Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.

JEREMIAH 36:28KJV
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Jeremiah 36:28 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 36:28 mean?

Jeremiah 36:28 records God’s instruction to Jeremiah to take another scroll and write on it all the words that had been on the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned. This verse shows that even though the king tried to destroy God’s message by burning the scroll, God told Jeremiah to rewrite everything.

In this scene, God is speaking directly to Jeremiah after Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, destroyed the first scroll containing Jeremiah’s prophecies. The verse highlights God’s determination to have His words preserved, regardless of human opposition. It also sets up the continuation of Jeremiah’s prophetic work, despite the king’s attempt to silence it.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 36:28

  • "Roll" (מְגִלָּה, megillah): This word means a scroll or rolled-up writing material. The use of "another roll" emphasizes that the physical destruction of the first scroll did not erase God’s message.
  • "Burned" (שָׂרַף, saraph): This word means to burn or consume with fire. The verse specifically points out that Jehoiakim burned the first scroll, making God’s command to rewrite it an act of defiance against the king’s attempt to suppress the message.
  • "Write" (כָּתַב, kathav): This word means to inscribe or record. God’s instruction to "write in it all the former words" stresses the importance of preserving the exact message that was lost.

Why Jeremiah 36:28 matters

  • Jeremiah 36:28 clarifies that God’s message cannot be destroyed by human actions, even by a king’s deliberate attempt to erase it.
  • The verse highlights the persistence of God’s word and the responsibility of the prophet to faithfully repeat what was lost, not to change or shorten it.
  • This verse connects to the larger story in Jeremiah 36, showing the conflict between God’s prophet and the political power of the day, and how God’s purposes move forward despite opposition.

Where else these words appear

“roll” Hebrew H4039 · used in 19 verses

  • Psalms 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
  • Jeremiah 36:21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
  • Ezekiel 2:9 And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

“Jehoiakim” Hebrew H3079 · used in 37 verses

  • 2 Kings 23:34 And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
  • Jeremiah 1:3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
  • Jeremiah 35:1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

“burned” Hebrew H8313 · used in 107 verses

  • Genesis 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
  • Joshua 7:15 And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.
  • Nehemiah 4:2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?