Jeremiah 36:5

5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, "I cannot go to the Temple of the Lord. I must stay here.

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 Maybe the family of Judah will hear what disasters I am planning to bring on them and will stop doing wicked things. Then I would forgive them for the sins and the evil things they have done."

4 So Jeremiah called for Baruch son of Neriah. Jeremiah spoke the messages the Lord had given him, and Baruch wrote those messages on the scroll.

5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, "I cannot go to the Temple of the Lord. I must stay here.

6 So I want you to go to the Temple of the Lord on a day when the people are giving up eating. Read from the scroll to all the people of Judah who come into Jerusalem from their towns. Read the messages from the Lord, which are the words you wrote on the scroll as I spoke them to you.

7 Perhaps they will ask the Lord to help them. Perhaps each one will stop doing wicked things, because the Lord has announced that he is very angry with them."