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New Defender's Study Bible Notes
32:1 tenth year of Zedekiah. Zedekiah had only one year left (II Chronicles 36:11), and Nebuchadnezzar’s armies were practically at his gates, yet he still refused to heed Jeremiah’s warnings.
32:8 redemption is thine. Note Leviticus 25:25. Jeremiah’s home and relatives (all, like he, being Levites) were in Anathoth, so that he would have a kinsman’s right to buy the land that was in danger of being lost to someone outside the family and tribe.
32:11 that which was open. The title document was to be set forth in detail on the inside of the scroll, then sealed, then a briefer summary of the transaction inscribed on the outside. See notes on Revelation 5:1,2; also that on Jeremiah 32:14.
32:12 Baruch the son of Neriah. Baruch, first mentioned here, was a friend and scribe to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:4,32).
32:14 evidence of the purchase. By purchasing this field, even when he was in prison and the Babylonian army was occupying the field, and even knowing that the Jews would all be in exile for seventy years, Jeremiah demonstrated his own faith in God’s word, which had promised their eventual return and repossession of the land.
32:14 evidence which is open. The evidence of ownership (title deed) was in the form of a scroll describing the property and the transaction, with the owner’s name and property description written on both the outside of the scroll and, under seal, on the inside as well. The seal could be broken and the property claimed only by the owner whose name was on the outside. Compare Revelation 5:1-10.
32:17 nothing too hard. God, being omnipotent, simply called into existence the infinite expanse of the heaven and the infinite complexity of the earth. There is nothing too hard (same word as “wonderful”) for Him to accomplish (Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37). The concept of instantaneous, perfect creation by Almighty God is far more reasonable than that of a billion-year trial-and-error naturalistic evolutionary growth from primeval chaos to the complex cosmos and its inhabitants.
32:27 too hard. God thus confirms Jeremiah’s statement of faith in His omnipotence (Jeremiah 32:17).
32:35 Hinnom. “Hinnom” was the source of the name gehenna, which came to be used for the word “hell.” See notes on Jeremiah 7:31, II Chronicles 33:6, etc.
32:40 everlasting covenant. The “everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20) is the “new covenant,” or “New Testament,” sealed in the blood of Christ. See notes on Jeremiah 31:31-33.