Jeremiah 36:1–8, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 36:1–8
Jeremiah Dictates a Scroll to Baruch
In Jehoiakim's fourth year Jeremiah dictates prior words, and Baruch writes them
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the LORD says, Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the days of Josiah even unto this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil, that they may return, and I may forgive.
Jeremiah calls Baruch son of Neriah; Baruch writes from Jeremiah's mouth all the words of the LORD upon a roll of a book. Scribal partnership is how the word becomes portable when the prophet cannot go.
Baruch reads because Jeremiah is shut up; the narrative does not solve every authorship question
Jeremiah commands Baruch, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD: therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people upon the fasting day, and also in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. It may be they will present their supplication and return.
Baruch did according to all that Jeremiah commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house. The story supports dictation and public reading. It does not by itself solve authorship, redaction, or the relationship between the longer Hebrew book and the shorter Greek edition.
How this should shape us
When access is blocked, let accurate written words still be heard. Honor scribes and readers. Do not confuse this scene with a complete theory of how every later chapter was made.
Teach it back
Explain Jeremiah 36:1–8 in your own words. Name its place in Jeremiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The narrative supports scribal participation but does not by itself solve authorship, redaction, or the relationship between MT and shorter Greek editions.
How certain? strongResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Jeremiah 36:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 36:1–8
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 36:1–8
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and Themes: restoration, new covenant, field, Baruch scroll, siege, and fall; applied to Jeremiah 36:1–8
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 3 study guide, pp. 1-6: Jeremiah 36, Baruch, scroll rewriting, composition, and final form; applied to Jeremiah 36:1–8
Supports: Controls the shorter and differently ordered Old Greek Jeremiah, Qumran Hebrew evidence, and competing edition-history proposals without making one reconstruction certain.
Cook, 'The text-critical and exegetical value of the Dead Sea Scrolls,' section 'The books of Jeremiah (4QJerd),' HTS 72.4 (2016), article pp. 3-4; applied to Jeremiah 36:1–8
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 36:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 36:1–8
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 36:1–8
Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World
Terence E. Fretheim and Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current public course accessed 2026
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and Themes: restoration, new covenant, field, Baruch scroll, siege, and fall; applied to Jeremiah 36:1–8
Open the Enter the Bible Jeremiah course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 3 study guide, pp. 1-6: Jeremiah 36, Baruch, scroll rewriting, composition, and final form; applied to Jeremiah 36:1–8
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗peer reviewed open access text critical article
The Text-Critical and Exegetical Value of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Johann Cook
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 72.4, article a3280, 2016
Supports: Controls the shorter and differently ordered Old Greek Jeremiah, Qumran Hebrew evidence, and competing edition-history proposals without making one reconstruction certain.
Exact location: Cook, 'The text-critical and exegetical value of the Dead Sea Scrolls,' section 'The books of Jeremiah (4QJerd),' HTS 72.4 (2016), article pp. 3-4; applied to Jeremiah 36:1–8
Open Cook on the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jeremiah ↗