Verse 8
Sure enough, Hanamel visited his cousin in prison and made Jeremiah the offer, confirming the Lord’s message. Hanamel probably wanted to sell his property before he left the land as an exile. The handwriting was on the wall and he could read the signs of the times. To try to sell a piece of confiscated property to a relative in prison reflects insensitivity at best and total contempt at worst. He was offering to sell Jeremiah a piece of the battlefield! Perhaps Hanamel was one of those kinsmen that the Lord told Jeremiah would hate him (cf. Jeremiah 11:19-23; Jeremiah 12:6).
". . . was there ever a more insensitive prison-visitor?" [Note: Kidner, p. 112.]
This offer constituted a test of Jeremiah’s faith in the promises of restoration, that the Lord had given him, and an opportunity to give witness to that faith. Anathoth was already in Babylonian hands when Jerusalem was under siege. Imagine being offered property to buy that you could not take possession of, or had no hope of ever using!
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