Jeremiah 32:9
in Jeremiah 32So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel mine uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
KJV
And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
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This verse in Jeremiah 32
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Seventeen shekels of silver - literally, as in the margin, probably a legal formula. Jeremiah bought Hanameel’s life-interest up to the year of Jubilee, and no man’s life was worth much in a siege like that of Jerusalem. As Jeremiah had no children, at his death the land would devolve to the person who would have inherited it had Jeremiah not bought it. He therefore bought what never was and never could have been of the slightest use to him, and gave for it what in the growing urgency of the siege might have been very serviceable to himself.
This site's exposition
The word of the Lord came unto me
on Jeremiah 32:6-10
The word of the Lord came unto me announces the sign before it happens, Hanameel's visit foretold so that when the cousin arrives asking Jeremiah to exercise the kinsman's right of redemption on a field at Anathoth, the prophet can say then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. The transaction is unremarkable in itself, seventeen shekels weighed out for a field the buyer will likely never farm, the besieging army camped outside the very town where the land lies. The bench reads the ordinariness as the point, an act of commerce performed as an act of faith in territory the Chaldeans already hold.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This is Jeremiah the tenth in order, who was also privileged to prophesy concerning the mystery respecting Christ, saying thus: And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was priced, whom certain of the sons of Israel did price, and …
(v. 9 seqq.) But I understood that it was the word of the Lord, and I bought a field from my cousin Anameel, who is in Anathoth, and I weighed out the silver, seven shekels and ten silver coins. And I wrote it in a book, and signed it, and called witnesses, and weighed the silver on a scale. And I received the sealed deed, the terms and conditions, and the external seals.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He prays with admiration of God's majesty and works; and represents his own conflict, ver. 16-25. God confirms the captivity for their sins, ver. 26-35. but promises a gracious return, ver. 36-44.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-26/36-anchored-1-15
And I bought the field of Hanameel mine uncle's son; that was in Anathoth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
4d.., the whole would be under £2, a rather small sum, even taking into account the fact of the Chaldean occupation of the land, and the uncertainty of the time when it might come to Jeremiah or his heirs. Perhaps the "seven shekels," which in the Hebrew (see Margin) are distinguished from the "ten pieces of silver," were shekels of gold [MAURER].
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Weighed him the money - It does not appear that there was any coined or stamped money among the Jews before the captivity; the Scripture, therefore, never speaks of counting money, but of weighing it. Seventeen shekels of silver - The shekel at this time must have been a nominal coin; it was a thing of a certain weight, or a certain worth. Seventeen shekels was the weight of the silver paid: but it might have been in one ingot, or piece. The shekel has been valued at from two shillings and threepence to two shillings and sixpence, and even at three shillings; taking the purchase-money at a medium of the value of the shekel, it would amount only to about two pounds two shillings and sixpence. But as estates bore value only in proportion to the number of years before the jubilee, and the field in question was then in the hands of the Chaldeans, and this cousin of Jeremiah was not likely to come back to enjoy it after seventy years, (nor could he then have it, as a jubilee would intervene and restore it to the original family), and money must now be very scarce and high in its value, the seventeen shekels might have been a sufficient sum for a field in those circumstances, and one probably not large in its dimensions.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָֽאֶקְנֶה֙ | vaekneh | and I bought | H7069 → | 84 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה | hasadeh | the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| מֵאֵ֛ת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| חֲנַמְאֵ֥ל | chanamel | Hanamel | H2601 → | 4 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| דֹּדִ֖י | dodi | uncle my | H1730 → | 61 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בַּעֲנָת֑וֹת | baanatot | [was] at Anathoth | H6068 → | 15 times |
| וָֽאֶשְׁקֲלָה־ | vaeshkalah- | and I weighed out ! | H8254 → | |
| לּוֹ֙ | lo | for <the> him | ||
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכֶּ֔סֶף | hakesef | the silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| שִׁבְעָ֥ה | shivah | [was] seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| שְׁקָלִ֖ים | shekalim | shekels | H8255 → | |
| וַעֲשָׂרָ֥ה | vaasarah | and ten | H6235 → | 176 times |
| הַכָּֽסֶף׃ | hakasef | the silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
וָֽאֶקְנֶה֙and I bought
vaeknehH7069 →84 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַשָּׂדֶ֔הthe field
hasadehH7704 →334 times
מֵאֵ֛תfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
חֲנַמְאֵ֥לHanamel
chanamelH2601 →4 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
דֹּדִ֖יuncle my
dodiH1730 →61 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בַּעֲנָת֑וֹת[was] at Anathoth
baanatotH6068 →15 times
וָֽאֶשְׁקֲלָה־and I weighed out !
vaeshkalah-H8254 →
לּוֹ֙for <the> him
lo
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַכֶּ֔סֶףthe silver
hakesefH3701 →403 times
שִׁבְעָ֥ה[was] seven
shivahH7651 →394 times
שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekels
shekalimH8255 →
וַעֲשָׂרָ֥הand ten
vaasarahH6235 →176 times
הַכָּֽסֶף׃the silver
hakasefH3701 →403 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 37:28So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
it leads to
- Acts 7:9
Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
- Psalms 105:17
He sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave.
- Genesis 25:2
and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
- Genesis 45:4–5
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!
- Genesis 37:25
And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to…
- Acts 7:9
Through
1 Kings 20:39As the king passed by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant had marched out into the middle of the battle, when suddenly a man came over with a captive and told me,…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 10:24
And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to…
- Proverbs 13:8
Riches may ransom a man’s life, but a poor man hears no threat.
- Judges 9:7–20
When this was reported to Jotham, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim, raised his voice, and cried out: “Listen to me, O leaders of Shechem, and may God listen to you.
- 2 Kings 10:24
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.