Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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].
7. Hanamel the son of Shallum thine uncle ] The distinct statement in Jer 32:8-9 however that Hanamel was Jeremiah’s first cousin makes it necessary to refer the word uncle of this v. to Shallum, and to consider the word for son in Jer 32:12 to have been accidentally omitted by a Heb. copyist.
Anathoth ] See Intr. p. x.
the right of redemption is thine to buy it ] According to the law, as formulated in Lev 25:24 f.; Rth 4:6, if land was, or was about to be, sold, the nearest of kin, in this case Jeremiah, had a right to purchase or re-purchase it as the case might be, so that it should not pass from one family to another. For the system of land tenure (although it is doubtful whether the laws regulating it were ever reduced to practice) see HDB. IV. 325 a.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. 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, Le 25:25. And in the year of jubilee the whole reverted to its ancient master Le 25:13.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
From hence may be concluded the certainty of future contingency in Gods eye; the coming of
Hanameel was a future contingency, yet certainly known to God, so as he could tell the prophet he would come. Anathoth (as appears from Jos 21:18) was one of the cities of the Levites; hence ariseth a question, how it could be sold to Jeremiah, who by the law might not possess it, Num 18:20, being a Levite.
1. Some excuse it from the command of God, who might dispense with his own law; but this seemeth not enough, because it is said afterward, the right of redemption is thine.
2. Others therefore say the Levites might have some small possessions, though no ploughed land; they might have houses, and orchards, and gardens, in cities and suburbs. But that these might be sold seemeth contrary to the law, Lev 25:34. It is therefore rather thought to be meant of some small estate left to Hanameel from his ancestors.
The right of redemption belonged to the next of kin, Lev 25:25; Rth 4:4.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. son of Shallum thineuncletherefore, Jeremiah’s first cousin.
field . . . in Anathothasacerdotal city: and so having one thousand cubits of suburban fieldsoutside the wall attached to it (Num 35:4;Num 35:5). The prohibition to sellthese suburban fields (Le 25:34)applied merely to their alienating them from Levites to anothertribe; so that this chapter does not contravene that prohibition.Besides, what is here meant is only the purchase of the use of thefield till the year of jubilee. On the failure of the owner, the nextof kin had the right of redeeming it (Lev 25:25;Rth 4:3-6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 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 Le 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.
t Florus, l. 2. c. 6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
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 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.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum . . .The teaching of the narrative that follows lies almost on the surface, and is brought out distinctly in Jer. 32:44. With all the certainty of desolation, misery, exile in the immediate future, the prophet was to give a practical proof that he was as certain of the ultimate restoration. It was worth while to buy a field even for what might seem the contingency of that remote reversion. Roman history records a parallel act of patriotic faith in the purchase of land at Rome at its full market value, at the very time when the armies of Hannibal were marching to the gate of the city (Livy, xxvi. 11). Nothing more is known of the Hanameel who is here mentioned than that he was the first cousin of the prophet (Jer. 32:8-9). The word uncle in this verse therefore applies strictly to Shallum. As the lands belonging to the priests and Levites as such could not be alienated (Lev. 25:34), we must assume either that the land in question had come into the family by marriage and was private property, or that the law had been so far relaxed as to allow of the transfer of land within the limits of the family, and up to the date of the next year of jubilee. In such a case, as in Rth. 3:12; Rth. 4:4, the option of purchase was offered in the first instance to the next of kin (the Gol, or redeemer, of the family), so that it might still be kept in the line of succession (Lev. 25:24; Lev. 25:32). The prophet naturally lays stress on the fact that he was warned beforehand of the visit of Hanameel and of its object. The coincidence was to him what the arrival of the messenger of Cornelius was to Peter (Act. 10:19-21).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
JEREMIAH BUYS THE FIELD IN ANATHOTH, Jer 32:6-15.
7. Thine uncle This, as we learn from the following verse, refers to Shallum, and not Hanameel, to which name, according to the laws of Hebrew construction, it is also applicable. The original word for “uncle” is very general in its import, being sometimes rendered “beloved,” as for instance in Isa 5:1, which is literally, “I will sing to my well beloved a song of my uncle ( beloved) touching his vineyard.”
The right of redemption See Lev 25:25. He who had the right of redemption had also the right of pre-emption, both having the same object, namely, to preserve the possession for the family.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Transaction ( Jer 32:7-15 ).
Jer 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.
Jer 32:8
‘ 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.
Jer 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.
Jer 32:9
‘And I bought the field which was in Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.’
So he went ahead and bought his deceased uncle’s field, at a price agreed at seventeen shekels of silver (literally ‘seven shekels and ten’ which was probably following a legal format, or may have been intended cryptically to indicate the seventy years of captivity). This was not strictly ‘money’ (coins) but a certain weight of silver, which explains why it had to be weighed out. As we know nothing about the size of the piece of land, nor local land values, nor how long it was to the year of yubile, we cannot evaluate the price. But it does indicate that Jeremiah came from a fairly wealthy family and had a fair level of resources available to him even in prison.
Jer 32:10
‘And I subscribed the deed, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.’
Jeremiah then wrote out the deed and solemnly sealed it, calling witnesses to witness to the payment of the correct price.
Jer 32:11-12
‘So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, according to the law and custom, and that which was open, and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.’
It is apparent that two deeds were in fact completed ‘according to law and custom’, one being left open and one sealed. They were then handed over to Baruch, in the presence of Hanamel, and in the presence of the witnesses mentioned above, and in front of all the Jews who were gathered in the court of the guard. These may well have been supporters of Jeremiah who had gathered there in order to demonstrate that support, and in order to encourage him (and themselves in the light of the siege). Their presence indicates the relative restricted freedom that Jeremiah enjoyed. The transaction was therefore well witnessed. The fact that Jeremiah was buying land may well have become the latest on dit, intriguing the people of Jerusalem, and it would encourage his supporters, even if they did not fully understand it.
Baruch was Jeremiah’s faithful friend and secretary. His importance in a secular sense is brought out by the mention of two forebears, and the fact that his brother Seraiah held an important post in the court of King Zedekiah (Jer 51:59). But his greatest importance undoubtedly lay in the support and help that he continually gave to Jeremiah. In Jer 36:4 he is depicted as acting as his secretary and amanuensis, in Jer 43:3 he is accused of encouraging Jeremiah to preach sedition, and in Jer 36:26 he is seen as sharing his sufferings and perils.
Jer 32:13-14
‘And I charged Baruch before them, saying, “Thus says YHWH 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.’
Then he charged Baruch in the Name of YHWH of hosts to put them in an earthenware jar for preservation into the distant future. The jar would then itself be sealed with pitch in order to preserve the contents, and would have the contents written on the outside in case the deeds ever had to be consulted.
Jer 32:15
‘For thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards will yet again be bought in this land.’
Finally he declared that by this ‘YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel’ was indicating that one day fields and vineyards would once again be sold in the land. On Jeremiah’s part it was a firm statement of faith in the future.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 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.
For the right of redemption is thine.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Twenty-Second Prophecy of Jeremiah (see book comments for Jeremiah)
Behold: Figure of speech. Asterismos. App-6.
thine uncle: i.e. Shallum, not Hanameel, who was Jeremiah’s cousin. See next verse.
my field. Accusative case to Num 35:5, this would be within 2,000 cubits of Anathoth.
the right, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 25:24, Lev 25:25, Lev 25:32). Compare Rth 4:6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Behold: 1Ki 14:5, Mar 11:2-6, Mar 14:13-16
Anathoth: Jer 1:1, Jer 11:21, Jos 21:18, Jos 21:19
for: Lev 25:23, Lev 25:34, Lev 25:49, Num 35:2, Rth 4:4-9
Reciprocal: Gen 23:11 – in the Gen 23:17 – made sure Lev 25:25 – General Est 2:7 – his uncle’s Jer 32:8 – Anathoth Eze 7:12 – let Eph 1:14 – the redemption
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 32:7. The, offer to buy a piece of real estate was a test for Jeremiah to show his confidence in his own predictions. There had not been any indication that he had any doubts but the performance was for the benefit of others, A piece of land would not be worth anything to a man who could not use it. The .Lord told Jeremiah that his cousin was coming for this purpose, and thus he would know that the circumstance was by the Lord’s arrangement.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
32:7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thy uncle shall come to thee, saying, {c} Buy for thee my field that [is] in Anathoth: for the right of redemption [is] thine {d} to buy [it].
(c) By which was meant that the people would return again out of captivity and enjoy their possessions and vineyards as in Jer 32:15; Jer 32:44 .
(d) Because he was next of the kindred, as in Rth 4:4 .