Translation commentary on Jeremiah 32:44

Fields shall be bought for money: See verse 43. In this case the Hebrew is active, “They [men] will buy fields with money.” In this expression for money may be unnecessary: “People will buy them” (Good News Translation).

Deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed are passive constructions that may need to be rendered with active expressions; for example, “People will draw up deeds of purchase, seal them, and call in witnesses” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “[People will buy fields, and] they will sign the deeds and put their seals on them, and have people witness these deeds.”

For hill country and Shephelah, see 17.26.

Negeb: See 13.19.

Restore their fortunes: See 29.14.

Says the LORD: See 1.8.

Good News Translation has restructured the whole verse, rendering it with four sentences so that it is easier to follow. This may be a good model for translators in other languages to follow.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

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