Jeremiah 36 :1

And it came to pass in the fourth year - About the end of this year, see Jeremiah 36:9. This discourse also bears its own date, and was probably delivered at a time when the people enjoyed peace, and were about to celebrate one of their annual fasts.

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim - See Jeremiah 25:1 note. The present chapter belongs to the very end of that year. The capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar took place early in Jehoiakim's fourth year, long before the writing of Jehoiakim's scroll. The humiliation seems to have sunk deeply into the heart of Jehoiakim, and when Jeremiah prophesied extended dominion to the Chaldaeans Jeremiah 36:29, his anger knew no bounds. It was the fact that judgment had begun which made it expedient to gather Jeremiah's predictions into one volume, with the object:

(1) of inducing the people to repent, and

(2) of persuading the king to be a true subject of the Chaldaean empire.