Jeremiah 32

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.’ ”

6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me:

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.’

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.’ “I knew that this was the word of the LORD;

9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels^[b] of silver.

10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales.

11 I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy—

12 and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

13 “In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions:

14 ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time.

15 For this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:

17 “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.

18 You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD Almighty,

19 great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve.

20 You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours.

21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror.

22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster on them.

24 “See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now see.

25 And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign LORD, say to me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.’ ”

26 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

27 “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

28 Therefore this is what the LORD says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.

29 The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

30 “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the LORD.

31 From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight.

32 The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done—they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem.

33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.

34 They set up their vile images in the house that bears my Name and defiled it.

35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind—that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.

36 “You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:

37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.

38 They will be my people, and I will be their God.

39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.

40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.

41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.

42 “This is what the LORD says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them.

43 Once more fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.’

44 Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their fortunes,^[c] declares the LORD.”

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Jeremiah 32 Commentary

Chapter 32

Jeremiah buys a field. (1-15) The prophet's prayer. (16-25) God declares that he will give up his people, but promises to restore them. (26-44)

Verses 1-15 Jeremiah, being in prison for his prophecy, purchased a piece of ground. This was to signify, that though Jerusalem was besieged, and the whole country likely to be laid waste, yet the time would come, when houses, and fields, and vineyards, should be again possessed. It concerns ministers to make it appear that they believe what they preach to others. And it is good to manage even our worldly affairs in faith; to do common business with reference to the providence and promise of God.

Verses 16-25 Jeremiah adores the Lord and his infinite perfections. When at any time we are perplexed about the methods of Providence, it is good for us to look to first principles. Let us consider that God is the fountain of all being, power, and life; that with him no difficulty is such as cannot be overcome; that he is a God of boundless mercy; that he is a God of strict justice; and that he directs every thing for the best. Jeremiah owns that God was righteous in causing evil to come upon them. Whatever trouble we are in, personal or public, we may comfort ourselves that the Lord sees it, and knows how to remedy it. We must not dispute God's will, but we may seek to know what it means.

Verses 26-44 God's answer discovers the purposes of his wrath against that generation of the Jews, and the purposes of his grace concerning future generations. It is sin, and nothing else, that ruins them. The restoration of Judah and Jerusalem is promised. This people were now at length brought to despair. But God gives hope of mercy which he had in store for them hereafter. Doubtless the promises are sure to all believers. God will own them for his, and he will prove himself theirs. He will give them a heart to fear him. All true Christians shall have a disposition to mutual love. Though they may have different views about lesser things, they shall all be one in the great things of God; in their views of the evil of sin, and the low estate of fallen man, the way of salvation through the Saviour, the nature of true holiness, the vanity of the world, and the importance of eternal things. Whom God loves, he loves to the end. We have no reason to distrust God's faithfulness and constancy, but only our own hearts. He will settle them again in Canaan. These promises shall surely be performed. Jeremiah's purchase was the pledge of many a purchase that should be made after the captivity; and those inheritances are but faint resemblances of the possessions in the heavenly Canaan, which are kept for all who have God's fear in their hearts, and do not depart from him. Let us then bear up under our trials, assured we shall obtain all the good he has promised us.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 102

1. 2 Kings 25:1
2. Jeremiah 25:1; Jeremiah 39:1
3. S 2 Kings 25:1
4. S Psalms 88:8
5. S Nehemiah 3:25; Jeremiah 37:21
6. Jeremiah 26:8-9
7. ver 28; Jeremiah 21:4; Jeremiah 34:2-3
8. Jeremiah 34:21; Jeremiah 44:30
9. S Jeremiah 21:7; Jeremiah 38:18,23; Jeremiah 39:5-7; Jeremiah 52:9
10. ver 24
11. Jeremiah 39:7; Ezekiel 12:13
12. S 2 Kings 25:7
13. Jeremiah 21:4; Lamentations 1:14
14. S Joshua 21:18
15. Leviticus 25:24-25; S Ruth 4:3-4; Matthew 27:10*
16. ver 25
17. Jeremiah 37:12
18. S Genesis 23:16
19. Genesis 23:20
20. S Ruth 4:9; S Isaiah 8:2
21. ver 16; Jeremiah 36:4; Jeremiah 43:3,6; Jeremiah 45:1
22. Jeremiah 51:59
23. S Isaiah 8:16
24. ver 43-44; Isaiah 44:26; Jeremiah 30:18; Ezekiel 28:26; Amos 9:14-15
25. S ver 12
26. Jeremiah 1:6
27. S Genesis 1:1; S Jeremiah 10:16
28. S Deuteronomy 9:29; 2 Kings 19:15; Psalms 102:25
29. S 2 Kings 3:18; Jeremiah 51:15; S Matthew 19:26
30. S Deuteronomy 5:10
31. S Psalms 79:12
32. S Exodus 20:5; S Psalms 109:14
33. Jeremiah 10:6
34. S Jeremiah 10:16
35. S Job 12:13; Daniel 2:20; Isaiah 28:29
36. S Job 14:16; S Proverbs 5:21; Jeremiah 16:17
37. S Job 34:11; Jeremiah 17:10; S Matthew 16:27
38. S Exodus 3:20; S Job 9:10
39. Exodus 9:16
40. S Isaiah 55:13; S Jeremiah 13:11
41. S Exodus 6:6; 1 Chronicles 17:21; Daniel 9:15
42. S Deuteronomy 5:15; S Jeremiah 6:12
43. S Deuteronomy 26:8
44. S Exodus 3:8; Jeremiah 11:5; Ezekiel 20:6
45. S Psalms 44:2; Psalms 78:54-55
46. S Exodus 16:28; S Joshua 1:7; S 1 Kings 9:6; Nehemiah 9:26; S Jeremiah 11:8
47. S Deuteronomy 28:64; Deuteronomy 31:29; Daniel 9:14
48. S 2 Samuel 20:15; S Jeremiah 6:6
49. S Jeremiah 14:12
50. Deuteronomy 4:25-26; Joshua 23:15-16
51. S Deuteronomy 28:2
52. S ver 8
53. S Isaiah 8:2
54. S Numbers 16:22
55. S Genesis 18:14; S 2 Kings 3:18
56. S 2 Chronicles 36:17
57. S ver 3; S Jeremiah 21:10
58. S 2 Chronicles 36:19; Jeremiah 21:10; Jeremiah 37:8,10; Jeremiah 52:13
59. S Jeremiah 19:13
60. Jeremiah 44:18
61. S Jeremiah 7:9
62. S Psalms 25:7; S Jeremiah 22:21
63. Jeremiah 8:19
64. Jeremiah 25:7
65. 1 Kings 11:7-8; 2 Kings 21:4-5; Matthew 23:37
66. S 2 Kings 23:27; 2 Kings 24:3
67. S 1 Kings 14:9
68. Isaiah 1:4-6; Daniel 9:8
69. S Jeremiah 2:26; S Jeremiah 44:9
70. S 1 Kings 14:9; S Psalms 14:3; Jeremiah 2:27; Ezekiel 8:16; Zechariah 7:11
71. S Deuteronomy 4:5; S Isaiah 28:9; S Jeremiah 7:13
72. S Jeremiah 7:28
73. S 2 Kings 21:4; Ezekiel 8:3-16
74. Jeremiah 7:10; Jeremiah 34:15
75. S Jeremiah 7:30
76. Jeremiah 19:2
77. S Leviticus 18:21
78. S Jeremiah 7:31; Jeremiah 19:5
79. S 1 Kings 14:24
80. S Jeremiah 25:7
81. ver 24
82. S Isaiah 11:12; Jeremiah 23:3,6
83. Jeremiah 21:5
84. S Leviticus 25:18; Deuteronomy 30:3; Ezekiel 34:28; Ezekiel 39:26
85. Jeremiah 24:7; 2 Corinthians 6:16*
86. S 2 Chronicles 30:12; S Psalms 86:11; John 17:21; Acts 4:32; Ezekiel 11:19
87. S Deuteronomy 6:24; S Deuteronomy 10:16
88. S Genesis 9:16; S Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 55:3
89. S Deuteronomy 4:10
90. S Jeremiah 24:7
91. S Deuteronomy 28:63; S Isaiah 62:4
92. S Deuteronomy 28:3-12; Deuteronomy 30:9
93. Jeremiah 24:6; Jeremiah 31:28; Amos 9:15
94. Micah 7:18
95. Lamentations 3:38
96. S Jeremiah 29:10; Jeremiah 31:28
97. ver 15
98. Jeremiah 33:12
99. ver 10
100. S Ruth 4:9; S Isaiah 8:2
101. S Jeremiah 17:26
102. S Ezra 9:9; Psalms 14:7; Jer 33:7,11,26

Footnotes 3

[a]. Or "Chaldeans" ; also in verses 5, 24, 25, 28, 29 and 43
[b]. That is, about 7 ounces or about 200 grams
[c]. Or "will bring them back from captivity"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 32

This chapter contains an account of Jeremiah's imprisonment, and the cause of it; of his buying a field of his uncle's son, and the design of it; of his prayer to God, and of the answer returned to him. The time of his imprisonment, the place where, and the reasons of it, are observed in Jer 32:1-5; that his uncle's son would come and offer the sale of a field to him was told him by the Lord, which he did accordingly, Jer 32:6,7; of whom he bought the field, paid the money, had the purchase confirmed in a legal way, before witnesses, Jer 32:8-12; and the writings of it he committed to Baruch, to put in an earthen vessel, where they were to continue some time as a pledge of houses, fields, and vineyards, being possessed again after the captivity, Jer 32:13-15; then follows a prayer of his to the Lord, in which he addresses him as the Maker of all things; as the Lord God omnipotent; as a God of great grace and mercy, as well as strict justice; as a God of wisdom, counsel, and might, and an omniscient and righteous Being, Jer 32:16-19; and recounts the wonderful things he had done for the people of Israel, Jer 32:20-22; and observes the ingratitude and disobedience of that people, which were the cause of the present siege of the city, which should surely be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, Jer 32:23-25; to which prayer an answer is returned, Jer 32:26; in which the Lord describes himself as the God of all flesh, and as able to do what he pleases, Jer 32:27; and confirms the delivery of the city of Jerusalem unto the Chaldeans, Jer 32:28,29; and assigns the causes of it, the backslidings, disobedience, and dreadful idolatry of the people, Jer 32:30-35; and, notwithstanding, promises a restoration of them to their own land again, Jer 32:36,37; when an opportunity is taken to insert the covenant of grace, and the special articles and peculiar promises of it, for the comfort of the spiritual Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, Jer 32:38-40; and the chapter is concluded with a fresh assurance of the return of the captivity, and of the punctual performance of the promise of it; when fields should be bought in every part of the land, in like manner as Jeremiah had bought his, Jer 32:41-44.