Jeremiah 36:9

And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem. THEY PROCLAIMED A FAST ... TO ALL THE PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM, AND TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT CAME ... - rather, 'all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast' (Michaelis). The chiefs appointed the fast by the wish of the people. In either version the ungodly king had no share in appointing the fast....

Here is added a fuller explanation; for the Prophet relates nothing new, but according to what is common in Hebrew he expresses at large what he had before briefly stated: for he had said, that Baruch read in the Temple the words of God as he had been commanded; but he now relates when and how this was done, even in _the fifth year of Jehoiakim, _and when a _fast was proclaimed in the ninth month _(104) We now then see the design of this repetition, even to point out more clearly the time. He then says that the book was read and recited when a fast was proclaimed in the fifth year of Jehoiakim. The Jews, no doubt, knew that some grievous calamity was at hand, for this proclamation was extraordinary. And we know that when some calamity was apprehended, they usually betook themselves to this remedy, not that fasting in itself was pleasing to God, but because it was a symbol of humiliation,...

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....

Verse Jeremiah 36:9. _IN THE NINTH MONTH_] Answering to a part of our _December_....

The ninth month answers to our December, and the fast was probably in commemoration of the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans in the previous year....

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

AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE FIFTH YEAR OF JEHOIAKIM THE SON OF JOSIAH KING OF JUDAH, IN THE NINTH MONTH,.... This was a different time of reading the book from the former, enjoined by the prophet, and performed by Baruch, Jeremiah 36:6; that was on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; this was in the fifth year of his reign, and in the ninth month of the year, a year and two months after the former, as it should seem; but Jehoiakim's fifth year beginning in the seventh month after the day of atonement, this ninth month is to be reckoned not from the beginning of his fifth year, but from the beginning of the ecclesiastical year in the spring; so that this was but two months after the former reading: [THAT] THEY PROCLAIMED A FAST BEFORE THE LORD: this was not an ordinary fast, or a common annual one of divine appointment, which came in course

NINTH MONTH That is, December....

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