Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll
Jer 36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Jer 36:2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now.
Jer 36:3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.”
Jer 36:4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.
Jer 36:5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the LORD’s temple.
Jer 36:6 So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.
Jer 36:7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD and will each turn from their wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great.”
Jer 36:8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the LORD’s temple he read the words of the LORD from the scroll.
Jer 36:9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah.
Jer 36:10 From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the LORD’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.
Jer 36:11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,
Jer 36:12 he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.
Jer 36:13 After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll,
Jer 36:14 all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand.
Jer 36:15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.
Jer 36:16 When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.”
Jer 36:17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?”
Jer 36:18 “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”
Jer 36:19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”
Jer 36:20 After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him.
Jer 36:21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him.
Jer 36:22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him.
Jer 36:23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.
Jer 36:24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes.
Jer 36:25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
Jer 36:26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
Jer 36:27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
Jer 36:28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.
Jer 36:29 Also tell 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 would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it both man and beast?”
Jer 36:30 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night.
Jer 36:31 I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.'”
Jer 36:32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
1 Jeremiah causeth Baruch to write his prophecy, 5 and publickly to read it. 11 The princes, having intelligence thereof by Michaiah, send Jehudi to fetch the roll, and read it. 19 They will Baruch to hide himself and Jeremiah. 20 The king Jehoiakim, being certified thereof, heareth part of it, and burneth the roll. 27 Jeremiah denounceth his judgment. 32 Baruch writeth a new copy.
Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll
Jer 36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Fourth year of Jehoiakim. That is, about 604 b.c. (see on ch. 25:1). After Jeremiah delivered the straightforward message recorded in ch. 19, the prophet was seized and imprisoned (see ch. 20). It was during and after this imprisonment that the events of ch. 36 occurred (see PK 432–437).
Jer 36:2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now.
This was doubtless made of leather, sometimes popularly called parchment, though real parchment did not come into use until the 2d century b.c.
Jer 36:3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.”
At this time there was still a hope, though a slim one, that Judah might repent.
Jer 36:4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.
Jer 36:5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the LORD’s temple.
Jeremiah was still a prisoner (see on v. 1; see PK 432).
Jer 36:6 So you go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.
Since Jeremiah was restricted from going “into the house of the Lord,” Baruch was called upon not only to be the prophet’s secretary but also to be the preacher of Jeremiah’s divinely inspired messages.
This occasion was not a regular yearly fast (see on v. 9), but one of those special occasions “proclaimed” in time of national crisis (2 Chron. 20:1–3; Joel 2:15). It was a time when a large number of people would be gathered together, and be in a frame of mind to listen to a divine admonition and an appeal for repentance. It is possible that Jehoiakim, on the advice of his apostate priests and false prophets, called this fast to arouse the people to greater resistance against the Babylonians.
Jer 36:9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah.
The reading of the roll was in the winter, in the month that began in November or December. Since the regnal years of the kings of Judah seem to have begun in the autumn, this reading could have taken place as early as two or three months after the writing began.
Jer 36:10 From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the LORD’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.
Gemariah. His father was probably that Shaphan who took a leading part in rebuilding the Temple in the reign of Josiah (2 Kings 22:3–6), and in publishing the newly found “book of the law” (2 Kings 22; 23).
It is quite evident from these facts that Shaphan was one of the leaders in the revival of the true worship of God. It is small wonder that his sons were supporters of Jeremiah. One of them, Ahikam, protected the prophet (see on Jer. 26:24), and now another, Gemariah, permits Baruch to read “the words of Jeremiah” in his chamber.
The new gate. Some believe that this may have been a prominent part of the reconstruction work completed by Hilkiah and Shaphan (2 Kings 22:3–6).
Jer 36:11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,
Jer 36:12 he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. Into the king’s house.
It is likely that Michaiah did this purposely to see to it that the king and his princely counsellors would know the words of Jeremiah.
Jer 36:14 all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand.
The princes were evidently not satisfied with a mere hearsay report of such an important matter, and so sent Jehudi to bring Baruch to their council to verify the report of Michaiah (see vs. 11–13).
vJer 36:17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?”
Did you write all this?. The princes anxiously desired to know who was responsible for the prophet’s message. Did Baruch use his own words in expressing the prophet’s thoughts, or were they the very words of Jeremiah himself? Baruch’s answer revealed that the words were indeed those of Jeremiah (v. 18).
Jer 36:18 “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”
In modern terminology we would say that the prophet dictated his messages to his secretary.
Jer 36:19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”
Jer 36:20 After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him.
Some have suggested that this was done because Jeremiah and Baruch could legally be prosecuted only upon the indisputable evidence of the scroll itself. Evidently the princes entertained the hope that the king would not go that far. However, in this they were disappointed (see vs. 23, 26).
Jer 36:22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him.
Winter apartment. Probably a special apartment in the southern wing of the palace (see Amos 3:15). Since this was in the month of Kislev, or Chisleu (our November-December), it was necessary to have a fire in order to provide warmth.
Jer 36:23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire.
The separate sheets of writing material were usually fastened together to make a roll.
Jer 36:25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
Three of the princes (see v. 12), Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah, had the courage to urge the king not to burn the scroll, but he would not listen to them.
Jer 36:26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
Jerahmeel must have been the king’s “son” only in the sense of belonging to the “royal house” (see Esther 1:9), for Jehoiakim was only 25 years old “when he began to reign” (2 Kings 23:36), and so at this time could not have had a son old enough to carry out his command.
Though Jeremiah and Baruch had hid themselves (see on v. 19), it was divine providence that kept the king from finding them.
Jer 36:27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
Probably while the prophet and Baruch were hidden (vs. 19, 26).
Jer 36:28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.
The second roll was to lack nothing contained in the first roll (see v. 32).
Jer 36:29 Also tell 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 would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it both man and beast?”
Evidently Jehoiakim objected most strenuously to that phase of Jeremiah’s message which predicted that the desolation of Judah by the king of Babylon would be so complete that the land would become virtually uninhabited (see on chs. 4:25; 32:43).
Jer 36:30 Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night.
The divine prediction of doom upon Judah and Jerusalem now focuses upon Jehoiakim himself. While he was followed on the throne by his son Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:6), the youthful Jehoiachin ruled only three months (2 Kings 24:8). The next king, Zedekiah, was Josiah’s third son (see 1 Chron. 3:15; see on 2 Kings 24:17), and the last king to reign over the southern kingdom of the Jews.
Jer 36:32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them. Not only was the message of the first roll written out, but there were additional similar messages recorded in the second roll.