Jeremiah's Book of Prophecies (burning of)
Jeremiah's Book of Prophecies refers to a significant event in the Old Testament, particularly in Chapter 36 of the Book of Jeremiah. This episode occurs during a tumultuous period for the kingdom of Judah, following the death of King Josiah around 609 BCE. After Josiah's death, Judah fell under the control of Egypt, and Jehoiakim, appointed by the Egyptian pharaoh, imposed heavy taxes on his people. Jeremiah, a prophet, conveyed messages urging the king and the populace to remain faithful to their God and accept Babylonian dominance to avoid disaster.
In a dramatic turn, Jehoiakim's response to these prophetic messages was to burn a scroll containing Jeremiah's prophecies, rejecting the warnings of impending doom. This act of defiance involved cutting the scroll and casting its portions into the fire, an event that went largely unchallenged by his court. Following this, Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch rewrote the scroll, continuing their mission despite Jehoiakim's efforts to silence them. Ultimately, the prophecies came to fruition when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 587-586 BCE, marking the end of Judah as an independent kingdom. This narrative highlights themes of resistance, divine warning, and the consequences of ignoring prophetic guidance.
Subject Terms
Jeremiah's Book of Prophecies (burning of)
Date: 605 b.c.e.
Place: Jerusalem, Kingdom of Judah
Significance: Book burnings and an attempted assassination challenged the message of a religious leader
Chapter thirty-six of the book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament relates that after the death of king Josiah of Judah in 609 b.c.e., Egypt dominated the kingdom of Judah. Egypt’s pharaoh appointed Eliakim, a son of Josiah, to rule Judah. The pharaoh gave Eliakim a new name, Jehoiakim, and required him to impose stiff taxes upon the people, which were then paid to Egypt. Four years later, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon subdued the region but permitted Jehoiakim to continue to rule.
Jeremiah, a prophet of Judah’s God, had been urging the king and people to trust in their God and not resist Babylon, or the kingdom would perish. The words of this prophecy were recorded in a scroll that Jeremiah’s scribe, Baruch, read to those who assembled for worship at the temple in Jerusalem. When the princes of Judah heard about this, they urged Jeremiah and Baruch to hide themselves. The princes then had the scroll read to Jehoiakim, who attempted to silence the words by periodically cutting from the scroll those portions already read, whereupon they fell into the hearth and were consumed by the fire. Protests of his actions by some of the courtiers went unheeded. Subsequently, the king unsuccessfully sent agents to search for Jeremiah and Baruch, presumably to silence them permanently. Rebellions against Babylon began occurring, during which time Jeremiah and Baruch rewrote the scroll. Jehoiakim died within a few years, and in 587-586 b.c.e. the prophecy was fulfilled as the Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem and brought the kingdom of Judah to an end.