Jeremiah 36

In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

1And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

NoteThe fourth year of Jehoiakim was about 605 BC. Dates were given by counting from the start of a king's reign, since there was no era-based calendar. This was the year Babylon crushed Egypt at Carchemish and became the dominant power over the whole region, which is the background to the warnings in the scroll.

2"Get a scroll and write on it every word I have spoken to you about Israel, about Judah, and about all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you in the time of Josiah until today.

2Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.

NoteThe King James "roll of a book" means a scroll: a long strip of papyrus or prepared animal skin, written in columns and rolled up. Bound books with pages did not exist yet. "Israel" alongside "Judah" refers to the northern kingdom, destroyed by Assyria about a century earlier, and to the people as a whole.

3Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I plan to bring on them, each one will turn away from his evil way. Then I will forgive their guilt and their sin."

3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.

4So Jeremiah sent for Baruch son of Neriah. As Jeremiah spoke the words aloud, Baruch wrote on a scroll everything the LORD had said to him.

4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.

NoteBaruch was a professional scribe. Writing was a specialized trade, and dictating to a trained writer was the normal way anyone, including a prophet, produced a document.

5Then Jeremiah gave Baruch these orders: "I am held back. I am not allowed to go into the house of the LORD.

5And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD:

Note"I am shut up" translates a Hebrew word meaning restrained or detained. The text does not say why, whether Jeremiah was under arrest, or banned from the temple grounds after earlier confrontations there. The ambiguity is in the original.

6So you go instead. On a day of fasting, read aloud from the scroll you wrote as I spoke. Read the words of the LORD in the temple where the people can hear. Read them also to everyone from the towns of Judah who comes there.

6Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’s house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.

NoteA fast day meant going without food as a public act of mourning or urgent appeal, usually declared in an emergency. It drew crowds in from the countryside to the temple, which is why Jeremiah chooses that day for the reading.

7Perhaps they will bring their plea to the LORD, and each one will turn from his evil way. The anger and fury the LORD has spoken against these people is great."

7It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.

8Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do. In the house of the LORD he read aloud the words of the LORD from the scroll.

8And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’s house.

9In the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, a fast before the LORD was announced for all the people in Jerusalem and for all who had come there from the towns of Judah.

9And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.

NoteThe ninth month in the Hebrew calendar (Kislev) falls roughly in late November and December, the cold, rainy season, which is why there is a fire burning in verse 22. This is more than a year after the scroll was written in verse 4.

10Then Baruch read aloud from the scroll the words of Jeremiah, where all the people could hear. He did this in the house of the LORD, in the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate.

10Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house, in the ears of all the people.

NoteA "chamber" was one of the rooms built around the temple courtyards and used by priests and officials as offices, so this was a semi-public setting. "Scribe" in the King James does not mean a copyist here: it was a senior post in the government, something like secretary of state. Shaphan's family held such posts across several generations.

11Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD read from the scroll.

11When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,

12He went down to the royal palace, into the scribe's room, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the rest.

12Then he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.

Note"Princes" in the King James means the officials and nobles of the royal court, not sons of the king. "The king's house" means the palace, not a private residence. Gemariah, in whose temple room Baruch had just read, is sitting among them.

13Micaiah told them everything he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll where the people could hear.

13Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.

14So all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, "Bring the scroll you read to the people, and come here." So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and came to them.

14Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.

NoteJehudi's ancestry is traced back three generations, which is unusual and marks him as a man of standing. His great-grandfather's name, Cushi, means "the Cushite", a person from Cush, the region south of Egypt.

15They said to him, "Sit down, please, and read it to us." So Baruch read it to them.

15And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.

16When they had heard all the words, they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch, "We must certainly report all these words to the king."

16Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.

NoteThe King James "they were afraid both one and other" means they looked at one another in alarm.

17Then they asked Baruch, "Tell us, how did you write all these words? Did Jeremiah speak them to you?"

17And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?

18Baruch answered, "He said all these words out loud to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll."

18Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.

NoteInk at this period was made from soot and gum. It sat on the surface of the writing material rather than soaking in, and could be washed or scraped off.

19Then the officials said to Baruch, "Go and hide, you and Jeremiah. Do not let anyone know where you are."

19Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.

20They put the scroll away in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they went in to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him.

20And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.

Note"The court" is a courtyard of the palace, where a king would hold audience.

21The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he brought it from the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it aloud to the king and to all the officials standing beside him.

21So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.

22It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in his winter house with a fire burning in a pot in front of him.

22Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.

NotePalaces had separate winter quarters, enclosed, warmer rooms used during the cold months. The King James "fire on the hearth" means a brazier: a movable pot of burning charcoal set on the floor, not a fireplace built into a wall.

23Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the fire in the pot. He did this until the whole scroll was burned up.

23And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.

NoteThe King James "leaves" means the columns of writing on the scroll, not pages of a book. A scroll was read by unrolling it column by column. A "penknife" was a scribe's tool, used for trimming reed pens and cutting papyrus.

24The king and all his servants heard all these words, yet they were not afraid and did not tear their clothes.

24Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.

NoteTearing your clothes was the recognized public sign of grief, horror or repentance. When a scroll of the law was read to Jehoiakim's father Josiah, he tore his robes (2 Kings 22:11). The verse is pointing out that no one here did.

25Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he would not listen to them.

25Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.

Note"Made intercession" in the King James simply means pleaded or urged. It carries no religious sense.

26Instead the king ordered Jerahmeel, a son of the king, along with Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.

26But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.

Note"Hammelech" is not a personal name. The Hebrew phrase ben-hammelek means "son of the king," and could mean an actual prince or be the title of a royal official.

27After the king burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written as Jeremiah spoke them, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:

27Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,

28"Get another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, the one Jehoiakim king of Judah burned.

28Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.

29And say this to Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the LORD says. You burned that scroll and said, 'Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon will surely come and destroy this land and wipe out both people and animals?'

29And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?

NoteThe king of Babylon is Nebuchadnezzar II. "Cause to cease from thence man and beast" is a stock phrase for total devastation: the land emptied of both people and livestock.

30So this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: he will have no one to sit on David's throne. His dead body will be thrown out, left in the heat by day and the frost by night.

30Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.

NoteThe throne of David means the royal line ruling in Jerusalem since David, some four centuries earlier. Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin did in fact reign, but only three months before Babylon deported him; the saying concerns a lasting successor. Being thrown out unburied and exposed to the weather was the deepest dishonor imaginable in this culture, a punishment reaching beyond death.

31I will punish him, his children, and his servants for their guilt. I will bring on them, on the people living in Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah every disaster I warned them about, for they did not listen."

31And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.

Note"Seed" in the King James means descendants or offspring.

32So Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, son of Neriah. As Jeremiah spoke, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many more words like them were added.

32Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

NoteThis closing line records that the second scroll was longer than the first. It is a rare glimpse of how a prophetic collection was assembled and expanded over time.