Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
16. they turned in fear one toward another ] lit. they trembled every one to his neighbour, i.e. they looked at each other and trembled.
unto Baruch ] omit with LXX.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They were afraid both one and other – literally, they trembled each to his neighbor, i. e., they showed their alarm by their looks and gestures one to another. They felt that what he had so consistently prophesied for a period of 23 years would in all probability be fulfilled.
We will surely tell – Rather, We must tell the king. It was their official duty.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
It is hardly to be imagined that all these counsellors should sit still till they had heard all Jeremiahs prophecies for twenty-two years read, but all signifies many, or the sense and substance of all the prophecies. They were all of them afraid: Jeremiah had now been above twenty years a prophet to this people, and doubtless in great esteem for eighteen years of it, while Josiah was alive, and one whose prophecies they could not but observe had been oft accomplished; therefore they could not but be afraid that they should see these words also fulfilled, and took themselves bound in duty to acquaint the king with them. Some, if not all, of these probably had been great men in Josiahs time, which was but four or five years before, and from him sucked in some good and religious principles, which begat some awe of God in them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. afraid, both one andotherHebrew, “fear-stricken,” they turned toone another (compare Ge 42:28).This showed, on their part, hesitancy, and some degree of fear ofGod, but not enough to make them willing to sacrifice the favor of anearthly king.
We will surely tell thekingnot the language of threatening but implying that thematter is of such moment that the king ought to be made acquaintedwith it, so as to seek some remedy against the divine anger.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words,…. In the roll or book read by Baruch; they heard them read patiently, which was what the king afterwards would not do:
they were afraid both one and another; both good and bad; for there were some of both sorts among them: or, “a man to his friend” r; they looked at one another, and knew not what to say to each other, as men amazed and astonished; they trembled at what they heard, the threatenings were so terrible, and the calamity threatened so great; and they consulted together what they should do with this roll, or what course they should take to avert the threatened vengeance, and particularly whether they should acquaint the king with it or not; and which they thought the safest and most prudent part to do:
and said unto Baruch, we will surely tell the king of all these words; this they said, not to terrify Baruch, or out of any ill will to him; but partly for their own security, lest they should incur the king’s displeasure, should he come to the knowledge of it any other way; and chiefly hoping it might have some effect upon him, to cause a reformation; though of this they were dubious, and rather feared it would exasperate him; and therefore desired that Baruch and Jeremiah would hide themselves, Jer 36:19; this was the sense of some of them, of those that were good men among them, and wished things were otherwise than they were.
r “vir ad socium suum”, Montanus; “ad proximum suum”, Vatablus; “ad amicum suum”, Pagninus; “erga socium suum”, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We see that there was some regard for religion in the princes, for they submitted to hear, and respectfully received the Prophet’s servant. Had Jeremiah himself come, he would, no doubt, have been received as God’s Prophet, as such honor was given to his servant, that the princes ordered him to be seated, which was certainly a favor. It hence appears that they were not profane despisers of God. Then follows another thing, — that they were moved with fear Then as to the king’s counsellors, we see that they were in such a state of mind, that they readily listened to, and dreaded the threatenings of God. But it was a fear that no doubt soon vanished; and what he says, that they feared each as to his neighbor, was a sign of a change; for he who fears as he ought, thinks of himself, and examines himself before God; but when the mind wavers, eyery one looks to another. It was then a sign of repentance not real and genuine, so to fear as to look to one another, for they ought, each of them, to look to God, that they might from an inward consciousness acknowledge their sins, and thus flee to the true remedy.
It follows, that they said, Declaring we shall declare to the king, etc. We hence learn, that their fear was such, that they did not yet wish to offend the king. They then referred the matter to him, being anxious to gratify him. This is the religion of the court, even so to fear God as not to lose favor, but on the contrary, so to perform one’s duty, as not to be liable to the charge of not being sufficiently attentive and devoted to the king’s interest. In short, the Prophet thus represents to us, as in a glass, the religion of the king’s counsellors, and shews to us at the same time that their minds were corrupted by ambition, and that ambition so prevailed, that they paid more regard to a mortal king than to the only true King of heaven.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) They were afraid both one and other . . .The words indicate a conflict of feelings. They were alarmed for themselves and their country as they heard, with at least a partial faith, the woes that were threatened as impending. They were alarmed also for the safety of the prophet and the scribe who had the boldness to utter those woes. They have no hostile purpose in communicating what they had heard to the king, but the matter had come to their official knowledge, and they had no alternative but to report it (Lev. 5:1; Pro. 29:24).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. They were afraid Literally, they trembled each to his fellow. They showed the alarm with which these words filled their minds. This was due, not to the novelty of the predictions, as with many of them they must have been acquainted, but to the solemnity of the occasion, the gravity of the subject-matter, the earnestness of the scribe himself, and the cumulative force of the predictions.
We will surely tell Rather, we must tell. These matters, so important, we may not hide from the king.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Princes Having Listened To What Was Written In The Scroll Ascertain The Facts About It And Feel It Necessary To Inform The King About Its Contents Meanwhile Advising Baruch and Jeremiah To Go Into Hiding ( Jer 36:16-19 ).
The whole gathering were stirred by the words, for they were clearly a section of the king’s council who in general supported Jeremiah’s outlook, and filled with apprehension by the words enquired further into their exact source, being determined to bring them to the king’s notice. Baruch explained that they had been dictated to him by Jeremiah, while he recorded them. Then in preparation for what they were about to do they recommended to Baruch that he and Jeremiah should go into hiding.
Jer 36:16
‘Now it came about, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one towards another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.”
Having listened carefully to the words that Baruch read out the whole gathering looked at one another, stirred by the words and apprehensive at what the words had prophesied was coming on Judah. Then they turned to Baruch and assured him that they would bring them to the attention of the king. This was not an unfriendly act, but an indication of how seriously they took them. They knew that in the end they were intended for the king, and would have been aware of some of the events mentioned in them (such as the Temple sermon in chapter 7). Furthermore their reading out in the Temple had made them public knowledge and it would not have been safe to withhold them from the king.
Jer 36:17
‘And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, How did you write all these words at his mouth?”
But before doing so they wanted to be sure of the exact source of the words, and so they asked Baruch to describe the process and the circumstances which had resulted in them being written. It was important to know how far Baruch himself ought to accept responsibility for the words, especially as he had read them out in the Temple, which was not necessarily a scribe’s duty. (Besides so-called prophets had many different ways of obtaining their ‘prophetic words’ and they wanted to know how far these could be relied on).
Jer 36:18
‘Then Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll (written record).”
Baruch explained that Jeremiah had proclaimed the words to him while he wrote them down on the scroll. Had he simply been acting as a paid scribe he could have argued that he was ‘only doing his job’. But by proclaiming them in the Temple he had undoubtedly implicated himself.
This is the only mention of ‘ink’ in the Old Testament. It was a black carbon (charcoal) mixed with gum or oil and would be brushed on by the stylus which would often be a reed split at the end to form a kind of brush. It would be solidified and kept in the scribe’s palette, being moistened by the reed when required.
Jer 36:19
‘Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and let no man know where you are.”
The princes (leading men), who knew only too well what Jehoiakim’s reaction might be, then advised Baruch that he and Jeremiah should hide themselves away and leave no trace of their whereabouts. The implication was that the king would otherwise have them arrested, and even put to death. If this was not long after the death of the prophet Uriah who had also proclaimed Jeremiah’s words (Jer 26:20) we can understand the danger that Baruch was in. Having given this advice the princes then put the scroll in the room of Elishama the Scribe for safe-keeping. It was stored in the Cabinet office.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 36:16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
Ver. 16. They were afraid, both one and other, ] a Expavescunt et sese mutuo respiciunt; they were afraid, and looked one upon another, being much distracted at this new and unexpected occurrence; neither wist they at first what to do, being affected after a sort, and smitten with the weightiness of the business.
We will surely tell the king.
a Alter alterum intuentes vel alloquentes. – Piscat.
the words. Some codices, with two early printed editions, read “these words”.
We will surely tell. Showing their earnestness and sincerity in the matter.
they were: Jer 36:24, Act 24:25, Act 24:26
We: Jer 13:18, Jer 38:1-4, Amo 7:10, Amo 7:11
Reciprocal: Isa 66:5 – ye that Jer 32:12 – Baruch
Jer 36:16. Afraid is defined by Strong, “lo be startled.’ This was caused by the unpleasant predictions the book contained against them, and they thought the king should be informed about it.
Jer 36:16-19. When they heard all the words It is hardly to be imagined that all these counsellors would sit still till they had heard all the prophecies read which Jeremiah had uttered for the last twenty-two years; but all signifies many, or, the substance of all his prophecies. They were afraid both one and other That is, they were all of them afraid. The judgments denounced were so terrible as to make the ears of them that heard them tingle. Jeremiah had now been above twenty years a prophet to this people, and doubtless had been in great esteem for eighteen years of that time, while Josiah was alive, and they could not but observe that his prophecies had been often accomplished. They were, therefore, it seems, afraid that they should see these fulfilled also. And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words? This seemed a reasonable question, considering they were the substance of what he had been prophesying for so many years. The matter seemed strange to the princes, the prophets not being used to study and write their discourses, but to preach them extempore. Baruch answered, He pronounced all these words, and I wrote them, &c. This could not but add to the princes fear that these prophecies would be accomplished, for they must needs conceive that, without a special influence of God, it would have been a thing impossible that Jeremiah should have called to mind all that he had spoken at sundry times for so many years. Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go hide thee, thou and Jeremiah They thought it their duty to acquaint the king with the matter, and yet were unwilling that Jeremiah and Baruch should feel the effects of his displeasure.
36:16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were {i} afraid both one and another, and said to Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
(i) The godly were afraid, seeing God so offended, and the wicked were astonished for the horror of the punishment.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes