The Geneva Bible Translation Notes, [1599], at sacred-texts.com
(a) So that Jeremiah had now prophesied from the thirteenth year of Josiah to the last year save one of Zedekiah's reign, which was almost forty years.
And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until (b) I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
(b) Till I take Zedekiah away by death: for he will not die by the sword as in (Jer 34:4).
Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thy uncle shall come to thee, saying, (c) Buy for thee my field that [is] in Anathoth: for the right of redemption [is] thine (d) to buy [it].
(c) By which was meant that the people would return again out of captivity and enjoy their possessions and vineyards as in (Jer 32:15, Jer 32:44).
(d) Because he was next of the kindred, as in (Rut 4:4).
So Hanameel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said to me, Buy my (e) field, I pray thee, that [is] in Anathoth, which [is] in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance [is] thine, and the redemption [is] thine; buy [it] for thyself. Then I knew that this [was] the word of the LORD.
(e) Of the possession of the Levites, read (Lev 25:32).
And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that [was] in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, [even] seventeen (f) shekels of silver.
(f) Which amounts to about ten shillings six pence in our money if this shekel were the common shekel, See Gen 23:15, for the shekel of the temple was of double value, and ten pieces of silver were half a shekel, for twenty made the shekel.
So I took the deed of the purchase, [both] that which was sealed (g) [according] to the law and custom, and that which was open:
(g) According to the custom the instrument or evidence was sealed up with the common seal and a copy of it remained which contained the same in effect but was left open to be seen if anything should be called into doubt.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, both that which is sealed, and this deed which is open; and put them in an earthen (h) vessel, that they may continue many days.
(h) And so to hide them in the ground, that they might be reserved as a token of their deliverance.
Thou shewest lovingkindness to thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their (i) children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, JEHOVAH of hosts, [is] his name,
(i) Because the wicked are subject to the curse of God, he shows that their posterity who by nature are under this malediction will be punished both for their own wickedness and that the iniquity of their fathers which is likewise in them, will be also avenged on their head.
(k) Who hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, [even] to this day, and in Israel, and among [other] men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;
(k) Meaning that his miracles in delivering his people would never be forgotten.
Behold the (l) mounts, they are come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest [it].
(l) The word signifies anything that is cast up, as a mount or rampart, and is also used for engines of war, which were laid on a high place to shoot into a city before guns were in use.
Behold, I [am] the LORD, the God of all (m) flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
(m) That is, of every creature: who as they are his work, so does he govern and guide them as pleases him, by which he shows that as he is the author of their captivity for their sins, so will he for his mercies be their redeemer to restore them again to liberty.
For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done evil only before me from their (n) youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
(n) From the time that I brought them out of Egypt and made them my people and called them my firstborn.
And they have turned to me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, (o) rising early and teaching [them], yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
(o) (Ch2 36:15; Isa 65:2; Jer 7:13, Jer 13:3, Jer 26:5, Jer 29:19, Jer 35:14, Jer 44:4).
And they built the high (p) places of Baal, which [are] in the valley of the (q) son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to (r) pass through [the fire] to Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
(p) That is, the altars which were made to offer sacrifices to their idols on.
(q) Read (Jer 7:31; Kg2 21:4, Kg2 21:6).
(r) Read (Kg2 16:3).
And now (s) therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, of which ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
(s) Read (Jer 30:16).
And I will give them (t) one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
(t) One consent and one religion, as in (Eze 11:19, Eze 36:26).
And I will make an everlasting (u) covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
(u) Read (Jeremiah 31:1-33:26).
Men shall buy (x) fields for money, and signed deeds, and seal [them], and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captives to return, saith the LORD.
(x) This is the declaration of that which was spoken of in (Jer 32:8).