Bible Strands
Jeremiah 36:5
Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD;
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah instructs his scribe Baruch to deliver a written scroll to the temple, but declares he is physically unable to enter the house of the Lord himself. This directive follows immediately after Jeremiah dictated the prophetic words to Baruch on a scroll (Jeremiah 36:4).
The words — The Hebrew term עָצ֔וּר ('a.Tzur) literally means "shut up" or "restricted," denoting a formal confinement that blocks movement. Jeremiah cites this condition to explain why Baruch must serve as his proxy for the temple reading.
The thread — This physical restriction mirrors Jeremiah’s earlier imprisonment in the courtyard of the guard (Jeremiah 32:2) and his continued detention in that same courtyard (Jeremiah 33:1). The pattern of prophetic speech delivered through a scribe while the prophet is detained recurs in both accounts.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that God’s message advances through appointed messengers regardless of the prophet’s physical limitations. It demands compliance with the specific instructions for the scroll’s public reading during the day of fasting.
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
And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord:
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 32:2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.
- Jeremiah 33:1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time:
- 2 Corinthians 11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
- Jeremiah 20:2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 37:15 The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.
- Jeremiah 38:6 So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
- Jeremiah 38:28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
- Jeremiah 40:4 But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.”
- Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...
- Ephesians 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.