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Jeremiah 36

KJV · Chapter 36/52

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,

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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,

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 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?

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.

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.

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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jeremiah dictates his prophecies to Baruch, who writes them on a scroll. King Jehoiakim cuts and burns the scroll piece by piece, but Jeremiah dictates it all again, with additions, on a second scroll.

Explanation

This chapter shows, quite literally, how the Bible came to be formed: spoken prophecies were recorded in writing for preservation and public reading. King Jehoiakim's reaction — deliberately burning the scroll piece by piece as it was read, without any sign of fear or repentance — is one of the most direct acts of contempt for the prophetic word recorded in the Bible. But the attempt to destroy the message fails completely: Jeremiah simply dictates it all again, with even more content added, showing that persecuting or trying to erase a true message does not eliminate its force or its place in history.

Fun facts

  • Baruch son of Neriah was a professional scribe who faithfully served Jeremiah for decades; clay seals (bullae) bearing the name 'Berekiah son of Neriah the scribe' have been found by archaeologists in Jerusalem, possibly belonging to him.
  • The practice of cutting a scroll with a scribe's penknife and burning it piece by piece (v.23) is described in such specific detail that historians consider it a direct eyewitness account of the event.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremiah 36:1Jeremiah, probably banned from the temple after the episode in chapter 26, dictates all the prophecies of the last twenty-some years to the scribe Baruch to write on a scroll — it is the first organized, written record of the prophet’s message.
  2. Jeremiah 36:2God tells Jeremiah to gather in writing, on a single scroll, everything He had prophesied since the beginning of his ministry, in the reign of Josiah, up to that moment — decades of messages condensed together.
  3. Jeremiah 36:3The stated purpose of the writing is to give one more chance: if the people hear it all gathered together at once, maybe they will repent and God will forgive before it is too late.
  4. Jeremiah 36:4Baruch, Jeremiah’s faithful secretary, writes down everything the prophet dictates, word for word — the same Baruch who later appears keeping the documents from the field purchase in chapter 32.
  5. Jeremiah 36:5Jeremiah explains why he needs Baruch for this task: he himself was barred from entering the temple, probably banned after so many unpopular prophecies.
  6. Jeremiah 36:6He tells Baruch to read the scroll aloud in the temple, on a day of fasting, when more people from the cities of Judah would be gathered in Jerusalem to hear it.
  7. Jeremiah 36:7The hope behind the public reading: that the people’s plea would move God and repentance would come in time, since the announced anger was great.
  8. Jeremiah 36:8Baruch carries out the order exactly as given, reading the scroll publicly inside the temple.
  9. Jeremiah 36:9A precise date: the ninth month of Jehoiakim’s fifth year, during a public fast called for the whole people of Jerusalem and the neighboring cities — the ideal setting for the reading to reach as many people as possible.
  10. Jeremiah 36:10A location detail: Baruch reads from above, in the chamber of a scribe named Gemariah, at a busy spot near the new gate of the temple — a strategic place to be heard by many.
  11. Jeremiah 36:11Micaiah, grandson of the owner of the room where the reading took place, is the first to recognize the gravity of what he heard and decide to act.
  12. Jeremiah 36:12Micaiah goes down to the scribe’s chamber in the royal palace, where several high officials of Judah were gathered — the first step in how the message reaches the king.
  13. Jeremiah 36:13Micaiah repeats to the officials everything he heard Baruch read, starting the chain of events that would carry the scroll to Jehoiakim.
  14. Jeremiah 36:14The officials send for Baruch through a messenger, Jehudi, so that he himself would bring the scroll and read it before them — they want to hear it with their own ears before deciding what to do.
  15. Jeremiah 36:15They ask Baruch to sit down and read calmly, and he obeys, reading the whole content to the group of officials.
  16. Jeremiah 36:16The officials’ reaction is one of real alarm: they recognize the gravity of the message and decide the king needs to know, even knowing the risk that would bring.
  17. Jeremiah 36:17Before acting, the officials want to confirm the text’s origin: they ask Baruch exactly how the scroll was written.
  18. Jeremiah 36:18Baruch confirms the simple process: Jeremiah dictated word by word, and he wrote it down in ink on the scroll — making clear it was not the scribe’s own invention.
  19. Jeremiah 36:19A sign that the officials themselves sensed the danger: they warn Baruch to go into hiding along with Jeremiah even before bringing the news to the king, anticipating the violent reaction that would come.
  20. Jeremiah 36:20The officials put the scroll away in a safe place before going to report the content to the king by word of mouth — perhaps trying to control how the news would be received.
  21. Jeremiah 36:21The king sends for the scroll anyway and orders it read before him and the whole court — Jehoiakim wants to hear with his own ears what Jeremiah had written.
  22. Jeremiah 36:22King Jehoiakim cuts the scroll into pieces with a penknife and throws each piece into the brazier as the text is being read. A calculated gesture of contempt, done slowly, column by column, not a hasty burning.
  23. Jeremiah 36:23A striking scene: as the reading went on, the king himself cut the columns of the scroll with a penknife and threw them into the brazier, piece by piece, until the whole document turned to ash.
  24. Jeremiah 36:24A shocking reaction, precisely because there was no reaction: neither the king nor the courtiers present tore their clothes (the traditional gesture of mourning and repentance) in the face of such a grave warning — total indifference.
  25. Jeremiah 36:25Three officials tried to stop the scroll from being burned, but the king would not listen — showing there were voices of warning even within the court, though without the power to stop the king.
  26. Jeremiah 36:26Jehoiakim goes further than destroying the document: he orders Baruch and Jeremiah arrested, but God had hidden them before it could happen — a deliverance that lines up with the warning in verse 19.
  27. Jeremiah 36:27After the scroll is burned, Jeremiah simply dictates it all again to Baruch, and the text comes out longer than before, with more material added. The attempt to erase the message by destroying the paper fails completely.
  28. Jeremiah 36:28God tells him to rewrite it all on a new scroll, with the same words as the first one Jehoiakim burned — the act of destroying the document does not erase the message or its validity.
  29. Jeremiah 36:29The prophecy now includes a direct accusation against Jehoiakim’s own act: he thought that by burning the paper he would keep Babylon from destroying the land, but burning words does not change the facts.
  30. Jeremiah 36:30A specific sentence against Jehoiakim because of this act: none of his descendants will sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out without a decent burial, exposed to the heat and the cold.
  31. Jeremiah 36:31The punishment also reaches Jehoiakim’s descendants and servants, along with all the people of Jerusalem and Judah — the same disaster already announced, now reinforced by the king’s contemptuous reaction.
  32. Jeremiah 36:32The rewritten scroll not only repeats the original content but gains even more words added — Jehoiakim’s effort to erase the message ends up producing an even more complete text.

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