Jeremiah 32:7-9

32:7 ‘Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you soon. He will say to you, “Buy my field at Anathoth because you are entitled ¹  as my closest relative to buy it.”’ ²  32:8 Now it happened just as the Lord had said! My cousin Hanamel ³  came to me in the courtyard of the guardhouse. He said to me, ‘Buy my field which is at Anathoth in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin. Buy it for yourself since you are entitled as my closest relative to take possession of it for yourself.’ When this happened, I recognized that the Lord had indeed spoken to me. 32:9 So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out seven ounces of silver and gave it to him to pay for it. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 32:25

32:25 The city is sure to fall into the hands of the Babylonians. ⁵  Yet, in spite of this, ⁶  you, Lord God, ⁷  have said to me, “Buy that field with silver and have the transaction legally witnessed.”’” ⁸ 

Romans 12:17

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. ⁹ 

Romans 12:2

12:2 Do not be conformed ¹⁰  to this present world, ¹¹  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve ¹²  what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ¹³  minds ¹⁴  as expressed through ¹⁵  your evil deeds,

Philippians 4:8

4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, ¹⁶  whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.

¹ tn Heb “your right.” The term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here and in v. 8 refers to legal entitlement for the option to purchase a property (BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 5; cf. Deut 21:17).

² sn Underlying this request are the laws of redemption of property spelled out in Lev 25:25-34 and illustrated in Ruth 4:3-4. Under these laws, if a property owner became impoverished and had to sell his land, the nearest male relative had the right and duty to buy it so that it would not pass out of the use of the extended family. The land, however, would not actually belong to Jeremiah because in the year of Jubilee it reverted to its original owner. All Jeremiah was actually buying was the right to use it (Lev 25:13-17). Buying the field, thus, did not make any sense (thus Jeremiah’s complaint in v. 25) other than the fact that the Lord intended to use Jeremiah’s act as a symbol of a restored future in the land.

³ tn Heb “And according to the word of the Lord my cousin Hanamel came to me to the courtyard of the guardhouse and said, ‘…’” The sentence has been broken down to conform better with contemporary English style.

⁴ tn Heb “I weighed out the money [more literally, “silver”] for him, seventeen shekels of silver.”

⁵ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

⁶ tn Heb “And you, Lord Yahweh, have said to me, ‘Buy the field for…’ even though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians.” The sentence has been broken up and the order reversed for English stylistic purposes. For the rendering “is sure to fall into the hands of” see the translator’s note on the preceding verse.

⁷ tn Heb “Lord God.” For the rendering of this title see the study note on 1:6.

⁸ tn Heb “call in witnesses to witness.”

⁹ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

¹⁰ tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.

¹¹ tn Grk “to this age.”

¹² sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”

¹³ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

¹⁴ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

¹⁵ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

¹⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:12.