Bible Strands
Jeremiah 32:9
So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah records his actions while confined in the courtyard of the guard during the Babylonian siege. He speaks to the official record and future readers as he completes the land transaction his cousin Hanamel initiated.
The words — The verb וָֽאֶקְנֶה (va'ekneh) translates literally as "and I bought," confirming the transfer of ownership. The noun שָׂדֶה (sadeh) means "field," identifying the specific parcel of land in Anathoth subject to the redemption.
The thread — The practice of weighing silver for a transaction appears in 1 Kings 20:39, Esther 3:9, and Zechariah 11:12. Jeremiah 32:9 applies this standard commercial procedure to a divinely commanded property redemption rather than a political or prophetic payment.
Why it lands — The text records a concrete financial exchange before any theological inference is drawn. It requires the reader to accept that faithful obedience involves executing legal and economic steps in the present, regardless of the surrounding siege conditions.
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 bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 20:39 As 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, ‘Guard this man! If he goes missing for any reason, your life will be exchanged for his life, or you will weigh out a talent of silver.’
- Esther 3:9 If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will deposit ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury to pay those who carry it out.”
- Zechariah 11:12 Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.
- Genesis 23:15 “Listen to me, my lord. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”
- Genesis 37:28 So 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.
- Isaiah 55:2 Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
- Hosea 3:2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.