Jeremiah 36
King Jehoiakim's court official Baruch records Jeremiah's spoken oracles on a scroll at the prophet's dictation, and when the scroll is read before the king, Jehoiakim repeatedly cuts off sections and burns them, demonstrating how power resists prophetic truth and attempts to destroy the word by literal destruction of the physical scroll. YHWH instructs Jeremiah and Baruch to make another scroll with the same words plus additional oracles, establishing that divine word cannot be destroyed through physical elimination—the prophetic message survives and is reconstituted despite institutional attempts to suppress it. The episode establishes the literary history of Jeremiah's oracles: they are not merely oral utterances but are preserved through written documentation, and Baruch's role as scribe becomes foundational to how the prophetic word reaches future generations who will receive the words the king rejected. Jehoiakim's burning of the scroll is interpreted as rebellion against YHWH, and the king receives judgment that his body will be cast out unburied and his dynasty will not endure on the Davidic throne, illustrating how rejection of prophetic word has political and dynastic consequences. This chapter demonstrates the power of written word to transcend institutional resistance and reach audiences beyond the immediate context of its utterance, establishing that the book of Jeremiah exists partly as testimony to how the prophetic word survives even when rulers attempt its destruction.