“It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.”
My Notes
What Does Jeremiah 36:7 Mean?
"It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people." Jeremiah instructs Baruch to read the scroll publicly in the temple — again with "it may be." The same tentative hope. The same uncertain outcome. But this time with an added urgency: great is the anger and fury God has pronounced. The anger is already declared. The fury is already spoken. The only thing that can interrupt the execution is supplication and return. The window is still open, but the judgment is already in the air.
The urgency comes from the juxtaposition: great fury pronounced AND it may be they'll turn. Both are simultaneous. The fury is great. The hope is slim. And the scroll is the last instrument between the two.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What 'scroll' are you reading to someone who might not listen — and is the effort still worth the slim chance?
- 2.How does the juxtaposition of great fury and slim hope create urgency in your spiritual life?
- 3.Where is the 'it may be' in your prayers for someone — the hope that persists despite the odds?
- 4.What does Jeremiah rewriting the burned scroll teach about persisting in faithfulness when the message is rejected?
Devotional
Great is the anger. It may be they'll turn. Both realities simultaneously. The fury is enormous. The hope is slim. And the scroll being read in the temple is the thinnest possible barrier between the two.
Jeremiah tells Baruch: read the scroll. In the temple. On a fast day. When the people are already in a posture of religious humility. Maybe — maybe — hearing the accumulated warnings will crack the resistance. Maybe the fast-day hunger will soften what prosperity couldn't. Maybe the temple setting will give the words weight they didn't carry in the marketplace.
It may be. The hope is stated as possibility, not probability. Jeremiah doesn't say: they will definitely turn. He says: maybe. Perhaps. It's possible. The realist in him knows the odds. The obedient servant in him reads the scroll anyway. Because even a slim chance of repentance is worth the effort when the alternative is great anger and fury.
Great is the anger and the fury. The judgment isn't moderate. It's great — enormous, overwhelming, disproportionate to what any human defense can withstand. And it's already pronounced — not pending review but declared. The decree is issued. The execution is approaching. And the only possible interruption is human turning.
The scroll occupies the slimmest space between pronounced fury and possible repentance. It's the last message before the last message. The final attempt before the final judgment. And it's read with a "maybe" because Jeremiah knows that writing the scroll was the easy part. Getting people to hear it is another matter entirely.
Baruch will read it. King Jehoiakim will burn it, column by column, in his fireplace (v. 23). The "it may be" was right to be tentative. But Jeremiah rewrites the scroll — adding more words. Because even burned scrolls get rewritten when the hope, however slim, hasn't completely died.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord,.... Or, "perhaps their supplication will fall" (o); they…
They will present their supplication - i. e., humbly. See the margin. The phrase also contained the idea of the prayer…
In the beginning of Ezekiel's prophecy we meet with a roll written in vision, for discovery of the things therein…
they will present their supplication mg. their supplication will fall. The attitude of the petitioners is transferred in…
Cross References
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