Leaves - Columns: literally folding-doors; the word exactly describes the shape of the columns of writing upon the scroll.Penknife - “Scribe’s knife;” used to shape the reed for writing, and to make erasures in the parchment.On the hearth - Or, in the fire-pan. The conduct of the king shows how violent was his temper. read more
Jeremiah 36:23. When Jehudi had read three or four leaves Hebrew, דלתות , rolls, or scrolls, for their books, as we have observed, consisted of several pieces of parchment rolled upon each other. Dr. Waterland renders the word columns, and Blaney, sections, observing that to render it leaves, “seems rather to carry an eye to the books of modern times, than to suit that ancient mode of writing.” The word primarily signifies doors, that open and shut, and therefore is properly... read more
Jehoiakim burn’s Jeremiah’s scroll (36:1-32)God commanded Jeremiah to write down all the prophecies he had given during the previous twenty years and announce them again to Judah. Perhaps even yet the nation would repent and so escape God’s judgment (36:1-3).Over the next year Jeremiah wrote down the messages, using Baruch as his scribe. Since Jeremiah was forbidden to enter the temple (see 20:1-2; 26:7-9), he arranged for Baruch to go on his behalf and read the scroll to the people (4-7).... read more
leaves = columns. he: i.e. the king. cut it = cut it up into fragments. penknife = a scribe ' s knife. The words of Jehovah are cut up to-day, not with a scribe's knife, but with scribe's pens in the hands of the modern critics. Yet they are "not afraid". read more
Jeremiah 36:23. Three or four leaves— Their books were in the form of a scroll, and consisted of several pieces of parchment rolled upon each other. It must be likewise noted, however, that by leaves several understand columns or partitions, into which the breadth of the parchment was divided. A variety of Hebrew manuscripts in the Bodleian library, as well as a curious one found at Herculaneum, are evidences for the reality of this manner of writing. Houbigant reads pages; which, says he, were... read more
23. three or four leaves—not distinct leaves as in a book, but the consecutive spaces on the long roll in the shape of doors (whence the Hebrew name is derived), into which the writing is divided: as the books of Moses in the synagogue in the present day are written in a long parchment rolled round a stick, the writing divided into columns, like pages. pen-knife—the writer's knife with which the reed, used as a pen, was mended. "He" refers to the king (Jeremiah 36:22). As often as Jehudi read... read more
Its burning 36:21-26 read more
After Jehudi had read a few columns of text, Jehoiakim reached over and cut off what he had read and tossed it into the fire. He did this with the whole scroll; he burned it all up. This was a symbolic act; Jehoiakim was claiming that Jeremiah’s prophecies would come to an end just as surely as his scroll came to an end. [Note: M. Kessler, "The Significance of Jeremiah 36," Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 81 (1969):382.] Jehoiakim’s slow, methodical destruction of the scroll... read more
Events Connected with the Collection of Jeremiah’s Prophecies into a Volume (4th and 5th years of Jehoiakim)The prophecies concerning Israel and Judah are now ended, and we have here the record of the embodying in a permanent form by Jeremiah of the substance of these prophecies. For further remarks see Intro.2. A roll of a book] Several skins were stitched together and attached to a roller of wood. The writing was arranged in columns parallel to the roller, so that as the parchment was... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 36:23
Burning the Word of the Lord. I. THE KING 'S MOTIVES IN THIS ACT . Perhaps he was not conscious of any distinct set of motives. He was but a despot, and despots are in many things like spoiled children; they act not from any clear reason, good or bad, so much as from the caprice of the moment. If this act had been a singularity of Jehoiakim's, there would have been less need to attend to it, but unhappily it only illustrates a whole series of acts by those occupying stations of... read more