Jeremiah 36:22

Modern

Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning before him.

Traditional

Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.

Literal

And the king was sitting in the house of the winter in the ninth month, and the hearth before his face was burning.

Latin

Rex autem sedebat in domo hiemali, in mense nono, et posita erat arula coram eo plena prunis.

Hebrew

English

Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning before him.

This description of Jehoiakim’s cynical response to God's call for repentance and obedience (Jeremiah 36:3, 7) highlights the hopelessness of the situation.
Nowhere else does the Old Testament offer such detailed information about preserving spoken messages in written form.

These two chapters reflect on events from twenty years ago when Jehoiakim was king.

Theme notes and profiles

Amos 3:15
I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 22:14–16
…who says, ‘I will build myself a great palace, with spacious upper rooms.’ So he cuts windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it with vermilion.
Jeremiah 3:20
But as a woman may betray her husband, so you have betrayed Me, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 36:9
Now in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a fast before the LORD was proclaimed to all the people of Jerusalem and all who had come there from the cities of Judah.