Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 32:1 - 32:15

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 32:1 - 32:15


(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)

This Chapter Verse Commentaries:



The Transaction Itself

v. 1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, by direct inspiration, in the tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

v. 2.
For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem, the siege having begun in the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah, 39:1; and Jeremiah, the prophet, was shut up in the court of the prison, kept in ward in the guard-room, which was in the king of Judah's house.

v. 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,

v. 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, or, as we should say, face to face, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

v. 5.
and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord, turning once more to him in mercy; though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper? The circumstances here referred to occurred at the beginning of the siege, when Jeremiah foretold the capture of the city. Cf. Jer_34:1-7. The prophet had at that time been placed in custody by Zedekiah, but had regained his liberty when Pharaoh-hophrah caused the Chaldeans to raise the siege of the city. He had then been cast into the dungeon once more, but obtained leave to be removed to the court of the prison. Cf. Jer_34:12-21.

v. 6.
And Jeremiah said, this being the continuation of verse 1, the thought of which was interrupted by the long parenthesis following, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

v. 7.
Behold, Hanameel, the son of Shallum, thine uncle, that is, the cousin of Jeremiah, shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth, Jeremiah's home town; for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. This right consisted in the privilege or duty of the nearest blood relative of one who wished to sell to buy the land concerned, in order that possession of the property might continue to be vested in the family of the original owners.

v. 8.
So Hanameel, mine uncle's son, came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, that is, just as the Lord had prophesied, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin, within the boundaries of this tribe; 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, that is, Jeremiah was confirmed in his knowledge by this outward proof of the Lord's prophecy.

v. 9.
And I bought the field of Hanameel, my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, after the manner of payment then in use, even seventeen shekels of silver (somewhat less than eleven dollars), a comparatively small price, for in reality only the harvest until the next year of the jubilee was sold.

v. 10.
And I subscribed the evidence, the purchase being completed in agreement with all the demands of the law, and sealed it, folding it up and covering the flap with the public seal, the signature to the deed thus being established beyond a doubt, and took witnesses and weighed him the money in the balances.

v. 11.
So I took the evidence of the purchase, the contract of sale, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, which had the validity of a registered warranty deed in our days, and that which was open, apparently only a copy of the deed,

v. 12.
and I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, who was Jeremiah's secretary and assistant, in the sight of Hanameel, mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, who had placed their names under the document as witnesses of the transaction, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison, who were present at the time, although not as formal witnesses of the sale.

v. 13.
And I charged Baruch before them, saying,

v. 14.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, a special command of the Lord being issued in this instance on account of the significance attaching to the act. Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed and this evidence which is open, the documents as now made out, and put them in an earthen vessel that they may continue many days, being protected against mold and decay.

v. 15.
For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land. The desolation of the land of Judah would last only for the length of time which God had determined, after which He intended to restore His people to their homes. For this reason the careful keeping of the deed transferring the land from Hanameel to Jeremiah was important as a record for the use of his family. The Lord was even then thinking of the return of Judah from Babylon and of the restoration of the true worship in Jerusalem. His thoughts are always upon the blessings which He wishes to bestow upon His people rather than upon the punishments which He must occasionally dispense.