Bible Strands
Jeremiah 32:12
and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement and all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah stands in the courtyard of the guard during the Babylonian siege and addresses the historical record. He physically transfers a legal document to Baruch before a cousin, signing witnesses, and other Jews.
The words — וָ/אֶתֵּ֞ן (va./'e.Ten) translates literally as "and I gave," and הַ/סֵּ֣פֶר (ha./Se.fer) means "the document." These terms anchor the verse in a concrete, witnessed transfer of written property records.
The thread — The handover is recounted in Jeremiah 32:16 when Jeremiah prays immediately after the transaction, and Baruch’s lineage appears again in Jeremiah 36:4 as the scribe recording prophetic words.
Why it lands — The text requires acknowledging that divine promises operate through tangible legal procedures and human witnesses. It asks readers to align their expectations with God’s methods rather than demanding miraculous bypasses of ordinary civic processes.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 32:16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD:
- Jeremiah 51:59 This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet gave to the quartermaster Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.
- Jeremiah 36:4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and at the dictation of Jeremiah, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words that the LORD had spoken to Jeremiah.
- Jeremiah 36:26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
- Jeremiah 36:16 When they had heard all these words, they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch, “Surely we must report all these words to the king.”
- Jeremiah 36:32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and at Jeremiah’s dictation he wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
- Jeremiah 43:3 Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!”
- Jeremiah 45:1 This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
- 2 Corinthians 8:21 For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men.