slement of truth in the preaching of the ground at Anathotu was the occasion whitdi ' false prophets,'' viz. that Jehovah was still called furth thu must striking proof of hit
48
THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh. xxsn. 1—44.
sublime confidence in God. Not that he understood how it could be God's will that he, in the besieged city, should constitute himself a landed proprietor. He had his di£Boulties; but instead of brooding over them, he laid them before Jehovah iii prayer. And the Divine revelation came that, though long-continued transgressions had brought upon Judah the sorest punishment, they should yet be restored to their land ; and, though tlie firat covenant had been broken, a second and an everlasting ocvenant should in future times be granted to God'i people; and tl!.« sign that the £rst part of this promise sho^ild in very deed be realized is the purchase nf the field by Jeremiah.
Vers. 1 — 5. — 'iTime and rircumstances of the followino; revelation. It took place in the tenth year of Zedekiali, the eifjhteenth of Nebucharlnezzar (eoinp. cli. xxv. 1 ; lii. 12). The sienje of Jernsalera had begun in the preceding year (ch. xxxix. 1). but had been temporarily raised on the apiiroach of an Egyptian army ch. xxxvii. 5, 11). Jeremiah, who had dec'ared i esistance hope- less, had been accused of tr !i.son, and im- prisoned (ch. xxxvii. 13^ lod in prison he remain(d till the close of the siege. Like St. Paul at Romp, howevei, he was allowed free communication with visitors, as appears from ver. 8 and ch. xxxviii. 1. Vers. 2 — 5 are parenthetical (see on ver. 6).
Ver. 2. —In the court of the prison ; or, the court of tile guard, which adjoined tlie royal palace (Neli. iii. 25).
Ver. 3. — Had shut him up. A brief and general account of the cireumstaiices re- lated more in full in ch. xxxvii. For the prophecies referred to, see ch. xxxiv. 3 — 5 ; xxxvii. 17; xxxviii. 17—23 (the following verse is almost identical with ch. xxxiv. 3).
Ver. ."S. — Until I visit him; i.e. until I take notice of hira. " To visit " is used in a good (ch. xxvii. 22; xxlx. 10) as well as in a bad sense (ch. vi. 15; xlix. 8), so that no definite announcement is made respect- ing Zedeklah's future. 'I'here was no object to gain by extending the scope of the reve- lation beyond the immediate present, and Zedekiah's offences did not require such an anticipative punishment as the clear predic- tion of the details of his fate (oh. xxxix. 6, 7; lii. 11).
Vers. 6— 15.— The purchase of the field. Ver. 6 resinries ver. 1, after the long paren- thesis in vers. 2 — 5.
Ver. 7.— Hauameel. Another form of Hananeel; com p. Teffc/n, in the Septuagint = Goshen, MaSia/x = Midian. In ch. xxxi. 38 the Authorized Version has Hananeel, ahd the Septuagint 'Aco^c^A (of course, the
persons referred to are different). The son of Shallnm thine uncle. It is strange that Hanameel should be called at once Jeremiah's uncle's son and his uncle ; and yet this is the case — the former in vers. 8, 9, the latter in ver. 12. There is, therefore, no reason why we should deviate (as most commentators do) from the ordinary Hebrew usage, and suppose " thine uncle " in this verse to refer to Shallum, and not rather to Hauameel. But how are we to explain this singular vaiiation in phraseology ? Either from the fact that the Hebrew for " uncle " is simply a word expressive of affection (it means " beloved," see e.g. Isa. v. 1 ), end might, th<refoie, just as well be applied to a cousin as to an uncle ; or else, upon the supposition that the word for "son (of)" has fallen out of the text before "mine uncle," both in this verse and in ver. 12.
Ver. 8. — The right of inheritance (or rather, of tailing possession) is thine. The right, however, was dependent on the pre- vious right of redeeming the land. Hence the speaker continues: The redemption is thine ; buy it for thyself. The Law directs, " If thy brother be waxjn poor, and hath sold away some ot his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall h* redeem that which his I'rother sold " (Lev xxv. 2.')). Jeremiah's kinsman, however, ascribe." to him the right of pre-emp- tion. This is not mentioned in LeTitieus ; but, of course, no one would care to puiuhase a property till he was sure that the next kins- man would not insist on redeeming it. No one, it may be remarked, could purchase land unconditionally — the usufruct of it till the year of jubilee was all that was legally transferable ; and even the original occu- pant had only a life interest in liis land, the ownership of which was, stri^'tly speak- ing, vested in the commune. This seems to be the necessary inference from a compre- hensive view of the passages relative to land m the Old Testament (see Mr. Fen- ton's ' Early Hebrew Life ; ' and an article in the Church Quarterly Meoii-v), July, 1880). Then I knew, etc. \ve may, perhaps, interpret this notice combined with that in ver. 6 thus : Jeremiah had had a presenti- ment, founded, perhaps, upon the distress to which his cousin had been reduced, that the latter would invite him to carry out the provisions of the Law ; and his pre- sentiments were generally so ordeied by the Divine Spirit of prophecy as to be rati- fied by the event. Still, he had » measure of uncertainty till Hanameel actually came to him. and so demonstrated " that this had been the word of the Lord." In recording the circumstances, he not unnaturally re- flects his later feeling of certitude in hii i description of the presentiment.
OH. xim. 1— 44.] THE BOOK OP THE PliUPHBT JEREMIAH.
i9
Ver. 9. — Seventeen shekels of sUver ; i«. abont £2 5a. id. (taking the shekel at 2a. 8(2.). This has been thought a small price. Thirty shekels were paid for the potter'i field (Matt, xxvii. 7); fifty by David, for Arannah's threshing-floor and oxen (2 Sam. zziv. 4). The Hebrew has " seven shekels and ten of silver ; " henoe the Targum in- creases the price by supplying "minas" before " of silver," bringing up the sum to one hundred and seven ehekels. This, however, seems too much. Even if Jere- miah wished to be liberal, he would hardly have been able to go so far (probably) in excess of the market price. Who would have purchased the land on speculation, if Jeremiah had refused? The famine made life, the siege, a continuance of personal liberty, terribly uncertain. And, putting this oat of the question, there may have been but a short time to elapse before the year of jubilee, when the land would revert to its original occupant (see above). The singular form ot expression in the Hebrew, at which the Targum stumbled, may, per- haps, be the usnal style of legal docu- ments.