Jeremiah 45 Footnotes

45:1 This episode is chronologically out of place; it belongs at chap. 36. Verse 4 implies that the destruction of Jerusalem was still in the future, which would not have been the case by the time Baruch was in Egypt. It fits the situation in the days of Jehoiakim, when Baruch might well have been in “misery” (v. 3) over the impending destruction of the city that Jeremiah had prophesied (35:17). But because this incident contains a message of hope after a dark message of doom—at least for one person—the compiler placed it here. In 39:16-18, the prophet offered a similar message to Ebed-melech. It might also be here to remind Baruch that, despite the disaster that had just been pronounced against all the Jews in Egypt (44:27), the Lord had already promised an exemption for him and his life would be spared. The reference to Baruch’s “[writing] these words on a scroll” might function as a literary device to conclude this section of oracles (25:13; 36:2-3,32).

Critical commentators have contended that a later editor put this episode in the wrong place, or that he mistakenly assigned the wrong date to the episode. But if the editor’s purposes were the same as Jeremiah’s (or Baruch’s), the reliability of Scripture is not affected. God is the ultimate Author, whether he inspired Jeremiah, Baruch, or a later editor to put this episode here (2Pt 1:21). It is not likely that an editor or compiler would have assigned an incorrect date; if the oracle was delivered in Egypt, he would have mentioned that or omitted the date entirely.