Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
4. Then Jeremiah called Baruch ] mentioned already (Jer 32:12 f.) as the prophet’s attendant. He was grandson of Maaseiah, “governor of the city” (2Ch 34:8) and brother of Seraiah (Jer 51:59).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Jer 36:4-7
I am shut up.
Jeremiah in prison
1. Jeremiahs age was one of great political troubles.
2. It was also an age of signal religious privileges.
3. It was an age of great moral corruption.
I. His imprisonment suggests the sad moral character of his age. The prisons of an age are often criteria by which to determine its character. When prisons are filled with men of signal excellence of character, force of conscience, and self-denying philanthropy, you have sad moral proofs of the deep moral corruption of the age that could tolerate such enormity.
II. His imprisonment suggests Gods method of raising humanity. Heavens plan embraces the agency of good men. The agency is twofold, primary and secondary. There are spiritual seers and spiritual mechanics.
1. Jeremiah may be regarded as a type of the primary human agents whom God employs. They are frequently in the lowest secular condition; yet in that condition God communes with them, and gives them a message for the world.
2. Baruch may be regarded as a type of the secondary agents. In this age the Baruchs are numerous. Men abound who will take down the thoughts of great thinkers; but the Jeremiahs are rare. Thought power, rather than tongue power, is wanted now.
III. His imprisonment suggests the inability of the external to crush a holy soul.
1. He is free in his communion with heaven. From the dungeon he cried, and God heard him (Lam 3:56-57).
2. He was free in his sympathies with the race. He could not go out in body to the house of the Lord, but he went out in soul. Walls of granite, massive iron bars, chains of adamant, cannot confine the soul; nor can the densest darkness throw on it a single shadow. (Homilist.)
Gods servant imprisoned
When Henry Burton, two centuries ago, was persecuted for the name of Christ and put in prison, I found, he said, the comforts of my God in the Fleet Prison exceedingly, it being the first time of my being a prisoner. Go thou, and read in the roll.
The prophet and the roll:–
I. The solicitude of Jeremiah–(verses 4, 5).
II. The command of Jeremiah (verse 6).
III. The hope of Jeremiah (verse 7).
If Divine mercy could not woo them back to righteousness, he hoped that Divine justice might drive them. Alas! he was disappointed. The national heart, with a few rare exceptions, hardened into granite. And then they were overwhelmed with calamities. (E. Davies, D. D.)
The utility of Holy Scripture
See here the utility of the Holy Scriptures and the excellent use that may be made of reading them. A man maybe thereby doubtless converted, where preaching is wanting, as divers were in Queen Marys days, when the Word of God was precious; as Augustine was, by reading Rom 13:1-14.; Fulgentius, by the prophet Jonah; Franciscus Junius, by Joh 1:1-51., &c. (John Trapp.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Then Jeremiah called Baruch] This man, so useful to the prophet, and so faithfully attached to him, was by office a scribe; which signifies, not only a writer, but also a man in office; a chancellor, secretary, c., a learned man one acquainted with laws and customs.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We shall find this Baruch, being one of Jeremiahs disciples, more than once thus employed as Jeremiahs secretary or amanuensis. None shall need ask how Jeremiah could remember all the prophecies he had prophesied for twenty-two years before past, that considereth who it was that commanded him to do this. God undoubtedly revived the prophets memory, or he could not have called all to mind.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. all . . . words of . . . LordGodspecially suggesting what might otherwise have escaped his memory,and directing the choice of words, as well as the substance (Joh 14:26;Joh 16:13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah,…. One of his disciples, and whom he had before made use of in the purchase of a field of his uncle’s son, and to whom he gave the evidence of the purchase, Jer 32:12; he was probably a better penman than the prophet, or a quicker writer; however, he thought proper, for quicker dispatch, to make use of him as his amanuensis:
and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord,
which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book; it seems that Jeremiah had not committed any of his prophecies to writing; and yet it cannot be thought that by the mere strength of memory he could repeat every discourse and prophecy he had delivered in the space of two and twenty years; wherefore it must be concluded, that that same Spirit, which first dictated the prophecies to him, brought them fresh to his memory; so that he could readily repeat them to Baruch, who took them down in writing on a roll of parchment.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Jeremiah carries out the divine command by making Baruch write down on a book-roll all the words of the Lord, out of his mouth (‘ , i.e., at the dictation of Jeremiah); and since he himself is prevented from getting to the house of the Lord, he bids him read the words he had written down in the ears of the people in the temple on the fast-day, at the same time expressing the hope, Jer 36:7: “Perhaps their supplication will fall down before the Lord, and they will return each one from his wicked way; for great is the wrath and the anger which the Lord hath expressed concerning this people.” Baruch, who is mentioned so early as Jer 32:12. as the attendant of the prophet, was, according to the passage now before us, his amanuensis, and executed his commissions. , according to Jer 33:1 and Jer 39:15, might mean, “I am in prison;” but this does not accord with the request of the princes, Jer 36:19, that Jeremiah should hide himself. Moreover, does not mean “seized, captus,” but “stopped, restrained, hindered;” see on Neh 6:10. The cause of hindrance is not mentioned, as being away from the purpose of the narrative. “To read in the roll in the ears of the people,” i.e., to read to the people out of the book. does not mean “on any fast-day whatever,” but, “on the fast-day.” The article is omitted because there was no need for defining the fast-day more exactly. The special fast-day mentioned in Jer 36:9 is intended. ‘ , “their supplication will fall down before the Lord,” i.e., reach unto God, as if it were laid before His feet. is transferred from the posture of the suppliant – his falling down before God – to his supplication. Hence, in Hiphil, to make the supplication fall down before the Lord is equivalent to laying the request at His feet; Jer 38:26; Jer 42:9; Dan 9:18, Dan 9:20. If the supplication actually comes before God, it is also heard and finds success. This success is pointed out in ‘ , “that they may repent.” If man, in a repentant spirit, supplicates God for grace, God grants him power for conversion. But the return of the people from their wicked way is indispensable, because the wrath which God has expressed concerning it is great, i.e., because God has threatened a heavy judgment of wrath.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 4-7: JEREMIAH DICTATES TO BARUCH
1. Baruch, the son of Neriah, was Jeremiah’s scribe, or secretary, (Jer 32:12); he was a brother of Seraiah, quartermaster to the king, (Jer 51:59).
2. At Jeremiah’s call, and as he spoke, Baruch wrote on a scroll all that the Lord had spoken to him, (vs. 4).
3. Thus, because the prophet was, in some way, restricted (Jer 32:2; Jer 33:1), so that he could not personally appear in the temple, Baruch was commanded to take the scroll and read it in the hearing of all the people as they came up from their cities on an appointed day of fasting, (vs. 56).
4. Again, the purpose is clearly stated: perhaps they will be induced thereby to turn from their wicked ways (vs. 3; 26:3) – for the Lord’s anger and indignation is about to be poured out upon them unless they repent, (vs. 7; Jer 4:4; Jer 21:5; La 4:11-13).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here the Prophet declares that he dictated to Baruch, a servant of God, whatever he had previously taught. But there is no doubt but that God suggested to the Prophet at the time what might have been erazed from his memory; for all the things which we have some time ago said, do not always occur to us. Therefore the greater part of so many words must have escaped the Prophet, had not God dictated them again to him. Jeremiah then stood, as it were, between God and Baruch; for God, by his Spirit, presided over and guided the mind and tongue of the Prophet. Now the Prophet, the Spirit being his guide and teacher, recited what God had commanded; and Baruch wrote down, and then proclaimed the whole summary of what the Prophet had taught.
He therefore says, that he called to him Baruch the son of Neria, who wrote from his mouth, and he wrote all the words of Jehovah Jeremiah repeats again that nothing came from himself. We hence see that he did not dictate, according to his own will, what came to his mind, but that God suggested whatever he wished to be written by Baruch. It is added, that he commanded Baruch to recite in the Temple what he had written, because he himself was detained. Some think that he was shut up in prison; and he used the same word before, when he told us that he was cast into prison by Zedekiah. But as sacred history does not say that he suffered any such thing under Jehoiakim, I am inclined to think that he was prevented by God; I do not, however, ascribe it to a divine oracle; for it might have happened either through God’s command, or through some human impediments. (101) If we believe the Prophet to have been in prison, and that he might have gone out, he yet abstained; for the more liberty was given him, the more bound he felt himself to continue in prison, lest he should violate public authority. But the other supposition is more probable, that he was detained by God’s hand. However this may have been, he says that he could not go forth; and he mentioned this, lest it should appear that he was only careful as to himself, and that through fear of danger, he devolved this duty on Baruch. He then shews that he did not shun his office, because it exposed him to hatred, but that he was not at liberty to go forth.
(101) Blaney’s suggestion is not improbable, that the Prophet, having been before tried before the princes, (Jer 26:0) was put under some restraint, probably forbidden to enter the precincts of the Temple. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah.See Note on Jer. 32:12. The prophet was, as the next verse shows, in some way hindered, though apparently not by imprisonment, as he and Baruch could hide themselves (Jer. 36:19): Baruch therefore had to act not only as the prophets amanuensis, but as the preacher of his sermon. It will be noted that an interval of some months elapsed between the dictation and the public utterance.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah That is, at his dictation. The writing was done under his supervision; but, as stated above, there is no conclusive reason why the scribe might not avail himself in making his record of any earlier ones if they existed. This matter of writing would seem to have been the most honourable of employments. Hence in this case the scribe is Baruch, a member of a noble family.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jeremiah Calls On Baruch To Act As His Amanuensis And Having Dictated His Prophecies Sends Him To The Temple To Read Them Out To The Crowds Who Are Gathered There On A Special Fast Day ( Jer 36:4-8 ).
One of the purposes of the writing out of the prophecies at this time would appear to be that a special fast day was to be called some months later to which all the people of Judah were to be summoned. The purpose of that fast day was probably in order to persuade the gods who were being worshipped in the Temple along with YHWH to intervene and help Judah in their dealings with the Babylonians. It may well have been part of the build up towards the negotiations which would necessarily follow the defeat of Egypt at Carchemish and Hamath and the sacking of Ashkelon. They may well have thought that Jerusalem would be next. It was an apposite time to bring home to the people the prophecies of Jeremiah which had previously been given (see e.g. chapters 1-20).
Jeremiah thus dictated his prophecies to Baruch who wrote them down on a scroll. In Baruch’s own words, “He proclaimed all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll” (Jer 36:18). This would, of course, have taken some considerable time. He then even later (on the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim) sent him to the Temple to read them out to the gathered crowds, in the hope that they would repent and turn from their sin and disobedience. The delay in doing this probably had in mind awaiting the fast day when the prophecies would be especially telling. Jeremiah would be aware of events on the political front and would no doubt have expected such a day to be called.
Jer 36:4
‘Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of YHWH, which he had spoken to him, on a roll of a written record.’
Jeremiah then called on the services of Baruch the son of Neriah who wrote down all the words of Jeremiah’s prophecies, as they were dictated to him, on a scroll. Baruch was apparently a professional scribe and a supporter of Jeremiah. Scribes had an important status and he seemingly came from an important family. His father Neriah was probably also a scribe. His grandfather Maasaiah (Jer 32:12) was apparently the governor of Jerusalem during the reign of Josiah (2Ch 34:8). His brother Seraiah was clearly an important courtier (Jer 51:59). Both Seraiah, and especially Baruch, were loyal to Jeremiah and Baruch regularly suffered along with Jeremiah, even sharing his exile in Egypt.
Jer 36:5
‘And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, ‘I am restricted (or ‘locked up’), I cannot go into the house of YHWH,”
For some reason Jeremiah was unable to go to the Temple at the time of the fast. It may have been because he was going through a period of uncleanness which debarred him from entering the Temple, or he may have been ill or have suffered an accident, or he may have been temporarily detained in order to prevent him going and inciting the people (if so it could only have been temporary for the period of the fast, for he was later able to go into hiding), or it may simply have been that the Temple authorities had barred him from going there to speak.
Jer 36:6
“You therefore go, and read in the roll, which you have written from my mouth, the words of YHWH in the ears of the people in YHWH’s house on the fast-day, and also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.”
His instruction to Baruch was that he should read his prophecies, the words of YHWH, to the people gathered in the Temple on the fast day, and also to people of ‘all Judah’ who would be gathered out of the cities of Judah for the fast. He wanted his prophecies to be heard as widely as possible.
Jer 36:7
“It may be they will present their supplication before YHWH, and will return every one from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that YHWH has pronounced against this people.”
For his longing was to bring the people to repentance. He longed that the people might listen to what was said, take note of it, and turn from their evil ways, and begin to obey YHWH and worship Him alone, for he was very much aware of the antipathy of YHWH towards their sins, that is, of ‘the great anger and wrath that that He had pronounced against His people’ because of His holiness.
Jer 36:8
‘And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the written record the words of YHWH in YHWH’s house.’
So Baruch did what Jeremiah had required of him, and read out from the scroll the words of YHWH, reading them out in YHWH’s house before all the people. It was a courageous act for there was a very good possibility of a hostile reaction from the authorities, and even from the gathered crowds.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
As Jeremiah from long preaching was become unpleasant to those refractory spirits, Baruch appeared to be more likely to conciliate. The word was the same by both, and could not be altered, in accommodation to the false taste of any man; but if offences be removed by poison, let this among every other expedient be tried. Oh Lord! what possible excuses will the unreclaimed and graceless bring at the last day, before whom the holy word hath been brought, and proved ineffectual, from the voice of the Charmer, charm he never so wisely.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 36:4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
Ver. 4. Then Jeremiah calIed Baruch, and a Baruch wrote from the mouth.] Dictantis ab ore pependit. Jeremiah, it seemeth, had either not written his prophecies, or not so legibly, or in loose papers only; now he hath them fair written out into a book, making the same use of Baruch as afterward Paul did of Tertius, Rom 16:22 who himself wrote no very good hand, as some have gathered from Gal 6:11 ; See Trapp on “ Gal 6:11 “
a Baruch iste notarius et diaconus Ieremiae, simulque propheta fuit. – Oecolamp.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 36:4-8
4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him. 5Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am restricted; I cannot go into the house of the LORD. 6So you go and read from the scroll which you have written at my dictation the words of the LORD to the people in the LORD’S house on a fast day. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. 7Perhaps their supplication will come before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people. 8Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’S house.
Jer 36:4 Baruch This man functions as Jeremiah’s scribe. He was of an important family in Jerusalem (i.e., his brother, Seraiah, was a high official, cf. Jer 51:59). It is uncertain how much he contributed to the book (i.e., helped grammatically, lexically, structurally), but Jer 36:17-18 implies he simply wrote down what Jeremiah said to him.
on a scroll This scroll would have been written on (1) long pieces of leather with the writing in small columns or (2) papyrus pages glued together. The leather scroll of Isaiah, found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Isaiah 29 feet long.
This phrase (BDB 166 CONSTRUCT 706) is found only here and in Psa 40:7; Eze 2:9.
Jer 36:5 I am restricted The root term is debarred (BDB 783, KB 870). It means (1) he had been put under house arrest (cf. Jer 32:2; Jer 33:1) and barred from the Temple area or (2) he had become ceremonially unclean and, therefore, could not enter the Temple area.
Jer 36:7 Notice the interplay between the corporate (everyone) and individual (his). I often wonder if God holds me responsible, not only for my own sins but also the sins of my culture/society. Often in the OT God’s leaders prayed for their sins and their people’s sins! Somehow these are related. The same theological question could be asked about Adam/Eve’s sin. Am I responsible for Adam’s sin or my own? Yes!
for great is the anger and the wrath This is anthropomorphic language. See Special Topic: God Described As Human (anthropomorphism) .
Baruch = Blessed. The first mention of him chronologically. Other references to him in Jer 32:12; Jer 43:3, Jer 43:6; Jer 45:1-5. He was brother to Seraiah. Compare Jer 32:12 with Jer 51:59.
Jer 36:4-8
Jer 36:4-8
THE READING OF THE BOOK TO THE PEOPLE
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of Jehovah: therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in Jehovah’s house upon the fast-day; and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. It may be they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and will return every one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people. And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in Jehovah’s house.
At this point in their history, the apostasy of Israel was complete. God had commanded only one fast day, i.e., the Day of Atonement; but the evil rulers of the people had made public fasting to be a political weapon; and the one mentioned here in the month of December was connected in no way with the Day of Atonement which came in the seventh month. “December was the Hebrew month Chisleu that began on the first moon of the ninth month.”
There were many fasts invented by the Jews, after their own devices, and not according to the will of God.
Keil stated that the fast-day mentioned here was, “In remembrance of that day in the year when Jerusalem was taken for the first time by Nebuchadnezzar … It was appointed (or allowed) by Jehoiachim for the purpose of rousing popular feeling against the Chaldeans to whom they were subjugated.”
The Word Read Jer 36:5-19
The word of God was never intended to be written and then deposited in the public archives. Gods word is meant to be read, studied, heeded, and obeyed. Therefore it is both significant and appropriate that Jeremiah not only published the word but saw to it that the word was proclaimed. If the word of God is to have an impact upon individual it must be transferred from the written page to the hearts and minds of individuals. Thus in the present paragraph Jeremiah requests of Baruch that he publicly read the scroll (Jer 36:5-7). Baruch complied with that request (Jer 36:8-10) and his reading of the scroll created quite a stir among the princes of the land (Jer 36:11-19).
1. The request of Jeremiah (Jer 36:5-7)
Sometime after he had completed dictating the scroll to Baruch, Jeremiah requested that his secretary go to the house of God and read that which he had written. For some unexplained reason Jeremiah himself was not able to go to the Temple to perform this task. He was not imprisoned as the English versions might imply for both he and Baruch were to hide themselves according to Jer 36:19; Jer 36:26. Jeremiah was probably prohibited by royal edict or by Temple authorities from appearing any longer in the Temple to preach his message of doom. Less likely are the suggestions that Jeremiah was sick or ceremonially unclean at the moment. He was literally detained or restrained from entering the Temple. The lesson to be learned from all this is that truth is more important than the speaker. What one hears is more important than whether he hears from the lips of an eloquent Jeremiah or a humble Baruch.]
Jeremiah instructs Baruch to read the scroll on a fast day (Jer 36:6). Just why this fast had been proclaimed in the ninth month of the year is not stated and it is useless to speculate about it. Only one fast day was prescribed in the law and it fell in the seventh month (Lev 16:29; Lev 23:27). Streane suggests that the fast here may have been called to commemorate the recent capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Laetsch cites a passage from the Talmud which calls for a fast in the ninth month If the rains have not yet fallen. The main point is that Baruch was to read the scroll in the Temple at a time when he would have the largest audience. Jeremiah may have waited for quite some time for just the right opportunity to have his book read. He was prayerfully hopeful that in that hallowed spot the people would make genuine supplication to the Lord and thus avert the outpouring of divine wrath (Jer 36:7).
Baruch: Jer 36:26, Jer 32:12, Jer 43:3
wrote: Baruch is supposed to have been a disciple of Jeremiah; and being a ready scribe, he was employed by the prophet as his amanuensis. Jer 36:17, Jer 36:18, Jer 36:32, Jer 45:1, Jer 45:2, Rom 16:22
upon: Jer 36:21, Jer 36:23, Jer 36:28, Jer 36:32, Isa 8:1, Eze 2:9, Zec 5:1
Reciprocal: Jer 36:8 – did Jer 51:59 – Neriah
Jer 36:4. Baruch was a faithful attendant upon Jeremiah and acted as his secretary. He wrote the words on the roll as the prophet dictated them.
Jer 36:4. Then Jeremiah called Baruch Baruch was the most faithful disciple of this prophet: he served him as long as he lived in the capacity of his secretary, and never left him till his death. And Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words, &c. We need not ask how Jeremiah could remember all the prophecies that he had prophesied, for twenty-two years before, considering who it was that commanded him to put them in writing. God undoubtedly brought them to his remembrance, otherwise it would have been impossible for him to have recollected them all. The Spirit of God dictated to Jeremiah, and he to Baruch.
36:4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote {c} from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken to him, upon a roll of a book.
(c) As he indicted.
Jeremiah then called for Baruch ben Neriah, who copied down these prophecies from the Lord as Jeremiah dictated them to him (cf. Jer 32:12-13).
"Writing was a specialized skill, often restricted to a professional class. Learned men could read, but (like executives today) scorned to write." [Note: Graybill, p. 681.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)