Jeremiah 32

Jeremiah 32 falls within chapters 30–33 of Jeremiah, a section commonly called the "Book of Consolation" that gathers together promises of restoration. Where Jeremiah 31 promises a new covenant, this chapter makes that promise visible through Jeremiah's purchase of a field in a time of despair, just before the fall of Jerusalem.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 The time is the tenth year of Zedekiah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian army has surrounded Jerusalem, and Jeremiah is shut up in the court of the prison because he prophesied that the city would fall and the king would be taken captive.
• Verses 6–15 Hanameel, the son of Jeremiah's uncle Shallum, comes and asks him to buy his field at Anathoth. Jeremiah weighs out seventeen shekels of silver and writes a deed. Before witnesses he entrusts both the sealed deed and the open deed to Baruch, who is to preserve them in an earthen vessel, and he declares that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.
• Verses 16–25 Jeremiah prays. He confesses God as the Creator and as the God of the Exodus, and he asks why God has had him buy a field when, because of the people's disobedience, the city is being given into the hands of the Chaldeans (the Babylonians).
• Verses 26–35 God answers. He declares that the city will be burned because the people offered incense to Baal on their rooftops, defiled the temple, and caused their children to pass through the fire to Molech in the valley of the son of Hinnom.
• Verses 36–44 God promises to gather the scattered people again, to make an everlasting covenant with them, and to cause fields once more to be bought and deeds signed in the land of Benjamin and in the cities of Judah.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 32:15 "Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land" — explains the meaning of the purchase of the field.
• Jeremiah 32:27 "Is there any thing too hard for me?" — God answers Jeremiah's confession in verse 17 with the same words.
• Jeremiah 32:40 "An everlasting covenant" — pairs with the new covenant promise of chapter 31.

People and Places

• Jeremiah: The prophet of the period of Judah's fall, imprisoned at this time.
• Zedekiah: The last king of Judah.
• Nebuchadnezzar: The king of Babylon.
• Hanameel: The son of Shallum, Jeremiah's cousin, and the owner of the field at Anathoth.
• Baruch: The son of Neriah, who is entrusted with the deeds of purchase.
• Anathoth: A town in the land of Benjamin and Jeremiah's hometown (Jeremiah 1:1).
• Jerusalem: The besieged capital of Judah.
• Valley of Hinnom: A valley near Jerusalem where child sacrifice was practiced.

Points for Reflection

• The "right of redemption" that Hanameel mentions refers to the practice by which a near relative buys a family's land so that it does not pass to outsiders. This practice appears in Leviticus 25 and is discussed in the article on the kinsman-redeemer.
• The restoration promises of verses 36–44 are read differently in different traditions. The dispensationalist tradition tends to connect them with a future restoration of national Israel. The covenant theology tradition tends to read them as first fulfilled in the return from exile and fully fulfilled in Christ and the church.
• The everlasting covenant of verse 40, along with the fear of God placed in the people's hearts, connects with the new covenant of chapter 31. In the New Testament, Hebrews 8:6–13 quotes chapter 31 and links the new covenant to Christ.

In the Korean Church

Verses 17 and 27 are frequently cited in sermons and prayers as passages that speak of God's omnipotence.