So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
I took the evidence of the purchase, both sealed ... and ... open. Two deeds were drawn up in a contract of sale; the one, the original copy, witnessed and sealed with the public seal; the other not so, but open, and therefore less authoritative, being but a copy. Gataker thinks that the purchaser sealed the one with his own seal, the other he showed to witnesses, that they might write their names on the back of it and know the contents; and that some details-e.g., the conditions and time of redemption-were in the sealed copy, which the parties might not choose to be known to the witnesses, and which were therefore not in the open copy. The sealed copy, when opened after the 70 years' captivity, would greatly confirm the faith of those living at that time. The "law and custom" refer, probably, not merely to the sealing up of the conditions and details of purchase, but also to the law of redemption, according to which, at the return to Judea, the deed would show that Jeremiah had bought the field by his right as next of kin (Leviticus 25:13-16). (Ludovicus de Dieu.)