. For Zedekiah king of
Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith
Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he
shall take it; and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the
Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and
shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; And he
shall bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith
Jehovah: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper."
"Was besieging Jerusalem ..." (Jeremiah 32:2). The journey of Jeremiah to
purchase that field in Anathoth did not take place during the brief lifting of the
siege in the preceding year, but after the siege had been renewed.
"Wherefore dost thou prophesy ..." (Jeremiah 32:3). Zedekiah here repeated the
prophecies of Jeremiah for which he had retaliated by casting the prophet into
prison. It seems incredible that he would still have disbelieved Jeremiah after all the
fulfillments of Jeremiah's prophecies which had taken place and were still taking
place before his very eyes.
"There shall he be until I visit him ..." (Jeremiah 32:5) God's "visiting" a person
sometimes signified his coming to "bless" the individual; but here it does not seem
to indicate any such thing. Zedekiah's fate was much worse than that which usually
befell defeated ancient kings. They slaughtered his sons before his eyes, and then
put his eyes out, and carried him to Babylon where he died (1 Kings 25:2-7).
Harrison noted that this incident and others recorded here through Jeremiah 44 all
happened during the kingship of Zedekiah.[3]
COKE, "Jeremiah 32:1. The word that came to Jeremiah— This chapter has no
connection with the preceding. Nebuchadrezzar came to besiege Jerusalem the 10th
day of the 10th month of the 9th year of Zedekiah; see chap. Jeremiah 39:1,
Jeremiah 52:4. Jeremiah, at the beginning of the siege, foretold to Zedekiah, that the
city should be taken, and the king sent captive to Babylon; chap. Jeremiah 34:1-7.
The king, irritated at his freedom, put him in prison, or at least in the court of the
prison, which was in the palace: it was in this place that what we are now about to
read happened. It was now the 10th year of Zedekiah, and Jeremiah had been
confined a year during the siege of the city.
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TRAPP, "Jeremiah 32:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the
tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which [was] the eighteenth year of
Nebuchadrezzar.
Ver. 1. The word that came to Jeremiah.] What this word was, see Jeremiah 32:26.
In the tenth year of Zedekiah.] The city had now been a year at least besieged; and
yet these "sinners against their own souls" went on to do wickedly, and held the
prophet prisoner, for the faithful discharge of his duty. Full forty years had he been
prophesying to them, and for many years he had foretold this siege, and the
following deportation, but could never be believed. (a) And now he is imprisoned,
but not left destitute by God of prison comforts, such as made his prison a paradise,
and his sleep sweet unto him. {as Jeremiah 31:26}
PETT, "Verses 1-5
Jeremiah Is Shut Up In Prison For Prophesying That Jerusalem Will Be Taken By
Nebuchadrezzar (Jeremiah 32:1-5).
The scene now shifts from the rebuilding of the new Jerusalem to the time of the
siege of the old Jerusalem, with the enemy camped around the city, and its people
within being slowly starved into submission. All could look out over the walls and
see the Babylonian siege engines and siege mounds, and all the related activity
connected with the besieging of a city. This was relieved for a short time when an
Egyptian army arrived to challenge the Babylonians, but that army was soon sent
packing, with the siege being resumed. It was not until after this that Jeremiah was
shut up, first in prison (Jeremiah 37:4-5; Jeremiah 37:11-13), and then in the court
of the guard (Jeremiah 37:21). All efforts would meanwhile be being made to
uphold the morale of the slowly starving city, so that Jeremiah’s prophecy that the
city would fall would therefore have been seen as little short of treachery, which was
one reason why he was subsequently put under guard in the court of the guard in
the king’s palace complex.
Jeremiah 32:1
‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of
Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.’
The date was around 588/7 BC. The siege began in c. 589 BC, and was now at its
intensest, with hope of help from the Egyptians having faded. It was the time when,
as a result of the attempted rebellion of Zedekiah (largely forced on him by his
advisers), Nebuchadrezzar had surrounded the city with a view to forcing it into
submission. 588/7 BC would be Nebuchadrezzars’s seventeenth year by Babylonian
reckoning (omitting the accession year), and therefore the eighteenth year by this
reckoning (including the accession year).
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PETT, "Verses 1-16
Section 2 Subsection 2 Part 2). Having Been Imprisoned During The Siege Of
Jerusalem Jeremiah Buys A Piece Of Hereditary Land In Order To Demonstrate
Confidence In The Future Of The Land Of Judah, Something Resulting In A
Promise Of Restoration And Of The Coming Of The Shoot Of David (Jeremiah 32:1
to Jeremiah 33:16).
The promises of what would happen in ‘coming days’ having been given, Jeremiah
is now given an initial earnest (proof of occurrence) that it will happen. This part
commences with the defining phrase, ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from
YHWH --’ (Jeremiah 32:1), and it describes how Jeremiah is shut up in prison by
Zedekiah during the siege of Jerusalem, and yet nevertheless buys a piece of
hereditary land on the death of his uncle as a token that Judah still has a future.
After prayer he is then assured by YHWH that while Jerusalem must certainly
suffer because of its sins and its sinful people must be taken into exile, He will one
day restore them again under a Shoot (or Branch) of David through an everlasting
covenant (Jeremiah 32:1 to Jeremiah 33:26).
Part 2 is divided up into two sub-parts, both occurring while Jeremiah was in the
palace complex prison during the final stages of the siege of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians, and in both of them restoration is promised once the worst is over.
· Sub-Part A. ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH --.’ After its
destruction Jerusalem will one day be restored, something guaranteed to Jeremiah
in a symbolic act of purchasing family land (Jeremiah 32:1-44).
· Sub-part B. ‘Moreover the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the second time --.’
Despite the devastation coming YHWH promises that one day He will restore His
people, settle them securely in the land, and will restore the Davidic kingship and
the Levitical priesthood in accordance with His covenants made with them
(Jeremiah 33:1-26).
Verses 1-44
Sub-Part A. After Its Destruction Jerusalem Will One Day Be Restored, Something
Guaranteed To Jeremiah In A Symbolic Act Of Purchasing Family Land (Jeremiah
32:1-44).
Jeremiah is commanded to buy an hereditary piece of land as a symbol of what
YHWH is going to do with regard to Judah. This confuses Jeremiah who cannot
understand how such an action ties in with YHWH’s warnings of the near certain
destruction of Jerusalem, and he comes before YHWH in prayer, arguing out the
pros and cons about whether YHWH intends to deliver His people at the last
7

moment. YHWH replies by confirming that He will cause Jerusalem to be destroyed
in the near future, but that one day He will also cause the exiles to return again to
their own land. There He will transform them and make with them an everlasting
covenant, with land once again being bought and sold in the land of Judah
(Jeremiah 32:1-44).
BI 1-15, "Buy my field, I pray thee.
Jeremiah’s faith
I. Faith is here illustrated as resting exclusively upon the word of God. All that Jeremiah
did in this matter he did just because he had a command from the Lord. Whilst he was in
prison, God told him that his cousin should come and offer him the redemption of a part
at least of the family inheritance. The man came, and he “knew that this was the Word of
the Lord”; therefore he bought the field. It is not to be supposed that he was rich. The
probability is that he may have had to get the money for the purchase from his friend
Baruch. Neither had he any expectation of himself obtaining any personal benefit from
the purchase, for he believed that the city would be given into the hands of the
Chaldeans, that the people would be taken for seventy years as exiles to Babylon. This is
the very nature of true faith; it does the thing, or it receives the thing, it fears or it hopes,
as the case may be wholly because God has spoken. If it embraces a promise, it rests its
hope upon the Word of the Lord. If it is moved by fear, it is because God has denounced
an impending punishment. If it acts in a particular way, it follows exactly the path which
God has marked out. Resting as it does entirely upon the Word of God, it is altogether
independent of reason, although it does not refuse to listen to its voice. Faith receives
testimony; our faith in men leads us to receive the testimony of men. We often receive
that testimony although we have no other evidence whatever of the facts we believe. Nay,
we receive it although we have found the very persons whose testimony we are now
relying upon to have been, in some instances, at least, mistaken. Faith in men goes thus
far; it must go thus far; we are compelled to act in this way, or we should cut ourselves
off from mankind and the activities of life. But if this be so, if we find it necessary and
reasonable to act in this way, receiving the testimony of men, shall we not receive the
testimony of God? When He speaks it is for us simply to listen. How wondrously has
God spoken! “In the beginning” “God created the heavens and the earth. Going on from
that primary revelation, He has revealed more and more of His truth; and in proportion
as our minds rise, in proportion as our moral sense is cultivated, in proportion as we get
free from the degrading power of evil which perverts our moral judgment, we find the
revelation to be in accordance with everything we might expect. He speaks to us of
things which are far beyond the reach of human knowledge and experience, testimony or
deduction. He sets before us His own dear Son incarnate in our nature, and tells us of
the great purpose for which He came.
II. This passage teaches us also that faith takes account of difficulties and
improbabilities only so far as to refer them to him. We must pass on to a later portion of
the chapter to illustrate this. When Jeremiah had purchased the field, and subscribed
the deeds and sealed them, and they were deposited in the custody of Baruch in an
earthen jar to be kept for a considerable time, he seems to have experienced what we all
know, some kind of reaction Of feeling; and then, as if he almost felt that he had done
something that he was hardly warranted in doing, he goes and lays the matter before
God (verses 17-25). This must certainly have seemed strange to any person who did not
8

understand that it was God’s Word. That a man who was in prison should buy an estate,
believing as he did that before long the country would be in the hands of the Chaldeans,
who would recognise no title-deeds whatever; that he should carefully go through the
forms of Jewish law to acquire the estate, really appeared a most foolish thing. It seems
as if those thoughts, so natural to us, came back upon Jeremiah’s mind, and he began to
think of the difficulties and the probabilities of the case. You see that this is not a prayer
for a blessing upon what he had done; it is not a prayer that the matter in which he had
been engaged should be successful; but it is an utterance of wavering and distracted
feeling; and that wavering and distracted feeling is rightly uttered to God. We all know
perfectly well that faith as it exists in us is not complete in its power. Sometimes we can
look over, we might almost say, the boundaries of our earthly horizon and see the gates
of the heavenly Jerusalem and the hills of the celestial city, but at other times the depths
of the valley of the shadow of death seem to hide it all from our view. Sometimes we can
hold firmly to the truth which God has been pleased to set before us with unequivocal
assertion, and with demonstration of power to our believing heart; but at other times
our grasp upon it seems to relax, and it appears almost as if it would slip through our
hands. When there is anything of this, what will a person who really has faith do,
although that faith may not be in the most perfect state and in the fullest exercise? He
will take all his difficulty to God. Do we find any difficulties about the way of salvation?
Let us go and ask God to throw light, as far as that light is necessary, upon the truths
whereby we are to be saved. Is there any question about my own connection with, or
interest in, the work of Christ? Let me go and spread it before God, and ask Him to make
my salvation clear to me. God never said that there should be no difficulty in the
Christian’s path. God never told us that there should be nothing hard to understand in
the truth that the Christian has to believe respecting Himself.
III. Again, we have this illustration of the nature and the power of true faith:—it joins
obedience prompt and full with reliance implicit and abiding. Why does the inspired
writer tell us the little particulars of the transaction? Would it not have been enough to
say, “I bought the field”? No, because the object was to show that, in the full confidence
that what God had said would come to pass, Jeremiah had left nothing whatever
undone. There was no flaw in the document; all legal forms were complied with exactly;
the two kinds of deeds that were always used, the one sealed and the other open, were
provided; the earthen jar was obtained; the deeds were put in it and intrusted to a man
of rank and standing; the money was paid; and all was done in the presence of witnesses,
just as if Jeremiah had hoped to take possession of the little estates the very next day.
This shows that the obedience of faith will be prompt and full and will omit nothing.
Jeremiah never expected to get possession of that estate personally. He himself spoke of
seventy years as the period of the captivity, and he did not therefore expect that he
should ever be put in possession of the little piece of land, the reversion to which he had
purchased. Faith does not bind its expectations to the present; it does not limit them to a
man’s own life here; it looks beyond. And the faith of a Christian looks farther still than
Jeremiah’s. It does not look merely to a deliverance at the end of seventy years, and a
possession by some of our descendants or representatives at that time of a little spot in
the earthly Canaan. It looks to the close of this mortal life, to the day of resurrection, and
to glory with the risen Saviour throughout eternity. (W. A. Salter.)
Jeremiah’s purchase
9

I. The reasons for this purchase.
1. We may perhaps suppose that kindness to a kinsman, as Matthew Henry suggests,
had something to do with it; for kindness is kinnedness, and it is very hard if we
cannot show kindness to our kith and kin when they are in need. If Jeremiah has no
need of the land, we may still infer, under the circumstances of Jerusalem in a state
of siege, that his cousin Hanameel has great need of money. Some of us, perhaps,
who maintain that business is business, and should be conducted always on the
strictest business principles, may think that as to this matter of kindness to a
kinsman, about the most inexpedient way of showing it is by mixing it with matters
of business. As nearest kinsman his was the right of redemption, and it was already
his in reversion in case of the death of his cousin; this cousin being, as we assume, in
straits for want of money, and Jeremiah being a considerate, reasonable, and kind-
hearted man, concedes to his cousin’s proposal, buying the land for what it is worth,
and perhaps for something more. And if the opportunity should occur to us of
helping a needy relative in some such way—if with anything like a reasonable
prospect of success we can give him another chance, a new start in life, helping him
to help himself—then, looking at the example of Jeremiah, I think we may all hear a
voice speaking to us, and saying, “Go thou and do likewise.”
2. We may suggest, as another reason for this purchase, Jeremiah’s interest in future
generations. Anathoth was one of the cities of the priests, and this field was
ecclesiastical property. It might well be, therefore, that, unless Jeremiah bought it, it
might in those confused times pass into other hands, by which it would become
alienated from its sacred purposes, and so the law of Moses suffer violation. He was a
Jew, and we know how the Jews looked on to the future and backward to the past,
linking the past to the present and the present to the future, finding in the present a
focus in which both past and future met, and so in the nation’s unity finding its
immortality. We know how that great national anthem, that prayer of Moses the man
of God, begins, “Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations”; and we
know how it closes, “Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto
their children, and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of
our hands establish Thou it.” We have a more sure word of prophecy, we anticipate a
more glorious future, and we also know that even as to this life the best that we can
do for those who are to come after us is not by making “purchases,” not buying fields
or houses, not saving fortunes for our children, but by living godly, devout, Christ-
like lives, shall we leave to them the best inheritance.
3. Let us assume, again, that Jeremiah, magnifying his prophet’s office, would have
it made plain that he himself believed in his own predictions. The land was indeed to
be desolate for seventy years, to have its Sabbaths, and to lie fallow; but after that
time the people were to return from their captivity, take joyful possession once more
of houses, and fields, and lands: and this particular piece of land, Jeremiah believed,
would then revert to its rightful owners, the priests and Levites. For ourselves,
making no pretension to the prophet’s office—that is, in the sense of foretelling—yet
let us take care that our practice shall not conflict with our theory, that we practise
what we preach, and so adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. “Let your
conversation be as becometh the gospel of Christ.”
4. Lastly, as summing up all, we may say that Jeremiah evidently believed it to be the
will of God. I marvel much how anyone calling himself a Christian, can ever hesitate
as to doing what he believes to be the will of God, especially when the question is of
10

something simple and easily done. I am asked sometimes, Is baptism necessary to
salvation? and I answer, No, a thousand times, no. Salvation precedes baptism, and
is in nowise a consequence of it; but surely, if we once admit that it is the will of God,
that we have for it at once the example and precept of the Lord, that should be
enough for us.
II. Jeremiah’s doubts and difficulties as to this purchase. No sooner was it completed
than he seems to have been oppressed as with a burden, his brain clouded, and his
nervous system rendered irritable by it.
1. Perhaps he is beginning to doubt whether after all he had rightly interpreted the
vision, and the subsequent visits of Hanameel, as making it quite certain that he was
to accept his kinsman’s offer. He still thinks so, as it would seem, upon the whole,
but yet his mind is opening to a doubt, and he is in sore perplexity of spirit.
2. It may be also that he is distressed at the thought that perhaps his very confidence
in the promises of God, and his wish to show that he believed in his own predictions,
may be turned against him. The sneering, who understand so well the motives of
others, may be saying, “Don’t tell me that this man is so unselfish as to part with his
money for a piece of land that somebody else seventy years hence is to enjoy! He
knows better than that, and fully expects before very long to take possession of it
himself”; and possibly, hearing such things, he might be in the confused condition of
Bunyan’s Christian in the valley of the shadow of death, when the foul fiend
whispered into his ear those terrible thoughts which he could hardly distinguish
from his own. There is nothing at all unusual, moreover, in such an experience as
this, that when a man, acting by such light as he has, has done what seems to him a
wise thing and a good thing, there comes for a time a sort of morbid reaction, by
which he sinks into despondency and gloom. And herein lies the difference between
those who fall away and those who, enduring to the end, are saved: not that either is
exempt from doubts, conflicts, and temptations; but that in the one case these are
yielded to, and in the other, faith ultimately gains the victory over them.
III. How Jeremiah overcame and solved his doubts and difficulties. “I prayed unto the
Lord.” Whether or not he prayed to the Lord about his purchase before he made it we
are not told. Perhaps he did not. There are some things that seem so plain to us as
matters of duty and of daily habit, that there is no need to pray for Divine direction
concerning them. As the Lord said to Moses when Israel’s duty was so plain, “Wherefore
criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” But in any
case we are sure that the spirit of prayer, the continued lifting up of the heart to God,
was in all that Jeremiah had done. But when we find him bringing this matter of the
“purchase” specially before the Lord, seeking as he does for help and strength and grace,
in weakness, perplexity, and trouble, we are encouraged by his example to bring all our
affairs to the throne of the heavenly grace, however commonplace, mechanical, and
routine they may be. (J. W. Lance.)
A patriot’s faith in the future
This was bravely done, to make a purchase at such a time, when the enemy was seizing
upon all. That Roman is famous in history who adventured to purchase that field near
Rome wherein Hannibal had pitched his camp. But the Romans were nothing near so
low at that time as the Jews were at this. A striking parallel to this confidence of
11

Jeremiah, in the midst of near and present troubles, as to the ultimate glory of his
nation, is furnished in the recently published Memoir of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, whoso
father, Gabriel Rossetti, an Italian patriot who sought asylum in this country, yet never
lost faith in the future of his native land. His biographer says: “When he died in 1854,
the outlook seemed exceedingly dark; yet heart and hope did not abate in him. The latest
letter of his which I have seen published was written in September or October 1853, and
contains this passage, equally strong-spirited and prophetic: ‘The Arpa Evangelica . . .
ought to find free circulation through all Italy. I do not say the like of three other
unpublished volumes, which all seethe with love of country and hatred for tyrants. These
await a better time—which will come, be very sure of it. The present fatal period will
pass, and serves to whet the universal desire Let us look to the future. Our tribulations,
dear Madam, will not finish very soon, but finish they will at last. Reason has awakened
in all Europe, although her enemies are strong. We shall pass various years in this state
of degradation; then we shall rouse up. I assuredly shall not see it, for day by day—nay,
hour by hour, I expect the much-longed-for death; but you will see it.’”
Into the ground to die
Whilst shut up in the court of the prison, perhaps fastened by a chain that restrained his
liberty, Jeremiah received a Divine intimation that his uncle would shortly come to him
with a request for him to purchase the family property at Anathoth. This greatly startled
him; because he had so clear a conviction, which he cherished as divinely given, of the
approaching overthrow of the kingdom, and the consequent desolation of the land. He
gave, however, no outward sign of his perplexities; but when his uncle’s son entered the
courtyard with his request, the prophet at once assented to the proposal, and purchased
the property for seventeen shekels (about £2). In addition to this, Jeremiah took care to
have the purchase recorded and witnessed with the same elaborate pains as if he were at
once to be entering on occupation. The two deeds of contract—the one sealed with the
more private details of price; the other open, and bearing the signatures of witnesses—
were deposited in the charge of Baruch, with the injunction to put them in an earthen
vessel and preserve them. They were probably not opened again until the return from
the captivity. But Jeremiah was not a sharer in that glad scene. He did as God bade him,
though the shadow of a great darkness lay upon his soul, for which he could only find
relief, as the Lord on the Cross, in recourse to the Father. He fell into the ground to die,
as the seed does, which holds at its heart a principle of life, that can only express itself
through death, and can only bless men when its sowing, amid the depression and decay
of autumn, has been complete.
I. Hours of midnight darkness. It is only in service that anything reaches its fullest life. A
bit of iron is condemned to solitude and uselessness till it becomes part of a great
machine. A man who lives a self-contained life, of which the gratification of his own
ambition and selfhood is the supreme aim, never drinks the sweets of existence, nor
attains his full development. It is only when we live for God, and, in doing so, for man,
that we are able to appropriate the rarest blessedness of which our nature is capable, or
to unfold into all the proportions of full growth in Christ. In the deepest sense, therefore,
Jeremiah could never regret that he had given the strength and measure of his days to
the service of others. But none can give themselves to the service of others except at
bitter cost of much that this world holds dear. This will explain the privations and
sorrows to which Jeremiah was subjected. Death wrought in him, that life might work in
Israel, and in all who should read the Book of his prophecy.
1. He died to the dear ties of human love. “Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither
12

shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place,” was early said to him. What he held
in his heart belonged to the race, and might not be poured forth within the narrower
circle of the home, of priestly temple-duty, or of the little village of Anathoth.
2. He died to the goodwill of his fellows. None can be indifferent to this. It is easy to
do or suffer, when the bark of life is wafted on its way by favouring breezes, or the air
thrills with expressions of love and adulation. Then a man is nerved to dare to do his
best. It was his bitter lot to encounter from the first an incessant stream of
vituperation and dislike. “Woe is me, my mother,” he cried sadly, “that thou hast
borne me a man of strife and contention to the whole earth. I have not lent on usury,
neither have men lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.”
3. He died to the pride of national patriotism. No patriot allows himself to despair of
his country. However dark the louring storm clouds and strong the adverse current,
he believes that the ship of State will weather the storm. He chokes back words of
despondency and depression, lest they should breed dismay. But Jeremiah was
driven along an opposite course. A loftier patriotism than his never hazarded itself in
the last breach. His belief in Israel was part of his belief in God. But he found himself
compelled to speak in such a fashion that the princes proposed, not without show of
reason, to put him to death, because he weakened the hands of the men of war.
4. He died to the sweets of personal liberty. A large portion of his ministry was
exerted from the precincts of a prison. Repeatedly we read of his being shut up and
not able to go forth.
5. He died, also, to the meaning he had been wont to place on his own prophecies.
Up to the moment when Jehovah bade him purchase the property of Hanameel, he
had never questioned the impending fate of Jerusalem. It was certainly and
inevitably to be destroyed by sword, famine, pestilence, and fire. But now the Word
of God, demanding an act of obedience, seemed to indicate that the land was to
remain under the cultivation of the families that owned it.
II. Jeremiah’s behaviour. But amid it all he derived solace and support in three main
directions.
1. He prayed. Take this extract from his own diary: “Now, after I had delivered the
deed of the purchase unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, saying,
Ah, Lord God!” There is no help to the troubled soul like that which comes through
prayer.
2. He rested on the word of God. The soul of the prophet was nourished and fed by
the Divine word. “Thy words were found,” he cries, “and I did eat them: and Thy
words were unto me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.”
3. He faithfully kept to the path of duty. “And I bought the field.” It does not always
happen that our service to men will be met by rebuff, ill-will, and hard treatment; but
when it does there should be no swerving, or flinching, or drawing back. The fierce
snow-laden blast, driving straight in your teeth, is not so pleasant as the breath of
summer, laden with the scent of the heather; but if you can see the track, you must
follow it. To be anywhere off it, either right or left, would be dangerous in the
extreme. Such are the resorts of the soul in its seasons of anguish.
III. Compensations. To all valleys there are mountains, to all depths heights; for all
midnight hours there are hours of sunrise; for Gethsemane, an Olivet. We can never give
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up aught for God or man, without discovering that at the moment of surrender He
begins to repay as He foretold to the prophet; “For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I
will Bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron.” Nor does God keep these
compensations for the new world, “where light and darkness fuse.” It were long to wait,
if that were so. But here and now we learn that there are compensations. The first
movement from the selfish life may strain and try us, the indifference of our fellows be
hard to bear; hut God has such things to reveal and give, as pass the wildest imaginings
of the self-centred soul. So Jeremiah found it. His compensations came. God became his
Comforter, and wiped, away his tears; and opened to him the vista of the future, down
whose long aisles he beheld his people planted again in their own land. He saw men
buying fields for money, and subscribing deeds and sealing them, as he had done. There
was compensation also in the confidence with which Nebuchadnezzar treated him, and
in the evident reliance which his decimated people placed in his intercessions, as we
shall see. So it will be with all who fall into the ground to die. God will not forget or
forsake them. The grave may be dark and deep, the winter long, the frost keen and
penetrating; but spring will come, and the stone be rolled away; and the golden stalk
shall wave in the sunshine, bearing its crown of fruit; and men shall thrive on the bread
of our experience, the product of our tears, and sufferings, and prayers. (F. B. Meyer, B.
A.)
2 The army of the king of Babylon was then
besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet
was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the
royal palace of Judah.
BARNES, "The prison - Or, the guard, a part of the king’s palace, probably where
the royal guard had its quarters.
CLARKE, "Then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem - The siege
had commenced the year before, and continued a year after ending in the fifth month of
the following year; consequently, the siege must have lasted about eighteen months and
twenty-seven days. See 2Ki_25:18.
14

GILL, "For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem,.... And had
done so for some time; for the siege began in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the
tenth day of the tenth month, Jer_52:4;
and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was
in the king of Judah's house; which showed great stupidity and hardness of heart in
the king, and his courtiers, and in the people, to imprison a prophet of the Lord, when
surrounded by an enemy's army, and that according to the prediction of the prophet; by
which it appeared that he was a true prophet; and they might reasonably expect that the
rest of his predictions, which related to the taking of their city, and carrying them
captive, would be fulfilled. It is true, indeed, he was in a better prison than before, more
honourable, being within the limits of the king's house; and, besides, was not closely
confined, but allowed to walk in the court of the prison; and so had a free air to breathe
in, and more company to converse with, and could exercise himself by walking about;
perhaps he was placed here to keep him from prophesying to the people to their
discouragement, and the more to awe him, as he was under the eye of the king and his
ministry. Of this prison and its court mention is made in Neh_3:25; it seems to have
been for state prisoners.
JAMISON, "in ... court of ... prison — that is, in the open space occupied by the
guard, from which he was not allowed to depart, but where any of his friends might visit
him (Jer_32:12; Jer_38:13, Jer_38:28). Marvelous obstinacy, that at the time when
they were experiencing the truth of Jeremiah’s words in the pressure of the siege, they
should still keep the prophet in confinement [Calvin]. The circumstances narrated (Jer_
32:3-5) occurred at the beginning of the siege, when Jeremiah foretold the capture of the
city (Jer_32:1; Jer_34:1-7; Jer_39:1). He was at that time put into free custody in the
court of the prison. At the raising of the siege by Pharaoh-hophra, Jeremiah was on the
point of repairing to Benjamin, when he was cast into “the dungeon,” but obtained leave
to be removed again to the court of the prison (Jer_37:12-21). When there he urged the
Jews, on the second advance of the Chaldeans to the siege, to save themselves by
submission to Nebuchadnezzar (Jer_38:2, Jer_38:3); in consequence of this the king, at
the instigation of the princes, had him cast into a miry dungeon (Jer_38:4-6); again he
was removed to the prison court at the intercession of a courtier (Jer_32:7-13), where he
remained till the capture of the city (Jer_32:28), when he was liberated (Jer_39:11, etc.;
Jer_40:1, etc.).
CALVIN, "He points out then the circumstances of that time, and not without
reason, when he says, that he was then shut up in prison, and also mentions the
year, even the tenth of Zedekiah and the eighteenth of king Nebuchadnezar. (59) It
was about the end of the ninth year that the army of Nebuchadnezar came up to
Jerusalem; the city was besieged for two months in that year. The tenth year
followed, in which this vision was given to the Prophet. The siege continued for a
year and a half; but there was some interruption; for the Egyptians came to its aid.
Thus for a short time, while the Chaldeans went to meet them, it had some liberty.
But the Egyptians, as we shall hereafter see, were forced to retire in disgrace, and
afterwards suffered punishment for their audacity and rashness. It was then about
the middle of the siege that God, as we shall see, foretold to the Prophet the future
return of the people. But though God shewed a regard for the miserable exiles, he
15

yet at the same time confirmed what he had previously said of his future vengeance;
for the people could not be restored before they had been driven into exile. It was
indeed a dreadful instance of hardness and obduracy, that having been so often
scourged they received no benefit. They had experienced the heavy judgment of God
under Jehoiakim, and also under Jeconiah; but the memory of these calamities had
soon vanished, and they lived as securely as though they had never heard a word
from the mouth of Jeremiah: and he was not the only one who had threatened them,
but there were before him Isaiah and others, and at the same time with him was
Ezekiel, who had been exiled into Chaldea. Then from the number of years we
conclude how great must have been the obstinacy of the people.
At the same time we must observe how seasonable was this prophecy for alleviating
the minds of the godly, as they were not far from extreme calamity; for it was in the
eleventh year of Zedekiah and in the fourth month that the city was taken and
demolished, the people driven into exile, and the Temple burnt. Then there were not
more than six or seven months, perhaps, to the time of their utter ruin; there is
indeed no mention made here of the month in which the Prophet received the vision,
but the tenth year is only mentioned. Now, the city was taken at the beginning of the
eleventh year, as we have stated. Hence then comes more fully to light the extreme
perverseness of the people; for while the enemy surrounded the city, they held
Jeremiah captive. He had already foretold many years past what experience then
taught them to be true. For forty years he had not ceased to cry out and to strive by
warning, exhorting, and threatening them to lead them to repentance. As then
nothing new happened to them, and as they found by the evils which came on them
that Jeremiah had been a true and faithful servant of God, what was their object in
shutting him up in prison? was not this to carry on war with God? for what had
they to do with Jeremiah? He had not evidently acted a private part, nor had he
only dreamt of what he had so often foretold them. Then they did not fight with a
mortal man, but like the giants they dared to raise up their horns against God
himself.
For the same reason also, he calls himself a Prophet This indeed he often did, but
there is no doubt but that the indignity offered to him is pointed out, that even at the
time when the Chaldeans surrounded the city with their army, Jeremiah the
Prophet was shut up in the court of the prison. He might have only said, that
Jeremiah was shut up, but for honor’s sake he assumed the title of a Prophet, that
hence might appear more evidently the baseness of the people’s contumacy, that
though they perceived that God was angry with them, they yet ceased not from their
presumption; for they then held the Prophet in prison as though they were fighting
with God himself. We know that fools, according to the old proverb, being chastised,
become wise. If then the Jews had a particle or a spark of wisdom, they might have
been so subdued by evils and calamities as to cast aside their haughtiness and
obstinacy. But we see that they were untameable, and through a mad fury persisted
in their wickedness; for though besieged by their enemies, they yet attempted to
hold God as it were captive in the person of his servant.
16

As to the court of the prison, I doubt not but it was a milder sort of imprisonment,
for we shall hereafter see that the Prophet prayed that he might not be thence
thrown into the dark prison where he had been. He sought it as no common favor to
remain in some prison; and he was as yet exposed to the mockeries of all. However
this may have been, we see that the people had then become nothing better, though
they had already been chastised and scourged by God.
We ought at the same timeto bear in mind what I have already said, that though the
ungodly sought in all ways wholly to extinguish the word of God, they yet did not
attain what they wished; for God broke through all hinderances, and continued the
course of his word notwithstanding all their attempts. And this ought to be carefully
noticed, for we see at this day all sorts of contrivances made by the wicked to
impede the course of celestial truth. Let then this history be remembered, that
though Jeremiah was a captive, yet his word was free and his tongue at liberty, as
Paul also boasts, that though he was bound with chains, yet God’s word was not
bound. (2 Timothy 2:9)
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 32:2 For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem:
and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which [was] in the
king of Judah’s house.
Ver. 2. And Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison.] Where he
had some liberty more than at some other times. [Jeremiah 37:16; Jeremiah
37:20-21] So had Paul at Rome, [Acts 28:16; Acts 28:30] Bradford in the counter,
&c.; this was a mercy, and so they esteemed it. Good people were suffered to come
about them; and they made use of that opportunity to do what good they could.
PETT, "Jeremiah 32:2
‘Now at that time the king of Babylon’s army was besieging Jerusalem, and
Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king
of Judah’s house.’
With the city surrounded by the enemy Jeremiah, who was falsely accused of
wishing to desert to the enemy (Jeremiah 37:13), had been imprisoned in the palace-
complex prison in the court of the guard which was probably retained for the
purpose of imprisoning high state officials who fell from grace. It was a far better
situation than he had experienced earlier when he had been in what was basically
little better than a cess pit (Jeremiah 38:6), a situation which could have proved
fatal, and from which he had mercifully been delivered by a friendly party who had
appealed to the king on his behalf (Jeremiah 38:7-10). And there in the palace-
complex prison he was occasionally consulted surreptitiously even by Zedekiah, and
could be visited by his friends and relatives.
17

3 Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned
him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you
do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am
about to give this city into the hands of the king of
Babylon, and he will capture it.
BARNES, "For the prophecies on which the charge was grounded see Jer_21:4-7,
Jer_21:9.
GILL, "For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up,.... In prison, at least in the
court of the prison; he had given orders for his imprisonment, which were executed, and
it was the same as if he had done it himself; the reason of which was, as follows:
saying, wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, thus saith the Lord,
behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall
take it? meaning the city of Jerusalem, now besieged by the king of Babylon. This
prophecy stands in Jer_34:1; the prophecies of this book not being put together in
proper order of time.
CALVIN, "Then the reason is added why he was shut up in prison, — he had dared
to prophesy against the city and the king himself. It was no wonder that the king’s
mind was exasperated when Jeremiah boldly said that he would come into the hands
of his enemies, for he had not only spoken of the ruin of the city, but also of the fall
of the king; he had said that he would be brought before king Nebuchadnezar, and
be led to Babylon, and be there until God visited him. We know how delicate are the
ears of kings; it was then no wonder Zedekiah became incensed against Jeremiah;
but yet he ought to have been softened and humbled when he found that this oracle
had come from God. That he then still kept Jeremiah a prisoner, proves his madness
and stupidity, for he had no regard for God. I shall proceed with the subject to-
morrow.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 32:3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying,
Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give
this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
18

Ver. 3. For Zedekiah had shnt him up.] He who before had set him at liberty, and
thereby haply hoped to have stopped his mouth; but that might not be.
Behold, I will give this city.] This holy city, as the false prophets styled it, and
therefore held this prophecy little better than blasphemy.
PETT, "Jeremiah 32:3-5
‘For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, and
say,
“Thus says YHWH,
Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon,
And he will take it,
And Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans,
But will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon,
And will speak with him mouth to mouth,
And his eyes will behold his eyes,
And he will bring Zedekiah to Babylon,
And there shall he be until I visit him,
The word of YHWH,
Though you fight with the Chaldeans,
You will not prosper?
We are then given, in words spoken by Zedekiah, the gist of what Jeremiah had
prophesied, which was why he had been shut up in prison. This was basically that
there was no point in resistance to the Chaldeans as the end was certain, and any
resistance to them would not prosper. And that end was that the city would be
delivered into the hands of the Babylonians, along with Zedekiah himself. Zedekiah
would then be carried off to Babylon, and would at some stage be brought face to
face, and eyeball to eyeball, with Nebuchadrezzar, speaking with him mouth to
mouth (while no doubt crouched in terror before him. As it turned out this would be
the last sight, along with the execution of his sons, that he would see on earth before
he was blinded). And he would remain in Babylon until YHWH ‘visited’ him. And
this was the sure word of YHWH.
19

The idea of ‘visiting’ can sometimes signify release or judgment. Here it simply
indicates YHWH’s carrying out of His intentions. As there is no record of his release
at the time of the release of Jehoiachin it is probable that he was ‘visited’ by death
prior to that date. All this is a reminder to us that if we do not pay heed to the word
of God we must expect to face the consequences.
4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the
Babylonians[a] but will certainly be given into the
hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with
him face to face and see him with his own eyes.
CLARKE, "And shall speak with him mouth to mouth - He shall be reduced to
a state of the most abject servitude. The slave was obliged to fix his eyes on every motion
of the master whilst giving his orders, who often condescended to give them only by
dumb signs.
GILL, "And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the
Chaldeans,.... This is a continuation of the prophecy of Jeremiah, repeated by the king
to him, and which concerns himself more especially; who, upon the taking of the city,
would endeavour to make his escape, as he did; but should not be able, Jer_52:8;
but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon; not only
into the hands of his army, and of his generals, but into his own hand personally; since it
follows:
and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his
eyes; converse together face to face, eye to eye; but no doubt with different tones and
looks; the king of Babylon upbraiding the king of Judah with perjury and ingratitude,
and looking upon him with indignation and contempt; the other speaking faintly, and
looking down with grief, shame, and confusion; moreover, the eyes of the king of
Babylon beheld the eyes of Zedekiah, and ordered them to be put out, as they were, 2Ki_
25:7.
JAMISON, "his eyes shall behold his eyes — that is, only before reaching
Babylon, which he was not to see. Jer_39:6, Jer_39:7 harmonizes this prophecy (Jer_
20

32:4) with the seemingly opposite prophecy, Eze_12:13, “He shall not see.”
CALVIN, "When, therefore, the king saw that he would not be exempt from the
common judgment, he was especially displeased with Jeremiah; for kings seek to be
exempt from all laws, and when they allow the people to be reproved, they yet wish
themselves to be deemed sacred. As then Jeremiah classed the king Zedekiah with
all the common people, it was a thing not to be endured by a proud king. Hence his
indignation was such, that he shut up Jeremiah in prison; and he became
implacable, even when God’s hand pressed hard on him. It afterwards follows, —
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 32:4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the
hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his
eyes;
Ver. 4. And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape.] As he hoped to have done,
either by his wiles or by his wealth; and accordingly attempted it, but all in vain.
And he shall speak with him mouth to mouth.] This was no small punishment to
Zedekiah, that he must look him in the face from whom he had so perfidiously
revolted, even against oath; and hear his taunts, before he felt his fingers. How,
then, will graceless persons do to stand before the King of kings, whom they have so
greatly offended, at that great day? See Revelation 9:17.
5 He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will
remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If
you fight against the Babylonians, you will not
succeed.’”
BARNES, "I visit - In the sense of punishment. See Jer_39:6-7; Jer_52:11.
GILL, "And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon,.... As he did in chains, from
Riblah, where he was brought unto him after he was taken, endeavouring to make his
escape, Jer_52:8;
21

and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord; in taking him away by
death; for he continued in Babylon to the time of his death, which was not violent, but
natural; and, considering his circumstances, his captivity, imprisonment, and loss of
sight, might be reckoned a visitation in mercy: though some understand this of God's
visiting the people at the return of them from their seventy years' captivity; if Zedekiah
lived till then, he must be a very old man; but of this we have no account, nor is it
probable:
though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper; though they should
sally out upon them, in order to beat them out of their trenches, and drive them from the
walls of the city, yet without success.
JAMISON, "visit him — in a good sense (Jer_27:22); referring to the honor paid
Zedekiah at his death and burial (Jer_34:4, Jer_34:5). Perhaps, too, before his death he
was treated by Nebuchadnezzar with some favor.
though ye fight ... shall not prosper — (Jer_21:4).
CALVIN, "He follows the same subject, Lead, he says, will King Nebuchadnezar
Zedekiah captive; and he will remain in exile until I shall visit him. Some
understand this time of visiting of his death, for it is certain that he died in Babylon;
and as his condition was not improved like that of Jeconiah who was taken from the
filth of a prison to the table of the king, this exposition at the first view seems
probable, that is, that he was worn down to death by poverty and disgrace. It,
however, seems that some alleviation was promised, if indeed a certain kind of death
may be deemed a favor; for he was not slain with the sword; and though he was not
restored to his own country, there is yet nothing improper in this way of speaking,
that he would be in exile until he was visited, for nothing particular could be hence
concluded; and we shall hereafter see that when dead he was buried honorably and
with mourning. It is then no wonder that God points out here a time of favor,
though Zedekiah was never restored to his own Country, and we know that his eyes
were plucked out by King Nebuchadnezar, after having been tried and condemned.
But this favor of God, however, is not here without reason mentioned, for
Nebuchadnezar at length treated him more kindly, at least as far as his burial was
concerned: Lead him, then he says, shall Nebuchadnezar into Babylon, and he shall
be there until I shall visit him; that is, he shall remain an exile in a filthy prison, and
there he shall pine away and be destitute of all help; he shall be then as one of the
lowest, and shall, in short, drag on life ignominiously until the time of my visitation.
He lastly adds, When ye fight against the Chaldeans, ye shall not succeed Here the
Prophet meets those foolish notions which still filled the minds of the Jews, so that
they did not submit to God nor humble themselves under his mighty hand; for there
was yet a large number of men, and the city had strong fortifications. As then they
saw that they were furnished with men and forces, they were still confident; and
then they became hardened on account of the length of the time they had sustained
the siege. When enemies make the first attack, fear fills the minds of all; but when
the event disappoints them, then they who before trembled gather courage. So it was
22

with the Jews; for when the city was first encompassed by the Chaldean army, the
miserable inhabitants no doubt were greatly terrified; but when they saw their
enemies stopped, and effecting nothing by their attacks, they then hardened their
hearts more and more. For we must notice what I said yesterday, that they had been
besieged probably six or eight months when this vision was given to Jeremiah.
Hence it was that their confidence was greater. But the Prophet repels this folly by
saying,
“Ye fight against the Chaldeans, but the issue will be unsuccessful; for God will lay
you prostrate before your enemies, for with him ye carry on war.”
The sum of this introduction is, that Jeremiah was then shut up in prison, and that
the king continued in his contumacy, though God’s hand pressed hard on him; and
then the cause of this is set forth, even because he boldly threatened the king and the
city, and deelard that God’s vengeance was nigh them, so that the king would be led
into exile and the city taken and plundered by their enemies. It now follows, —
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 32:5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he
be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not
prosper.
Ver. 5. And there shall he be until I visit him.] sc., With death; but the prophet useth
a general term, that might be taken either in good part or bad for his own safety’s
sake.
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to
me:
GILL, "And Jeremiah said, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Not
that he said this to Zedekiah; but the prophet, after the above preface, returns to declare
what the word of the Lord was, which came to him at the time before mentioned.
HENRY 6-14, " Being in prison, he purchases from a near relation of his a piece of
ground that lay in Anathoth, Jer_32:6, Jer_32:7, etc.
1. One would not have expected, (1.) That a prophet should concern himself so far in
the business of this world; but why not? Though ministers must not entangle
themselves, yet they may concern themselves in the affairs of this life. (2.) That one who
had neither wife nor children should buy land. We find (Jer_16:2) that he had no family
23

of his own; yet he may purchase for his own use while he lives, and leave it to the
children of his relations when he dies. (3.) One would little have thought that a prisoner
should be a purchaser; how should he get money beforehand to buy land with? It is
probably that he lived frugally, and saved something out of what belonged to him as a
priest, which is no blemish at all to his character; but we have no reason to think that the
people were kind, or that his being beforehand was owing to their generosity. Nay, (4.) It
was most strange of all that he should buy a piece of land when he himself knew that the
whole land was now to be laid waste and fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, and then
what good would this do him? But it was the will of God that he should buy it, and he
submitted, though the money seemed to be thrown away. His kinsman came to offer it to
him; it was not of his own seeking; he coveted not to lay house to house and field to field,
but Providence brought it to him, and it was probably a good bargain; besides, the right
of redemption belonged to him (Jer_32:8), and if he refused he would not do the
kinsman's part. It is true he might lawfully refuse, but, being a prophet, in a thing of this
nature he must do that which would be for the honour of his profession. It became him
to fulfil all righteousness. It was land that lay within the suburbs of a priests' city, and, if
he should refuse it, there was danger lest, in these times of disorder, it might be sold to
one of another tribe, which was contrary to the law, to prevent which it was convenient
for him to buy it. It would likewise be a kindness to his kinsman, who probably was at
this time in great want of money. Jeremiah had but a little, but what he had he was
willing to lay out in such a manner as might tend most to the honour of God and the
good of his friends and country, which he preferred before his own private interests.
2. Two things may be observed concerning this purchase: -
(1.) How fairly the bargain was made. When Jeremiah knew by Hanameel's coming to
him, as God had foretold he would, that it was the word of the Lord, that it was his mind
that he should make this purchase, he made no more difficulty of it, but bought the field.
And, [1.] He was very honest and exact in paying the money. He weighted him the
money, did not press him to take it upon his report, though he was his near kinsman,
but weighed it to him, current money. It was seventeen shekels of silver, amounting to
about forty shillings of our money. The land was probably but a little field and of small
yearly value, when the purchase was so low; besides, the right of inheritance was in
Jeremiah, so that he had only to buy out his kinsman's life, the reversion being his
already. Some think this was only the earnest of a greater sum; but we shall not wonder
at the smallness of the price if we consider what scarcity there was of money at this time
and how little lands were counted upon. [2.] He was very prudent and discreet in
preserving the writings. They were subscribed before witnesses. One copy was sealed up,
the other was open. One was the original, the other the counterpart; or perhaps that
which was sealed up was for his own private use, the other that was open was to be laid
up in the public register of conveyances, for any person concerned to consult. Due care
and caution in things of this nature might prevent a great deal of injustice and
contention. The deeds of purchase were lodged in the hands of Baruch, before witnesses,
and he was ordered to lay them up in an earthen vessel (an emblem of the nature of all
the securities this world can pretend to give us, brittle things and soon broken), that they
might continue many days, for the use of Jeremiah's heirs, after the return out of
captivity; for they might then have the benefit of this purchase. Purchasing reversions
may be a kindness to those that come after us, and a good man thus lays up an
inheritance for his children's children.
JAMISON, "Jeremiah said — resuming the thread of Jer_32:1, which was
24

interrupted by the parenthesis (Jer_32:2-5).
K&D 6-7, "The purchase of the field. - In Jer_32:6, the introduction, which has been
interrupted by long parentheses, is resumed with the words, "And Jeremiah said," etc.
The word of the Lord follows, Jer_32:7. The Lord said to him: "Behold, Hanameël, the
son of Shallum, thine uncle, cometh to thee, saying, 'Buy thee my field at Anathoth, for
thou hast the redemption-right to purchase it.' " According to a mode of construction
common elsewhere, ְ‫ֹד‬‫דּ‬ might be taken as in apposition to ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ְ‫ַמ‬‫נ‬ֲ‫:ח‬ "Hanameël, son of
Shallum, thine uncle." But Jer_32:8, Jer_32:9, in which Jeremiah calls Hanameël ‫ן־‬ ֶ‫בּ‬
‫י‬ ִ‫ֹד‬‫דּ‬, son of my uncle, show that ְ‫ֹד‬‫דּ‬ is in apposition to ‫ם‬ ֻ‫לּ‬ַ‫:שׁ‬ "son of Shallum, [who is]
thine uncle." The right of redemption consisted in this, that if any one was forced
through circumstances to sell his landed property, the nearest blood-relation had the
right, or rather was obliged, to preserve the possession for the family, either through
pre-emption, or redemption from the stranger who had bought it (Lev_25:25). For the
land which God had given to the tribes and families of Israel for a hereditary possession
could not be sold, so as to pass into the hands of strangers; and for this reason, in the
year of jubilee, what had bee sold since the previous jubilee reverted, without payment of
any kind, to the original possessor or his heirs. (Cf. Lev_25:23-28, and Keil's Bibl.
Archäol. ii. §141, p. 208ff.)
CALVIN, "The whole of this passage ought to be read together, for the Prophet at
large explains how and by what symbol this prophecy had been confirmed. Now the
purpose of the whole is to shew that after a long time the Jews would return to their
own country, for God would restore them, and their captivity would have an end.
God’s design, then, was to give them a hope of deliverance, but yet they were
admonished to wait patiently for the end of their exile.
Let us now come to the external symbol. The Prophet was commanded to buy a field
of his uncle’s son. Now this appeared strange, for the enemies had taken possession
of that part of the country, and none of the Jews could then venture to go out to
their own fields. As then they were deprived of the very sight of their own fields, the
Prophet must have appeared to have been beside himself when he bought a field in
the possession of enemies. But in this way God intended to shew, that after the Jews
had for a time been deprived of the possession of the land, they would again return
to it, so that every one would recover his own right, and thus everything would
become completely their own, that is, after God had shewed them mercy.
COFFMAN, ""And Jeremiah said, The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy
thee my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So
Hanamel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the
word of Jehovah, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth,
which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is thine; buy it for
25

thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of Jehovah. And I bought the field that
was in Anathoth of Hanamel mine uncle's son, and weighed him the money, even
seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the deed, and sealed it, and called
witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the deed of the
purchase, both that which was sealed, according to the law and the custom, and that
which was open: and I delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of
Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel mine uncle's son, and in
the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the
Jews that sat in the court of the guard. And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these deeds, this deed of the
purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen
vessel; that they may continue many days. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God
of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land."
"Then I knew that this was the word of the Jehovah ..." (Jeremiah 32:8). This does
not mean that Jeremiah had doubted the word of Jehovah, but that now he had
proof of it.
"The right of inheritance ..." (Jeremiah 32:8). This indicates that the Pentateuch
was well known among the Jews of this period, and that many of its provisions were
still being observed. The Book of Ruth tells of the marriage of Ruth the Moabitess,
along with the redemption of a piece of land that had belonged to Ruth's husband.
Leviticus 25:25 records the Mosaic law that was involved in such purchases.
"Baruch ..." (Jeremiah 32:12). This is the first mention of Baruch in Jeremiah. This
man was the amanuensis of Jeremiah and was the scribe who actually wrote a great
deal of the book, under the strict direction of Jeremiah.
"According to law and custom ..." (Jeremiah 32:11). This record of a purchase in
Anathoth provides a valuable example of the legal phases of land purchase in those
times. It is of interest that the placement of a copy of the original purchase
agreement in an earthen vessel and the sealing of it was exactly the procedure that
resulted in the preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
"Seventeen shekels of silver ..." (Jeremiah 32:9). Jamieson and other writers have
marveled that the price was so small.[4] Some have supposed that the shekels might
have been gold instead of silver, but there is no excuse for changing the text. Despite
the fact of the question's being of little importance, it should be noted that: (1) the
field could have been small; (2) the year of Jubilee might have been near at hand,
which, of course, would have drastically reduced the value; (3) its already being in
possession of the Babylonians would have reduced the price; and (4) although the
amount (17 shekels of silver) was calculated by Jamieson as about two pounds
sterling (about $10.00)[5] at the time of his estimate, that sum might not have been
as insignificant as it seems. "David paid only fifty shekels of silver for the threshing
floor of Araunah, along with the oxen and implements that went with it; and long
afterward thirty shekels purchased the potter's field with Judas' price for betraying
26

the Lord."[6]
COKE, "Verses 6-8
Jeremiah 32:6-8. The word of the Lord came unto me— Jeremiah, after having just
informed us why he was put into prison, returns to his design, and tells us, that God
had advised him, in a dream or vision, that Hanameel his cousin should come to him
with the offer of a field in Anathoth; the right of redeeming whereof was in him.
Jeremiah might have given up his right, as not being in a situation to make the
purchase; but, understanding from the revelation of the Lord, that this affair had a
mystical reference, and that he ought to accept the offer of his cousin, [Then I knew
that this was the word of the Lord, Jeremiah 32:8.] he purchased the field, as is
afterwards related, with the full process and meaning of the affair.
PETT, "Verses 6-25
Jeremiah Is Commanded By YHWH To Demonstrate His Confidence In The Future
Of Judah By Buying Land From His Cousin Hanamel On The Death Of His Uncle.
But Even Jeremiah Is Puzzled By It And It Drives Him To Prayer (Jeremiah
32:6-25).
There is no reason to doubt that Hanamel had taken shelter in Jerusalem and
pessimistically saw no future for the land in Anathoth. Among the wealthy (and the
family appears to have been comparatively wealthy) it was only those favoured by
the Babylonians (and that would include Jeremiah) who could have any hopes of
future possession of land. This may have been one reason for passing the land on to
Jeremiah. Furthermore in the desperate situation of the siege he may have needed
money at hand in order to buy food. Thus it would no doubt have been seen by him
as a rather good move to sell it to Jeremiah before he lost it totally to the
Babylonians. The price may well, therefore, have been a bargain one, with Jeremiah
having the right of redemption because Hanamel had no sons.
It was seen as important in Israel/Judah to keep family land within the wider family
(compare the situation in Ruth 3:9-13; Ruth 4:1-12; also Leviticus 25:24 ff.). When
it was being sold it must therefore be offered within the family, a custom
exemplified here.
Jeremiah 32:6
‘And Jeremiah said, The word of YHWH came to me, saying,’
We have once again one of Jeremiah’s distinctive markers indicating a new passage.
And once again it is intended to remind us that all that Jeremiah spoke was the
word that came to him direct from YHWH. The passage may be divided up into:
1. Details of the property transaction (Jeremiah 32:7-15).
27

2. Jeremiah’s prayer in regard to it once he had completed it (Jeremiah 32:16
onwards).
7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to
come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth,
because as nearest relative it is your right and
duty to buy it.’
BARNES, "Hanameel was strictly the first-cousin of Jeremiah. In Hebrew all the
terms of relationship are used in a more loose way than with us.
CLARKE, "The right of redemption is thine - The law had established that the
estates of a family should never be alienated. If, therefore, a man through poverty was
obliged to sell his patrimony, the nearest relative had a right to purchase it before all
others, and even to redeem it, if it had been sold to another. This is what is called the
right of goel, or kinsman, Lev_25:25. And in the year of jubilee the whole reverted to its
ancient master Lev_25:13.
GILL, "Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto
thee,.... Hilkiah, the father of Jeremiah, and this Shallum, were own brothers; so that
Jeremiah and Hanameel were brothers' sons, or own cousins: this coming of Hanameel
to Jeremiah being a contingent event, with respect to second causes, and yet foretold as
what would certainly be, shows that such events are foreknown by the Lord, and are sure
to him:
saying, buy thee my field that is in Anathoth; the place from whence Jeremiah
came, and was but about two or three miles from Jerusalem, and therefore must be now
in the possession of the Chaldean army; wherefore it may seem very strange in
Hanameel to propose it to sale, and stranger still in Jeremiah to buy it: though
something of this kind was done at Rome, while Hannibal was besieging it; the field
where Hannibal pitched his camp was offered to sale at Rome, and found a buyer (t); but
then he that bought it was in high spirits, and in a strong belief that the city would not be
taken, and that the enemy would be obliged to quit the siege; but Jeremiah knew, and
28

firmly believed, on the other hand, that the city of Jerusalem, and all the country round
it, would fall into the hands of the king of Babylon. Moreover, Anathoth was a city of the
priests, and the fields adjoining to it belonged to them; as some of them did to Abiathar
the priest in his time, 1Ki_2:26; and such fields as belonged to the priests and Levites
were not to be sold, according to the law in Lev_25:34; to which it is answered, that this
was not arable land, which the Levites might not possess; but some meadow, orchard, or
garden, in the suburbs of the city, which though it might not be sold to strangers, yet
might be sold among themselves; though it is more probable that this was a field that
came fro, in some of his ancestors by his mother's or grandmother's side, and so might
be disposed of; as it seems certain to be lawfully done, not only as it was the will of God,
who could indeed dispense with his own law, was that in the way, but since it was a
matter of right, and incumbent on him, as follows:
for the right of redemption is thine to buy it; that is, had it been sold to another,
it would have lain upon him to have redeemed it, as being next of kin, that so it might
not pass to another tribe and family.
JAMISON, "son of Shallum thine uncle — therefore, Jeremiah’s first cousin.
field ... in Anathoth — a sacerdotal city: and so having one thousand cubits of
suburban fields outside the wall attached to it (Num_35:4, Num_35:5). The prohibition
to sell these suburban fields (Lev_25:34) applied merely to their alienating them from
Levites to another tribe; so that this chapter does not contravene that prohibition.
Besides, what is here meant is only the purchase of the use of the field till the year of
jubilee. On the failure of the owner, the next of kin had the right of redeeming it (Lev_
25:25, etc.; Rth_4:3-6).
CALVIN, "But in the first place, let us see whether this was, as they say, a naked
vision, or a real transaction. Some think that it was exhibited to Jeremiah by the
prophetic Spirit; but it may be easily gathered from the context that the field was
actually bought. It is first said, that the word came to Jeremiah; but shortly after it
is added, that after his uncle’s son came, Jeremiah was informed that the whole
business was directed by God. God then foretold the Prophet what was to be,
Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum, thine uncle, shall come to thee, and shall offer
to sell his field to thee. This is what God said to the Prophet; and thus far we may
say, that Jeremiah was informed of what was to be either by a dream or a vision;
but when he afterwards adds, that Hanameel himself came, and that Jeremiah
testifies that he now knew that it was from the Lord, there is no doubt but that it is a
real narrative. God then inducedHanameel to come to Jeremiah and to offer him the
field on sale, and to ask him to buy it, because he was the next heir, and therefore
had the right of redemption. We then perceive that it was a communication from
above, but then the reality was connected with it, for Hanameel came and sold the
field before witnesses; and all this was necessary, not so much on account of
Jeremiah as of the whole people, and especially of the faithful, for whom this
prophecy was particularly designed; for God did not intend this to be a common
29

treasure, but laid it up for his chosen people, as we may gather from the conclusion.
Before Hanameel then came, the Prophet was instructed that nothing was done
unadvisedly, but that God had arranged and ordered the whole. He was then
commanded to buy the field, and as it were to cast away his money; for who would
not have said that it was the same thing as to throw it away? And then we are to
notice a circumstance as to the time; for the Prophet was then in danger of his life,
to what purpose then was the field to him? We have also said that he could not have
a free access to it, had he not been shut up in prison; for he could not have ventured
to go out of the city. It was then a most strange and ridiculous purchase according to
the judgment of the flesh; for Jeremiah squandered away his money, and the
possession of the field was only imaginary. But yet as God would have him to buy it,
he spared not his money, but purchased the field from his uncle’s son.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 32:7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall
come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that [is] in Anathoth: for the right of
redemption [is] thine to buy [it].
Ver. 7. Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum.] This Shallum and Hilkiah the father
of Jeremiah were brethren. And it was no less an honour to Hanameel to have such
a kinsman as Jeremiah, than afterwards it was to Mark to be Barnabas’s sister’s
son.
Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth.] The priests, though they had no grain fields,
yet they had meadows for their cattle, gardens and orchards in the suburbs of their
cities, which in some cases they might sell one to another, till the year of jubilee
howsoever. Some say that if such a field were so sold to a kinsman as here, it
remained to him for ever. But the possession of the Levites might at any time be
redeemed. [Leviticus 25:32]
For the right of redemption is thine.] See Leviticus 25:25; Leviticus 25:32, Ruth
3:12; Ruth 4:3-4.
8 “Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin
Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the
guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the
territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to
redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’
30

“I knew that this was the word of the Lord;
BARNES, "The right of inheritance is thine - Hanameel therefore had no
children, and at his death the land would have been Jeremiah’s by right of birth.
According to the Law Num_35:5, it must have been part of the suburbs of Anathoth,
within less than a mile, which was all the priests and Levites might cultivate.
CLARKE, "his was the word of the Lord - It was by his appointment that I was
to make this purchase. The whole was designed as a symbolical act, to show the people
that there would be a return from Babylon, that each family should re-enter on its
former possessions, and that a man might safely purchase on the certainty of this event.
GILL, "So Hanameel mine uncle's son came unto me,.... Freely and voluntarily,
of his own accord; though it was determined he should, as it was predicted he would; for
God's decrees do not infringe the liberty of the will: this man came from Anathoth, very
probably, to Jerusalem, to the place where the prophet was:
in the court of the prison, according to the word of the Lord; which had been
made known before to Jeremiah:
and said unto me, buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth,
which is in the country of Benjamin; it belonged to that tribe:
for the right of inheritance is thine; the reversion of this field; it would come to
him after the death of his cousin, as being next heir:
and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself; since, if it was sold to another, he,
according to law, was obliged to redeem it; and therefore it was much better to buy it at
once for himself:
then I knew that this was the word of the Lord; that it was the word of the Lord
which came to him before, and that it was the will of the Lord that he should make this
purchase; since there was such an exact agreement between the prophecy and the event.
JAMISON, "Then I knew — Not that Jeremiah previously doubted the reality of the
divine communication, but, the effect following it, and the prophet’s experimentally
knowing it, confirmed his faith and was the seal to the vision. The Roman historian,
Florus (2.6), records a similar instance: During the days that Rome was being besieged
by Hannibal, the very ground on which he was encamped was put up for sale at Rome,
31

and found a purchaser; implying the calm confidence of the ultimate issue entertained
by the Roman people.
K&D 8-9, "What had been announced to the prophet by God took place. Hanameël
came to him, and offered him his field for sale. From this Jeremiah perceived that the
proposed sale was the word of the Lord, i.e., that the matter was appointed by the Lord.
Jer_32:9. Jeremiah accordingly bought the field, and weighed out to Hanameël "seven
shekels and ten the silver" (‫ף‬ ֶ‫ס‬ֶ‫כּ‬ ַ‫ה‬ is definite, as being the amount of money asked as
price of purchase). But the form of expression is remarkable: "seven shekels and ten"
instead of "seventeen" (‫ה‬ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫ב‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ‫ת‬ ֶ‫ר‬ֶ‫ֲשׂ‬‫ע‬ַ‫ו‬ ‫י‬ֵ‫ל‬ ְ‫ק‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ‫ף‬ ֶ‫ס‬ֶ‫כּ‬ ַ‫.)ה‬ The Chaldee consequently has "seven
manehs and ten shekels of silver;" and J. D. Michaelis supposes that the seven shekels
which are first named, and are separated from the ten, were shekels of gold: "seven
shekels of gold, and seven shekels of silver." But both assumptions are gratuitous, and
perhaps only inferences, not merely from the unusual separation of the numerals, but
likewise from the fact that seventeen silver shekels (less than two pounds sterling) was
too small a price for an arable field. The supposition of Hitzig has more in its favour, that
the mode of expression "seven shekels and ten (shekels) of silver" was a law form. Some
have sought to explain the smallness of the price on the ground that the seller was
compelled to part with his property through poverty, and that the land had become
depreciated in consequence of the war. Both may be true; but, as Nägelsbach has already
remarked, neither explains the smallness of the price. For instances have very properly
been adduced from Roman history (Livy, xxvi. 11, and Florus, ii. 6) which show that
occupation of a country by an enemy did not lessen the value of ground-property. It is
rather to be taken into consideration, that in the first place we do not know the real value
of arable land among the Hebrews; and secondly, the sale of portions of land was,
correctly speaking, only the sale of the harvests up till the year of jubilee, for then the
property returned to the former possessor of his heirs. In the case of a sale, then, the
nearer the jubilee-year, the smaller must be the price of purchase in the alienation of the
land.
CALVIN, "He then says, that Hanameel his uncle’s son came, as Jehovah had
spoken, that he came into the court of the prison, and that he spoke to him as God
had foretold. As to the end of the verse, it may seem strange that the Prophet says,
that he now knew that the word came from God: for if he before doubted, where
would be the certainty as to the prophetic spirit? He had already received a vision;
he ought to have embraced what he knew had been foretold to him from above, even
without any hesitation: but it appears that he was in suspense and perplexity. It
then seems an evidence of unbelief, that he did not put a full and all entire trust in
God’s testimony, and was not fully persuaded as to the heavenly oracle, until he saw
the whole thing really accomplished. But it is right to distinguish between the
knowledge received from the revelation of the Spirit and experimental knowledge,
as they say. The Prophet therefore did not then for the first time learn that God had
spoken, but as he was confirmed in the certainty of his faith, and in the thing itself,
there is no inconsistency; for nothing is taken away from the credit and authority of
32

God’s word, when the reality and experience confirm us; and thus God often has a
regard to the weakness of his people. Jeremiah then relied on God’s oracle, and was
fully persuaded that he was directed from above to buy the field; but afterwards,
when Hanameel came to him, the event was as it were the sealing of the vision: then
the truth of God was more and more confirmed in the heart of the Prophet. This, as
I have said, was experimental knowledge, which detracts nothing from the
credibility of the word, but is rather a help and a comfort to human infirmity. In
this sense it was that he said, that he now knew it; and thus he intended also to make
others to believe the prophecy. For when the faithful compare a vision with its
accomplishment, this consent and harmony, so to speak, avails not a little to confirm
their faith, that as when in one part they hear that God had spoken, and when in
another they see that what the Prophet had been taught was really fulfilled. (60)
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 32:8 So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of
the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I
pray thee, that [is] in Anathoth, which [is] in the country of Benjamin: for the right
of inheritance [is] thine, and the redemption [is] thine; buy [it] for thyself. Then I
knew that this [was] the word of the LORD.
Ver. 8. So Hanameel my uncle’s son came to me.] God ruleth and boweth men’s
wills and all second causes according to the good pleasure of his will; he doth also so
frame and contemper them among themselves, that there may be a harmony and
correspondence between them.
Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.] Or, That it was a business of God -
sc., for the better settling of the faithful in the assurance of a return out of captivity.
PETT, "Verses 7-15
The Transaction (Jeremiah 32:7-15).
Jeremiah 32:7
“Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shallum your uncle, will come to you, saying, ‘Buy
you my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it’.”
YHWH prepared Jeremiah for the visit that was about to be made to him by telling
him about his cousin Hanamel who was desirous of selling family land in Anathoth,
Jeremiah’s birthplace. We do not know details of why it was available because
normally priestly land could not be sold. But this may have been extra land which
had been bought by the family, or had come into it through a female who was of a
non-priestly line. And the point was that being family land it had to be offered to the
next of kin. As Hanamel’s cousin Jeremiah appears to have been next of kin,
Hanamel presumably being childless.
Jeremiah 32:8
33

‘ So Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard in accordance
with the word of YHWH, and said to me, “Buy my field, I pray you, which is in
Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours,
and the redemption is yours, buy it for yourself.”
Hanamel may have been desperate to sell the field in order to be able to buy food at
the very expensive prices for which food was being sold in a siege ravaged city, and
it may well be that he was making the offer as a legal formality, convinced in his
own mind that Jeremiah would refuse. Or he may have been relying on the fact of
Jeremiah’s popularity with the Babylonians as making the offer seem worthwhile,
at least to him. He may indeed have considered that, by selling it to Jeremiah, it
would in the event of a Babylonian victory still be held in the family. (Knowing that
conversely, if Jerusalem was delivered, Jeremiah’s life would not be worth a
moment’s purchase). Whatever the reason, just as YHWH had said, he arrived in
Jeremiah’s cell in order to make the offer. The phraseology used may well have been
a formal one used in such transactions, which would explain why full and seemingly
‘unnecessary’ details of the land (but very necessary in a legal context) were given,
with the details having to be fully specified to make the offer valid. It would be
legally necessary to distinguish Anathoth in Benjamin from any other possible
Anathoth for any who in the distant future might look into the matter.
Jeremiah 32:8
‘Then I knew that this was the word of YHWH.’
Having been forewarned Jeremiah recognised in this the hand of YHWH. He knew
that it was what YHWH had purposed through His word.
9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my
cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him
seventeen shekels[b] of silver.
BARNES, "Seventeen shekels of silver - literally, as in the margin, probably a
legal formula. Jeremiah bought Hanameel’s life-interest up to the year of Jubilee, and no
man’s life was worth much in a siege like that of Jerusalem. As Jeremiah had no
34

Jeremiah 32 commentary

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