Jeremiah 36:29

And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

36:20-32 Those who despise the word of God, will soon show, as this king did, that they hate it; and, like him, they would wish it destroyed. See what enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at his patience. The princes showed some concern, till they saw how light the king made of it. Beware of making light of God's word!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The king of Babylon ... - These words do not prove that Nebuchadnezzar had not already come, and compelled Jehoiakim to become his vassal. The force lies in the last words, which predict such a coming as would make the land utterly desolate: and this would be the result of the king throwing off the Chaldaean yoke.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

29. say to Jehoiakim—not in person, as Jeremiah was "hidden" (Jer 36:26), but by the written word of prophecy.

saying, Why—This is what the king had desired to be said to Jeremiah if he should be found; kings often dislike the truth to be told them.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

It speaketh nothing but the impotency, and passion, and debauchery of human nature, to swell against any revelations of the Divine-will; the counsels of the Lord shall stand, and men only further entangle themselves by struggling in the Lord’s net. Jehoiakim burns one roll, God will have the same thing wrote in another. We learn here both what was the matter of Jeremiah’s prophecy, and the cause of the king’s anger; he had prophesied that the king of Babylon should come, take Jerusalem; and lay the country waste, which, as to Jehoiakim’s part, was fulfilled within six years after this, more fully in eighteen years; but corrupt princes can endure nothing that shall make their lives uneasy.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And thou shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah,.... Or, "concerning" (w) him; since the prophet was hid, and he was in quest of him; nor was it safe for him to appear in person before him; though this may be understood as what should be put into the second roll, and in that he addressed to him:

thus saith the Lord, thou hast burnt this roll; or "that roll"; or had suffered or ordered it to be burnt, giving this as a reason for it:

saying, why hast thou therein written; what the king would have to be a great falsehood, and which he thought never came from the Lord; but was a device of Jeremiah, to whom he ascribed the writing of them, though it was Baruch's, because dictated by him:

saying, the king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land,

and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? by killing some, and carrying off others, so that the destruction should be complete. He takes no notice of himself and his family, as if his concern was only for the nation; and that he took it ill that anything should be said which expressed the ruin of that, and might dishearten the inhabitants of it.

(w) "de", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.

Geneva Study Bible

And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this scroll, saying, {p} Why hast thou written in it, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from there man and beast?

(p) These are Jehoiakim's words.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

29. Why hast thou written, etc.] a quotation, though not verbatim, from Jeremiah 25:9 f.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 29. - Thou shalt say to Jehoiakim; rather, concerning Jehoiakim. Intercourse between Jehoiakim and the prophet was broken off by the preceding scene. The speech begins in the oratio directa, but soon passes into the obliqua. Cause to cease... man and beast. A forcible description of the completeness of the devastation. Jeremiah 36:29

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Not content with destroying the book, Jehoiakim also wished to get Baruch and Jeremiah out of the way; for he ordered the king's son Jerahmel and two other men to go for Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; "but the Lord hid them," i.e., graciously kept them out of the sight of the spies. בּן־המּלך is not the son of Jehoiakim, - if so, we would find simply את־בּנו; but a royal prince is meant, cf. Jeremiah 38:6; 1 Kings 22:26; 2 Kings 11:1-2; Zephaniah 1:8.