The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 36
Chapter XXXVI · Vol. III, pp. 1276–1278
1 Jeremiah causeth Baruch to write his prophecies, 5 and publicly to read them. 11 The princes, having intelligence thereof by Michaiah, send Jehudi to fetch the roll, and read it. They counsel Baruch to hide himself and Jeremiah. 20 The king, being certified thereof, heareth part of it, and burneth the roll. 27 Jeremiah denounceth his judgment. 32 Baruch writeth a new copy.
1 And it came to pass, ain the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
B.C. cir. 607.
a ch.25.1;35.1.
2 Takeb thee a roll1 of a book, and write therein call the words that I have spoken unto thee dagainst Israel, and against Judah,2 and againste all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah,3 even unto this day.4
b Ho.8.12. Is.8.1;30.8. Eze.2.9. ch.30.2. Zec.5.1,2. Hab.2.2.
1 Sheets of parchment—skins prepared in a particular manner for writing—and glued together at the ends, and rolled up as large paper maps frequently are, constituted the books of those days.—C.
2 Jeremiah prophesied both against Israel and Judah. For though Israel had been destroyed by Shalmanezer before the prophet's time, yet he was ordered to refer to their sins and their disasters as an example and warning to Judah. See ch.2.4; 3.12,14; 9.26;32.30-32.—C.
c ch.1.17. Eze.2.7;3.17. Mat.28.20. Ac.20.27.
d ch.2.4;3.12,14;9.26;23.13;32.30,32; ii.-xxvi.
A.M. cir. 3397. B.C. cir. 607.
e ch.25.9-27; xlvi.-xlix.
3 ch.25.3, i.e. for about 23 years.
4 This command proves that the prophecies of Jeremiah were all, not merely revealed, but written by divine inspiration. God spake to the prophet as is repeatedly stated, and here we have the explicit and most important declaration that the very same words were written by the command and under the direction of God.—P.
3 Itg may be5 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 hforgive their iniquity and their sin.
g Jon.3.8-10. ver.7; ch.26.3. Eze.12.3. Am.5.12. Is.55.7. Zep.2.3. De.5.29. Jn.8.24. ch.8.6;18.8.
5 It may be—for there is nothing to prevent them but their unbelief; and nothing to induce them to unbelief but their 'carnal mind, which is enmity to God.' The unbelief, a thing most irrational—the enmity, a thing most ungrateful.—C.
h Ac.3.19.
4 Then Jeremiah called iBaruch, the son of Neriah: and Baruch jwrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a kroll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, Il am shut up:6 I cannot go into the house of the LORD:
l As ch.20.2;32.2;37.15;38.6.
6 Shut up. Not imprisoned (see ver.19), but restrained either by command of the king, or excommunication of the high-priest, by sickness or some ceremonial unfitness; or, what is more probable, by some interdict from God, that his temporary absence might draw attention and promote inquiry. See Jn.7.11.—C.
6 Therefore go thou, and nread in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD, oin the ears of the people, in the LORD's house upon the pfasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that qcome out of their cities.
n ver.8. Eze.2.3-7.
o ch.7.2;11.6;17.20.
p Le.23.27,29,32; xvi. Ac.27.9, or ver.9, with ch.14.1.
q Le.23.4. Ne.8.14,15.
7 It may be7 they will present their supplication8 before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for rgreat is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.
7 It may be, for anything that man can tell—it should be, as the natural consequence of God's warning.—C.
8 Heb. their supplication shall fall, ver.3;ch.37.20.
r 2 Ki.22.13,17. De.28.15-68; 29.18-28; 31.16,17; 32.15-26. ch.ii.-xx. xxiii. xxvi.
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah sdid according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in tthe LORD's house.
9 And it came to pass, in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they uproclaimed 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.
10 Then vread Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber9 of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe,1 in the higher court, at the xentry2 of the new gate of the LORD's house, in the ears of all the people.3
v ver.6,8.
9 From a window of it, ver.13;ch.35.4.
1 Or secretary of state, 2 Ki.18.37. ch.52.25.
x ch.26.10. 2 Ki.15.35.
2 Or, door.
3 He stood in the chamber, and read from the window or verandah that looked out upon the court.—C.
11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of yShaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,
y ch.26.24. 2 Ki.25.22;22.14.
12 Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's4 chamber; and, lo, zall 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.
4 Or secretary's, 1 Ki.4.3. 2 Ki.18.37. ch.52.25.
z ch.26.10;38.4.
13 Then Michaiah adeclared unto them all the words5 that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
A.M. cir. 3398. B.C. cir. 606.
a 1 Sa.25.14. Jonah 3.6. 2 Ki.22.10.
5 He did not repeat all the words, but 'declared' their import.—C.
14 Therefore 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 btook the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
15 And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, cthey were afraid6 both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
c ch.19.3. 1 Sa.3.11. Ex.19.16. 2 Ki.22.19. Ac.5.11;24.25.
6 These princes seem to have been specially named, as their 'fear' on hearing the reading gives evidence that there was still a believing remnant, even among the nobles of the land. See ver.25.—C.
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, how didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
18 Then Baruch answered them, dHe pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink7 in the book.
d ver.2,4. Mat.10.32. Ro.1.16.
7 The Jews, no doubt, engraved many of their records upon tablets of various kinds. But it is also evident that 'ink' was familiar to them even in the days of Moses. See Nu.5.23. And it is not less than wonderful that any one acquainted with the remains of ancient Egypt could have supposed the Israelites ignorant of ink and writing. Ezekiel mentions the 'ink-horn' as familiar in his time, ch.9.2,3,11. Winckelmann and others have shown that the ink of the ancients was a species of paint, differing little if anything from what is still employed by many Orientals. It is usually composed of lampblack, or powdered charcoal, gum, and water; its consistence is nearly the same as modern printers' ink; and the pen is usually a pointed reed.—C.
19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, eGo, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah, and let no man know where ye be.
e 2 Ch.25.15,16. ver.26. Ps.121.3,8. Mat.2.13. Ac.23.16-31.
20 And 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.
21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber: and Jehudi gread it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
g ch.23.28; 26.2. Eze.2.4,5.
22 Now the king sat in the hwinter-house, in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.8
8 A reference to Lu.22.55 will exhibit the ordinary method of warming an eastern apartment. Fireplaces and chimneys are unknown in many of the warmer regions of Asia; and when fire is required in winter a chafing-dish or brazier of wood, charcoal, or other combustible is introduced. So it was here. The original Hebrew does not intimate that the king sat before the fire, but that the fire was brought before the king.—'There was set before him a hearth with burning coals' (Blayney).—Note, To what a sad use does a sinful heart pervert the comforts God bestows! It is grievous to endure cold; God bestows the warmth of a fire, and man employs it to burn the message and testimony of Almighty God!—C.
23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves,9 he icut it1 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.
24 Yet they were not afraid, nor jrent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
j Is.36.22; 37.1. Ge.37.29,34. 2 Sa.1.11. 2 Ki.22.11. Mat.26.65.
25 Nevertheless, Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah, khad made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll; but he lwould not hear them.
26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech,2 and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, nto take Baruch the scribe, and Jeremiah the prophet: obut the LORD hid them.3
2 Or, the king.
n 1 Ki.19.14. ch.26.21-23. Mat.23.34,37.
o ver.19. Ps.46.1; 91.1;121.8;27.5; 32.7; 64.2. ch.1.19.
3 The Lord hid them. How he hid them is not stated; the fact only is recorded. He may have hid them by the very crowd that rushed to take them; he may have hid them by the timely fear he infused into their own hearts; he may have hid them by the compassion and care he generated in the hearts of others; or he may have hid them by a mere vapour from the eye of their pursuers.—It was thus God hid Luther in his 'Patmos,' after his return from the diet of Worms; and thus he often hid the persecuted children of Scotland's covenant by the gray mist of her mountains.—C.
27 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, pafter that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28 Takeq thee again another roll, and write in it all the rformer words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
q Is.55.10. ch.28.13,14. Zec.1.5,6. 2 Ti.2.9,19.
r Mat.24.35.
29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD, Thou hast burned this roll, saying, sWhy 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?
30 Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah, tHe 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.4
t ch.22.18,19,30. 2 Ki.24.8,12-17.
4 In many parts of Syria and Palestine the climate is very variable, so that a sultry day is succeeded by a cold evening and a frosty night.—C.
31 And I uwill punish5 him, and his seed, and his servants, for their iniquity; and vI 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 theyx hearkened not.
32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; whoy wrote therein, from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the book6 which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.7
y Ex.4.15. Ro.16.3,22. Phi.3.1. Jude 3.
6 It is vain to question how Jeremiah could possibly repeat all that he had formerly dictated to Baruch. If God gave a revelation once, he can surely as well give it a second time. He that bestows an imperfect memory, to bind the spirit to application and diligence, can just as easily bestow a perfect memory, to enable that spirit to execute its Lord's commission.—C.
7 Heb. words as they.
Notes
Reflections.—A serious and believing consideration of the certain and fatal consequences of our sin promotes a cordial repentance; and in all their work ministers ought to endeavour at the conversion of sinners from their evil ways. For this the writing of God's Word is designed; and all the writing or repeating of sermons must be directed to the same. Such as truly discern the need of repentance will supplicate God for it. But there may be great pretences, even to extraordinary devotion, while men continue enemies to the power of it. And national fasts, without national reformation, will never turn away national judgments. When we profess to be supplicating for mercy, it is very useful to be faithfully told of our sins and our duty; and we ought to communicate to others those divine truths which have been peculiarly affecting to ourselves. God's ministers should lay hold on every opportunity, private or public, for teaching and warning their hearers. And there is need of very close dealing, as, by delay or otherwise, sinners will do all they can to evade convictions, or to shake them off. Nay, hardened sinners, especially in high stations, stick at nothing to disgrace the oracles of God, to destroy his messengers, and discover their own determinate resolution to continue in sin. And while they, who for God's cause boldly put their life in their hands, are wonderfully protected, they who contend with God, and obstinately resist his counsels, do only treasure up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath. By contending with his curses, they but prepare heavier ones for themselves; and silent accomplices in guilt may look for a share in the punishment.