Bible Strands
Jeremiah 36:19
Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The royal officials speak to Baruch immediately after he confirms that Jeremiah dictated the scroll's contents. They order both men to conceal their locations and maintain absolute secrecy.
The words — The imperative לֵ֥ךְ הִסָּתֵ֖ר (lekh hi.sa.Ter) literally means "go hide yourself," directing immediate physical concealment. This command follows הַ/שָּׂרִים (ha./sa.Rim), identifying the speakers as the court officials who just witnessed the scroll's reading.
The thread — The order to hide parallels the concealment instructions in 1 Kings 17:3 and 1 Kings 18:4, where prophets and faithful servants are similarly directed to avoid detection. The officials' subsequent movement to report to the king mirrors the exhaustive search patterns described in 1 Kings 18:10.
Why it lands — The text records the immediate physical danger facing those who document and proclaim divine judgment. It requires a reader to acknowledge that faithful obedience often demands practical concealment rather than public confrontation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 17:3 “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Brook of Cherith, east of the Jordan.
- 1 Kings 18:4 for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 1 Kings 18:10 As surely as the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear that they had not found you.
- Jeremiah 26:20 Now there was another man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land the same things that Jeremiah did.
- Jeremiah 36:26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden them.
- 2 Chronicles 25:15 Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet, who said, “Why have you sought this people’s gods, which could not deliver them from your hand?”
- Proverbs 28:12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.
- Amos 7:12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah; earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.
- Luke 13:31 At that very hour, some Pharisees came to Jesus and told Him, “Leave this place and get away, because Herod wants to kill You.”
- Acts 5:40 At this, they yielded to Gamaliel. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.