Jeremiah said, “Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’ ”
“So Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to Yahweh’s word, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that 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.’ “Then I knew that this was Yahweh’s word.
I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances to him. So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, 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 signed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.
“I commanded Baruch before them, saying, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘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 last many days.’ For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Houses and fields and vineyards will yet again be bought in this land.’
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 The whole of this passage ought to be read…
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 in this way God intended to shew, that after the Jews had for a time been deprived of the possession of the land, they would again return to it, so that every one would recover his own right, and thus everything would become completely their own, that is, after God had shewed them mercy.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 11, 14 Or, right to redeem it.
Or, right to redeem it.
Because he was next of the kindred, as Ruth 4:4.
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Whereby was meant that the people should return again out of captivity and enjoy their possessions and vineyards, as verses 15 and 44.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–15 Jer 32:6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the…
Jer 32:6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ver. 6. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying.] He had God’s word for his warrant, and this bore him out against the jeers of the ungodly, who would easily think it a very simple part in him who prophesied a desolation of the whole land to go about to buy land.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 From hence may be concluded the certainty of future…
From hence may be concluded the certainty of future contingency in God’s 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.
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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.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–15 And Jeremiah said, the word of the Lord came…
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.
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.
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Jeremiah 32:7
jer 32:7
jer 32:7
jer 32:7Behold, 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, Kg1 2:26; and such fields as belonged to the priests and Levites were not to be sold, according to the law in Lev 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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 12 The money - The price of land was strangely…
The money - The price of land was strangely fallen at this time, when the enemy was besieging the chief city of the country.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 15 Verse 7. The right of redemption is thine] The…
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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv6, 9, 10 Jer 32:6-8. The word of the Lord came unto…
Jer 32:6-8. The word of the Lord came unto me — “Jeremiah, after having just informed us why he was put in prison, returns to his design, and tells us that God had advised him, probably 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 this 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, he purchased the field, as is afterward related, with the full process and meaning of the affair.” — Dodd. The field, being in Anathoth, near Jerusalem, was consequently at this time actually in the possession of the Chaldean army. And the design of God in directing Jeremiah to purchase it was to signify, that though Jerusalem was now besieged, and the whole country was likely to be laid waste, yet the time should come when houses, and fields, and vineyards should be again possessed in that land, Jer 32:15. As God appointed Jeremiah to confirm his predictions of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem by his own practice in living unmarried, so he now appointed him to confirm his predictions of the future restoration of Jerusalem by his own practice in purchasing this field. The Roman historian, Florus, relates, as a great instance of the bravery of the Roman citizens, that in the time of the second Punic war, when Hannibal besieged Rome, and was very near making himself master of it, a field, on which part of his army lay, being offered for sale at that time, was presently purchased, in a firm belief that the Roman valour would raise the siege, lib. 2. cap. 6. And have not we much more reason to venture our all upon the word of God, and to embark in Zion’s interests, which will undoubtedly be the prevailing interests at last?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 15 Hanameel was strictly the first-cousin of Jeremiah. In Hebrew…
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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 11, 14 Next. Priests could sell only to their fellow priests,…
Next. Priests could sell only to their fellow priests, Leviticus xxv. 34. (St. Jerome) --- Others might dispose of their landed property to any, until the year of jubilee. The nearest relation had the first offer, but he was not obliged to purchase. Jeremias now consented, to shew that the people should return to possess the land, though it was now in the enemy’s hands. (Calmet) --- Thus a Roman purchased the land on which Hannibal was encamped, despising his power and threats. (V. Max. iii. 8.; Livy xxvi.) (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 Jeremiah said--resuming the thread of Jer 32:1, which was…
Jeremiah said--resuming the thread of Jer 32:1, which was interrupted by the parenthesis (Jer 32:2-5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 15 JEREMIAH BUYS THE FIELD IN ANATHOTH, Jer_32:6-15.
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.”
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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.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 6–15. See introd. summary to the section.
6–15. See introd. summary to the section.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 (7) Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum . .…
(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 Goël, 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).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15 Vers. 6-15. The purchase of the field. Ver. 6…
Vers. 6-15. The purchase of the field. Ver. 6 resumes ver. 1, after the long parenthesis in vers. 2-5.
Vers. 6-9. Faith tested by action.
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Jerusalem is besieged; the fields are occupied by the invader; Jeremiah knows that the Jews will be driven from their country; he is a prisoner. Yet he buys of piece of land! The transaction is carried out calmly, carefully, with all legal exactitude, and every precaution against future mistakes as to ownership, just as if the prophet were at liberty to enter into possession and enjoy his purchase without fear of molestation. His conduct is striking; to those who heard his warnings of the approaching Captivity it would seem singularly inconsistent. But the secret of it is explained to us, and this shews it to be a sublime act of faith. It was right that Jeremiah should make the purchase under ordinary circumstances, to keep the land in the family. He was now urged by a Divine impulse, which made him feel without doubt that it was God"s will that he should buy the land, and he did it without questioning. After he had made the purchase, however, he inquired of God for the meaning of it, and was assured that the land of Israel would revert to the Jews after the Captivity, and would be bought and sold again with confidence in security of possession. Jeremiah"s purchase was to be an anticipation of that happy future. His conduct is thus an illustration of the influence of faith on outward actions.
I FAITH WILL REVEAL ITSELF IN DEEDS. Faith is not a merely intellectual exercise. It is primarily that which connects thought with action, and it is invariably an active principle. "Faith without works is dead." Jeremiah showed his faith by his works. A man"s faith may be measured by the influence it has upon his conduct. The trying time is when faith comes into conflict with present impressions. Then, if those impressions are vivid and faith is feeble, they may overcome it. It is useless to claim to have an unquestioning conviction in face of such a failure. The failure proves the deficiency of faith. We should all ask ourselves How far does our faith mould our conduct? How different would our life be if our faith were to cease? Would the effect be but slight or would it be a very revolution? The answer to these questions will determine whether our faith is a solid reality or a dreamy sentiment.
II THOUGH FAITH IS A SPIRITUAL GRACE, IT WILL INFLUENCE OUR CONDUCT IN SECULAR AFFAIRS. Jeremiah showed his faith by the very thorough way in which he carried through an elaborate piece of conveyancing business. He did not confine his faith to the temple and to his preaching. He showed it in the market place and in business. The sharp line which we draw between the spiritual and the secular is false and irreligious. Religion will be satisfied with no limited sphere. It claims the whole domain of life. Faith cannot be confined to any section of our conduct. If it is real, it will be a broad fundamental principle influencing all we do. If our faith bears no fruit in our business, it is a vain and worthless thing.
III FAITH IN GOD WILL LEAD TO IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL. Jeremiah believed that God wished him to buy the field, and he did so, though at first he could not discover the utility of the purchase.
1. Faith will lead to obedience. It has two sides a passive side, that shows itself in trust, submission, resignation; and an active side, that expresses itself in obedience. There are those who seem to ignore the latter. To them faith is wholly receptive, simply a leaving of our case in the hands of God and accepting what he gives. But the obedience of faith is not less important than its submission.
2. This obedience must be implicit. From the nature of the case we cannot at first understand all the reasons of the command. If we could there would be no room for faith. But when we know that God is great and good, and know that a certain act is according to his will, faith will find her place in doing it in the darkness, resting assured that all is right.
IV GOD"S PROMISES FULLY JUSTIFY HOPEFUL ACTION UNDER DARK CIRCUMSTANCES. Jeremiah"s conduct looked inconsistent. It was justified by God"s promise of the restoration. When all is dark in the present we are inclined to despair of the future. But the future is in God"s hands, and he has promised deliverance and blessedness to his people. Faith in God, therefore, will be a parent of hope. Because we trust God, we know that he will fulfil his good promises, and therefore we can act as though we saw the accomplishment of them.
Vers. 6-15. Purchasing by Divine command.
The passage a locus classicus for various questions and formalities connected with the Mosaic Law. Abraham bought a field for his dead; Jeremiah bought one for a nation yet unborn. If no other circumstance had been recorded concerning the latter, this alone would entitle him to be enrolled amongst the fathers of the faithful.
I GOD"S SERVANTS ARE SOMETIMES CALLED TO PERFORM STRANGE AND SINGULAR ACTIONS. The prophet bidden to purchase a field when the land is overrun by the Chaldeans; a poor man to procure and expend money upon a speculation for which there was no earthly security; a prisoner to acquire laud there seemed so little likelihood of his ever seeing. Much of Christian duty is summed up in that experience. We are not to stumble at earthly anomalies or anachronisms, but to live and labour and spend "as seeing him who is invisible.
II THE WILL OF GOD IS A SUFFICIENT REASON FOR DOING SUCH THINGS. That is, the revealed will. Men who act by revelation have not to ask for reasons before acting. Obedience is their role; afterwards they may ask for light. Christians have to commit their way unto the Lord, and trust where they cannot trace. They are led by a higher reason, which cannot err.
III WHAT GOD COMMANDS OUGHT TO BE DONE PROMPTLY, LOVINGLY, AND WITH EXACTITUDE. Jeremiah at once performs the duty. He hastens to relieve his kinsman from perplexity and loss. And the business part of the engagement is executed with the greatest care and all the formalities of law. No flaw is suffered to enter into the bargain. The importance and duty of Christians being model business men. What is done for God and under his supervision should be done thoroughly. Justice precedes and facilitates charity.
IV TRANSACTIONS APPARENTLY SMALL AND TRIFLING MAY HAVE GREAT MEANINGS. How different the feelings of the parties to this transaction! The money absolutely of little amount; relatively it was worth much. We are reminded of the widow"s mite. That document was the title deed to a kingdom. This is the spirit in which Christians should do business. We ought never to forget that we are heirs of the kingdom. The world has been sold under sin, but we are free. Let us strive to "lay up treasure in heaven." Let us make our title clear to its liberties and joys. In the meanest undertaking let us be guided by this spirit. In the confidence of Christ let us redeem the world. Let our motto be "Everything in the spirit of Christ!" Men cannot be just and honest unless they are inspired, even for the least things, as Jeremiah was. A large and general brotherliness, an implicit faith in God"s Word, ought to govern us in all our affairs. Above all, our own relation to Christ, our personal transactions with him, should at once, with prayer and faith, be made sure! M.
Vers. 6-15. A parable of redemption.
For the sake of variety and interest, it is lawful now and then to make the transactions of earth tell of the transactions of heaven; to make prosaic matters of fact as the redeeming of this field parables of spiritual realities. Let us so deal with this narrative. Here was
I A POSSESSION IN AN ENEMY"S POWER. The field, as the whole land virtually was so at that very moment. So man.
II THE LORD PROMPTING REDEMPTION. Jeremiah knew that it was "of the Lord." God is the Author of redemption. "He so loved the world that," etc. "God was in Christ reconciling," etc.
III THE REDEEMER VOLUNTARILY UNDERTAKING THE WORK. Jeremiah might have refused. So Christ thought not his equality with God a thing he should tenaciously retain, but emptied himself. (Php 3) "For our sakes, though he was rich, yet he became poor.
IV THE SEEMING HOPELESSNESS OF SUCH REDEMPTION. What likelihood did there seem in Jeremiah"s payment that he should ever possess the land? What could Christ"s cross do to redeem man? "The offence of the cross.
V REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED AND ATTESTED. The prophet paid the silver, and the transaction was attested in due form. Christ paid our ransom, and that that great purchase was valid was attested by the resurrection from the dead: that was the seal.
VI WITNESSES ARE COMMISSIONED TO DECLARE THE TRUTH. (Vers. 12, 13) So Christ commanded his apostles to testify of what he had done.
VII THE TWOFOLD TESTIMONY. (Ver. 14.) There was that which was sealed and that which was open. So is it of the great redemption. There is a testimony that is sealed, hidden from the world, but revealed to the believer by the Spirit of God in his inward experience, the witness of God in his soul, the Spirit bearing witness with his spirit. And there is that which is open the historic evidence of the resurrection of Christ and of the truth of Christianity.
VIII THE DEPOSITARIES OF THIS TESTIMONY. The prophet put his in an earthen vessel. We, too, have this treasure in earthen vessels. Let the literal suggest the spiritual; Jeremiah, Paul.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv8, 14 Then I knew that this was the Word of…
Jer_32:8
Then I knew that this was the Word of the Lord.
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Missed opportunities
No person who understands, and still less he who values, life as a sacred opportunity of doing something for the world before he dies, but has often wished that he could overleap the bounds of the present and understand what the result of his action shall be, so that, with the larger experience of the future, he might go the better armed against the perplexing problems and conditions of duty which beset him in the present. If only we had the education which will come in the future, how we should be protected against the mistakes of the present! And thus we feel a certain impatience against time. Now, the incident recorded in this chapter suggests to us exactly that thought of the way in which time may rebuke our rashness and rebuke also our dulness. The incident which is recorded is a very simple one, but it is suggestive and significant. A certain sort of dream, as we might call it, passed through the mind of Jeremiah, then in close imprisonment because of the jealous anger of the king. Whatever else he was, he was a Jew at heart, and he had that capacity which was singularly, I suppose, possessed by the Jew--the tenacious love of the soil which gave him birth. It was a joy for him to think that the land which was given by God to his forefathers belonged in succession of family inheritance to his own kinsman of that day; and the dream crossed his mind that perchance that moment might come when he would have the opportunity of becoming the possessor of his ancestral heritage. That was his thought. It came to him as a dream; he describes it afterwards as the direction of the Word of the Lord coming to him. But it was not, I imagine, realised as the Word of God at the first moment of its approach: it was only a later circumstance an actual incident which occurred in his life--which enabled him to see that the first suggested thought was, indeed, the Word of the Lord. Now, the first thought which naturally arises from a thing like that is this. We may act upon our first impressions, our impressions may be very strong, and they may be ready to link themselves with our natural ambitions, but it is not every impression that is the word of light, still less the Word of the Lord. Religion divides itself very often, if we were to classify it, into two families or types. It has often been made the subject of mere mental impressions. The presence of the Spirit, the consciousness of a spirit working within, that has been emphasised to such a degree that at last men, driven by their impulse or suggestion of some passing impression, have committed deeds of violence and wrong which the common conscience of humanity condemns. That is to say, early impressions, strong impressions, even impressions which jump with the spirit of what we believe to be right, impressions which wed themselves to our darling dreams, however much they may justify themselves by the exercise of our imaginative conscience, are not in themselves to be accepted as truly Divine suggestions. We must wait for the light of other circumstances. Authority in religion is never on the one side or the other; authority is never wholly within, nor yet wholly without. If it is wholly within, it is open to the declaration of being a mere subjective impression; if it is wholly without, it lays no weight upon the spiritual nature of man, and receives no response from his conscience. But, when there comes to us this which, on the one hand, links itself with our inner nature, and by its own commanding presence makes us feel that it is true, and brings to it also the verifying evidence of providential opportunity--then duty leaps up and can draw her sword, because she knows that she is not the victim of a passing impression alone, but that two things, the law without and the law within, have been combining within his life--then he may know that this also is the Word of the Lord. But if, on the one side, an accident like this may be taken to rebuke the rash impulsiveness of men who would act upon their own subjective impressions, it also, and I think still more strikingly, witnesses against our dulness, which fails to perceive the true significance of the incidents of life as they occur. It was an impression on Jeremiahs mind, and it was only afterwards, when the light of that later circumstance of Hanameels visit occurred, that he perceived its full significance. Then I knew that this was the Word of the Lord. Now mark that this experience is very true in our ordinary life. How often it happens that we have failed to realise the full value of our opportunities till later circumstances flash new light on their meaning! To take the simplest illustration which might come to our minds, you are in the midst of a crowd; you are anxiously looking out because it is a crowd where many of the celebrities of life are gathered; and after you have passed some one suddenly says to you, Did you see him? and immediately there flashes upon you the thought, you have been close to one whose name you have heard, whose works perchance you have read, of whom you have had the greatest desire to have some knowledge. Just then the after circumstance of the utterance of your friend flashes upon you the true meaning of this; you have been close to that greatness which you have worshipped, you have massed the opportunity. Or there are incidents in your own life. Have you never had some friend who in early life was your familiar companion? You played with him, studied the same tasks with him; and now life has diverged, and he has risen to greatness, and we remain where we were on the commonplace level of life. People meet us and say, You knew him; tell me some incidents of his early life. But now the dimness of the past comes upon your memory, and all the anecdotes have dropped away; the multitude of other affairs has obscured your recollection. But then, by the light of this after greatness, you know you have been by the side of one who was possessed of conspicuous genius, one of whom you would say, Would that I had husbanded those stories of the past; would that I had observed him, for his life would have a further meaning to me had I been one who had noted carefully the characteristics, the features of his talent, of his life. In other words, later circumstances are constantly forcing upon us the dulness with which we have confronted the incidents of life as they have occurred. And surely that is the common witness of history. What is the history of all human progress? What is the history of literary life? Who killed John Keats? has often been asked. To the men of his day he was but a raw youth, full of a kind of rude desire for poetic fame; but now we recognise the genius which lay there; we go back and say how true it is that the men of their day failed to recognise the glory of these men, have persecuted them, and let them starve, and afterwards have built their monuments. It is the same in the history of our Lord. You are not surprised that the same thing should be fulfilled in His life who was in all points as we are--tempted, yet without sin. We say, If we had lived in those days our hand would not have been lifted up against that sacred life, we should have torn the crown of thorns from His brow, we should have welcomed His mission, we should have adored Him. But the men of that day did not see the beauty that they should desire Him. Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil, were the words with which He was greeted. John the Baptist pointed out their dulness--There standeth One among you Whom ye know not. But we forget that this may be true in us. Even in our midst Christ stands, and we fail to recognise Him. Why is it we are perpetually visiting with our severe criticism the dulness of the past, when we may be dull ourselves--dull to duty, dull to opportunity, dull to the meaning of the age in which we are living, dull to the very call of God, dull to the presence of Christ? Every duty, every opportunity of kindness, every incident of our life, if we are alive to see it in its brighter light, in its true significance, would never be deemed to be trivial and insignificant at all. When we begin to see light, when the light shall flash upon it, when the grave is opening upon us, this very flash of the circumstance which we call death may shine so back upon the trivial incidents of our life, that we shall realise for the first time that those commonplace things, those duties which I shirked, those things from which I turned away, thinking them of no moment at all--those also were the Word of the Lord. May I, then, ask you to observe the application of that truth, that time reveals to us our dulness in relation to certain aspects of our life?
1. First, the circumstances of the presence of God. We are often disposed to say that our lot in this century is cast in what we may call unfavourable circumstances for faith. Splendid miracles no longer happen. May not the presence of God be as real amongst the ordinary conventional aspects of our daily life--in the sun that rises and sets, in the harvests that are sown and reaped? And may it not be also that the hour might come upon us when the light from some new combination of circumstances might so flash upon our present or our past life as to reveal to us God was there indeed?
2. Or take it with regard to what we may call the providential circumstances of life. Have you never felt that your burden in life is a larger one to bear than your neighbours? We think that others who go cheerily through the world have less affliction than we; we wish we could change with them. But suppose the Lord Almighty did meet you, who understands exactly the conditions of flesh and blood, who knows those special conditions which you have inherited through the long succession of your ancestors, if He were to come to you and say, I am about to bring upon you this sorrow you will lose pecuniarily, or you shall have this illness, or that true one shall be swept from your side; I ask you to bear for My sake, My child, this burden; and if that measure your strength, I know exactly what you can bear; and I know also the sweet and the glorious bounty of grace which shall come to you in the bearing of it. Not one amongst us with the face of Gods strength looking into ours, and the smile of God encouraging us to patience and fortitude, would ever bear to shrink from the burden; we would gird up the loins of our mature to bear whatever it was--sorrow, bereavement, loss. But that which we would do if God so spake to us is surely that which we might lucre the faith to do--seeing that later circumstances may just flash upon us this revelation--It was God, indeed, who brought that burden upon me. That loss, that bereavement, that sickness--were brought by the loving hand of God, who sought to help you through the discipline of life into a better and truer faith and spirit.
3. Lastly, I would ask you to see the light which that thought throws upon the suggestions of duty--duty, stern daughter of the voice of God. If that has any meaning, it has a claim upon your life and mine. But what I ask you to observe is this. We never realise the splendour and the significance of the duties which are laid upon us, when measured by our own small life; they seem so trifling. Look for a moment at the prophet. That which he did might, from one standpoint, be said to be merely the desire of a man to possess some landed property, merely the wish of a man that he may be in the possession of his ancestral heritage; but when the opportunity came he said, This suggestion is the Word of the Lord. For his action was no longer a commercial action done between himself and his kinsman; it became then a great action, typical, representative, manifesting to Israel the real attitude of strength with which Israel should confront its dangers. Like the old Roman, it was the purchase of the land while the enemy was in possession which gave dignity to his action. The Roman by his action said, Though the enemy be at the gates, I do not despair of the welfare of the republic. Jeremiahs action said more: I do not believe that one rood of the sacred soil shall ever permanently be in the possession of the enemies of God; and it was the splendour therefore, the significance, of the action which was flashed upon him at the moment when the opportunity of the purchase came; and that which was once a dream is become a reality. And he could therefore prove to the people the reality of his faith in the hope and in the destiny of Israel. The meaning and the significance of that action none of his countrymen could gainsay, because he was ready to venture his money. That is the spirit of it. Every duty costs something: it costs some trouble, some pains, some thought, some money. Duty, whatever is in your life, is not always an easy thing, unless your nature has been celestialised, and duty has become a delight. But that, after all, belongs rather to the higher levels of life than that commonly apportioned to humankind. Would duty be less noble if duty were easy? Is it not precisely because the steep up which you climb is rocky; because you must sometimes fall, and climb on hands and knees ere you can get to the height where the light of God is shining; because it means the expenditure of fame, money--whatever it is; because the duty is shirked--that therefore the duty is noble? It does cost something; and the man who talks glibly about duty, but is never ready to pay the price of his duty, to purchase his duty by the laying down of some present price, either of money or of time--that man, whatever else he may say, does not believe in the splendid imperative of duty, he does not believe in the voice of God behind it. If I want now to correct the dulness of my eyesight and be illumined by that light which will enable me to perceive that the Divine light is there, which will enable me to hear in every call the voice of the Lord, what shall be my best means of achieving this? Let the past illumine the present; go back on your life and observe it. You now can perceive exactly where it was you missed your way, because you now know that, if you had done this or omitted to do that, if you had not been the victim of that delusion, you would have been in a different position- You see now that that voice at your side was indeed the voice of the Lord. Let the past illumine the present. Do not treat duties as trivial and commonplace, because as your present life illuminates your past life, and shows you how Gods voice has been in it, so the future may illumine the duties which appeal to you to-day. We often say that the dead are canonised in our memory. When they pass away with their greatness, they seem to move from the crowd of men and march with stately steps, and take their place in the great banquet-halls of those whom memory holds illustrious and dear; and from out those banquet-halls they look down with eyes brimming with reproach, because we do not value them as we might. So our duties, canonised by the light which the present throws upon them, march stately before us; they take their place high above, and there are reproaches in their eyes; and the future will have reproaches like this, if we do not perceive the voice of the Lord at our side. The real thing which dims our eyes is the limited light we bring, measuring all the incidents of life by self. Bring in the larger light. Why, that old Roman brought in the larger light, when he saw in the purchase of the land not his own private gain but the welfare of the republic. He saw his duty in the larger light of the well-being of the men and women about him. Let in the light of other mens interests, let in the light of the welfare of those about you, and then you cannot say that the duties are insignificant, then their voice will be to you the voice of humanitys need, and you will see a dignity in obeying it. Look upon every action of your life, not in relation to self or to the men and women about you, but in relation to God. Let in that larger light. Then every action of yours has its transcendent significance; then His Divine voice appeals to you; then you say, Every habit I contract, every word I speak, every opportunity I miss, may be a Divine opportunity slighted, the Divine voice turned back upon. (Bp. Boyd Carpenter.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v9 (1) A sign of Jeremiah’s faith in his own…
bought
(1) A sign of Jeremiah’s faith in his own predictions of the restoration of Judah Jer 32:15 for the field was then occupied by the Babylonian army; and
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(2) a sign to Judah of that coming restoration.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 8, 10, 13 Jeremiah said, "The word of Yahweh came to me,…
Jeremiah said, "The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 'Look, Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you and will say, "Buy my field that is in Anathoth for yourself, for the right to buy it belongs to you."'"
You may translate this as indirect speech. AT: "Jeremiah said that the word of Yahweh had come to him and told him that Hanamel son of Shallum his uncle was coming to him and would tell him to buy his uncle's field that was in Anathoth for himself, for the right to buy it belonged to Jeremiah" (See: Direct and Indirect Quotations)
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Jeremiah said
It is not clear why Jeremiah is referring to himself by name here. You may translate using first person, as the UDB does. (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 'Look
This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. See how you translated it in Jeremiah 1:4. AT: "Yahweh gave me a message. He said, 'Look" or "Yahweh spoke this message to me: 'Look" (See: Idiom)
Hanamel ... Shallum
These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
Anathoth
This is the name of a place. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:1. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
word of God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15 32:6-8 Anathoth was Jeremiah’s hometown (1:1). • By law…
32:6-8 Anathoth was Jeremiah’s hometown (1:1). • By law you have the right: Hebrew custom required Jeremiah’s cousin to offer the land first to his nearest relative (see Lev 25:25, 32; Ruth 4:1-4).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.