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Jeremiah 32:14

in Jeremiah 32

“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Take these deeds—both the sealed copy and the open copy of the deed of purchase—and put them in a clay jar to preserve them for a long time.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: 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 continue many days.

KJV

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.

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This verse in Jeremiah 32

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Then I took the deed of

on Jeremiah 32:11-15

Jeremiah hands both copies of the deed to Baruch before witnesses. The order to “put them in a clay jar to preserve them for a long time” looks past the coming destruction. The sign's meaning comes in one sentence: “Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”

This site's exposition

put them in a clay jar

The deeds go into a clay jar to last a long time, so the purchase looks past the fall of the city. Spurgeon counts the cost. Jeremiah was a prisoner, food in the siege sold at great prices, and he paid for a field he could neither see nor reach.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 13 and following) And I commanded Baruch before them, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these books, this sealed book, and this open book, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last for many days. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall still be possessed in this land.

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

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

Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

THE discourse of this evening is suggested by the transaction of Jeremiah with his uncle's son in the purchase of a field at Anathoth which he conducted in a business-like and legal way. I will begin with just a few remarks upon the transaction itself. Jeremiah was called to forego the comforts of the present for the blessings of the future. He was a poor man and he was shut up in prison.
THE discourse of this evening is suggested by the transaction of Jeremiah with his uncle's son in the purchase of a field at Anathoth which he conducted in a business-like and legal way. I will begin with just a few remarks upon the transaction itself. Jeremiah was called to forego the comforts of the present for the blessings of the future. He was a poor man and he was shut up in prison. A little money must have been a very great thing to him at such a time—even food could not be purchased during the siege except at fabulous prices—and his allowance was very small. Yet he paid down 17 shekels of silver—not a great sum in itself, but very great to him in such circumstances—to buy the field which, as I said in the exposition, he could not go and see, for he was a prisoner, and which he could not have reached even if he had been free, for it was in the hand of the Chaldeans and laid desolate by the invading army. He was commanded by the Lord to buy a field which, speaking after the manner of men, was on the moon! It was what we call, "an estate in Spain," which Jeremiah could not possibly visit, but because he had God's orders to buy it, he did buy it and he paid the purchase money right cheerfully. Dear Brothers and Sisters, this is exactly what we have to do—we have to pawn the present for the future! We must be satisfied to give up anything which Christ may require of us for the sake of that which is yet to come. Our inheritance is not on this side of Jordan. Our joy is yet to be revealed. I grant you that we have much thrown in, for the Lord is a good Paymaster, but on the road to Heaven He gives us only our spending money.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

So said, etc. Do not say that I am concealing them for nothing since everyone is going into exile.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Jeremiah 32:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

27 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כֹּֽה־thus

    koh-H3541 →577 times

  • אָמַר֩he says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֨הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • צְבָא֜וֹתof hosts

    tzevaotH6635 →485 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of

    ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • לָק֣וֹחַtake

    lakoachH3947 →966 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַסְּפָרִ֣יםthe documents

    hasefarimH5612 →186 times

  • הָאֵ֡לֶּה<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • אֵ֣ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • סֵפֶר֩[the] document of

    seferH5612 →186 times

  • הַמִּקְנָ֨הthe purchase

    hamiknahH4736 →15 times

  • הַזֶּ֜ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • וְאֵ֣תand <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הֶחָת֗וּםthe sealed [one]

    hechatumH2856 →26 times

  • וְאֵ֨תand <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • סֵ֤פֶר[the] document

    seferH5612 →186 times

  • הַגָּלוּי֙<the> uncovered

    hagaluiH1540 →186 times

  • הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • וּנְתַתָּ֖םand you will put them

    unetatamH5414 →2011 times

  • בִּכְלִי־in a vessel of

    bikhli-H3627 →325 times

  • חָ֑רֶשׂearthenware

    charesH2789 →

  • לְמַ֥עַןso that

    lemaanH4616 →272 times

  • יַעַמְד֖וּthey may remain

    yaamduH5975 →521 times

  • יָמִ֥יםdays

    yamimH3117 →2304 times

  • רַבִּֽים׃ סmany

    rabimH7227 →454 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

1 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 19:1This is what the LORD says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take some of the elders of the people and leaders of the priests,1 works

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 32 →

This page draws on Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2297: “Sealed and Open Evidences” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 32 →