Jeremiah 45:1

The Lord's Message to Baruch

1 [This is] the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at Jeremiah's dictation^[a] in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:

Jeremiah 45:1 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 45:1

The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of
Neriah
Who was his amanuensis or scribe; and this word he spake not to him of himself, but in the name of the Lord, as coming from him; so the Targum calls it,

``the word of prophecy which Jeremiah the prophet prophesied concerning Baruch the son of Neriah:''

when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah;
not what immediately precede, concerning the destruction of the Jews in Egypt; which were delivered out many years after the writing of the roll by Baruch here referred to; and which was done, as here said, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah;
which was eighteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem; so that this prophecy does not stand in order, which would more properly have followed the thirty sixth chapter; where we have an account of what Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah in a roll, and read to the people, and after that to the princes; which exposed him to danger, and caused the grief expressed by him in this chapter; but it being written to a private person, is postponed to this place: saying;
as follows:

Jeremiah 45:1 In-Context

1 [This is] the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at Jeremiah's dictation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:

2 "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch:

3 'You have said, Woe is me, because the Lord has added misery to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest.

4 " 'This is what you are to say to him: This is what the Lord says: What I have built I am about to demolish, and what I have planted I am about to uproot-the whole land!

5 But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I am about to bring disaster on every living creature'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'but I will grant you your life like the spoils [of war] wherever you go.' "

Footnotes

• [a] Lit scroll from Jeremiah's mouth