Two Scrolls? The Perplexing History of Jeremiah’s Composition.
It is not unreasonable to assume that the text of Jeremiah, as we have it, was in existence somewhere around 580 BC, with the possible exception of Jeremiah 52, which probably came later. (In fact, note Jer 51:64c, “The words of Jeremiah end here.”) But this does not mean that there is a chronological order to all the contents of this book. Chapters 36 and 45 are both dated “in the fourth year of Jehoiakim” (605/604 BC), but the intervening chapters, 37–44, report incidents that occurred in 586/7 BC and following. Two scrolls There still is the issue of the two scrolls. Clearly, chapter 36 tells how Jeremiah was ordered by Yahweh to prepare a scroll with “all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the [other] nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah until now” (Jer 36:2). Baruch, the son of Neriah, assisted Jeremiah in this task: “Baruch, at Jeremiah’s dictation, wrote in a scroll-book all the words of Yahweh which [Jerem...