Jeremiah 36:18

Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. HE PRONOUNCED ALL THESE WORDS UNTO ME WITH HIS MOUTH. Baruch replies, it was by the oral dictation of the prophet: accords with this view, rather than with the notion that Jeremiah repeated his prophecies from MSS. I WROTE THEM WITH INK - his specification of the "ink" implies, I added nothing except the hand, pen, and ink....

He simply answered, that Jeremiah had _pronounced these words _to him. They might hence have concluded, that Jeremiah had no roll laid before him, and that he had been not long meditating on what he communicated to his scribe Baruch. And though he seems to have said no more than what might satisfy the princes, yet the purport of the whole is, that Jeremiah did not produce the roll from a recess or his desk, but promptly gave utterance to what God’s Spirit suggested to him. Their astonishment, then, must have increased, when the king’s counsellors knew that these commands did not proceed from a mortal man, but that, on the contrary, God spoke them by the mouth of Jeremiah, and by the hand of Baruch. It follows, —...

9-19 Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficulties and reserves about their safety, interest, or preferment, so that they do not act according to their convictions, and try to get rid of what they find troublesome....

HE PRONOUNCED - He used to say aloud, he dictated. Baruch’s office was merely mechanical. He contributed nothing but hand, pen, and ink....

CHAPTERS 36-38. NARRATIVE OF EVENTS PRECEDING THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. Jeremiah 36:1. THE ROLL OF PROPHECY DESTROYED BY JEHOIAKIM. EXPOSITION In the fourth year of Jehoiakim (which, it is important to remember, was the first of Nebuchadnezzar) Jeremiah was directed to write down all his previous revelations, from the beginning of his ministry to the present day. Such, at least, is the literal meaning of verses 1, 2; but it would seem that the literal meaning can hardly be the right one. First of all, a historically accurate reproduction of the prophecies would not have suited Jeremi

THEN BARUCH ANSWERED THEM,.... At once, without any hesitation, plainly and fully: HE PRONOUNCED ALL THESE WORDS UNTO ME WITH HIS MOUTH; that is, the Prophet Jeremiah delivered by word of mouth, not the substance only of this roll, but the express words of it, and everyone of them, and that clearly and distinctly, without any hesitation, or premeditation; by which it is plain it was by the Spirit of the Lord he did it; neither matter nor words were Baruch's, but were exactly as they were delivered: AND I WROTE [THEM] WITH INK IN THE BOOK; as they saw with their eyes, and which was the manner of writing with the Jews so early; Baruch had no further concern in this matter than to provide pen, ink, and parchment, and to make use of them as he did, just as the prophet dictated and directed him....

CHAPTER 36 The Indestructibility of the Word of God _ 1. The writing of the roll (Jeremiah 36:1) _ 2. The reading of the roll (Jeremiah 36:4) 3. The king cuts and burns the roll (Jeremiah 36:21) 4. The indestructibility of the Word of God (Jeremiah 36:27) Jeremiah 36:1. Once more we are taken back to the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah is now commanded to commit all the words Jehovah had spoken to him to writing. It was for the purpose that the people might hear of all the evil and

JEREMIAH 36. THE WRITING OF THE ROLL. This chapter narrates how the oral prophecies of Jeremiah were first put into writing (604 B.C.). The account is obviously important for the criticism of this book see Introduction, § 4, for the probable contents of the roll. The circumstances also throw light on the origin of written prophecy in general; the failure of the oral testimony (Jeremiah 36:3 cf. Isaiah 8:1; Isaiah 8:16; Isaiah 30:8) led to its preservation through writing. The pioneers amongst the so-called literary prophets are not primarily writers at all; the written records of their work are largely incidental, a fact which helps to explain the f

See introd. summary to the chapter....

AND THEY ASKED BARUCH, &C.— Mr. Green, on Psalms 13 observes, that these words should be placed and pointed thus_:—How didst thou write all these words? From his mouth? And Baruch answered them, From his mouth. He pronounced all these words unto me, and I wrote,_ &c....