Skip to Content

Jeremiah 36

ירמיהו פרק ל״ו

Section: נביאים · נביאים אחרונים | Book: Jeremiah | Chapter: 36 of 52 | Day: 249 of 742

Date: October 18, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 36 steps back from the siege of Tzidkiyahu’s reign, where chapters 32 through 34 were set, to an earlier and decisive moment: the fourth year of Yehoyakim son of Yoshiyahu (בשנה הרביעית ליהויקים). That year, as chapters 25 and 46 note, was the first year of Nevuchadnetzar and the year of the battle of Carchemish, when Bavel broke Egyptian power on the Euphrates and became master of the region. The editor of the book places this narrative immediately after chapter 35, the Rechabites, who obeyed the command of their ancestor Yonadav for generations; here, by searing contrast, a king of Yehudah does not merely ignore the word of God but slices it apart and feeds it to the fire. The chapter is the most detailed account in Tanakh of how a prophetic book came to be written, and it is also the story of a king’s attempt to destroy one.

The command is simple and unprecedented: take for yourself a scroll of a book (מגלת ספר) and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Yehudah and all the nations, from the days of Yoshiyahu until today. Radak and Metzudat David both explain the curious phrase ‘scroll of a book’: the blank parchment is called a megillah, and it is named a sefer only after it is written on, so the scroll is called by what it will become. The purpose is stated in verse 3 with the poignant word ‘perhaps’ (אולי): perhaps the house of Yehudah will hear all the evil I plan to do to them and turn back, each from his evil way, and I will forgive. Metzudat David explains the logic: when the prophecies are gathered and read together as though they had already come to pass, perhaps the people will finally grasp their weight, and the evil will not come at all. Twenty-three years of oral preaching had not moved the nation; now God tries the permanence of the written word. Yirmiyahu calls Baruch son of Neriyah, and Baruch writes from the prophet’s mouth (מפי ירמיהו) all the words of the LORD. Because Yirmiyahu is restrained (אני עצור) and cannot enter the Temple, Baruch is to read the scroll there on a fast day, when crowds from Yerushalayim and the towns of Yehudah would gather. Rashi and Metzudat David take ‘restrained’ as literal imprisonment, and Metzudat David adds that Yehoyakim too had jailed him, though Scripture does not record it. Radak records his father’s alternative reading of ‘fast day’ (יום צום) as a day of assembly, from the rabbinic idiom for a junction of sinews, a day when the people came together to take counsel over their troubles.

The reading itself takes place more than a year later, in the ninth month of the fifth year, when a public fast was proclaimed. Metzudat David identifies the month as Kislev, a cold season, a detail that will matter. Baruch reads in the chamber of Gemaryah son of Shafan the scribe, in the upper court at the entrance of the new gate; Rashi and Radak, following Targum Yonatan, identify that gate as the Eastern Gate. The setting is not incidental. Shafan was the royal scribe who read the newly found Torah scroll to King Yoshiyahu a generation earlier (II Melachim 22), and his family, including Achikam who saved Yirmiyahu’s life in chapter 26, remained the prophet’s protectors. Now Shafan’s grandson Michayahu hears the words and hurries down to the palace, where the officials (השרים) are in session in the scribe’s chamber. The narrative then moves in a precise sequence of three readings to three widening audiences: Baruch reads to the people in the Temple, then to the officials in the scribe’s chamber, and finally Yehudi reads to the king in his winter house. Each scene raises the stakes.

The officials’ reaction is fear. They turn to one another trembling (פחדו איש אל רעהו), and they tell Baruch that they must report everything to the king. Metzudat David reads their fear in political terms: each was afraid that if he kept silent, a colleague would report it and he would be found guilty of concealing the matter. Rashi offers a more hopeful reading of their resolve to tell the king: perhaps he will listen. Before going, they question Baruch carefully about how the words were written, and Metzudat David explains the precision of the question: had Yirmiyahu dictated every detail, or only the general content, with Baruch arranging the particulars? Baruch’s answer, that the prophet recited every word and he wrote it in ink (בדיו) as it was spoken, establishes that the scroll is wholly the prophet’s word. Then, knowing their king, the officials advise Baruch and Yirmiyahu to hide and let no one know where they are, and they leave the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe.

The central scene is one of the most vivid in all of prophetic narrative. It is the ninth month; the king sits in his winter house, with a fire burning in the brazier before him (והאח לפניו מבערת). Radak explains that kings built separate houses for summer, open to the wind, and for winter, sheltered from it. Yehudi reads, and whenever he finishes three or four columns (דלתות), the king cuts them off with a scribe’s knife and throws them into the fire, until the entire scroll is consumed. Radak explains that the columns are called ‘doors’ because the leaves of a scroll open and close like doors. Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all bring the teaching of Chazal (Moed Katan 26a) that this scroll was Eichah: the king heard ‘how she sits alone,’ ‘she weeps bitterly,’ ‘Yehudah has gone into exile,’ ‘the roads of Zion mourn,’ and was unmoved, reasoning that he would still be king over the survivors; but when he heard ‘her adversaries have become the head,’ he understood that his kingship itself was threatened, and he cut and burned the scroll. Radak’s version adds that he cut out the Divine Names before burning it. The narrator’s indictment follows: neither the king nor his servants feared or tore their garments (ולא פחדו ולא קרעו את בגדיהם). The phrase deliberately recalls Yehoyakim’s father Yoshiyahu, who tore his garments when Shafan read him the Torah scroll. Radak draws a sharp distinction: the officials who came to the king had feared, as verse 16 says, and Elnatan, Delayahu and Gemaryahu even pleaded with him not to burn the scroll, but the king and his household servants were indifferent. Radak also records that Chazal derived from this verse the obligation to tear one’s garment on seeing a Torah scroll destroyed, and from verse 27, which mentions both the scroll and the words, the requirement of two tears, one for the parchment and one for the writing. The king then orders the arrest of Baruch and Yirmiyahu, but the LORD hid them (ויסתרם ה’), which Metzudat David and Radak understand as a miracle, perhaps a darkness around them or a blinding of the searchers.

The final section is God’s answer, and its first word is not judgment but persistence: take for yourself another scroll and write on it all the former words. The king can burn parchment, but he cannot burn prophecy. Only then comes the sentence on Yehoyakim, framed around his own words: you burned the scroll saying, why have you written that the king of Bavel will surely come and destroy this land? Therefore no one of his line will sit on the throne of David, and his corpse will be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. Radak and Metzudat David note that his son Yehoyachin reigned only three months and ten days, which does not count as sitting on the throne; Metzudat David adds that Yehoyakim would die on the road into exile and remain unburied, echoing the ‘burial of a donkey’ foretold in 22:19. The chapter closes with the second scroll: Yirmiyahu gives a new scroll to Baruch, who writes all the words of the burned book, and many words like them were added (ועוד נוסף עליהם דברים רבים כהמה). Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all explain the addition through the same rabbinic tradition: the first scroll contained the three acrostic laments beginning ‘how’ (איכה), and the third chapter of Eichah, ‘I am the man’ (אני הגבר), with its tripled alphabet, was added.

Whatever the precise contents, the theological message of the chapter is unmistakable. The written word of God proves more durable than the king who sought to destroy it. Yehoyakim burns one scroll and receives in return a longer one; he seeks the prophet and his scribe, and God hides them; he refuses to tear his garments, and the scroll he burned becomes, in rabbinic tradition, the very lament that Israel recites over the destruction he hastened. The chapter also gives Baruch son of Neriyah his place in Jewish memory as the faithful scribe who wrote the words from the prophet’s mouth, and it reveals Yirmiyahu, so often a solitary voice, surrounded by a circle of officials who protected him at real risk. In the fragile word ‘perhaps’ of verses 3 and 7, the chapter preserves the heart of prophecy itself: even as the decree of Bavel draws near, God is still writing to His people in the hope that they will return.

פרק ל״ו · Chapter 36

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וַֽיְהִי֙ בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הָרְבִעִ֔ית לִיהוֹיָקִ֥ים בֶּן־יֹאשִׁיָּ֖הוּ מֶ֣לֶךְ יְהוּדָ֑ה הָיָ֞ה הַדָּבָ֤ר הַזֶּה֙ אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ מֵאֵ֥ת יְהֹוָ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר׃

English:

In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from GOD:

The narrative is dated to the fourth year of Yehoyakim son of Yoshiyahu, the first year of Nevuchadnetzar and the year Bavel crushed Egypt at Carchemish. The chapter thus steps back from the siege under Tzidkiyahu to a turning point two decades earlier. Radak, anticipating the next verse, explains the term megillah: the parchment on which a person writes is called a scroll, and once written upon it is called a book.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

קַח־לְךָ֮ מְגִלַּת־סֵ֒פֶר֒ וְכָתַבְתָּ֣ אֵלֶ֗יהָ אֵ֣ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֞ים אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֧רְתִּי אֵלֶ֛יךָ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל וְעַל־יְהוּדָ֖ה וְעַל־כׇּל־הַגּוֹיִ֑ם מִיּ֞וֹם דִּבַּ֤רְתִּי אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ מִימֵ֣י יֹאשִׁיָּ֔הוּ וְעַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃

English:

Get a scroll and write upon it all the words that I have spoken to you—concerning Israel and Judah and all the nations—from the time I first spoke to you in the days of Josiah to this day.

God commands Yirmiyahu to write on a scroll every prophecy he has received since the days of Yoshiyahu, concerning Israel, Yehudah and the nations. Metzudat David explains 'scroll of a book' as named for what it will become, since it was still blank when taken. Both Metzudat David and Radak cite the tradition of Chazal that this scroll was Eichah, and Metzudat David says it recorded both the evils already fulfilled and those still to come.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

אוּלַ֤י יִשְׁמְעוּ֙ בֵּ֣ית יְהוּדָ֔ה אֵ֚ת כׇּל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י חֹשֵׁ֖ב לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת לָהֶ֑ם לְמַ֣עַן יָשׁ֗וּבוּ אִ֚ישׁ מִדַּרְכּ֣וֹ הָרָעָ֔ה וְסָלַחְתִּ֥י לַעֲוֺנָ֖ם וּלְחַטָּאתָֽם׃ {ס}         

English:

Perhaps when the House of Judah hear of all the disasters I intend to bring upon them, they will turn back from their wicked ways, and I will pardon their iniquity and their sin.

The purpose of the scroll is repentance, introduced by the tender word 'perhaps' (אולי): perhaps hearing all the evil God plans, the house of Yehudah will turn from its wicked way and be forgiven. Metzudat David explains that reading the prophecies together, as though already fulfilled, might finally make them grasp their weight, so that the decree would never come at all.

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וַיִּקְרָ֣א יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ אֶת־בָּר֖וּךְ בֶּן־נֵֽרִיָּ֑ה וַיִּכְתֹּ֨ב בָּר֜וּךְ מִפִּ֣י יִרְמְיָ֗הוּ אֵ֣ת כׇּל־דִּבְרֵ֧י יְהֹוָ֛ה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר אֵלָ֖יו עַל־מְגִלַּת־סֵֽפֶר׃

English:

So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote down in the scroll, at Jeremiah’s dictation, all the words that GOD had spoken to him.

Yirmiyahu calls Baruch son of Neriyah, who writes on the scroll from the prophet's mouth all the words of the LORD. Metzudat David stresses the division of labor: Yirmiyahu spoke the words aloud and Baruch wrote them down. This verse introduces Baruch as the prophet's scribe and companion, a role he will fill through the rest of the book, and it is the Tanakh's clearest picture of prophecy being committed to writing.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וַיְצַוֶּ֣ה יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ אֶת־בָּר֖וּךְ לֵאמֹ֑ר אֲנִ֣י עָצ֔וּר לֹ֣א אוּכַ֔ל לָב֖וֹא בֵּ֥ית יְהֹוָֽה׃

English:

Jeremiah instructed Baruch, “I am in hiding; I cannot go to the House of GOD.

Yirmiyahu tells Baruch that he is restrained (עצור) and cannot enter the house of the LORD. Rashi explains that he was imprisoned in the jail, and Metzudat David agrees, adding that Yehoyakim too had locked him up, though Scripture does not record it explicitly. Barred from the Temple after his earlier confrontations there, the prophet must now speak through the written word and another man's voice.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
עצור. בבית הכלא:
imprisoned in the jail.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וּבָאתָ֣ אַתָּ֡ה וְקָרָ֣אתָ בַמְּגִלָּ֣ה אֲשֶׁר־כָּתַֽבְתָּ־מִפִּי֩ אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֨י יְהֹוָ֜ה בְּאׇזְנֵ֥י הָעָ֛ם בֵּ֥ית יְהֹוָ֖ה בְּי֣וֹם צ֑וֹם וְגַ֨ם בְּאׇזְנֵ֧י כׇל־יְהוּדָ֛ה הַבָּאִ֥ים מֵעָרֵיהֶ֖ם תִּקְרָאֵֽם׃

English:

But you go and read aloud GOD’s words from the scroll that you wrote at my dictation, to all the people in the House of GOD on a fast day; thus you will also be reading them to all the Judeans who come in from the towns.

Baruch is to read the scroll in the Temple on a fast day, reaching the people of Yerushalayim and the men of the towns of Yehudah. Metzudat David notes that a fast drew large crowds, and that the words are called 'words of the LORD' because Yirmiyahu spoke them with divine inspiration. Radak cites his father's reading of 'fast day' as a day of assembly, when people gathered to take counsel over their troubles.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

אוּלַ֞י תִּפֹּ֤ל תְּחִנָּתָם֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה וְיָשֻׁ֕בוּ אִ֖ישׁ מִדַּרְכּ֣וֹ הָרָעָ֑ה כִּֽי־גָד֤וֹל הָאַף֙ וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־הָעָ֥ם הַזֶּֽה׃

English:

Perhaps their entreaty will be accepted by GOD, if they turn back from their wicked ways. For great is the anger and wrath with which GOD has threatened this people.”

The hope is repeated: perhaps their supplication will fall before the LORD and they will turn from their evil way, for great is the anger and fury God has spoken against this people. Metzudat David explains that hearing these words might humble their hearts. The double 'perhaps' of verses 3 and 7 shows that even at this late hour the decree remains open to repentance.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וַיַּ֗עַשׂ בָּרוּךְ֙ בֶּן־נֵ֣רִיָּ֔ה כְּכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֖הוּ יִרְמְיָ֣הוּ הַנָּבִ֑יא לִקְרֹ֥א בַסֵּ֛פֶר דִּבְרֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה בֵּ֥ית יְהֹוָֽה׃ {פ}

English:

Baruch son of Neriah did just as the prophet Jeremiah had instructed him, about reading GOD’s words from the scroll in the House of GOD.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֣י בַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַ֠חֲמִשִׁ֠ית לִיהוֹיָקִ֨ים בֶּן־יֹאשִׁיָּ֤הוּ מֶֽלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַתְּשִׁעִ֔י קָרְא֨וּ צ֜וֹם לִפְנֵ֧י יְהֹוָ֛ה כׇּל־הָעָ֖ם בִּירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וְכׇל־הָעָ֗ם הַבָּאִ֛ים מֵעָרֵ֥י יְהוּדָ֖ה בִּירוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

English:

In the ninth month of the fifth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people coming from Judah proclaimed a fast before GOD in Jerusalem.

In the ninth month of the fifth year of Yehoyakim, a public fast is proclaimed for all the people of Yerushalayim and those coming from the towns of Yehudah. Metzudat David explains that the fast was decreed and announced publicly. The national crisis, likely the advance of Bavel after Carchemish, has driven the people to fast, giving Baruch the large audience the prophet had hoped for.

פסוק י׳ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַיִּקְרָ֨א בָר֥וּךְ בַּסֵּ֛פֶר אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ בֵּ֣ית יְהֹוָ֑ה בְּלִשְׁכַּ֡ת גְּמַרְיָ֩הוּ֩ בֶן־שָׁפָ֨ן הַסֹּפֵ֜ר בֶּחָצֵ֣ר הָעֶלְי֗וֹן פֶּ֣תַח שַׁ֤עַר בֵּית־יְהֹוָה֙ הֶחָדָ֔שׁ בְּאׇזְנֵ֖י כׇּל־הָעָֽם׃

English:

It was then that Baruch—in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, near the new gateway of the House of GOD—read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll to all the people in the House of GOD.

Baruch reads the scroll in the chamber of Gemaryahu son of Shafan the scribe, in the upper court at the entrance of the new gate. Rashi and Radak, following Targum Yonatan, identify the new gate as the Eastern Gate; Metzudat David places the upper court at the priests' court and suggests the gate had fallen and been rebuilt. Shafan's family, who served Yoshiyahu, remained Yirmiyahu's allies.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
פתח שער בית ה' החדש. הוא שער המזרחי כן תירגם יונתן:
the new gate That is the Eastern Gate; so did Jonathan translate.

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וַ֠יִּשְׁמַ֠ע מִכָ֨יְהוּ בֶן־גְּמַרְיָ֧הוּ בֶן־שָׁפָ֛ן אֶת־כׇּל־דִּבְרֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה מֵעַ֥ל הַסֵּֽפֶר׃

English:

Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of GOD [read] from the scroll,

Michayahu son of Gemaryahu son of Shafan hears all the words of the LORD read from the scroll. Radak and Metzudat David explain 'from upon the book' as the words written in the scroll, and Metzudat David adds that they were spoken with divine inspiration. Shafan's grandson becomes the link who carries the prophecy from the Temple courtyard to the officials of the royal court.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וַיֵּ֤רֶד בֵּית־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ עַל־לִשְׁכַּ֣ת הַסֹּפֵ֔ר וְהִ֨נֵּה־שָׁ֔ם כׇּל־הַשָּׂרִ֖ים יוֹשְׁבִ֑ים אֱלִישָׁמָ֣ע הַסֹּפֵ֡ר וּדְלָיָ֣הוּ בֶן־שְׁ֠מַֽעְיָ֠הוּ וְאֶלְנָתָ֨ן בֶּן־עַכְבּ֜וֹר וּגְמַרְיָ֧הוּ בֶן־שָׁפָ֛ן וְצִדְקִיָּ֥הוּ בֶן־חֲנַנְיָ֖הוּ וְכׇל־הַשָּׂרִֽים׃

English:

and he went down to the king’s palace, to the chamber of the scribe. There he found all the officials in session: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

Michayahu goes down to the king's house, to the scribe's chamber, where all the officials are sitting: Elishama the scribe, Delayahu, Elnatan son of Achbor, Gemaryahu son of Shafan, Tzidkiyahu son of Chananyahu and others. Radak and Metzudat David both note that 'upon the chamber' means 'to the chamber.' The roster places the prophecy before the kingdom's senior administrators.

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וַיַּגֵּ֤ד לָהֶם֙ מִכָ֔יְהוּ אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר שָׁמֵ֑עַ בִּקְרֹ֥א בָר֛וּךְ בַּסֵּ֖פֶר בְּאׇזְנֵ֥י הָעָֽם׃

English:

And Micaiah told them all that he had heard as Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁלְח֨וּ כׇל־הַשָּׂרִ֜ים אֶל־בָּר֗וּךְ אֶת־יְהוּדִ֡י בֶּן־נְ֠תַנְיָ֠הוּ בֶּן־שֶׁלֶמְיָ֣הוּ בֶן־כּוּשִׁי֮ לֵאמֹר֒ הַמְּגִלָּ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר קָרָ֤אתָ בָּהּ֙ בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֔ם קָחֶ֥נָּה בְיָדְךָ֖ וָלֵ֑ךְ וַ֠יִּקַּ֠ח בָּר֨וּךְ בֶּן־נֵרִיָּ֤הוּ אֶת־הַמְּגִלָּה֙ בְּיָד֔וֹ וַיָּבֹ֖א אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃

English:

Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi to say to Baruch, “Take that scroll from which you read to the people, and come along!” And Baruch took the scroll and came to them.

The officials send Yehudi son of Netanyahu to summon Baruch with the scroll, and Baruch comes. Metzudat David explains the instruction as 'leave your place and come to us.' Yehudi's unusually long genealogy, traced back three generations, marks him as a figure of standing, and he will become the reader who carries the scroll into the king's presence.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֔יו שֵׁ֣ב נָ֔א וּקְרָאֶ֖נָּה בְּאׇזְנֵ֑ינוּ וַיִּקְרָ֥א בָר֖וּךְ בְּאׇזְנֵיהֶֽם׃

English:

They said, “Sit down and read it to us.” And Baruch read it to them.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֗י כְּשׇׁמְעָם֙ אֶת־כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֔ים פָּחֲד֖וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֑הוּ וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ אֶל־בָּר֔וּךְ הַגֵּ֤יד נַגִּיד֙ לַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

English:

When they heard all these words, they turned to each other in fear; and they said to Baruch, “We must report all this to the king.”

Hearing the words, the officials turn to one another in fear and resolve to tell the king. Metzudat David reads the fear politically: each feared that a colleague would reveal the matter and he would be guilty of concealing it. Rashi gives a more hopeful motive: perhaps the king will listen. Radak notes the unusual spelling of the word 'tell' with a yod.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
הגיד נגיד למלך. אולי ישמע:
"We will surely tell the king" Perhaps he will hear.

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וְאֶ֨ת־בָּר֔וּךְ שָׁאֲל֖וּ לֵאמֹ֑ר הַגֶּד־נָ֣א לָ֔נוּ אֵ֗יךְ כָּתַ֛בְתָּ אֶת־כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה מִפִּֽיו׃

English:

And they questioned Baruch further, “Tell us how you wrote down all these words that he spoke.”

The officials ask Baruch how he wrote all these words from the prophet's mouth. Metzudat David explains the precise concern behind the question: did Yirmiyahu dictate every detail, so that each particular must be feared, or only the general content, with Baruch arranging the details himself? The officials are trying to establish the scroll's authority before bringing it to the king.

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ בָּר֔וּךְ מִפִּיו֙ יִקְרָ֣א אֵלַ֔י אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים הָאֵ֑לֶּה וַאֲנִ֛י כֹּתֵ֥ב עַל־הַסֵּ֖פֶר בַּדְּיֽוֹ׃ {ס}         

English:

He answered them, “He himself recited all those words to me, and I would write them down in the scroll in ink.”

Baruch answers that Yirmiyahu recited all these words to him and he wrote them in ink on the scroll. Metzudat David explains that Baruch wrote each word as it was spoken, not waiting until the end, so that nothing would change from the prophet's arrangement. Radak and Metzudat David both note that the scroll is called a book by what it became after writing.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ הַשָּׂרִים֙ אֶל־בָּר֔וּךְ לֵ֥ךְ הִסָּתֵ֖ר אַתָּ֣ה וְיִרְמְיָ֑הוּ וְאִ֥ישׁ אַל־יֵדַ֖ע אֵיפֹ֥ה אַתֶּֽם׃

English:

The officials said to Baruch, “Go into hiding, you and Jeremiah. Don’t let anyone know where you are!”

The officials warn Baruch to hide together with Yirmiyahu and to let no one know where they are. Metzudat David explains that they feared the king would seek to kill them and that someone might reveal their location; Radak suggests they hid within the court of the guard, lest the king's anger burn against them. The officials know their king well, and their caution will soon prove justified.

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֤אוּ אֶל־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ חָצֵ֔רָה וְאֶת־הַמְּגִלָּ֣ה הִפְקִ֔דוּ בְּלִשְׁכַּ֖ת אֱלִישָׁמָ֣ע הַסֹּפֵ֑ר וַיַּגִּ֙ידוּ֙ בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אֵ֖ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִֽים׃

English:

And they went to the king in the court, after leaving the scroll in the chamber of the scribe Elishama. And they reported all these matters to the king.

The officials go to the king in the court, leaving the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and report everything. Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all explain that the word 'to the court' (חצרה) means to the king's court, with Rashi noting that Scripture often replaces an initial lamed with a final heh. Leaving the scroll behind may have been an attempt to shield it.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
חצרה. אל החצר כל תיבה שצריכה למ"ד בתחלתה הטיל לה ה"א בסופה:
to the court Heb. חצרה, equivalent to אל החצר. Every word that requires a 'lammed' in the beginning Scripture placed a 'heh' at its end.

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אֶת־יְהוּדִ֗י לָקַ֙חַת֙ אֶת־הַמְּגִלָּ֔ה וַיִּ֨קָּחֶ֔הָ מִלִּשְׁכַּ֖ת אֱלִישָׁמָ֣ע הַסֹּפֵ֑ר וַיִּקְרָאֶ֤הָ יְהוּדִי֙ בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וּבְאׇזְנֵי֙ כׇּל־הַשָּׂרִ֔ים הָעֹמְדִ֖ים מֵעַ֥ל הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll and he fetched it from the chamber of the scribe Elishama. Jehudi read it to the king and to all the officials who were in attendance on the king.

The king sends Yehudi to bring the scroll from Elishama's chamber, and Yehudi reads it before the king and all the officials standing beside him. Metzudat David explains 'from upon the king' as standing near the king. Yehoyakim insists on hearing the scroll itself rather than a report, setting the stage for the dramatic scene in his winter house.

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וְהַמֶּ֗לֶךְ יוֹשֵׁב֙ בֵּ֣ית הַחֹ֔רֶף בַּחֹ֖דֶשׁ הַתְּשִׁיעִ֑י וְאֶת־הָאָ֖ח לְפָנָ֥יו מְבֹעָֽרֶת׃

English:

Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in the winter house, with a fire burning in the brazier before him.

It is the ninth month, Kislev, and the king is sitting in the winter house with a fire burning in the brazier before him. Radak explains that kings built a summer house open to the wind and a winter house sheltered from it. Rashi and Radak cite the rabbinic definition of the brazier as wood ignited piece from piece, and Metzudat David calls it a vessel for warming oneself.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ואת האח. פירשו רבותינו עצים על שם שנדלקים באחוה (כלומר שנדלקים זה מזה כאחים שמהנים זה לזה סא"א) ולפי פשוטו משמע שהוא כלי שמבערין עליו אור לפני השרים:
and the brazier Heb. האח. Our Rabbis (Shabbath 21a) defined it as wood, called so because they burn with brotherhood. (That is to say that they are ignited one from the other, like brothers, who benefit each other. Omitted in other editions.) And according to its simple meaning, it appears that it is a vessel upon which they kindle fire before the princes.

פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֣י ׀ כִּקְר֣וֹא יְהוּדִ֗י שָׁלֹ֣שׁ דְּלָתוֹת֮ וְאַרְבָּעָה֒ יִֽקְרָעֶ֙הָ֙ בְּתַ֣עַר הַסֹּפֵ֔ר וְהַשְׁלֵ֕ךְ אֶל־הָאֵ֖שׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶל־הָאָ֑ח עַד־תֹּם֙ כׇּל־הַמְּגִלָּ֔ה עַל־הָאֵ֖שׁ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָאָֽח׃

English:

And every time Jehudi read three or four columns, [the king] would cut it up with a scribe’s knife and throw it into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed by the fire in the brazier.

Whenever Yehudi reads three or four columns, the king cuts them with a scribe's knife and casts them into the fire until the whole scroll is consumed. Radak explains that columns are called doors because they open and close. Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David cite Chazal that the scroll was Eichah, and that the king burned it only on reaching 'her adversaries have become the head.'
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
שלש דלתות. רבותינו אמרו מגלת קינות היתה קראו לפניו איכה בכה תבכה גלתה יהודה דרכי ציון אבילות בכל זה לא חש אמר אני מלך על הנותרים כיון שקרא היו צריה לראש אמר מעכשיו איני מלך מיד ויקרעה בתער הסופר: יקרעה. כמו קרעה:
three...verses Our Rabbis (Moed Katan 26a) stated. This was the Scroll of Lamentations. They read before him, (1:1) "How...(:2) She weeps...(ibid. 3) Judah has been exiled...(ibid. 4) The roads of Zion are mournful." Despite all this, he was not troubled. He said, "I am the king over the survivors." As soon as he read (ibid. 5), Her adversaries have become the head," he said, "From now on, I am [no longer] the king." Immediately, he rent it with a scribe's razor. he rent Heb. יקרעה, like קְרָעָה.

פסוק כ״ד · Verse 24

Hebrew:

וְלֹ֣א פָחֲד֔וּ וְלֹ֥א קָרְע֖וּ אֶת־בִּגְדֵיהֶ֑ם הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ וְכׇל־עֲבָדָ֔יו הַשֹּׁ֣מְעִ֔ים אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֖ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃

English:

Yet the king and all his courtiers who heard all these words showed no fear and did not tear their garments;

Neither the king nor his servants who heard these words feared or tore their garments. Metzudat David says tearing was the fitting response of grief. Radak distinguishes the indifferent king and household from the officials, who did fear, and cites Chazal's ruling that one who sees a Torah scroll destroyed must tear his garment. The verse pointedly recalls Yoshiyahu, who tore his garments at the Torah's reading.

פסוק כ״ה · Verse 25

Hebrew:

וְגַם֩ אֶלְנָתָ֨ן וּדְלָיָ֤הוּ וּגְמַרְיָ֙הוּ֙ הִפְגִּ֣עוּ בַמֶּ֔לֶךְ לְבִלְתִּ֥י שְׂרֹ֖ף אֶת־הַמְּגִלָּ֑ה וְלֹ֥א שָׁמַ֖ע אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃

English:

moreover, Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, but he would not listen to them.

Elnatan, Delayahu and Gemaryahu plead with the king not to burn the scroll, but he does not listen. Rashi and Radak explain the verb (הפגיעו) as supplication and entreaty, and Metzudat David stresses that despite their pleading the king remained unmoved. The courage of these officials, who risked royal anger to protect the prophetic word, stands in stark contrast to Yehoyakim's defiance.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
הפגיעו. התחננו:
entreated Heb. הפגעו, supplicated.

פסוק כ״ו · Verse 26

Hebrew:

וַיְצַוֶּ֣ה הַ֠מֶּ֠לֶךְ אֶת־יְרַחְמְאֵ֨ל בֶּן־הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ וְאֶת־שְׂרָיָ֣הוּ בֶן־עַזְרִיאֵ֗ל וְאֶת־שֶׁלֶמְיָ֙הוּ֙ בֶּֽן־עַבְדְּאֵ֔ל לָקַ֙חַת֙ אֶת־בָּר֣וּךְ הַסֹּפֵ֔ר וְאֵ֖ת יִרְמְיָ֣הוּ הַנָּבִ֑יא וַיַּסְתִּרֵ֖ם יְהֹוָֽה׃ {ס}         

English:

The king ordered Jerahmeel, the king’s son, and Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But GOD hid them.

The king orders Yerachme'el, Serayahu and Shelemyahu to seize Baruch the scribe and Yirmiyahu the prophet, but the LORD hides them. Metzudat David explains that the king wanted to kill them over the scroll and that they were hidden miraculously. Radak suggests the searchers came to the very place yet did not find them, perhaps through a surrounding darkness or a blinding of their sight.

פסוק כ״ז · Verse 27

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֥י דְבַר־יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֑הוּ אַחֲרֵ֣י ׀ שְׂרֹ֣ף הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ אֶת־הַמְּגִלָּה֙ וְאֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר כָּתַ֥ב בָּר֛וּךְ מִפִּ֥י יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ לֵאמֹֽר׃

English:

The word of GOD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation:

The word of the LORD comes to Yirmiyahu after the king burned the scroll and the words Baruch had written. Radak and Metzudat David explain that both the parchment and the writing itself were burned. Radak records that Chazal derived from the double phrase that one who sees a Torah scroll burned must make two tears, one for the parchment and one for the writing.

פסוק כ״ח · Verse 28

Hebrew:

שׁ֥וּב קַח־לְךָ֖ מְגִלָּ֣ה אַחֶ֑רֶת וּכְתֹ֣ב עָלֶ֗יהָ אֵ֤ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִים֙ הָרִ֣אשֹׁנִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָי֗וּ עַל־הַמְּגִלָּה֙ הָרִ֣אשֹׁנָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׂרַ֖ף יְהוֹיָקִ֥ים מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָֽה׃

English:

Get yourself another scroll, and write upon it the same words that were in the first scroll that was burned by King Jehoiakim of Judah.

פסוק כ״ט · Verse 29

Hebrew:

וְעַל־יְהוֹיָקִ֤ים מֶֽלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה֙ תֹּאמַ֔ר כֹּ֖ה אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֑ה אַ֠תָּ֠ה שָׂרַ֜פְתָּ אֶת־הַמְּגִלָּ֤ה הַזֹּאת֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר מַדּ֩וּעַ֩ כָּתַ֨בְתָּ עָלֶ֜יהָ לֵאמֹ֗ר בֹּֽא־יָב֤וֹא מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶל֙ וְהִשְׁחִית֙ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את וְהִשְׁבִּ֥ית מִמֶּ֖נָּה אָדָ֥ם וּבְהֵמָֽה׃ {ס}         

English:

And concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah you shall say: Thus said GOD: You burned that scroll, saying, “How dare you write in it that the king of Babylon will come and destroy this land and cause human and animal to cease from it?”

Yirmiyahu is to tell Yehoyakim that he burned the scroll while asking why it was written that the king of Bavel would come and destroy the land, cutting off man and beast. Metzudat David explains that the king objected to words predicting Bavel's destruction of the land. Yehoyakim's real quarrel is with the message of Bavel's coming, the heart of Yirmiyahu's prophecy.

פסוק ל׳ · Verse 30

Hebrew:

לָכֵ֞ן כֹּֽה־אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֗ה עַל־יְהֽוֹיָקִים֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יְהוּדָ֔ה לֹא־יִֽהְיֶה־לּ֥וֹ יוֹשֵׁ֖ב עַל־כִּסֵּ֣א דָוִ֑ד וְנִבְלָתוֹ֙ תִּהְיֶ֣ה מֻשְׁלֶ֔כֶת לַחֹ֥רֶב בַּיּ֖וֹם וְלַקֶּ֥רַח בַּלָּֽיְלָה׃

English:

Assuredly, thus said GOD concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah: He shall not have any of his line sitting on the throne of David; and his own corpse shall be left exposed to the heat by day and the cold by night.

Yehoyakim will have no descendant sitting on David's throne, and his corpse will be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. Radak and Metzudat David explain that his son Yehoyachin ruled only three months and ten days, which does not count as reigning. Metzudat David adds that he would die on the road into exile unburied, and Radak that the Kasdim would not allow his burial.

פסוק ל״א · Verse 31

Hebrew:

וּפָקַדְתִּ֨י עָלָ֧יו וְעַל־זַרְע֛וֹ וְעַל־עֲבָדָ֖יו אֶת־עֲוֺנָ֑ם וְהֵבֵאתִ֣י עֲ֠לֵיהֶ֠ם וְעַל־יֹשְׁבֵ֨י יְרוּשָׁלַ֜͏ִם וְאֶל־אִ֣ישׁ יְהוּדָ֗ה אֵ֧ת כׇּל־הָרָעָ֛ה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֥רְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם וְלֹ֥א שָׁמֵֽעוּ׃

English:

And I will punish him and his offspring and his courtiers for their iniquity; I will bring on them and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem and on all the citizenry of Judah all the disasters of which I have warned them—but they would not listen.

God will punish Yehoyakim, his descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and bring upon Yerushalayim and Yehudah all the evil He spoke, because they did not listen. Metzudat David explains that the iniquity remembered is the burning of the scroll, and that the evil is precisely what the scroll described. The rejected warning becomes the very sentence.

פסוק ל״ב · Verse 32

Hebrew:

וְיִרְמְיָ֜הוּ לָקַ֣ח ׀ מְגִלָּ֣ה אַחֶ֗רֶת וַֽיִּתְּנָהּ֮ אֶל־בָּר֣וּךְ בֶּן־נֵרִיָּ֘הוּ֮ הַסֹּפֵר֒ וַיִּכְתֹּ֤ב עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ מִפִּ֣י יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ אֵ֚ת כׇּל־דִּבְרֵ֣י הַסֵּ֔פֶר אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׂרַ֛ף יְהוֹיָקִ֥ים מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֖ה בָּאֵ֑שׁ וְע֨וֹד נוֹסַ֧ף עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם דְּבָרִ֥ים רַבִּ֖ים כָּהֵֽמָּה׃ {פ}

English:

So Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah. And at Jeremiah’s dictation, he wrote in it the whole text of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned; and more of the like was added.

Yirmiyahu gives a new scroll to Baruch, who writes all the words of the burned book, and many more like them are added. Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David explain through Chazal's tradition that the first scroll held the three acrostic laments of Eichah beginning 'how,' and the tripled acrostic of chapter 3, 'I am the man,' was added. The burned word returns, enlarged.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
דברים רבים כהמה. מתחלה היו שלש אלפא ביתין איכה ישבה איכה יעיב איכה יועם והוסיף עליה אני הגבר שכל אות משולשת בה:
many words like those At first, there were three alphabetical acrostics: (Lam. ch. 1) "O how... remained," (2) "How...brought darkness," (4) "How dim...has become." And he added to it, (3) "I am the man," in which every letter is tripled.

← Jeremiah 35 | Jeremiah 37 →

Back to Jeremiah | Back to Nach Yomi