Jeremiah 13:1

An Object Lesson from Ruined Linen Shorts

13:1 The Lord said to me, “Go and buy some linen shorts ¹  and put them on. ²  Do not put them in water.” ³ 

Jeremiah 13:4

13:4 “Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing ⁴  and go at once ⁵  to Perath. ⁶  Bury the shorts there ⁷  in a crack in the rocks.”

Jeremiah 32:9

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. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 32:15

32:15 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ⁹  says, “Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’ ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 32:25

32:25 The city is sure to fall into the hands of the Babylonians. ¹¹  Yet, in spite of this, ¹²  you, Lord God, ¹³  have said to me, “Buy that field with silver and have the transaction legally witnessed.”’” ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 32:43

32:43 You and your people ¹⁵  are saying that this land will become desolate, uninhabited by either people or animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians. ¹⁶  But fields ¹⁷  will again be bought in this land. ¹⁸ 

[13:1]  ¹ tn The term here (אֵזוֹר, ’ezor) has been rendered in various ways: “girdle” (KJV, ASV), “waistband” (NASB), “waistcloth” (RSV), “sash” (NKJV), “belt” (NIV, NCV, NLT), and “loincloth” (NAB, NRSV, NJPS, REB). The latter is more accurate according to J. M. Myers, “Dress and Ornaments,” IDB 1:870, and W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:399. It was a short, skirt-like garment reaching from the waist to the knees and worn next to the body (cf. v. 9). The modern equivalent is “shorts” as in TEV/GNB, CEV.

[13:1]  ² tn Heb “upon your loins.” The “loins” were the midriff of the body from the waist to the knees. For a further discussion including the figurative uses see, IDB, “Loins,” 3:149.

[13:1]  ³ tn Or “Do not ever put them in water,” i.e., “Do not even wash them.”

[13:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “which are upon your loins.” See further the notes on v. 1.

[13:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “Get up and go.” The first verb is not literal but is idiomatic for the initiation of an action.

[13:4]  ⁶ tn There has been a great deal of debate about whether the place referred to here is a place (Parah [= Perath] mentioned in Josh 18:23, modern Khirbet Farah, near a spring ’ain Farah) about three and a half miles from Anathoth which was Jeremiah’s home town or the Euphrates River. Elsewhere the word “Perath” always refers to the Euphrates but it is either preceded by the word “river of” or there is contextual indication that the Euphrates is being referred to. Because a journey to the Euphrates and back would involve a journey of more than 700 miles (1,100 km) and take some months, scholars both ancient and modern have questioned whether “Perath” refers to the Euphrates here and if it does whether a real journey was involved. Most of the attempts to identify the place with the Euphrates involve misguided assumptions that this action was a symbolic message to Israel about exile or the corrupting influence of Assyria and Babylon. However, unlike the other symbolic acts in Jeremiah (and in Isaiah and Ezekiel) the symbolism is not part of a message to the people but to Jeremiah; the message is explained to him (vv. 9-11) not the people. In keeping with some of the wordplays that are somewhat common in Jeremiah it is likely that the reference here is to a place, Parah, which was near Jeremiah’s hometown, but whose name would naturally suggest to Jeremiah later in the Lord’s explanation in vv. 9-11 Assyria-Babylon as a place connected with Judah’s corruption (see the notes on vv. 9-10). For further discussion the reader should consult the commentaries, especially W. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:396 and W. McKane, Jeremiah (ICC), 1:285-92 who take opposite positions on this issue.

[13:4]  ⁷ sn The significance of this act is explained in vv. 9-10. See the notes there for explanation.

[32:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “I weighed out the money [more literally, “silver”] for him, seventeen shekels of silver.”

[32:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For this title see 7:3 and the study notes on 2:19.

[32:15]  ¹¹ sn The significance of the symbolic act performed by Jeremiah as explained here was a further promise (see the “again” statements in 31:4, 5, 23 and the “no longer” statements in 31:12, 29, 34, 40) of future restoration beyond the destruction implied in vv. 3-5. After the interruption of exile, normal life of buying and selling of fields, etc. would again be resumed and former property rights would be recognized.

[32:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:25]  ¹⁴ 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.

[32:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Lord God.” For the rendering of this title see the study note on 1:6.

[32:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “call in witnesses to witness.”

[32:43]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you.” However, the pronoun is plural and is addressed to more than just Jeremiah (v. 26). It includes Jeremiah and those who have accepted his prophecy of doom.

[32:43]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:43]  ¹⁸ tn The noun is singular with the article, but it is a case of the generic singular (cf. GKC 406 §126.m).

[32:43]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Fields will be bought in this land of which you [masc. pl.] are saying, ‘It will be desolate [a perfect of certainty or prophetic perfect] without man or beast; it will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’” The original sentence has been broken down to better conform to contemporary English style.