Jeremiah 32:7

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 

Jeremiah 32:1

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32:1 In the tenth year that Zedekiah was ruling over Judah the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. ³  That was the same as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Jeremiah 2:26

2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,

so the people of Israel ⁴  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ⁵ 

So will their kings and officials,

their priests and their prophets.

Jeremiah 2:1

The Lord Recalls Israel’s Earlier Faithfulness

2:1 The Lord spoke to me. He said:

Jeremiah 6:1

The Destruction of Jerusalem Depicted

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem! ⁶ 

Sound the trumpet ⁷  in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks ⁸  out of the north;

it will bring great destruction. ⁹ 

[32:7]  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).

[32:7]  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.

[32:1]  ³ tn Heb “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the eleventh year of…” See 7:1; 11:1; 18:1; 21:1; 30:1 for this same formula.

[2:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[2:26]  ⁵ tn The words “for what they have done” are implicit in the comparison and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem.”

[6:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “ram’s horn,” but the modern equivalent is “trumpet” and is more readily understandable.

[6:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “leans down” or “looks down.” This verb personifies destruction leaning/looking down from its window in the sky, ready to attack.

[6:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “[It will be] a severe fracture.” The nation is pictured as a limb being fractured.