And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’s house.
8. And Baruch did according to all ] This summary statement of the fact that Baruch carried out Jeremiah’s commands is followed by the detailed account in Jer 36:9 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Reading – To read.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him,…. Here follows Baruch’s obedience to the prophet’s commands; which he considered no doubt as the will of the Lord, who directed the prophet to give the orders he did; and which he punctually observed, in all respects, as to things, time, and place:
reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house; the prophecies of Jeremiah, which came from the Lord, and which he had transcribed into a book from the mouth of the prophet; these he read before the people in the temple, a first, if not a second time, before the reading of it recorded in the following verses.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Baruch executes his commission.
Jer 36:9-19
The reading of the book in the temple. – Jer 36:9. In the fifth year of Jehoiakim, in the ninth month, “they proclaimed a fast before the Lord – all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who had come out of the cities of the Judah to Jerusalem.” , to call, declare, appoint a fast; cf. 1Ki 21:9, 1Ki 21:12; 2Ch 20:3. From the tenor of the words, the people who lived in Jerusalem and those who had come thither out of the country might seem to have called the fast. But this is impossible; for the people from the cities of Judah evidently came to Jerusalem only in consequence of the fast being appointed. Hence Graf is of opinion that seems here used in a general way of the keeping of such a fast. This view is not confirmed by any parallel instances. The expression is inexact, and the inexactness has arisen from the effort to attain greater conciseness of expression. The meaning is this: a fast was proclaimed, and all the people in Jerusalem and out of the cities of Judah came to worship the Lord in the temple. It remains doubtful with whom the appointment originated, – whether with the king, or with the high priest and the priesthood. The ninth month corresponds to our December, and consequently came round with the cold season; cf. Jer 36:22. The fast-day was a special one; for in the law only the day of atonement, in the seventh month, was prescribed as a fast-day. On the object of this measure, see supra, p. 316f.
Jer 36:10 On this day Baruch read the addresses of Jeremiah out of the book to the people who had come to the temple, in the “chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper forecourt, at the entrance of the new gate of the house of the Lord.” Gemariah the son of Shaphan was one of the king’s private scribes, a secretary of state. For, according to Jer 36:12, he belonged to the princes, and was probably a brother of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, who had already shown himself, before this, a protector of the prophet (Jer 26:24). The chamber which he had in the temple was situated in the upper forecourt, at the entrance of the new gate, whose position we cannot exactly determine (see on Jer 26:10), but which led from the outer to the inner court of the priests, which rose higher than the others.
Jer 36:11-13 Micaiah, a son of Gemariah, was also listening to the reading; and he it was who brought the news into the palace. He made of the room, i.e., the office, of Elishama, the secretary of state, where the princes, viz., Elishama, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor (cf. Jer 26:22), Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, had just met for a consultation; and he mentioned to them what he had heard.
Jer 36:14 On this information the princes sent Jehudi (perhaps one of the under-officers of the secretary of state) to Baruch, to bring him, with the book from which he had read. From the designation, “Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi,” Hitzig and Graf conclude that the first and last are not proper names, but appellatives, “the Jew” and “the Cushite,” and account for the use of them on the ground that, through the application of the law given in Deu 23:7-8 to Cushites as well as Egyptians, the ancestor was a Cushite, and only his great-grandson became a Jew, or Jewish citizen, and was called “Jehudi.” But this view is opposed (1) by the fact that the names of the father and the grandfather are true proper names, and these, moreover, contain the name Jah ( Jahveh), – hence are genuine proper names of Israelites; moreover, (2) even in olden times Jehudith occurs as a woman’s name, Gen 26:34. According to this, Jehudi is a true proper name, and at the most, Cushi is but a surname of the great-grandfather, given him because of his descent from the Cushites. Further, the law, Deu 23:7, applies only to the posterity of the Edomites and Egyptians, that these should not be received into the congregation of the Lord till the third generation; this ordinance was based on grounds which did not permit of its application to other nations. These might be naturalized even in the first generation on undergoing circumcision, with the exception of Canaanites, Ammonites, and Moabites, who were not to be admitted into the Israelitish community even in the tenth generation, Deu 23:3.
Jer 36:15-16 When Baruch came, the princes, in token of friendly and respectful treatment, bade him sit down and read to them out of the book he had brought with him. Jer 36:16. But when they heard all the words read, “they were afraid one at another;” i.e., by looks, gestures, and words, they gave mutual expression of their fear, partly because of the contents of what had been read. Although they were generally acquainted with the sense and the spirit of Jeremiah’s addresses, yet what had now been read made a powerful impression on them; for Baruch plainly had read, both to the people in the temple and to the princes, not the whole book, but only the main portions, containing the sternest denunciations of sin and the strongest threats of punishment. The statement, “he read in (out of) the book the words of Jeremiah” (Jer 36:10), does not mean that he read the whole book; this would only have wearied the people and weakened the impression made. But they were partly also terrified, perhaps, by the boldness of a declaration which so decidedly opposed the desires and hopes of the king; for the thought of the event mentioned in Jer 26:20. would at once suggest to them the danger that might arise to the live of Jeremiah and Baruch from the despotic character of the king. They said therefore to Baruch, “We must tell the king all these things.” For it was clear that the matter could not long remain concealed from the king, after the public reading in the temple. Hence they dared not, agreeably to their official relation to the king, hide from him what had taken place.
Jer 36:17-18 Meanwhile, in order to inform themselves more exactly regarding what had happened, they ask Baruch, “Tell us, how hast thou written all these words at his mouth?” Thereupon Baruch replied, “He used to call aloud these words to me,” i.e., he used to dictate them to me by word of mouth, “and I wrote them in the book with ink.” The imperfect expresses the repeated or continued doing of anything; hence here means to dictate, which requires considerable time. In the following circumstantial clause is found the participle , while I was writing; and so I myself was doing nothing else all the time than writing down what was dictated. Some commentators have found a stumbling-block in in the question of the princes (Jer 36:17); the lxx and Ewald omit this word, inasmuch as Baruch does not explain till afterwards that he had written down the words from the mouth of Jeremiah. Others, like Venema, take as a question = . Both explanations are arbitrary and unnecessary. The princes knew quite well that the substance of the book was from the mouth of Jeremiah, i.e., contained his addresses; but Baruch, too, might have composed the book from the oral discourses of the prophet without being commissioned by him, without his knowledge also, and against his will. Accordingly, to attain certainty as to the share of the prophet in this matter, they ask him, and Baruch answers that Jeremiah had dictated it to him.
Jer 36:19 Thereupon the princes advised Baruch to hide himself and Jeremiah; for they know beforehand that Jehoiakim would put to death the witnesses of the truth.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 8-10: THE MESSAGES READ BEFORE THE PEOPLE
1. In the fifth year of Jehoiakim’s reign (the year that Babylon overthrew Ashkelon, in the plains of Philistia), in the month of Chisleu (corresponding to our December), a fast was appointed – evidently in connection with a national crisis, (comp. 2Ch 20:3; Ezr 4:16; Joe 1:14; Joe 2:15).
2. As the people came together in the temple, Baruch read from the scroll as he stood in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan (who had been Secretary of State under King Josiah), in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the house of the Lord. 3. Thus, Baruch read the words of the Lord, in the Lord’s house, before those who presumed themselves to be the Lord’s people. 4. No word is given to indicate the reaction of the people on this occasion.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here the promptitude of Baruch is commended, for he did not disobey God’s Prophet, but willingly undertook the office deputed to him. His office, as we have said, was not without danger. As then his message was by no means popular, but on the contrary very disagreeable, hence is seen the devotedness of Baruch. He made no refusal, for he knew that this burden was laid on him for some purpose. Jeremiah then says, that he did as he had been commanded, and read in the Temple the words of Jehovah (103) He calls them a little farther on the words of Jeremiah, but the same thing is meant; for as God is, as it were, represented by his ministers, so he often transfers to them what belongs peculiarly to himself. (Rom 2:16; 2Ti 2:8) That is called the doctrine of Jeremiah, which yet, properly speaking, has no other author but God. So Paul called that Gospel, of which he was the preacher and witness, his Gospel; and yet he himself had not devised the Gospel, but had received it from Christ, and faithfully delivered it as from his hand.
We ought, therefore, to notice this mode of speaking, which occurs everywhere in Scripture, — the same thing is ascribed to God and to his servants. Thus we find what may seem strange, — the Apostles are said to forgive sins, they are spoken of as bringing salvation; but the reason is, because they were ministers of God’s grace, and exhorted men in Christ’s name to be reconciled to God. They then absolved, because they were the testifiers of absolution. So also the words which God dictated to his servant were called the words of Jeremiah; yet, properly speaking, they were not the words of man, for they did not proceed from a mortal man, but from the only true God. It follows —
(103) I render this verse as follows, —
8. And Baruch, the son of Neriah, did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, in order to read in the book the words of Jehovah in the house of Jehovah.
What Jeremiah had commanded Baruch was to take a roll and to write the words from his mouth: this Baruch did, and for this purpose, that he might read the words (as the Targum has it) in the Lord’s house. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2. The reading by Baruch (Jer. 36:8-10)
TRANSLATION
(8) And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all which Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the scroll the words of the LORD at the house of the LORD. (9) And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people called a fast before the LORD in Jerusalem; and all the people were coming from the cities of Judah into Jerusalem. (10) And Baruch read in the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the presence of all the people in the house of the LORD in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court? at the entrance of the new gate of the house of the LORD.
COMMENTS
As Jeremiah faithfully executed the commands of God, Baruch faithfully carried out the instructions of his master in every detail (Jer. 36:8). It was December (the ninth month according to the Jewish reckoning) when the Temple authorities proclaimed a fast and a large host of the inhabitants of Judah flocked to Jerusalem to the Temple (Jer. 36:9). Baruch selected the chamber of Gemariah the scribe as the spot from which to read the scroll. He probably stood at the door of this room so that he might be heard by the people milling about in the Temple courts. This Gemariah was brother of Ahikam who was friendly to Jeremiah (Jer. 26:24).[312] Thus Baruch was on friendly territory as he stood in the doorway of the office belonging to Gemariah. This office was located in the higher court at the entry of the new gate of the Lords house (Jer. 36:10). The higher court would be the court of priests which was elevated slightly above the court of the people. The location of the new gate is uncertain.[313] One of the doors of Gemariahs office must have led into the court of the people. It was from this elevated spot which afforded a view over the larger court of the people that Baruch read the scroll.
[312] Another Gemariah is mentioned in Jer. 29:3.
[313] Laetsch suggests that the new gate is to be identified with the high, or upper, gate of Benjamin mentioned in Jer. 20:2 which was built comparatively late in the time of Jotham (II Kings 16:35).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
It should seem, , that Baruch made great use of this roll, and read in it to the people continually! For it was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim that he wrote it, and began to read it; and here we find him on the fast day in the fifth year still reading in it. And we have a very circumstantial account of the proceedings at this fast. I think, the fear and the terror of their looks are striking proofs of the alarm generally felt in their consciences. The hiding also both of Jeremiah and Baruch for the apprehension of the King’s wrath, is another testimony of it. But let the Reader observe also, that there is not a word said of their heart turning to the Lord. Alas! until the Lord turns the heart not a single affection of the heart will turn towards him. And let the Reader observe yet further, that though their consciences were thus alarmed, yet when the daring impiety of the King was carried to such an height, as to cut the roll and cast it into the fire, not a soul rent his garment, or took shame and confusion of face. See how the Lord sheltered his faithful servants. Here also the hand of the Lord was manifested. When the Lord hid them, he thereby showed himself!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 36:8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’S house.
Ver. 8. And Baruch the son of Neriah did according, &c. ] Nihil de sua saliva admiscens. He faithfully performed the prophet Jeremiah’s commands, not standing to cast perils, being thereunto heartened and hardened by Jeremiah Jer 45:5
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
did: Jer 36:4, Jer 1:17, Mat 16:24, 1Co 16:10, Phi 2:19-22
in the: Neh 8:3, Luk 4:16-30
Reciprocal: Deu 15:1 – General Jer 36:6 – and read Jer 36:10 – Then Jer 45:1 – when
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 36:8. According! . . . the prophet com manned him is a significant statement. The inspired prophets represented the authority of God and to disregard their commands was the same as disobeying Him,
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Baruch then went to the temple and did as Jeremiah had instructed him.