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

Now the king sat in the winter house, In the ninth month: and there was a hearth before him full of burning coals.

Now the king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month, and with the fire-pan burning before him.

Now the king sat in the winter house in the ninth month: and there was a fire in the brasier burning before him.

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

and the king is sitting in the winter-house, in the ninth month, and the stove before him is burning,

Now the king was seated in the winter house, and a fire was burning in the fireplace in front of him.

Now the king was sitting in the winter house, in the ninth month. And there was a hearth placed before him, filled with burning coals.

Rex autem sedebat in domo hyemali, mense nono; et focus coram facie ejus accensus (vel, ardebat)

Here Jeremiah shews how little he had effected; for the king not only cast aside but tore the roll into pieces, and after having torn it, he wished its memory to perish, for he cast it into the fire. This trial must have grievously affected the mind of the Prophet; he had dictated that roll by God's command; he saw now that all his labor had been in vain. He might then have complained to God that so much labor had been spent without fruit. For why had God bidden the roll to be written, except for the purpose of leading the king and his counsellors to repentance. As to the people, the Prophet could not know whether it had answered the end for which he sent his scribe Baruch to them, for no account is given as to the attention paid by them. But Baruch was led to the king's palace, so the minds of all were kept in suspense: what was now the issue? The king burnt the roll. There is no doubt then but that the mind of the Prophet was much affected. But God thus exercises his servants when he bids them to speak to the deaf or to bring light to the blind. Let us then learn simply to obey God, though the labor he requires from us may seem to be useless. And hence Paul rises above all the ingratitude of the world and says, that the ministers of the Gospel are a sweet odor to God, whether for death or for life, (2-Corinthians 2:15, 16) for though the greater part are rendered worse by hearing the Gospel, yet the obedience rendered to God by ministers is acceptable to him, nor is the event to be looked to. Jeremiah then saw that the king's mind was exasperated, but he did not on that account repent of his obedience, for he knew that the event was to be left with God and to his will. The duty of men is to execute whatever God commands, though no fruit may appear to proceed from their labors. This then is one thing. Now as to the king, we see in him as in a glass how monstrous is their blindness who are the slaves of Satan. Surely the king, when God so thundered in his ears, ought to have been terrified. He could not indeed treat the word with ridicule, but he became enraged, and acted violently like a rabid wild beast, and vented his rage against the roll itself! If he thought Jeremiah to have been the author, why did he not disregard him as a man of no authority in public affairs? for Jeremiah could not have lessened his character as a king. There is then no doubt but that he perceived, though unwillingly, that he had to do with God; why then did he become thus enraged? what could he hope to gain by such madness towards God? But this, as I have said, was that dreadful blindness which is found in all the reprobate, whose minds the devil has fascinated; for on the one hand they perceive, willing or unwilling, that God is present, and that they are in a manner summoned to his tribunal; and on the other, as though they were forgetful of God, they rage madly against him. It is then said of King Jehoiakim, that while he was in his winter-house and sitting before the fire, [1] when three or four pages had been read, he cut the roll with an iron pen, or with the small knife of a scribe. The word tr tor, means often a razor, but is to be taken here for the knife used by scribes, un canivet. The king, in the first place, did not wait until Jehudi finished the roll; after he had heard three or four leaves, or pages, as we call them, he seized the roll and cut it; and in the second place, being not content with this sacrilege he burnt the roll, as though he could abolish God's judgment together with the book. But we shall hereafter see what he gained by this intemperate spirit in burning the roll until the whole was consumed in the fire It now follows --

Footnotes

1 - There were no chimneys, and therefore no "hearths" in the East. The word rendered "hearth" here means properly a brasier, and 't before it is a preposition. The verse may be thus rendered, -- And the king was sitting in the winter-house, in the ninth month, and at the brasier burning (or, which was burning) before him. It is "a small altar, arula," in the Vulg.; "fire" in the Syr. and Targ.; but "hearth" in the Sept. -- Ed.

The winterhouse - A separate portion of the palace was used for residence according to the season (marginal reference).
And there was a fire on the hearth - And the fire-pan burning before them. On the middle of the floor was a brazier containing burning charcoal.

Winterhouse - A warm apartment suited to the season of the year, (December), when in Palestine there is often snow upon the ground, though it does not last long. A fire on the hearth - a pan or brazier of burning coals. This is the case to the present day. In cold weather the rich burn wood in brass or earthen pans, placed in any part of the room; the indigent burn sticks on the floor.

Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the (l) ninth month: and [there was a fire] on the hearth burning before him.
(l) Which contained part of November and part of December.

Now the king sat in the winter house, in the ninth month,.... The month Cisleu, which answers to part of November, and part of December; and so was the midst of winter, and a proper time for the king to be in his winter house; though, as this was a fast day, it would have been more proper for him to have been at the worship of God in the temple, Jeremiah 36:9. This winter house probably was a winter parlour, as distinguished from a summer parlour, Judges 3:20; and both might be under the same roof, or parts of the same house; only the one might be more airy and cool, and the other more close and warm. Kings had their summer and winter houses; see Amos 3:15; this circumstance is mentioned for the sake of what follows, the burning of the roll; and accounts for there being a fire at hand to do it:
and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him; there was a stove, or some such vessel or instrument, in which a large fire of wood was made, at which the king sat to keep himself warm while the roll was reading, and about which the princes stood.

winter house-- (Amos 3:15).
ninth month--namely, of the religious year, that is, November or December.
fire on . . . hearth--rather, the stove was burning before him. In the East neither chimneys nor ovens are used, but, in cold weather, a brazen vessel containing burning charcoal; when the wood has burned to embers, a cover is placed over the pot to make it retain the heat.

The punishment which is to come on Jehoiakim for his wicked act. - Jeremiah 36:27. After the burning of the roll by the king, Jeremiah received from the Lord the command to get all that had been on the former roll written on another, and to announce the following to Jehoiakim the king: Jeremiah 36:29. "Thus saith Jahveh: Thou hast burned this roll, whilst thou sayest, Why hast thou written thereon, The king of Babylon shall surely come and destroy this land, and root out man and beast from it? Jeremiah 36:30. Therefore thus saith Jahveh regarding Jehoiakim the king of Judah: He shall not have one who sits upon the throne of David, and his corpse shall be cast forth to the heat by day and to the frost by night. Jeremiah 36:31. And I shall punish him, his servants, and his seed for their iniquity, and bring on them and on all the inhabitants of Judah and all the men of Judah all the evil which I have spoken to them; but they did not hear." On the meaning of Jeremiah 36:29 see p. 316, supra. The threatening expressed in Jeremiah 36:30. is really only a repetition of what is given in Jeremiah 22:18-19, and has already been explained there. "There shall not be to him one who sits upon the throne of David," i.e., he is not to have a son that shall occupy the throne of David after him. This does not contradict the fact that, after his death, his son Jehoiachin ascended the throne. For this ascension could not be called a sitting on the throne, a reign, inasmuch as he was immediately besieged in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and compelled to surrender after three months, then go into exile to Babylon. On Jeremiah 36:31 cf. Jeremiah 35:17; Jeremiah 19:15.

The ninth month - Answered to part of our November and December.