Jeremiah 36 Study Notes: King Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll
Baruch writes down the LORD’s messages as Jeremiah dictates and reads the scroll publicly at the temple, alarming the royal officials. King Jehoiakim cuts it apart and burns it, but the LORD hides Jeremiah and Baruch, pronounces judgment on the king, and has the scroll written again with more added.
General
Baruch son of Neriah wrote the scroll as Jeremiah spoke the words to him. Why did Jeremiah send Baruch to the temple to read it instead of going himself (Jeremiah 36:4-6)?
Answer: Jeremiah said he was barred from going into the LORD’s house
Jeremiah summoned his scribe Baruch, Neriah’s son, and spoke all the LORD’s words aloud while Baruch wrote them on the scroll (36:4). Jeremiah then told Baruch that he himself was restricted and could not enter the temple, so Baruch must go on a fast day and read the scroll to the people gathered there (36:5-6). Baruch did everything Jeremiah told him (36:8). Though Baruch held the pen, the scroll is said to hold the LORD’s own message (36:6, 8), because the LORD had put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth (1:9). Baruch’s writing at Jeremiah’s dictation is mentioned again in 45:1.
- Jeremiah 36:4-6 (BSB)“So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and at the dictation of Jeremiah, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words that the LORD had spoken to Jeremiah. Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD; so you are to go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting, and in the hearing of the people you are to read the words of the LORD from the scroll you have written at my dictation. Read them in the hearing of all the people of Judah who are coming from their cities.”Baruch writes the scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation and is sent to read it in the temple.
- Jeremiah 36:8 (BSB)“So Baruch son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. In the house of the LORD he read the words of the LORD from the scroll.”Baruch does as Jeremiah instructed and reads the LORD’s words in the temple.
- Jeremiah 1:9 (BSB)“Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”At Jeremiah’s call the LORD put His own words in the prophet’s mouth, so the scroll carries the LORD’s words.
- Jeremiah 45:1 (BSB)“This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:”The book again records Baruch writing down Jeremiah’s words as the prophet dictated them.
Theological
According to Jeremiah 36:4-6, why does Baruch, rather than Jeremiah, give the public reading at the temple?
Answer: Jeremiah said he was barred from going into the LORD’s house
Baruch writes the scroll as Jeremiah dictates the whole message the LORD had given (36:4). Because Jeremiah is restricted and barred from the temple, he commissions Baruch to read it publicly on a fast day to the people coming in from Judah’s towns (36:5-6), and Baruch carries out the charge (36:8). The scroll is twice identified as the LORD’s message (36:6, 8): the word is God’s, given through the prophet in whose mouth He had placed His words (1:9) and recorded by his scribe (45:1).
- Jeremiah 36:4-6 (BSB)“So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and at the dictation of Jeremiah, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words that the LORD had spoken to Jeremiah. Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD; so you are to go to the house of the LORD on a day of fasting, and in the hearing of the people you are to read the words of the LORD from the scroll you have written at my dictation. Read them in the hearing of all the people of Judah who are coming from their cities.”Baruch writes the scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation and is sent to read it in the temple.
- Jeremiah 36:8 (BSB)“So Baruch son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. In the house of the LORD he read the words of the LORD from the scroll.”Baruch does as Jeremiah instructed and reads the LORD’s words in the temple.
- Jeremiah 1:9 (BSB)“Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”At Jeremiah’s call the LORD put His own words in the prophet’s mouth, so the scroll carries the LORD’s words.
- Jeremiah 45:1 (BSB)“This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:”The book again records Baruch writing down Jeremiah’s words as the prophet dictated them.
General
Before the officials took the news to King Jehoiakim, what did they tell Baruch and Jeremiah to do (Jeremiah 36:19)?
Answer: To go into hiding and let no one at all learn where they were
Before going to the king, the officials told Baruch that he and Jeremiah must go into hiding and let no one know where they were (36:19). The danger was real: Jehoiakim was the king who hunted down another prophet, Uriah, who spoke the same message as Jeremiah, brought him back from Egypt and had him killed (26:20-23). The officials then left the scroll in Elishama’s room and reported the matter to the king (36:20).
- Jeremiah 36:19 (BSB)“Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.””The officials tell Baruch that he and Jeremiah must go into hiding.
- Jeremiah 26:20-23 (BSB)“Now there was another man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land the same things that Jeremiah did. King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and officials heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah found out about it, he fled in fear and went to Egypt. Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor along with some other men. They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him put to the sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.”Jehoiakim pursued the prophet Uriah to Egypt and had him killed for prophesying as Jeremiah did.
- Jeremiah 36:20 (BSB)“So the officials went to the king in the courtyard. And having stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, they reported everything to the king.”The officials leave the scroll in Elishama’s room and go to the king.
Theological
What counsel did the officials give Baruch concerning himself and Jeremiah before reporting to Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 36:19)?
Answer: To go into hiding and let no one at all learn where they were
Before approaching the king, the officials direct Baruch that both he and Jeremiah must go into hiding and disclose their location to no one (36:19). Jehoiakim’s earlier treatment of the prophet Uriah, whom he pursued into Egypt and put to death for prophesying as Jeremiah did (26:20-23), shows the danger was real. The officials then deposit the scroll in Elishama’s chamber and report to the king (36:20).
- Jeremiah 36:19 (BSB)“Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.””The officials tell Baruch that he and Jeremiah must go into hiding.
- Jeremiah 26:20-23 (BSB)“Now there was another man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land the same things that Jeremiah did. King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and officials heard his words, and the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah found out about it, he fled in fear and went to Egypt. Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor along with some other men. They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him put to the sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.”Jehoiakim pursued the prophet Uriah to Egypt and had him killed for prophesying as Jeremiah did.
- Jeremiah 36:20 (BSB)“So the officials went to the king in the courtyard. And having stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, they reported everything to the king.”The officials leave the scroll in Elishama’s room and go to the king.
General
What did King Jehoiakim do as Jehudi read the scroll to him (Jeremiah 36:21-23)?
Answer: He cut it off piece by piece and burned it in the fire
Jehoiakim had Jehudi fetch the scroll and read it aloud to him and his officials (36:21). In that season, during the ninth month, Jehoiakim sat in his winter rooms beside a fire (36:22). After every few columns that Jehudi read, Jehoiakim cut that section away with a writing knife and tossed it onto the fire, until nothing of the scroll was left (36:23). The king did not merely ignore the LORD’s word; he set out to destroy it, piece by piece. Yet God’s word cannot be defeated this way, as the rest of the chapter shows (36:28, 32).
- Jeremiah 36:22-23 (BSB)“Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning before him. And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire.”Jehoiakim cuts the scroll apart as it is read and burns it.
- Jeremiah 36:21 (BSB)“Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.”Jehudi reads the scroll aloud to the king and the officials standing with him.
- Jeremiah 36:28 (BSB)““Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.”After the burning, the LORD orders the destroyed words to be written again on another scroll.
Theological
How did Jehoiakim respond to the reading of the scroll in Jeremiah 36:21-23?
Answer: He cut it off piece by piece and burned it in the fire
Jehudi reads the scroll before Jehoiakim and his officials (36:21) in his winter rooms, where a fire was lit in front of him (36:22). As each few columns are read, Jehoiakim cuts them away with a writing knife and casts them into the fire until the whole scroll is consumed (36:23). His deliberate, column-by-column destruction is an act of defiance against the LORD’s word itself. The LORD’s answer, a new scroll with words added, shows that such defiance cannot silence Him (36:28, 32).
- Jeremiah 36:22-23 (BSB)“Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning before him. And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire.”Jehoiakim cuts the scroll apart as it is read and burns it.
- Jeremiah 36:21 (BSB)“Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.”Jehudi reads the scroll aloud to the king and the officials standing with him.
- Jeremiah 36:28 (BSB)““Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.”After the burning, the LORD orders the destroyed words to be written again on another scroll.
General
True or False: It was Jehudi son of Nethaniah who heard Baruch’s reading at the temple and then went to tell the royal officials about it (Jeremiah 36:11-14).
Answer: False
This is false. The one who heard the reading and reported it was Micaiah son of Gemariah, Shaphan’s grandson (36:11). He made his way to the scribe’s room at the palace, where the officials were meeting, and told them everything Baruch had read to the people (36:12-13). Jehudi son of Nethaniah appears afterward: the officials sent him to summon Baruch and the scroll (36:14), and later the king sent him to fetch the scroll and read it aloud (36:21).
- Jeremiah 36:11-13 (BSB)“When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace, 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 other officials. And Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people.”Micaiah hears the scroll and reports it to the officials in the palace.
- Jeremiah 36:14 (BSB)“Then all the officials sent word to Baruch through Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, saying, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come here.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and went to them.”Jehudi is the messenger the officials send to bring Baruch and the scroll.
- Jeremiah 36:21 (BSB)“Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.”Jehudi is later sent by the king to fetch the scroll and read it to him.
Theological
True or False: According to Jeremiah 36:11-14, Jehudi son of Nethaniah was the hearer who carried the report of Baruch’s public reading to the officials.
Answer: False
This is false. Micaiah son of Gemariah, Shaphan’s grandson, heard the LORD’s message as Baruch read it (36:11) and reported it to the officials assembled in the scribe’s chamber of the palace (36:12-13). Jehudi son of Nethaniah is the officials’ messenger who summons Baruch with the scroll (36:14) and later the reader before the king (36:21).
- Jeremiah 36:11-13 (BSB)“When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace, 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 other officials. And Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people.”Micaiah hears the scroll and reports it to the officials in the palace.
- Jeremiah 36:14 (BSB)“Then all the officials sent word to Baruch through Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, saying, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come here.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and went to them.”Jehudi is the messenger the officials send to bring Baruch and the scroll.
- Jeremiah 36:21 (BSB)“Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing beside him.”Jehudi is later sent by the king to fetch the scroll and read it to him.
General
True or False: When King Jehoiakim and his servants heard the scroll read, they were afraid and tore their clothes in grief (Jeremiah 36:24-25).
Answer: False
This is false. Even though they heard every word, Jehoiakim and his attendants showed no fear and did not tear their clothes, the usual sign of grief and repentance (36:24). Three officials, Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah, pressed Jehoiakim to spare the scroll, but he refused them (36:25). The contrast with his father is striking: Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah (36:1), and when the Book of the Law was read to Josiah, he ripped his garments and humbled himself before the LORD (2 Kings 22:11, 19).
- Jeremiah 36:24-25 (BSB)“Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.”Jehoiakim and his attendants show no fear, and the king ignores the officials who plead with him.
- Jeremiah 36:1 (BSB)“In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:”Jehoiakim is identified as the son of Josiah.
- 2 Kings 22:11 (BSB)“When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes”Josiah tore his clothes on hearing the words of the Book of the Law.
- 2 Kings 22:19 (BSB)“because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.”The LORD commended Josiah for humbling himself and tearing his clothes at His word.
Theological
True or False: Jeremiah 36:24-25 records that Jehoiakim and his servants responded to the scroll with fear and the tearing of their garments.
Answer: False
This is false. Jehoiakim and his attendants heard the whole scroll yet neither feared nor tore their garments (36:24), and Jehoiakim refused three officials, Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah, who pressed him to spare the scroll (36:25). The scene stands in sharp contrast with his father Josiah (36:1), who tore his garments when the Book of the Law was read to him and humbled himself before the LORD (2 Kings 22:11, 19). Josiah humbled himself before God’s word; his son refused it.
- Jeremiah 36:24-25 (BSB)“Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.”Jehoiakim and his attendants show no fear, and the king ignores the officials who plead with him.
- Jeremiah 36:1 (BSB)“In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:”Jehoiakim is identified as the son of Josiah.
- 2 Kings 22:11 (BSB)“When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes”Josiah tore his clothes on hearing the words of the Book of the Law.
- 2 Kings 22:19 (BSB)“because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.”The LORD commended Josiah for humbling himself and tearing his clothes at His word.
General
How did the royal officials react when Baruch read the scroll to them (Jeremiah 36:15-18)?
Answer: They were frightened and decided the king must hear the words
The officials had Baruch sit down and read the scroll to them (36:15). When they heard it, they looked at each other in alarm and told Baruch that they had to report all of it to the king (36:16). They also asked how he had written it, and Baruch answered that Jeremiah had spoken every word to him and he had put them down in ink (36:17-18). Their alarm stands in contrast with the king’s later indifference (36:24), and Scripture commends the one who trembles at God’s word (Isaiah 66:2).
- Jeremiah 36:16 (BSB)“When they had heard all these words, they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch, “Surely we must report all these words to the king.””The officials react with fear and decide the king must hear the scroll.
- Jeremiah 36:17-18 (BSB)““Tell us now,” they asked Baruch, “how did you write all these words? Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?” “It was at his dictation,” Baruch replied. “He recited all these words to me and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.””Baruch explains that he wrote the scroll as Jeremiah dictated it.
- Isaiah 66:2 (BSB)“Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.”The LORD looks with favor on the humble person who stands in awe of His word.
- Jeremiah 36:24 (BSB)“Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments.”Jehoiakim and his attendants, by contrast, showed no fear at the same words.
Theological
What was the officials’ response to the reading of the scroll in Jeremiah 36:15-18?
Answer: They were frightened and decided the king must hear the words
Hearing Baruch read the scroll (36:15), the officials look at each other in alarm and resolve that the king must be told (36:16). They also verify its origin, and Baruch confirms that Jeremiah dictated all the words while he set them down in ink (36:17-18), confirming that the scroll came from the prophet himself. Their alarm sets up the sharp contrast with the king’s reaction (36:24); Scripture commends the one who trembles at the divine word (Isaiah 66:2).
- Jeremiah 36:16 (BSB)“When they had heard all these words, they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch, “Surely we must report all these words to the king.””The officials react with fear and decide the king must hear the scroll.
- Jeremiah 36:17-18 (BSB)““Tell us now,” they asked Baruch, “how did you write all these words? Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?” “It was at his dictation,” Baruch replied. “He recited all these words to me and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.””Baruch explains that he wrote the scroll as Jeremiah dictated it.
- Isaiah 66:2 (BSB)“Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.”The LORD looks with favor on the humble person who stands in awe of His word.
- Jeremiah 36:24 (BSB)“Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments.”Jehoiakim and his attendants, by contrast, showed no fear at the same words.
General
Because Jehoiakim burned the scroll, what did the LORD declare would happen to him (Jeremiah 36:29-31)?
Answer: No heir would hold the throne of David, and his corpse would be thrown out
The LORD gave Jeremiah a message for Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim had destroyed the scroll, complaining that it said Babylon’s king would come and ruin the land (36:29). So the LORD declared that no descendant of Jehoiakim would occupy David’s throne and that his dead body would be thrown out, left in the heat of day and the frost of night (36:30). The LORD would also punish his family and servants and bring on Jerusalem and Judah all the disaster they had refused to hear (36:31). This matches an earlier word that no one would mourn Jehoiakim and that he would be dragged outside Jerusalem’s gates (22:18-19). Refusing God’s warning only makes judgment more certain (Hebrews 12:25).
- Jeremiah 36:29-31 (BSB)“You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’ Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out and exposed to heat by day and frost by night. I will punish him and his descendants and servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the calamity about which I warned them but they did not listen.””The LORD’s sentence on Jehoiakim for burning the scroll.
- Jeremiah 22:18-19 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’ He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.”An earlier oracle also foretold that Jehoiakim would die unmourned and be thrown outside Jerusalem.
- Hebrews 12:25 (BSB)“See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?”Those who refuse God when He warns them cannot escape His judgment.
Theological
What judgment does the LORD pronounce on Jehoiakim for burning the scroll in Jeremiah 36:29-31?
Answer: No heir would hold the throne of David, and his corpse would be thrown out
Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll because he objected to its announcement that Babylon’s king would come and lay waste the land (36:29). The LORD responds that no descendant of his will occupy David’s throne and that his corpse will be cast out, left to the day’s heat and the night’s frost (36:30), and that He will punish the king, his offspring and servants, and bring the threatened calamity on Jerusalem and Judah (36:31). The sentence agrees with the earlier oracle that Jehoiakim would go unmourned and be dragged outside the gates (22:18-19). To reject the One who warns is to make escape impossible (Hebrews 12:25).
- Jeremiah 36:29-31 (BSB)“You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’ Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out and exposed to heat by day and frost by night. I will punish him and his descendants and servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the calamity about which I warned them but they did not listen.””The LORD’s sentence on Jehoiakim for burning the scroll.
- Jeremiah 22:18-19 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’ He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.”An earlier oracle also foretold that Jehoiakim would die unmourned and be thrown outside Jerusalem.
- Hebrews 12:25 (BSB)“See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?”Those who refuse God when He warns them cannot escape His judgment.
General
King Jehoiakim ordered three men to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. What reason does the text give for the arrest not succeeding (Jeremiah 36:26)?
Answer: The LORD Himself had kept Baruch and Jeremiah concealed
After burning the scroll, the king ordered three men, one of them his own son Jerahmeel, to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah, but the LORD Himself had concealed them (36:26). The officials had urged the two men to hide (36:19), yet their safety is credited to the LORD. He had promised Jeremiah at his call that his enemies would fight against him but not overcome him (1:19), and Scripture speaks of God hiding His people in His presence, safe from human plots (Psalm 31:20).
- Jeremiah 36:26 (BSB)“Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.”The king orders the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah, but the LORD has hidden them.
- Jeremiah 36:19 (BSB)“Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.””The officials had already told the two men to go into hiding.
- Jeremiah 1:19 (BSB)“They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”At Jeremiah’s call the LORD promised that his enemies would not overcome him.
- Psalm 31:20 (BSB)“You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.”God keeps His people hidden in His presence, safe from human plots and slander.
Theological
What reason does Jeremiah 36:26 give for the failure of Jehoiakim’s order to seize Baruch and Jeremiah?
Answer: The LORD Himself had kept Baruch and Jeremiah concealed
Jehoiakim dispatches three men, among them the royal son Jerahmeel, to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah, yet the LORD had concealed them (36:26). The officials had counseled them to hide (36:19), but the text credits their preservation to the LORD’s own providence. The LORD was keeping His promise from Jeremiah’s call that his foes would not prevail against him (1:19), sheltering His servants as He shelters His people from human plots (Psalm 31:20).
- Jeremiah 36:26 (BSB)“Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.”The king orders the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah, but the LORD has hidden them.
- Jeremiah 36:19 (BSB)“Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.””The officials had already told the two men to go into hiding.
- Jeremiah 1:19 (BSB)“They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”At Jeremiah’s call the LORD promised that his enemies would not overcome him.
- Psalm 31:20 (BSB)“You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.”God keeps His people hidden in His presence, safe from human plots and slander.
General
What happened to the LORD’s message after Jehoiakim burned the scroll (Jeremiah 36:27-28, 32)?
Answer: Baruch wrote all the words again, and many more were added
After the king burned the scroll, the LORD told Jeremiah to take a fresh scroll and copy onto it everything the first one had contained (36:27-28). Jeremiah gave a new scroll to Baruch, who wrote down everything from the burned scroll as Jeremiah dictated, and much more of the same kind was added (36:32). The king could burn the scroll, but he could not destroy what God had said; the result was a fuller record than before. Scripture teaches that while people fade like grass, the word of God endures for all time (Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:24-25), and Jesus said His words would outlast heaven and earth (Matthew 24:35).
- Jeremiah 36:27-28 (BSB)“After the king had burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.”The LORD commands that the burned words be written again on a new scroll.
- Jeremiah 36:32 (BSB)“Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and at Jeremiah’s dictation he 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.”Baruch rewrites the scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation, and more words are added.
- Isaiah 40:8 (BSB)“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.””Grass and flowers fade, but the word of God endures for all time.
- 1 Peter 1:24-25 (BSB)“For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.”Peter applies Isaiah’s words to the gospel, affirming that the Lord’s word endures.
- Matthew 24:35 (BSB)“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”Jesus declares that heaven and earth will end, but His words will last.
Theological
How does Jeremiah 36:27-28 and 32 show the outcome of Jehoiakim’s attempt to destroy the scroll?
Answer: Baruch wrote all the words again, and many more were added
The LORD then commands Jeremiah to take a new scroll and inscribe everything the first contained (36:27-28). Baruch writes again at Jeremiah’s dictation everything Jehoiakim burned, and much additional material of the same kind is added (36:32). The king’s attempt to destroy the word results in its republication in fuller form. The chapter illustrates the permanence of God’s word, which endures for all time though grass dries up and flowers drop (Isaiah 40:8), as Peter applies the same text to the gospel word (1 Peter 1:24-25), and Christ affirms of His own words (Matthew 24:35).
- Jeremiah 36:27-28 (BSB)“After the king had burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Take another scroll and rewrite on it the very words that were on the original scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burned.”The LORD commands that the burned words be written again on a new scroll.
- Jeremiah 36:32 (BSB)“Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and at Jeremiah’s dictation he 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.”Baruch rewrites the scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation, and more words are added.
- Isaiah 40:8 (BSB)“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.””Grass and flowers fade, but the word of God endures for all time.
- 1 Peter 1:24-25 (BSB)“For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.”Peter applies Isaiah’s words to the gospel, affirming that the Lord’s word endures.
- Matthew 24:35 (BSB)“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”Jesus declares that heaven and earth will end, but His words will last.
General
The LORD told Jeremiah to record on a scroll every message He had given him. What purpose did the LORD give for this (Jeremiah 36:2-3)?
Answer: So that the people might turn and receive God’s forgiveness
The LORD told Jeremiah to write down every word He had given him about Israel, Judah and every other nation, from King Josiah’s time onward (36:2). His stated hope was that when Judah heard of the disaster He planned, each person might abandon his wicked course, and then He would forgive their wrongdoing and sin (36:3). Even the written warning of judgment was an invitation to repent. The LORD takes no pleasure when the wicked die but calls them to turn back and live (Ezekiel 33:11), and He had spoken this way before (Jeremiah 26:3).
- Jeremiah 36:2-3 (BSB)““Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today. Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the calamity I plan to bring upon them, each of them will turn from his wicked way. Then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.””The LORD commands the scroll and states His purpose in it.
- Ezekiel 33:11 (BSB)“Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’”Swearing by His own life, the LORD says He finds no pleasure when the wicked die and wants them to turn back and live.
- Jeremiah 26:3 (BSB)“Perhaps they will listen and turn—each from his evil way of life—so that I may relent of the disaster I am planning to bring upon them because of the evil of their deeds.”Earlier the LORD had sent Jeremiah to speak with the same hope that the people would turn and He would relent.
Theological
What purpose does the LORD state for the writing of the scroll in Jeremiah 36:2-3?
Answer: So that the people might turn and receive God’s forgiveness
The LORD commands Jeremiah to commit to a scroll all His words about Israel, Judah and other nations since Josiah’s reign (36:2), with the stated aim that hearing of the coming calamity might move each person to forsake his wicked course, so that He would pardon their guilt and sin (36:3). The warning of judgment carries a sincere summons to repentance, in keeping with the LORD’s declared desire that the wicked turn and live (Ezekiel 33:11) and His earlier words to Jeremiah (26:3). God’s call is real, and the hearers remain fully responsible for their answer.
- Jeremiah 36:2-3 (BSB)““Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you during the reign of Josiah until today. Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the calamity I plan to bring upon them, each of them will turn from his wicked way. Then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.””The LORD commands the scroll and states His purpose in it.
- Ezekiel 33:11 (BSB)“Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’”Swearing by His own life, the LORD says He finds no pleasure when the wicked die and wants them to turn back and live.
- Jeremiah 26:3 (BSB)“Perhaps they will listen and turn—each from his evil way of life—so that I may relent of the disaster I am planning to bring upon them because of the evil of their deeds.”Earlier the LORD had sent Jeremiah to speak with the same hope that the people would turn and He would relent.