And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?

JEREMIAH 36:29KJV
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Jeremiah 36:29 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 36:29 mean?

Jeremiah 36:29 records God’s message to Jeremiah, instructing him to tell King Jehoiakim of Judah that burning the prophetic scroll will not change the warning it contained: the king of Babylon will come, destroy the land, and leave it desolate of people and animals. The verse highlights the king’s attempt to silence God’s word and God’s insistence that His warning stands.

In this scene, God is speaking to Jeremiah, who is then to deliver this message to Jehoiakim, the king of Judah. Jehoiakim had burned the scroll (a written prophecy) because he was angered by its message of coming destruction by Babylon. The verse shows the tension between human resistance and God’s unchanging message, emphasizing that rejecting or destroying the written warning does not prevent its fulfillment.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 36:29

  • "burned" (שָׂרַף, saraph): This word means to burn or destroy by fire. The use of this word stresses Jehoiakim’s deliberate act of rejecting the prophecy by physically destroying it, not just ignoring it.
  • "roll" (מְגִלָּה, megillah): This refers to a scroll, the common form for written documents at the time. The scroll contained Jeremiah’s prophecy, so burning it was an attempt to erase God’s message.
  • "destroy" (שָׁחַת, shachath): This word often means to ruin or lay waste. Its use here underlines the total devastation that Babylon would bring, not just a minor defeat.
  • "cease" (שָׁבַת, shavat): This means to stop or bring to an end. The prophecy warns that both people and animals will be wiped out, showing the completeness of the coming judgment.

Why Jeremiah 36:29 matters

  • Jeremiah 36:29 clarifies that rejecting or destroying God’s message does not stop its truth or its consequences; Jehoiakim’s act of burning the scroll is shown to be futile.
  • The verse highlights the seriousness of the prophecy: the destruction will be so complete that not only people but even animals will be gone from the land.
  • This verse connects to the larger passage by showing the ongoing conflict between Jeremiah’s prophetic warnings and the leadership’s refusal to listen, setting the stage for the coming judgment on Judah.

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,

“cease” Hebrew H7673 · used in 67 verses

  • Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
  • 2 Chronicles 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
  • Jeremiah 48:35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.

“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?