“And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife , and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 36:23 Mean?
King Jehoiakim destroys the scroll: "when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire." The king doesn't wait for the entire scroll to be read. After three or four columns, he cuts what's been read and burns it. Column by column, reading and burning simultaneously. The destruction is deliberate, paced, and thorough.
The penknife (ta'ar ha-sopher — literally, the scribe's razor, the tool used for cutting papyrus or trimming pens) is a writer's instrument repurposed for destruction: the tool designed to produce text is used to destroy text. The scribe's razor that should serve the word is weaponized against the word.
The fire (esh — the hearth fire, the brazier that heated the winter room, verse 22) consumes what the knife cuts. The two instruments — blade and flame — work together: cut and burn, cut and burn, column by column, until the entire scroll is consumed. The word of God is systematically disassembled and incinerated by the king who should have received it.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does the column-by-column destruction (read, cut, burn, repeat) reveal about Jehoiakim's deliberate rejection?
- 2.How does the scribe's razor (writing tool) being used to destroy the scroll model the misuse of instruments designed for God's word?
- 3.What does God rewriting the scroll (with additions) teach about the indestructibility of his word?
- 4.What word from God are you currently 'cutting and burning' — and will the message come back larger?
Devotional
Three columns read. Then cut. Then burned. Three more columns. Cut. Burned. The king destroys God's word column by column — reading just enough to know what it says before cutting it apart and feeding it to the fire.
The pacing is the most chilling detail: Jehoiakim doesn't hurl the scroll into the fire unread. He has it read — three or four leaves at a time — and then cuts what was read and burns it. The destruction is methodical. Informed. Each cut follows the reading. The king knows what he's destroying because he hears it first. The rejection is conscious, sustained, and column-by-column deliberate.
The scribe's razor (ta'ar ha-sopher) turned against the scroll is the verse's ironic detail: the writing tool becomes the destroying tool. The razor that was designed to prepare writing surfaces is used to dismember what was written. The instrument of the word is weaponized against the word. The pen-knife serves the anti-word.
The fire that consumes is the winter brazier (verse 22: 'the king sat in the winterhouse... with a fire on the hearth burning before him'). The fire designed for warmth and comfort becomes the incinerator for God's word. The domestic fire that should create hospitality creates destruction. The comforting flame consumes the uncomfortable truth.
God's response (verse 28): write another scroll. The word that was burned will be rewritten. The message that Jehoiakim cut apart will be restored — with additions (verse 32: 'there were added besides unto them many like words'). The king destroyed one scroll and produced a larger one. The attempt to silence the word amplified it.
What word from God are you cutting apart and burning — and do you think the destruction prevents the message?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves,.... Either three or four of the breadths of…
Leaves - Columns: literally folding-doors; the word exactly describes the shape of the columns of writing upon the…
We have traced the roll to the people, and to the princes, and here we are to follow it to the king; and we find,
I.…
when Jehudi had read rather, as Dr. "as often as J. read"; for Jer 36:36 implies that the king heard all the…
Cross References
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