“Then King Jehoiakim
Sent Jehudi
To get the scroll.
He took it
From the chamber
Of Elishama the secretary.
Jehudi read it to the king
With all the officials
Who stood beside the king.
The king was sitting
In his winter apartment.
It was the ninth month.
There was a fire burning
In the brazier before him.
As Jehudi read
Three or four columns,
The king would cut them off
With a penknife.
He would then throw them
Into the fire
In the brazier,
Until the entire scroll
Was consumed in the fire
That was in the brazier.”
The king was not satisfied with a mere report about the scroll. He wanted the scroll itself. Thus he sent Jehudi to get the scroll and read it to them. Jehudi went back to the chamber of the secretary, Elishama, where the scroll was. He got it and came back to the king. There he read it to the king and all the royal officials. Since the king was at his winter home, there was a fire in the brazier or the fireplace, a brass coal burning stove. Thus as Jehudi read the scroll, King Jehoiakim would take 3 or 4 columns of it, cut them with a small knife that they used for the trimming of writing reeds. Then he would throw these pieces of the scroll into the fire, until they were all burned up. Thus you get some idea of the king’s opinion about the writings of Jeremiah via Baruch.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 