Jeremias 36
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
Jeremias 36:1-3
36:1 "In the fourth year of Jehoiakim" This is the same introductory phrase used in Jeremiah 25, 45, and 46. The year is 605 B.C.. This was the year of the Battle of Carchemish in which the Neo-Babylon army defeated the Egyptian and the remnants of the Assyrian armies. Daniel had been in exile for one year (cf. Dan. 1:1). This Judean king was a son of the godly King Josiah. He grew up under godly teachers but his heart turned away from God. Ezekiel 18 uses him and his father or Hezekiah and Manasseh as types. 36:2 Jeremiah's message was not his own! YHWH wanted His message delivered to that generation in writing so it could be a witness to us also (cf. Rom. 4:23-24; 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:6,11; 1 Pet. 1:10-12). He spoke to a particular culture, at a particular time, but the basic message has relevance for all believers for all times! The best book I have read that discusses this issue is Gordon Fee, Gospel and Spirit. I commend it to you. ▣ "concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations" What a tremendous statement! YHWH is not a God of the Israelites only but a God of all the world (cf. Gen. 3:15; 12:3; Exod. 19:5; Ps. 22:27; 66:1-4; 86:8-10; Isa. 2:2-4; 12:4-5; 25:6-9; 42:6-12; 45:22-23; 49:5-6; 51:4-5; 56:6-8; 60:1-3; 66:23; Jonah; Micah 4:1-4; Mal. 1:11; John 3:16; 4:42; 12:47; Rom. 5:18; 1 Tim. 2:4; 4:10; Titus 2:11; 3:4; 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 John 2:2; 4:14)! SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH'S ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN ▣ "from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day" This is a reference to the introduction to the book at Jer. 1:2-3. from the 13 th year of Josiah, the last godly king of Judah (2 Chr. 34:1-3); this 13 th year would have been 627 B.C. to the 11 th year of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, when Jerusalem fell to Neo-Babylon (586 B.C., cf. 2 Kgs. 25; 2 Chr. 36:17-20) SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY 36:3 "all the calamity which I plan to bring on them" This is a difficult phrase to understand. Does this mean that every physical tragedy is from the hand of God? I think not! But sometimes it is or at least He allows the consequences of a fallen world to manifest in the lives of nations and individuals. If this occurred every time we sinned, we would all live in constant crises. Here is a problem. God does use problems (physical, emotional, relational, spiritual) to cause us to recognize His presence and purpose for our lives. There are consequences for disobedience (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-28,30). Everything that happens to us in our lives is not the hand of God but the consequences of living in a fallen world. I never know if what happens to me is a result of #1 or #2, so I choose to use the circumstances (good or bad) to seek God and His will for my life. He is with us and for us (my worldview). I filter everything through this truth. In the OT all causality is attributed to God to affirm monotheism (see SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM). The OT does not recognize or designate "secondary causes"! SPECIAL TOPIC: ONE CAUSALITY ▣ "every man will turn from his evil ways" This is a continuing emphasis of individual responsibility (i.e. a conditional covenant, cf. Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 18:2-4). Notice how YHWH desires that all Judah repent, one person at a time. Biblical faith is both individual and corporate! SPECIAL TOPIC: REPENTANCE (OT) ▣ "I will forgive their iniquity and their sins" This is the continuing promise of the graciousness of God, that if humans (i.e. in this context, Judeans, cf. Jer. 18:7-12; 26:3) will turn to Him in repentance and faith (cf. Jer. 7:5-7; 26:3; Ps. 103:6-14; Isa. 1:16-19; Mark 1:15), He will turn to them (cf. Zech. 1:3; Mal. 3:7). Note the implied "if. . .then" conditional covenant. SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVE, TRUST, FAITH AND FAITHFULNESS (OT) SPECIAL TOPIC: FORGIVENESS IN THE OT SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT SPECIAL TOPIC: Seek the Lord
Jeremias 36:4-8
36:4 "Baruch" This man functions as Jeremiah's scribe. He was from 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 long pieces of leather with the writing in small columns. The leather scroll of Isaiah, found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, is 29 feet long. papyrus pages glued together. Papyri pages could be written easily on only one side. This phrase (BDB 166 CONSTRUCT BDB 706) is found only here and in Ps. 40:7; Ezek. 2:9. 36:5 "I am restricted" The root term is "debarred" (BDB 783, KB 870, Qal PASSIVE PARTICIPLE). It means he had been put under house arrest (cf. Jer. 32:2; 33:1) and barred from the temple area he had become ceremonially unclean and, therefore, could not enter the temple area ▣ "on a fast day" Which fast day is not specified. Originally, there was only one fast day a year (i.e. the Day of Atonement, Lev. 16), but as the generations passed, more and more were added. SPECIAL TOPIC: FASTING SPECIAL TOPIC: FEASTS OF ISRAEL, I. E. #2 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. SPECIAL TOPIC: PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN LANGUAGE
Jeremias 36:9-10
36:9 "in the ninth month" This is the first mention in the OT of the Babylonian calendar (NET Bible #11, p. 1398). In this same month, Ashkelon, a major Judean city forty-five miles from Jerusalem, fell to Neo-Babylon. This may be the reason for this fast (i.e. not "the Day of Atonement," Leviticus 16 or the fall of Jerusalem in 605 to Babylon). SPECIAL TOPIC: ANE CALENDARS SPECIAL TOPIC: FEASTS OF ISRAEL, I. E. #2 36:10 "Shaphan, the scribe" This was an official in Josiah's court. He was comparable to modern America's Secretary of State (cf. 2 Kgs. 22:3). SPECIAL TOPIC: SCRIBES
Jeremias 36:11-19
36:12 "all the officials were sitting there" This was an official meeting of the leaders of both the temple and the royal court (cf. Jer. 26:20-23). 36:14 "Jehudi" His name means "man of Judah" (BDB 397 II). His lineage is listed to the third generation because he was a man of some renown he was of the royal line (cf. Zeph. 1:1) he had an ancestor name Cush (i.e. "black" or from Cush, cf. Gen. 10:6-8) 36:15 "Sit down, please, and read it to us" Apparently these leaders were very cordial to both Baruch and to Jeremiah. This shows that at some level the leadership recognized the truthfulness of Jeremiah's prophecy. The LXX and Aramaic Targums change the vowels to read "read it again." They had heard it before but wanted to hear the message of doom again (cf. Jer. 36:10-11). They were hoping and praying for royal repentance (cf. Jer. 36:24-25). 36:16 Notice the reaction of these leaders to Jeremiah's message — "they turned in fear (BDB 808, KB 922, Qal PERFECT) one to another." ▣ "We will surely report all these words to the king" The INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and IMPERFECT VERB of the same root (BDB 616, KB 665) are used to denote the urgency and intensity of their feelings about Jeremiah's prophecy. 36:17-18 Apparently these leaders wanted to know how Baruch received this message. Baruch assures them that these are exactly the words Jeremiah spoke to him with the implication that these are the very words YHWH spoke to Jeremiah. 36:19 "Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are" "Go" (BDB 229, KB 246,Qal IMPERATIVE) and "hide" (BDB 711, KB 771, Niphal IMPERATIVE). These are their strong suggestions because they feared the King's reaction (i.e. Jer. 36:26; 26:23) and wanted to protect Jeremiah and Baruch.
Jeremias 36:20-26
36:22 "winter house" This was not a separate structure but a two story dwelling. In the summer the ancients lived on the second story which had many open windows, and in the winter on the first floor which had few windows. 36:23 "read three or four columns" Remember this was a scroll written in columns on rolled material. As the scroll was unrolled several columns would appear. The king would cut off the columns that had just been read and burn them. Thus, bit by bit the whole scroll was destroyed! The word translated "columns" is literally "doors" (BDB 195). It is used in this sense only here. The columns of the scroll would be the same dimensions (i.e. rectangular) as a door. ▣ "a scribe's knife" This was a small penknife used to sharpen quills for writing. This word is found only here (BDB 789 CONSTRUCT BDB 707). ▣ "the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier" Why did the king do this? to physically show his rejection of both Jeremiah and his message (symbolic act so often used by Jeremiah) to use an ANE method of counter-cursing. By burning the predictive scroll, its contents would be null and void. 36:24 What a contrast between the leaders' hearing of the prophecy (cf. Jer. 36:16) and the king's (cf. Ps. 36:1). It may also be a purposeful contrast to Josiah hearing God's message read in 2 Kgs. 22:11. For the phrase "rend their garments," see SPECIAL TOPIC: GRIEVING RITES 36:26 "the king's son" This was probably not a true son of the king but a title for a member of the royal family or even possibly an official at court (cf. Jer. 38:6; 1 Kgs. 22:26; 2 Chr. 28:7). ▣ "but the Lord hid them" This is similar to YHWH's protection of Elijah from King Ahab in 1 Kgs. 17:3-7. As Hebrews 11 shows, some prophets are killed and some are spared! Either way, YHWH is in control. Circumstances do not affect the love and presence of YHWH.
Jeremias 36:27-31
36:29 "the king of Babylon will certainly come" This is the INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and the IMPERFECT VERB of the same root (BDB 97, KB 112) used for certainty/emphasis. ▣ "destroy this land" The VERB (BDB 1007, KB 1469) form is Hiphil PERFECT with waw. The destruction will be complete and assured (i.e. a PROPHETIC PERFECT)! 36:30 "He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David" Was this a false prophecy? Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son, Jehoiachin, for three months before he was taken into exile by Nebuchanezzar II. It has been a lifelong process for me to understand OT prophetic literature. A book that has really helped me is D. Brent Sandy, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks: Rethinking the Language of Biblical Prophecy and Apocalyptic. For this subject chapters 6 and 7 are especially helpful. Modern westerners expect literal, complete fulfillment of every detail, but ancient easterners did not. They recognized the hyperbolic and idiomatic nature of this genre. ▣ "his dead body. . ." This was a curse that even affected one's afterlife. Improper burial, especially for a royal Davidic king, was a sign of God's displeasure and judgment. It is one of the specific curses recorded in Deut. 28:26. SPECIAL TOPIC: BURIAL PRACTICES
Jeremias 36:32
36:32 "and many similar words were added to them" It is almost a good thing that the king burned Jeremiah's prophecy because his second copy included many more words. It is not certain what part of our current book of Jeremiah was included in this scroll, although many scholars believe the LXX, which puts the judgment of the nations (i.e. Jeremiah 46-51) after chapter 25, is the original form. Obviously, Jeremiah used some notes to help recall YHWH's messages. Moderns are not certain how or when the OT books were collected and edited. It is a faith presupposition that they are uniquely inspired and preserved at every stage of their development. For a good book on how ancient oral cultures passed on their traditions, see John H. Walton and D. Brent Sandy, The Lost World of Scripture. SPECIAL TOPIC: INSPIRATION