Jeremiah 36:18

Jer 36:18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote [them] with ink in the book.

Ver. 18. And Baruch answered them.] Answerably {a} to the question they asked him. {Jer 36:17} Dignum patella operculum.

And I wrote them with ink in the book.] The use, then, of writing with pen and ink is ancient among the Hebrews.

{a} Hos fere simili responso eludere videtur sanctus Dei homo. - Zeged.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

his mouth--Baruch replies it was by the oral dictation of the prophet; Jer 36:2 accords with this view, rather than with the notion that Jeremiah repeated his prophecies from manuscripts.

ink--his specification of the "ink" implies: I added nothing save the hand, pen, and ink.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He simply answered, that Jeremiah had pronounced these words to him. They might hence have concluded, that Jeremiah had no roll laid before him, and that he had been not long meditating on what he communicated to his scribe Baruch. And though he seems to have said no more than what might satisfy the princes, yet the purport of the whole is, that Jeremiah did not produce the roll from a recess or his desk, but promptly gave utterance to what God’s Spirit suggested to him. Their astonishment, then, must have increased, when the king’s counsellors knew that these commands did not proceed from a mortal man, but that, on the contrary, God spoke them by the mouth of Jeremiah, and by the hand of Baruch. It follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Then Baruch answered them,.... At once, without any hesitation, plainly and fully:

he pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth; that is, the Prophet Jeremiah delivered by word of mouth, not the substance only of this roll, but the express words of it, and everyone of them, and that clearly and distinctly, without any hesitation, or premeditation; by which it is plain it was by the Spirit of the Lord he did it; neither matter nor words were Baruch's, but were exactly as they were delivered:

and I wrote them with ink in the book; as they saw with their eyes, and which was the manner of writing with the Jews so early; Baruch had no further concern in this matter than to provide pen, ink, and parchment, and to make use of them as he did, just as the prophet dictated and directed him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He pronounced - He used to say aloud, he dictated. Baruch’s office was merely mechanical. He contributed nothing but hand, pen, and ink.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Reading. No study was requisite. (Haydock) --- Ink. It formerly resembled that used by printers, (Calmet) being composed of soot and gum. (Vitruvius vii. 10.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This could not but add to the princes’ fear and amazement. They must needs conceive that the thing was done from God, for without a special influence of God it had been a thing impossible that Jeremiah should have called to mind all that he had spoken at several times in so many years; and proceeding from the God of truth, they must needs fear that they would have their certain and just accomplishment in their season.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He pronounced, etc.; rather, He kept dictating... while I wrote with ink, etc. The addition of the last clause suggests (and was, perhaps, intended to do so) that Baruch"s function was simply mechanical.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He pronounced - This could not but add to the princes fear, they must needs conceive that without a special influence of God, it had been impossible, that Jeremiah should have called to mind all that he had spoken at several times in so many years.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.