Jeremiah 36:25
in Jeremiah 36Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear them.
KJV
Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
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This verse in Jeremiah 36
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The "nevertheless" aggravates the king's sin; though God would have drawn him back through their intercession, he persisted: judicial blindness and reprobation!
This site's exposition
Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments
on Jeremiah 36:24-26
The court's response is stated as a double failure, they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants, the standard signs of conviction entirely absent even after the roll had already frightened the princes who first heard it. Three men do try to stop him, Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession that he would not burn the roll, but he would not hear them, the king's refusal naming him against his own officials rather than merely against the prophet. He orders Baruch and Jeremiah taken, but the Lord hid them, the chapter's only miracle stated in five plain words with no description of how it happened.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That Jehoiakim, when he had thus in effect burnt God's warrant by which he was arrested, as it were in a way of revenge, now that he thought he had got the better, signed a warrant for the apprehending of Jeremiah and Baruch, God's ministers (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Nevertheless, Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah - Three of the princes wished to save the roll, and entreated the king that it might not be burnt. They would have saved it out of the fire, but the king would not permit it to be done.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
It is remarkable to find Elnathan interceding for Jeremiah after the office he had discharged toward Urijah Jer 26:22.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַם֩ | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֶלְנָתָ֨ן | ʾelnatan | Elnathan | H494 → | 7 times |
| וּדְלָיָ֤הוּ | udelayahu | and Delaiah | H1806 → | |
| וּגְמַרְיָ֙הוּ֙ | ugemaryahu | and Gemariah | H1587 → | 5 times |
| הִפְגִּ֣עוּ | hifgiu | they had made entreaty | H6293 → | 46 times |
| בַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | vamelekh | with the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| לְבִלְתִּ֥י | levilti | to not | H1115 → | 112 times |
| שְׂרֹ֖ף | serof | to burn | H8313 → | 117 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמְּגִלָּ֑ה | hamegilah | the scroll | H4039 → | 21 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמַ֖ע | shama' | he listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
וְגַם֩and also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אֶלְנָתָ֨ןElnathan
ʾelnatanH494 →7 times
וּדְלָיָ֤הוּand Delaiah
udelayahuH1806 →
וּגְמַרְיָ֙הוּ֙and Gemariah
ugemaryahuH1587 →5 times
הִפְגִּ֣עוּthey had made entreaty
hifgiuH6293 →46 times
בַמֶּ֔לֶךְwith the king
vamelekhH4428 →2525 times
לְבִלְתִּ֥יto not
leviltiH1115 →112 times
שְׂרֹ֖ףto burn
serofH8313 →117 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמְּגִלָּ֑הthe scroll
hamegilahH4039 →21 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמַ֖עhe listened
shama'H8085 →1159 times
אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃to them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 36:12he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 26:22
Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor along with some other men.
- 2 Kings 22:12
and commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the servant of the king:
- Jeremiah 41:1
In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son…
- Jeremiah 28:1–17
In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, near the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to…
- 2 Kings 22:14
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived…
- Jeremiah 26:22
Through
Genesis 37:22“Do not shed his blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this so that he could rescue Joseph from their hands and…
it leads to
- Acts 12:1
About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church.
- Genesis 22:12
“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”
- Genesis 42:22
And Reuben responded, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you would not listen. Now we must account for his blood!”
- Acts 12:1
Where this verse is studied
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About Jeremiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
