Jeremiah 32:6

And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, JEREMIAH SAID - resuming the thread of , which was interrupted by the parenthesis (Jeremiah 32:2)....

The whole of this passage ought to be read together, for the Prophet at large explains how and by what symbol this prophecy had been confirmed. Now the purpose of the whole is to shew that after a long time the Jews would return to their own country, for God would restore them, and their captivity would have an end. God’s design, then, was to give them a hope of deliverance, but yet they were admonished to wait patiently for the end of their exile. Let us now come to the external symbol. The Prophet was commanded to buy a field of his uncle’s son. Now this appeared strange, for the enemies had taken possession of that part of the country, and none of the Jews could then venture to go out to their own fields. As then they were deprived of the very sight of their own fields, the Prophet must have appeared to have been beside himself when he bought a field in the possession of enemies. But...

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....

EXPOSITION Jeremiah was far from wishing to depress his fellow countrymen to the point of disbelieving in the inalienable promises of God to Israel, He fully recognized an element of truth in the preaching of the "false prophets," viz. that Jehovah was still the God of his people Israel, though for wise purposes he chose to hide his face for a time. His own faith was intense, to the pitch of an even Roman heroism (see Livy, Jeremiah 26:11). The opportunity (or rather—see below—the fight) of purchasing a piece of ground at Anathoth was the occasion which called forth the most striking proof of his sublime confidence in God. Not that he understood how it could be God's will that he, in the besieged city, should constitute himself a landed proprietor. He had his difficulties; but instead of brooding over them, he laid them Before Jehovah in prayer. And the Divine revelation

AND JEREMIAH SAID, THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING. Not that he said this to Zedekiah; but the prophet, after the above preface, returns to declare what the word of the Lord was, which came to him at the time before mentioned....

Jeremiah 32:1. _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. For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem : and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying. Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shalt surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper._...

CHAPTER 32 Jeremiah in Prison _ 1. Shut up in the court of the prison (Jeremiah 32:1) _ 2. The revelation of the Lord concerning Hanameel (Jeremiah 32:6) 3. The prophet's prayer (Jeremiah 32:16) 4. Jehovah's answer (Jeremiah 32:26) Jeremiah 32:1. The siege of Jerusalem began in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign. It was in the tenth year, a year later (Jeremiah 39:1) that we find Jeremiah in prison.

Jeremiah, after a premonition of the coming opportunity (subsequently confirmed as being of Divine origin, Jeremiah 32:8) uses the right of redemption belonging to the next-of-kin (Leviticus 25:25; Ruth 4:3 ff.) to buy family property in Anathoth (Jeremiah 32:11) from his cousin Hanamel; he duly executes the purchase with all legal precision. By this prophetic act, he exhibited his confidence that land now in the enemy's occupation would ultimately be restored to Israel (_cf._ Livy 26:11 for a similar incident). Jeremiah 32:9. The weight of un

See introd. summary to the section....

THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME— Jeremiah, after having just informed us why he was put into prison, returns to his design, and tells us, that God had advised him, in a dream or vision, that Hanameel his cousin should come to him with the offer of a field in Anathoth; the right of redeeming whereof was in him. Jeremiah might have given up his right, as not being in a situation to make the purchase; but, understanding from the revelation of the Lord, that this affair had a mystical reference, and that he ought to accept the offer of his cousin, [_Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord,_ Jeremiah 32:8.] he purchased the field, as is afterwards related, with the full process and meaning of the affair....