Jeremiah Buys Land in Anathoth (32:1-44) 511
Take these deeds. Hebrew laqoaf:z )et-hassepiirfm ha)elleh. On the impera-
tives qaf:z and qef:zu ("Take!") in divine commands issued to the prophet, see
Note for 43:9. The form of the verb here is the infinitive absolute, liiqoaf:z,
which can function as an emphatic imperative (D. N. Freedman, who cites
ziikor, "Remember!" and siimor, "Keep!" beginning the commandments on
Sabbath observance in Exod 20:8 and Deut 5:12, respectively). The LXX omits
"these deeds," which can be attributed to haplography (whole word: )t ... )t).
This omission explains the subsequent singular pronouns in the LXX, which
make for an awkward reading.
this sealed deed of purchase. The LXX omits "the ·sealed," which can also be
attributed to haplography (whole-word: w)t ... w)t).
many days. Hebrew yamim rabbim. I.e., a long time.
- For thus said Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel. The LXX again omits "God
of Israel."
Again houses and fields and vineyards shall be bought in this land. The LXX
has a different sequence: "fields and houses and vineyards." We now get the
larger message of Jeremiah's action. The purchase of the field was a symbolic
prophecy, another of many that Jeremiah carried out during his public minis-
try (see Note for 13: l). With Jerusalem and all Judah about to be given over to
an enemy, Yahweh says that houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought
in the land. The term "again" (<ad) occurs often in the Book of Restoration
(31:4-5, 23-40). We see here as clearly as anywhere in the book that Jeremiah
did in fact hold out hope for the future. He told the exiles in Babylon to build
houses and plant gardens (29:5, 28), which could easily have heen interpreted
as abandoning all hope for the hmfl of Judah. But these words, though spoken
to a Judahite audience, nevertheless send a strong message to exiles in Babylon
that the stay there will be temporary and that the day will come when houses,
fields, and vineyards will again be bought by Judahites in Judah (Rubinger
1977: 90-9 l). Dietrich Bonhoeffer ( 197 l: 15, 415), another such person with
hope in a hopeless time, quoted this verse in his Letters and Papers from Prison.
- Then I prayed to Yahweh after I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch
son of Neriah. Jeremiah is a man of prayer, combining here the reverence and
questioning so familiar from his earlier confessions. Jeremiah is otherwise
questioning Yahweh (12:1-3; 15:15-18; 20:14-18), complaining of unjust
treatment by friend and foe ( l l:l8-20; 15: 10; 18: 18-23; 20: 7-IO), and interced-
ing for others (37:3; 42:2-4, 20); but this prayer is motivated by misgivings
about what he himself has just done (v 25).
- Ah, Lord Yahweh! Look, you, you have made the heavens and the earth
with your great strength and with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult
for you. Antecedent creation theology (v 17) in confessions of Israel's own re-
demption theology (w 20-23) suggested to earlier scholars an exilic or post-
exilic date for the prayer, comparisons usually being made to Second Isaiah
(Isa 45:12-13) and Ezra's prayer in Neh 9:6-37 (von Rad 1962: 124, 136-39).
But creation theology begins an oracle in 27:5, which is not late, as von Rad
claims, and is well documented elsewhere in Jeremiah (see Note for 27:5). The
