7. Hanameel. Beyond his being the prophet’s first cousin (see 8, 9), nothing is revealed in the Bible about Hanameel. Since up to “the year of jubile” land could be sold, a person’s next of kin was given the first opportunity to exercise “the right of redemption” (Jer. 32:7; see on Lev. 25:23-25; Ruth 3:12; 4:1-6).
Buy thee my field. Through Jeremiah’s purchase of land in Anathoth, the prophet gave an indisputable proof of his belief in God’s message that, though the Israelites were to be carried away into captivity, they would return to their own land and fields (see 44). This incident had a parallel in the history of Rome when the patriotic citizens of that city bought land at the full market value at the very time when Hannibal, the Carthaginian conqueror, was marching toward the capital on the Tiber (see Livy xxvi. 11).