Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
Parallel Translations
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Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
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Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
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Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying:
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 36:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 36:4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all Yahweh’s words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 36:27 Then the word of the LORD came…
Jer 36:27 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
Ver. 27. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.] Jehoiakim took an ill course to free himself from trouble, as he counted it, by burning the roll; for God’s Word cannot be burnt, no more than it can be bound. {2Ti 2:9} And "shall they thus escape by iniquity?" No, verily; for it followeth, and is not more votum than vaticinium, a wish than a prophecy, "In thine anger cast down the people, O God." {Psa 56:7}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah,....…
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah,.... In the place where he was hid; the Lord knew where he was, for he hid him, and therefore could send his word to him:
after the king had burnt the roll; either with his own hands, or had ordered it to be burnt, or connived at the burning of it:
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and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah; hence the Jews (u) gather, that when a man sees the book of the law burnt, that he is bound to rend his garments twice; once for the burning of the paper or parchment, and again for the burning of the writing; but no other is meant than the roll, in which the prophecies were written, Baruch took from the mouth of Jeremiah:
saying; as follows:
(u) T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 26. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 36:27-29. Then the word of the Lord came…
Jer 36:27-29. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, &c. — Jeremiah now receives orders to write in another roll the same words that were written in that which Jehoiakim had burned. Observe well, reader, though the attempts of hell against the word of God are very daring, yet not one tittle of it shall fall to the ground; nor shall the unbelief of man make the truth of God of none effect. Its enemies may prevail to burn many of the Bibles which contain it, yet they cannot abolish the word of God; they can neither extirpate it, nor defeat the accomplishment of it. And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim — Or, of Jehoiakim; as עלis translated, Jer 36:30; for this command seems to have been given to Jeremiah during the time of his confinement. Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why, &c. — We learn here what was the cause of the king’s anger; Jeremiah had prophesied, that the king of Babylon should come and take Jerusalem, and lay the country waste, which was fulfilled within six years after this, and more fully still in eighteen years.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 27Then the word of the Lord [Jehovah] came to…
4. THE PREDICTION OF PUNISHMENT TO JEHOIAKIM AND THE SECOND WRITING
Jer_36:27-32
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27Then the word of the Lord [Jehovah] came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, say- 28ing, Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were 29in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. And thou shalt say to12 Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord [Jehovah]; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease [exterminate] from thence man and beast?
30Therefore thus saith the Lord [Jehovah] of [against]1 Jehoiakim, king of Judah, He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall 31be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost [cold]. And I will punish13 him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
32Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like14 words.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Jehoiakim could, indeed, burn the roll, but not the living word of God present in the mind of the prophet. He, therefore, gained nothing by his act. On the contrary he thus increased both his guilt and the number of the prophecies predicting calamity in the new roll.
Jer_36:27-32. Then the word… like words. The direct address to Jehoiakim in Jer_36:29 passes over into the indirect in Jer_36:30. But as the former is not to be conceived of as to the king in bodily presence, and as it was interrupted by the question put into the mouth of Jehoiakim, “Why hast thou written,” etc., the transition to the third person is easily explained. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 101, 2, Anm.
Jer_36:30. He shall have none, etc. The successor of Jehoiakim was his son Jehoiachin (2Ki_24:6).But the reign of the latter was so brief (it lasted only three months) that it does not come into consideration. On what is said of his corpse comp. rems. on Jer_22:19.—Like words. In itself כָּהֵמָה may certainly be referred to “words,” and the similar import of the additions to be thus declared. Then, however, it would stand better after “words.” Its position after “many,” seems to be to indicate that it is to be referred to this word, and that thus the quantitative similarity is to be declared. Accordingly the new collection must have been about double the size of the previous one.
Footnotes:
[12]Vers 29, 30.—עַל has the meaning of “over, concerning,” though from the connection in a hostile sense. On Jer_36:31, where after הֵבֵאתִי the third time we find אֵל, comp. remarks on Jer_10:1.
[13]Jer_36:31.—[Literally: I will visit upon.—S. R. A.]
[14]Jer_36:32.—[Or, as many more; literally: as many as they.—S. R. A.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer_36:2. The object of the writing was not only that “litera scripta manet” (Cramer: “the mouth speaks only to those who are present, but the pen to the absent; the mouth speaks only to the present hours and times, the pen many hundred years afterwards also.” Comp. Exo_34:27; Deu_10:4-5; Deu_17:18; Isa_30:8; Hab_2:2), but also to collect all the single lightning strokes into one grand prophetic tempest. Moreover, it is a matter of course that the written word was of special use, not only to posterity, but also to the contemporaries in so far as it rendered possible continued study, repeated quiet contemplation, and careful comparison. Jeremiah certainly prevented no one from taking copies of his book.
2. On Jer_36:4. Did Jeremiah hold such a relation to the Spirit of God as Baruch to Jeremiah when dictating? Then it was a matter of indifference to whom the dictation was made. Then a Saul would do as well as a Samuel, if he could only write. The best writer would be the most chosen instrument. There was no mingling of the individuality of the prophet except in the MS., and that is lost to us with the original. All prophetic writings must have the same type as to form and purport, which, as is well known, is so little the case that according to the saying of Buffon, le stylec’est l’homme, the portrait of a prophet might almost be drawn from his style.
3. On Jer_36:5. “God’s word is not bound; 2Ti_2:9. Paul for example wrote his most beautiful epistles from prison, as those to the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians, to Philemon, and the second to Timothy.” Cramer.
4. On Jer_36:14. “It is a good state of things when rulers ask for God’s Word, and cannot be answered or helped promptly and quickly enough to the fulfilment of their purpose. So it was a joy to Paul that he could tell Agrippa what the Lord had done for his soul, and his heart yearned after Agrippa, Festus and all those around them.” Zinzendorf.
5. On Jer_36:16. “When a true servant of God gets his superiors so far that they hear him, he may surely not doubt, that he will also bring them to obedience. It is then not his, but the Lord’s affair.” Zinzendorf.
6. On Jer_36:23. “The higher the enemies of God are, the more dangerous; the greater, the more bitterly opposed to the work of the Lord, and the general patience with respect to the wickedness and unrighteousness of men, has certainly given something special to the δόξαις. Procul a Jove procul a fulmine.” Zinzendorf.
7. On Jer_36:23. “Locus maxime principalis in præsenti hoc textu est de combustione sacrorum librorum, quale fatum illi experti sunt non tantum Jeremiah 36, verum etiam 1Ma_1:59 sub Antiocho Epiphane; nec non tempore Diocleliani, qui et ipse multa bibliorum sacrorum exemplaria undiquaque conquisita comburi jussit; quorum vestigiis insistere non dubitarunt Pontifices romani et præsertim Leo X. qui anno 1520 binos legatos emisit ad Fridericum Sapienlem, postulantes ab ipso, ut libros Lutheri combureret … Quid hodie Jesuitæ de librorum combustione, qui a Lutheranis eduntur, sentiant, peculiari scripto Gretserus aperuit, quod de hoc argumento consarcinavit de jure et more prohibendi, expurgandi et abolendi libros hæreticos et noxios. Ingolst. 1603, 40).” Förster.
8. On Jer_36:25. “When John’s head was in question, Herod did not understand how he could resist his magnates. When Daniel is to go into the lions’ den, Darius has not the heart to refuse his princes. When Jeremiah is to be delivered up, Zedekiah says with great modesty to his princes: the king can do nothing against you’ (Jer_38:5). But when anything evil is to be done, the rulers can insist on having their own way. Here we have an instance: he hearkened not unto them.” Zinzendorf.
9. On Jer_36:26. “Dominus eos abscondidisse dicilur, quaratione olim Eliam (1 Reg. xvii. 2 sqq. et xvii. 12), nec non Elisæum (2 Reg. vi.), itemque Athanasium et Augustinum et nostro tempore Lutherum abscondidit.” Förster.
10. On Jer_36:27. [“Here is a sublime specimen of the triumph of God’s Word, when repressed by the power, and burnt by the rage of this world, whether it be in the suppression of the Scriptures, or in preventing their circulation, or in casting copies of them into the fire, or in the imprisonment and martyrdom of God’s preachers. That Word rises more gloriously out of all its persecutions.” Wordsworth.—S. R. A.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer_36:2-3. Sermon at a Bible Society Anniversary. The blessing of the written word. 1. That which it has in common with the spoken word (Jer_36:3): preparation of the heart for the reception of salvation. 2. That which it brings in distinction from the written Word: (a) it is present for every one: (b) it is present at every time and at every place: (c) it is present in all its parts (comparison).
2. On Jer_36:21-32. The majesty of the Word. 1. The power, which the word exercises. 2. The independence, which it maintains. 3. The self-verification which it continually effects. Sermons in Berlin by Fr. Wilh. Krummacher. Berlin, 1849.
3. On Jer_36:24. [“The guilt of indifference to the divine threatenings. It involves: 1, contempt of God; 2, unbelief, making God a liar; 3, extreme hardness of heart.” Payson.—S. R. A.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain roll, and . . . words--that is, the roll…
roll, and . . . words--that is, the roll of words.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 27–32. See introd. summary to the chapter. Du. and…
27–32. See introd. summary to the chapter. Du. and Co. consider that the passage, as it stands, shews traces of a later hand, on the ground that the king is represented as addressing Jeremiah (Jer_36:29), though they did not meet. This, however, seems somewhat hypercritical. It is true that Jer_36:30 may seem to imply that Jehoiakim would have no son to succeed him, whereas Jehoiachin reigned, though only for three months (2Ki_24:8). If this, however, had been the sense attached to the saying when placed here, it probably would not have been inserted, as not being in accordance with the result. “Sit” may quite naturally be taken to mean sit permanently, Jehoiachin’s short reign being ignored.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (27) Then the word of the Lord came to…
(27) Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.—This was probably during the concealment of the two friends, and to the command thus given we probably owe the present form of Jeremiah 25—perhaps, also, of the earlier chapters of the book. But, in addition to the reproduction of the judgment denounced upon the nation at large, there was now a special prediction as to Jehoiakim himself. (1) He was to have “none to sit upon the throne of David.” As a matter of fact, he was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah, but the reign of the boy-prince as a tributary king lasted for three months only, and Zedekiah, who succeeded him, was the brother and not the son of Jehoiakim (comp. Jer_22:30). (2) His dead body was to be “cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.” The same prediction is found in Jer_22:18-19, written probably after the incident thus recorded. See Note there as to its fulfilment.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Take thee again another roll, and write in it…
Jer_36:27-32
Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words.
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The Word of God cannot be burnt
I. The Word of God is imperishable. The truth is not pen and ink, parchment and words, but a force of an unchangeable character. It borrows material forms for garments, and uses outward methods for expression; these change, but truth never. Changes are observable in nature, but its laws remain firm. The process of destruction and restitution is ever on the march. The lily will fade, and the rose will perish, but the law of their life will say to the elements, Take thee another roll, and write another lily and another rose. The pattern is never destroyed. Truth, law, symmetry, beauty, and life are emanations from the Eternal Mind, abiding immutable in the midst of change. Revelation has assumed aspects, many of which have passed away. The centre of all religious truth is the Saviour--Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Whatever talents we possess, or whatever circumstances affect us, if there is a straight line from the heart to Jesus--if we are bound to Him by the radius of love--our lives will express the old truths, and present the old faith which animated patriarch, prophet, priest, apostle, and martyr.
II. Opposition to the Word of God will not avert the consequences of sin. Why did the king precipitate the destruction of the Book before its contents were examined? If the moral condition of the people was wrongly described, facts would have disproved the fiction; if the threatened invasion by the King of Babylon was a myth, time would have revealed it. Evidently Jehoiakim found that the entrance of Gods Word brought with it light, and that the spectacle it discovered was too frightful to contemplate. Either he must burn the roll, or the roll would burn him. Sin prevailed, and the roll was burnt. Was it a victory? Three months before the destruction of the city, Jehoiakim died a miserable death. The Florentine philosopher declined to look through Galileos telescope, fearing he might see in the heavens some movement which would contradict his old view that the sun revolved, and the earth stood still Sinners fear to look at themselves through the Word of God. Dr. South wrote many years ago those words, Truth is so connatural to the mind of man, that it would certainly be entertained by all men, did it not by accident contradict some beloved interest or other. The thief hates the break of day; not hut that he naturally loves the light as well as other men, but his condition makes him dread and abhor that which, of all things, he knows to be the likeliest means of his discovery. God is not in all the thoughts of the wicked, but there is another roll, and God is there. Impressions of sin, of death, and of a judgment to come have suffered violence, and have been wiped off human recollection, at least for a time, but they are written in the other roll. The last vision which terrified the soul of Jehoiakim was the other roll The authority of truth is inviolable, which no penknife can cut, and no fire burn. Let the Word of God shine into our heart, expose its follies and impurities, and the blush on the cheek will be the dawn of a better day.
III. There is a gracious purpose in the reiteration of the Word of God. Jeremiah and Baruch retired to re-commit to writing the contents of the first roll This was done to give Judah another chance of escape from the impending storm. Although the roll was fun of denunciation and warning, yet the terms of peace are included in the declaration of war. Prophet after prophet brought to Israel the re-written message. This is set forth in the parable of the barren fig-tree; the end of all Gods dealings is fruit unto life everlasting. What have we done with the second roll? Nature has re-written her message. Providence speaks again in terms of mercy. Gospel truths come up afresh, like the flowers in the garden. True, we have turned a deaf ear; but is it so still? Do we persist in unbelief?
IV. All attempts to frustrate the Word of the Lord must ignominiously fail. The Word of God has been assailed by every conceivable opposition. The learned, with the sharp penknife of criticism, and the unlearned, with the fire of raillery, have made the attempt to destroy the authority of Gods written Word, but they no more succeeded than if they had dug a grave in which to bury the law of gravitation. Julian the apostate, and Gibbon the historian, cut and burnt the roll, but they were as grass, The grass withereth, &c. There was once a printing-press used solely to manufacture penknives to cut the roll; that press was afterwards used to print Bibles. The house in which Hume wrote against miracles was converted into a committee-room for the promotion of religious truth. Conviction of sin is the voice of God in the soul. Drown it you never can. Close the covers of the Bible, and fasten them with a clasp, but its very silence is louder than thunder. Messages and messengers come anew to remind us of our duty towards God and man. Let us bear in mind that the Word of the Lord is a hammer to break the rock; a fire to consume the stubble. Its wisdom is unbounded, backed by infinite power. Heaven and earth will dissolve before one iota of the Word will fail. Let us surrender our hearts to its power. (T. Davies, M. A.)
The sacred oracles
I. The committing of the mind and will of God to writing. This is important.
1. Because the knowledge of them must be preserved and extended.
2. Because there was no way of preserving and extending this knowledge to be compared to this.
II. What think you of those who would destroy the Scriptures?
1. The enemies who deny its authenticity. Surely those precious pieces of antiquity which are found in the Book of Genesis--who would not wish to admire and preserve them? But the Vandalism of infidelity would fling them all into the fire, and fix our eyes on the darkness and dreariness of two thousand years ago.
2. View these men as to their patriotism, or their regard to public good. What benevolence was seen in the pagan world? Produce one instance in which the philosophy of Greece or Rome ever established an infirmary or an hospital.
3. View the enemies of the Bible, with regard to their charity and compassion. What do you think of the human being that would take away the Bible, dash this only cup of consolation from the parched lip--that would pull down the only refuge to which the polluted sinner can escape from the storms of life--that would deprive him of a resource to which, by and by, there will be an entire enjoyment, and that gives him the consciousness of present support? What can you think of a man that would do this, while he knows that he has nothing to substitute in the room of it, and that if the thing be a delusion, it is a solace which can be obtained in no other way?
4. View these men once more as to their guilt. This may be fairly determined from their doom. Oh, say some, we are not accountable for our belief! To which we answer that if we are not accountable for our belief we are accountable for nothing; for all our actions spring from belief; and infidelity does not arise from want of evidence, but from want of inclination.
III. Some things which seem likely to injure revelation, and which yet prove its advantage.
1. The attacks of the infidel on its divinity. What has been the consequence of all his opposition? Why zeal in its diffusion; and able articles brought forth in its favour; for inquiry is always friendly to truth, as darkness and concealment are friendly to error.
2. The sufferings of its followers by persecution. The periods of suffering have been always the most glorious for Christianity; the brethren have been united and endeared the more to each other; the Spirit of glory and of God has rested upon them; their sufferings have arrested attention and induced sympathy; the witness of their sufferings has been found to be impressed, and they have been led to inspire the principles that would produce such effects.
3. The divisions and parties that have sprung up among its professors. The differences which subsist amongst all those who hold the Head do not affect the oneness of the Church; they are only so many branches which form one tree--so many members which form one body. By these they have always proved stimulations to each other: they have awakened and increased emulation and zeal; and religion has always been upon the whole a gainer by them.
4. The failings of its members. It would seem impossible any good should arise from these to the cause of the Gospel. And yet what is the fact? No thanks to themselves--even these scandals have been overruled for good. These scandals were foretold by the Scriptures; and, therefore, they are pledges of their truth; these have shown that the Gospel is Divine and almighty--because it can bear to be betrayed from within as well as assaulted from without. The excommunication of these persons has always strikingly shown the purity of the Church, and that they cannot bear those that are evil; while the true professors have been led, by these instances, to fear, and tremble, and pray.
IV. Admonitions.
1. Be persuaded of the stability of the cause of revelation.
2. Apply Scripture to your own use, and apply it to the purposes for which it has been given.
3. Be concerned for the spread and diffusion of it. (W. Jay.)
Cutting up and burning his Bible
True, those were very anxious times. Party feeling ran high, and we may find this much excuse for the foolish king, that party feeling carried him away. The last days of the kingdom of Judah had come. Two rival nations were seeking her alliance, each as a protection against the other. The good Josiah had favoured Babylon, and even fought against Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt. In the great battle of Carchemish, Josiah lost his life, but the party favouring alliance with Babylon was strong enough to secure the election of his son Shallum as king, rather than the elder son, Jehoiakim, who seems to have favoured the Egyptians. Shallum, however, only held the throne for three months, and then Jehoiakim succeeded. Now Jeremiah, as the prophet of God, had distinctly, and over and over again, advised alliance with Babylon. He was consequently in disgrace when Jehoiakim came to the throne, and the Egyptian party gained the upper hand. He was no longer able to declare the Divine message freely in the streets, and at the court. But what is to be done with the roll? It was a great fast day; a national humiliation on account of the national peril. The people were crowding in from the district round, and were assembling for solemn services in the Temple courts. There the roll must be read. Baruch knew the peril, and shrank from the task, until comforted by an assurance of personal protection. They felt the news of all this must be taken to the king. They knew his impulsive willfulness so well that they feared to take the roll into his presence. Jehudi began to read, and the king began to grow angry at the Divine disapproval of his plans, and presently he seized the scribe s knife, as it lay on the ground, stripped a piece of the skin off, and threw it on the fire; and then, emboldened by his wilful act, proceeded to cut strip after strip, until the entire roll was consumed. What a daring act! And what a foolish act! More foolish than wicked, for he could not silence Gods Word, or alter Gods will in that way. It is very important that we should recognise the distinction between the revelation of Gods will to a man, and the particular form in which that will may be made known to him. It is not the mere wording of the message that is our chief concern, it is the message itself. Men nowadays are finding so much to complain of in the mere form and wording of the Bible, that there is grave danger of their failing to heed that Bible as it comes closely up to each one of them, saying, I have a message from God unto thee. And is our message to be refused because the form of its setting is unpleasing to fastidious tastes?
I. Gods message to us may be an offence to us. It is when it opposes our inclinations. It is a wholly wrong attitude in which to stand towards Gods Word, if we think to judge it by our inclinations and preferences, approving it only if it accords with them. Gods will and Word are the standard by which we must test our inclinations, and they are stamped as wrong if we cannot gain the Divine approval. But so often our condition of approving the Bible is, that it shall comfortably allow us to follow the devices and desires of our own hearts. We shut it up, we put it on the upper shelf, out of reach, when we have a half fear that it will-speak with an arresting voice, and say, What doest thou here, Elijah? And the Bible is an offence when it convicts us of our sins. The sin of our day is this--we are attempting to judge Gods Word instead of to receive it. We conceitedly criticise it, instead of reverently listening to it. We are making ourselves the standard for ourselves; and are determined that we will have nothing in the Bible that we do not like.
II. Our offence may end expression in injury to the Word. That injury is not always coarse and vulgar like the injury done to the roll by Jehoiakim.
1. In subtle ways we injure it, nowadays, by making it out to mean what it suits us to think it means, and by picking out bits here and there which are of doubtful authority; and so creating a general suspicion of the authority of the whole.
(1) Generally undermining its authority. Men begin at the Old Testament. They cut strips out here and there. They would persuade us that the early chapters of Genesis are only legends, and the history of the patriarchs only uncertain traditions. Oh, poor Bible of our fathers!
(2) Evaporating or changing its meaning. If anything strikes hard against sin, explain it away. If any dark shadows are thrown on the eternal future of impenitent sinners, exaggerate your representations of the love of God, be quite unqualified in your statements, and boldly declare that you would not punish sinners so vigorously, and therefore you are sure God will not. If you hardly dare cut a piece out of the Word, use the knife to scratch out what you do not like, and write over what you think would be suitable.
(3) Refusing to admit the applications of the Word to ourselves.
2. How utterly foolish all this is! We cannot change one declaration of Holy Scripture. We cannot prevent the execution of one threatening. We cannot, by any of our devices, secure a comfortable arrangement for impenitent sinners in the next life.
III. Gods will can never be frustrated by any injury we may do to His messengers, or to His message. Because though it is in a message, it exists apart from the message. Jeremiah can soon write it all over again. Moreover, the attempted injury cannot fail to rouse further vindications of Gods outraged majesty. Kings never pass lightly by the insults that are offered to their ambassadors. And the Word of God does but tell of providential workings that go on, in spite of anything that may happen to the message that reports them to us. To destroy the Word is as foolish and as useless as for the ostrich to hide her head in the sand, and convince herself that there is no danger, when the hunters are every moment nearing her. (The Weekly Pulpit.)
Burning the Scripture
The 98th annual report (1902) of The British and Foreign Bible Society contains the following experience of Colporteur Galibert: Calling at a handsome house, he explained his object to madame. How much do you ask for your whole load of books? she inquired. Nine francs, he answered, supposing that the lady wished to make a free distribution of the Scriptures. She paid the price and then called the servant, Take all these books and throw them into the fire. Madame said Galibert, here is your money; give me back my books. No! said the lady. I have paid you, and you may go. But when you pass this way again, dont forget to call; Ill buy your books again. Madame, says Galibert, I will go; but let me tell you that the very Word of God which you have destroyed will rise up to judge you at the last day.
Hatred of the truth teller
Macaulay tells of a rich Brahman who saw a drop of sacred Ganges water under the microscope, and bought the instrument and dashed it to atoms that it might not by its revelations rebuke his superstitious practices. In a similar way did Jehoiakim treat Gods Word because it revealed his character in its true light, and set in array the judgments for sin which were gathering about him. (C. Deal.)
The indestructible power of Gods Word
It was burned, but Jeremiah lived, and Jeremiahs God lived. Therefore to burn it was not to destroy it. Another spell of work for Baruch, and the loss was repaired. Like the fabled blood-stains on some palace floor where murder has been done, and all the planing in the world will not remove the dark spots, Gods threatenings are destroyed, as men think, and presently there they are again, as plain as ever. It is true of the written Word, which men have tried to make away with many a time in many a way, but it liveth and abideth for ever. It is true of the echoes of that Word in conscience, which may be neglected, sophisticated, drugged, and stifled, but still sometimes wakes and solemnly reiterates its message. And all that Jehoiakim made by his foolish attempt was that the new roll had added to it many like words. The indestructible Word of God grows by every attempt to silence it. Each warning neglected increases guilt, and therefore punishment. The fabled sibyl came back, after each rejection of her offered books, with fewer volumes at a higher price. Gods Word comes back after each rejection with additions of heavier penalties for darker sins. We but draw down surer and more terrible destruction on our own heads by refusing to listen to the merciful voice which warns us that the floods are out, and the ruin of the house impending, and bids us floe from it before the crash comes. (A. Maclaren.)
Efforts to destroy the Christian books in Madagascar
The purpose to extinguish Christianity was firmly determined on. The week after the Queen Ranavalonas message had been delivered, every person who had received books was ordered to deliver them up, without retaining even a single leaf, on pain of death. This order was severely felt; few obeyed it literally, and in the distant provinces scarcely any obeyed it at all (Jacox.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after…
Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after ... dictation, saying, "Go
The idiom "The word of Yahweh came" is used to introduce a special message from God. See how you translated a similar phrase in Jeremiah 1:4. AT: "Then Yahweh gave a message to Jeremiah after ... dictation. He said, 'Go" or "After ... dictation, Yahweh spoke this message to Jeremiah: 'Go" (See: Idiom)
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to Jeremiah ... Jeremiah's dictation
It is not clear why Jeremiah is referring to himself by name here. You may translate using first person, as the UDB does. (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
at Jeremiah's dictation
See how you translated similar words in Jeremiah 36:4.
Go back, take another scroll for yourself
"Take another scroll for yourself again"
the original scroll
"the first scroll"
Why have you written on it ... beast in it'?
Jehoiakim uses this question to emphasize that Jeremiah should not have written that the king of Babylon would come and attack. AT: "You should not have written ... beast in it!" or "You were wrong to write ... beast in it'!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
for he will destroy
"and he will destroy"
translationWords
word of God
Jeremiah
king
scroll
word
Baruch
Jehoiakim
kingdom of Judah
Babylon
beast
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 36:27-32 While in hiding, Jeremiah and Baruch rewrote all…
36:27-32 While in hiding, Jeremiah and Baruch rewrote all the messages that had been recorded on the destroyed scroll onto a new roll of papyrus. No human king can destroy God’s words. Instead, Jehoiakim was brought before God’s court and sentenced to death.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.