was besieging an expression of a siege (מָצוֹר).

in the prison yard an expression of “the prison” (בֵּית הַמִֹּשְמָר).

until I remember him The remembrance of all mankind. That is death.

And Jeremiah said, etc. He did not say this to Zedekiah but Scripture explained why he imprisoned him and then returned to its first statement to explain what the word was that came to Jeremiah.

is coming By Divine command.

the deed of the purchase The deed of the sale.

that which was signed, etc. With its signature as it was signed according so the law and the statute.

and that which was open Which was confirmed in the court by word of its witnesses, and the judges wrote and signed a judicial confirmation. This is the confirmation of the deeds to make the matter open and publicized lest the witnesses die, and our Rabbis explained this concerning a plain, open document and a folded one in Baba Bathra (160b).

in the presence of Hanamel my uncle And until now, he calls him “my uncle’s son.” Perhaps there were two. Otherwise, I do not know what it means. Some are inclined to say that Hanamel was both Jeremiah’s uncle and his uncle’s son; e.g. Reuben married the daughter of his brother Simon, and she bore him Jemuel, and Simon had already begotten Jamin. Hence, Jamin is Jemuel’s uncle, since he is his mother’s brother, and also his uncle’s son, since he is the son of Simon, Jemuel’s father’s brother. This is, however, not the method of expression, for we do not find anywhere in the Bible, that the mother’s brother is called an uncle.

So said, etc. Do not say that I am concealing them for nothing since everyone is going into exile.

For so says the Lord They will ultimately purchase houses.

nothing is hidden from You Nothing is hidden; hence You know that we are destined to be exiled, so why did You tell me to buy a field?

and requites the iniquity of the fathers in the bosom Of this generation who follow their ancestors in their evil way.

Great and Mighty But he did not say, “and awesome.” He said. Heathens are dancing in His Temple. Where then are His awesome deeds? In Tractate Yoma (69b).

and in mankind And in other people. Another explanation: Signs that were equal for Israel and for the Egyptians. How so? “And there was the cloud and the darkness, and it illuminated the night” (Exodus 14:20). That guardian angel that served darkness for the Egyptians, served light for the Israelites Midrash Aggadah (source unknown). And Jonathan renders: And for Israel You performed wonders among people.

then You caused...to come upon them You caused to happen to them, an expression of a happening (מִקְרֶה).

and what You have proclaimed Evil upon it has come to pass (lit., has been and has come).

Yet the city is given Of what avail is the field to me?

Is...concealed from Me? Are future events concealed from Me?

since the day they built it On the day that the Temple was founded, Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter.

I taught them lit., and teaching them. This is a participle, (apprenant in French).

Behold I will gather them with mercy from wherever I have driven them with My anger.