Jeremiah 36:1-9

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah’s Scroll

1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
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.
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.”
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.
5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the LORD’s temple.
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.
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.”
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.
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.

Jeremiah 36:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 36

This chapter gives an account of an impious action of King Jehoiakim's burning the roll of Jeremiah's prophecies read unto him, and the consequence of it. The order to write this roll, the time when, the contents and use of it, are in Jer 36:1-3; the writing of it by Baruch, the order of the prophet to read it to the people on such a day, with the view he had in so doing, Jer 36:4-7; the reading of it by Baruch to the people first, Jer 36:8-10; then to the princes, being sent for by them, upon a report made to them, Jer 36:11-15; the king being acquainted with it, Jehudi was sent to fetch the roll, who read it to the king, Jer 36:16-21; who having heard part of it, burnt it, notwithstanding the intercession of some of his princes to the contrary, Jer 36:22-25; and who also ordered the apprehension of Jeremiah and Baruch, who could not be found, Jer 36:26; upon this a new roll is ordered to be written, Jer 36:27,28; which was done with some additions to it, respecting the destruction of the land, and the people in it, by the Chaldeans; and particularly the death of the king, and his want of burial, Jer 36:29-32.

Cross References 20

  • 1. S 2 Chronicles 36:5
  • 2. S ver 4; S Exodus 17:14; S Psalms 40:7; Jeremiah 30:2; Habakkuk 2:2
  • 3. Ezekiel 2:7
  • 4. Jeremiah 1:2; Jeremiah 25:3
  • 5. ver 7; Ezekiel 12:3; Amos 5:15
  • 6. Isaiah 6:9; Mark 4:12
  • 7. S 2 Kings 17:13; S Isaiah 44:22; S Jeremiah 26:3; John 3:8; Acts 3:19
  • 8. S Jeremiah 18:8
  • 9. S Jeremiah 32:12
  • 10. Jeremiah 51:59
  • 11. ver 18
  • 12. ver 2; Ezekiel 2:9; Daniel 7:1; Zechariah 5:1
  • 13. ver 9
  • 14. S Exodus 4:16
  • 15. 2 Chronicles 20:4
  • 16. Jeremiah 37:20; Jeremiah 42:2
  • 17. S Jeremiah 26:3
  • 18. S Deuteronomy 31:17
  • 19. ver 22
  • 20. S 2 Chronicles 20:3
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