Jeremiah 36:5

5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD;

Jeremiah 36:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 36:5

And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I [am] shut up
In prison, according to Jarchi; but this is not likely, for then there would have been no occasion for an order to take him, ( Jeremiah 36:26 ) . Grotius thinks he was obliged by the king's order to stay at home; possibly he might be restrained by the Spirit of God, or had not freedom in his own mind to go abroad; there might be a restraint, an impulse upon his spirit, by the Spirit of God. Some think he was under some legal pollution, which made him unfit to go into the temple: for it follows: I cannot go into the house of the Lord:
labouring either under some bodily infirmity, or ceremonial defilement, or was forbidden by the king. What was the true cause is not certain; but so it was, that either he was discharged, or disabled, or disqualified, from going into the house of God.

Jeremiah 36:5 In-Context

3 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.”

4 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.

5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD;

6 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.

7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each one will turn from his wicked way; for great are the anger and fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”