We have studied the iron‐rich, rare‐earth‐iron intermetallic compounds R2Fe17(R = Pr, Gd, Tm, Lu), using the Mo¨ssbauer effect in57Fe. The measured average hyperfine fieldH(T/Tc) acting on the57Fe nuclei is a unique, monotonically decreasing function ofT/Tc, with no observed irregularity at temperatures corresponding to a suspected ferromagnetic‐antiferromagnetic phase transition in these compounds. The onset of paramagnetism occurs at temperatures close to theuppertransition points measured by Strnatet al., namely atTc= 282°, 472°, 271°, and 263°K for Pr2Fe17, Gd2Fe17, Tm2Fe17, and Lu2Fe17, respectively. Low‐temperature (≃90°K) spectra indicate the presence of at least four magnetically nonequivalent Fe sublattices, while forT>Tcbroadened 2‐line absorption spectra typical of57Fe at noncubic sites in paramagnetic material are observed.