| Jeremiah 36:1
| And it came to pass *in the fourth year of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, that this word came to Jeremias by the Lord, saying:
| Year of the World 3398, Year before Christ 606. Fourth, towards the conclusion, after the siege was raised, ver. 6, 9.
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| Jeremiah 36:2
| Take thee a roll of a book, and thou shalt write in it all the words that I have spoken to thee against Israel and Juda, and against all the nations from the day that I spoke to thee, from the days of Josias even to this day.
| Write. He had already prophesied 22 years. Now he was more frequently ordered to write. (Calmet) --- He executed the order by the hand of Baruch, ver. 4.
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| Jeremiah 36:3
| If so be, when the house of Juda shall hear all the evils that I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his wicked way: and I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin.
| If. This indicates free-will. (Haydock) --- God makes this last effort, that the hearing of so many separate prophecies together might make a deeper impression.
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| Jeremiah 36:4
| So Jeremias called Baruch, the son of Nerias: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremias, all the words of the Lord, which he spoke to him, upon the roll of a book.
| Book. This was afterwards burnt. What he wrote a second time has not come down to us, in the same order. Jeremias made use of his memory, which was directed by the Holy Spirit. (Calmet)
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| Jeremiah 36:5
| And Jeremias commanded Baruch, saying: I am shut up, and cannot go into the house of the Lord.
| Shut up. Not that the prophet was now in prison; for the contrary appears from ver. 19., but that he kept himself shut up, by reason of the persecutions he had lately met with. See Jeremias 26. (Challoner) --- If he had been confined, as Grotius asserts, the king would easily have found him. (Calmet) --- He and Baruch retired to some secret place, as most priests (Worthington) did formerly in England, (Haydock) that they might better exercise their functions than they could do in the hands of the persecutors. (Worthington)
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| Jeremiah 36:6
| Go thou in, therefore, and read out of the volume which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people in the house of the Lord, on the fasting day; and, also, thou shalt read them in the hearing of all Juda, that come out of their cities:
| Read. This may sometimes have as good an effect as preaching without a book. (Haydock) --- Fasting day of expiation, (Usher, the year of the world 3398) or rather on (Haydock) the day prescribed in the 9th month, ver. 9. (Lyranus) (Tirinus)
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| Jeremiah 36:7
| If so be, they may present their supplication before the Lord, and may return every one from his wicked way; for great is the wrath and indignation which the Lord hath pronounced against this people.
| They. Literally, "their supplication may fall prostrate before," etc. (Haydock) --- It is personified. So Homer represents (Calmet) "supplications," as daughters of Jupiter, lame, and with eyes averted, (Iliad ix.) to shew how we ought to pray. Jeremias finds means to instruct the people: the word of God is not bound, 2 Timothy 2:9. (Calmet) --- As many refused to hear his discourses, God ordered him to write what might be a perpetual warning and reproach, or testimony against them. (Worthington)
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| Jeremiah 36:8
| And Baruch, the son of Nerias, did according to all that Jeremias, the prophet, had commanded him, reading out of the volume the words of the Lord, in the house of the Lord.
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| Jeremiah 36:9
| And it came to pass in the fifth year of Joakim, the son of Josias, king of Juda, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that were come together out of the cities of Juda to Jerusalem.
| Fast. Probably on account of the catastrophe the second year, Daniel 1:2. Many such were afterwards appointed, Zacharias 7:3., and 8:19. All came to Jerusalem on such occasions.
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| Jeremiah 36:10
| And Baruch read out of the volume the words of Jeremias, in the house of the Lord, in the treasury of Gamarias, the son of Saphan the scribe, in the upper court, in the entry of the new gate of the house of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people.
| Gate, on the east, (2 Paralipomenon 20:5.) leading to the court of the priests. (Calmet)
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| Jeremiah 36:11
| And when Micheas, the son of Gamarias, the son of Saphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord,
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| Jeremiah 36:12
| He went down into the king's house, to the secretary's chamber; and behold all the princes sat there; Elisama, the scribe, and Dalaias, the son of Semeias, and Elnathan, the son of Achobor, and Gamarias, the son of Saphan, and Sedecias, the son of Hananias, and all the princes.
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| Jeremiah 36:13
| And Micheas told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read out of the volume in the hearing of the people.
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| Jeremiah 36:14
| Therefore all the princes sent Judi, the son of Nathanias, the son of Selemias, the son of Chusi, to Baruch, saying: Take in thy hand the volume in which thou hast read in the hearing of the people, and come. So Baruch, the son of Nerias, took the volume in his hand, and came to them.
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| Jeremiah 36:15
| And they said to him: Sit down and read these things in our hearing. And Baruch read in their hearing.
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| Jeremiah 36:16
| And when they had heard all the words, they looked upon one another with astonishment, and they said to Baruch: We must tell the king all these words.
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| Jeremiah 36:17
| And they asked him, saying: Tell us how didst thou write all these words from his mouth.
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| Jeremiah 36:18
| And Baruch said to them: With his mouth he pronounced all these words as if he were reading to me: and I wrote in a volume with ink.
| Reading. No study was requisite. (Haydock) --- Ink. It formerly resembled that used by printers, (Calmet) being composed of soot and gum. (Vitruvius 7:10.)
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| Jeremiah 36:19
| And the princes said to Baruch: Go, and hide thee, both thou and Jeremias, and let no man know where you are.
| Are. Thus they provide for the safety of the prophets, and perform their duty to the king.
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| Jeremiah 36:20
| And they went in to the king, into the court; but they laid up the volume in the chamber of Elisama, the scribe; and they told all the words in the hearing of the king.
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| Jeremiah 36:21
| And the king sent Judi that he should take the volume: who, bringing it out of the chamber of Elisama, the scribe, read it in the hearing of the king, and of all the princes that stood about the king.
| Read it. This was the third time. It was in vain afterwards to destroy the book.
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| Jeremiah 36:22
| Now the king sat in the winter-house, In the ninth month; and there was a hearth before him, full of burning coals.
| Winter-house. He was very magnificent, and had other apartments for summer. Though the climate was warm, fires would be useful in November. --- Hearth. There was no chimney used, and the smoke went out by the door, or by holes at the top of the room, as we see in some old monasteries. (Calmet) --- Charcoal was probably used, Baruch 6:42.
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| Jeremiah 36:23
| And when Judi had read three or four pages, he cut it with the penknife, and he cast it into the fire that was upon the hearth, till all the volume was consumed with the fire that was on the hearth.
| Pages. Perhaps what was written on so many skins, (Haydock) or sheets of paper, pasted together, and rolled up; or there might be some marks to shew the different subjects, like the sections used in the synagogue, (Calmet) or our chapters; though we are assured that all was formerly written without any separation even of letters. Protestants have "leaves." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "doors." (Calmet) The secretary cut and burnt the leaves by the king's order, ver. 25. (Worthington)
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| Jeremiah 36:24
| And the king, and all his servants that heard all these words, were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments.
| Afraid. They saw all without any concern, not believing that God spoke to them. They did not imitate Josias, 2 Paralipomenon 34:19.
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| Jeremiah 36:25
| But yet Elnathan, and Dalaias, and Gamarias spoke to the king, not to burn the book; and he heard them not.
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| Jeremiah 36:26
| And the king commanded Jeremiel, the son of Amelech, and Saraias, the son of Ezriel, and Selemias, the son of Abdeel, to take up Baruch, the scribe, and Jeremias, the prophet: but the Lord hid them.
| Hid them, and prevented any one from betraying them. (Calmet) --- He did not remove them to a place different from what they had chosen by his direction. (Worthington)
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| Jeremiah 36:27
| And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias, the prophet, after that the king had burnt the volume, and the words that Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremias, saying:
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| Jeremiah 36:28
| Take thee again another volume: and write in it all the former words that were in the first volume, which Joakim, the king of Juda, hath burnt.
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| Jeremiah 36:29
| And thou shalt say to Joakim, the king of Juda: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast burnt that volume, saying: Why hast thou written therein, and said: The king of Babylon shall come speedily, and shall lay waste this land; and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
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| Jeremiah 36:30
| Therefore thus saith the Lord against Joakim, the king of Juda: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David; and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day, and to the frost by night.
| None, etc. Because his son, Joachin or Jechonias, within three months after the death of his father, was carried away to Babylon, so that his reign is not worthy to be taken notice of. (Challoner) (Theodoret) (Worthington) --- He was subject to the Chaldeans; his uncle took his place. Joakim had the burial of an ass, Jeremias 12:18. (Calmet) --- None of the following princes enjoyed the glory or power of the ancient king. (St. Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologiae] p. 3. qu. 31. a. 2.) (Worthington)
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| Jeremiah 36:31
| And I will punish him, and his seed: and his servants for their iniquities, and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Juda, all the evil that I have pronounced against them: but they have not heard.
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| Jeremiah 36:32
| And Jeremias took another volume, and gave it to Baruch, the son of Nerias, the scribe; who wrote in it, from the mouth of Jeremias, all the words of the book which Joakim, the king of Juda, had burnt with fire; and there were added besides, many more words than had been before.
| Before. We cannot tell what. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "many like words." (Haydock)
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