John Trapp on Jeremiah 36:22-23

Ver. 22. Now the King ſat in the winter-houſe] There ſat he (in that his ſtately and ſumptuous Pallace built by iniquity. chap. 22.) curant cuticulam ad focum, keeping himſelf warm in his winter chamber, and careleſſe of calling upon God; whiles the people, cold and empty, were faſting and praying in the Temple, and hearing the Word read by Baruch.

In the ninth moneth] ſc. Of the ſacred year: which moneth was part of our November, and part of December, a cold ſeaſon: but that thing of nought his body which he now made ſo much of, was ſhortly after to be caſt out unburied, in the day to the heat, and in the night to the froſt, ver. 30.

Quintillan.Ver. 23. When Jehudi had read three or four leaves] Veſpaſian is ſaid to have been patientiſſimus veri, very patient of truth: ſo was good Joſiah, whoſe heart melted at the hearing of the Law, 2 Chron. 34.27. but ſo was not this degenerate ſon of his, Jeboiakim: but more like Tiberius that Tiger, who tore with his teeth all that diſpleaſed him;Lib. 3. hiſt. or like Vitellius the Tyrant, of whom Tacitus ſaith, Ita formatae principis aures, ut aspera quae utilia: nec quidquam niſi jucundum & non laeſurum actiperet: that his cares were of that temper, that he could hear no counſel, though never ſo profitable, unleſs it were pleaſant, and did ſuit with his humours.

He cut it with the penknife] Why? what could he diſlike in that precious piece? Of Petronius his Satyricon one ſaid well, Tolle obſcaena & tollis omnia: Of Jeremies prophecies I may ſafely ſay, Tolle ſancta, & tollis omnia. But this brutiſh Prince could not away with downright-truth, &c.

Oecolamp. And caſt it into the fire] O stultitiam! quid innocentes chartae commeruerant? O madneſſe! what evil had thoſe innocent papers deſerved, that they muſt dye this double death as it were? Thoſe Magical books at Epheſus were worthily burnt, Act. 19. Aretines love-books are ſo laſcivious, that they deſerve to be burned, ſaith Boiſſard, Boiſ. biblioth. together with their Authour. Many ſeditious Pamphlets are now committed to Vulcan to be corrected, and more ſhould be. But O ſancta Apocalypſis, (as that Martyr once ſaid when he took up the book of the Revelation caſt into the ſame fire with himſelf) So, O holy Jeremy, what haſt thou ſaid, or written, to be thus flaſht and then caſt into the fire? Jehoiakim is the firſt we read of, that ever offered to burn the Bible. Antiochus indeed did the like afterwards, and Diocleſian the Tyrant, and now the Pope. But though there were not a Bible left upon earth, yet for ever O Lord, thy Word is ſtabliſhed in heaven, ſaith David, Pſal. 119 89.

Ʋntill all the roll was conſumed] So far was he from repenting of that his wickedneſſe, that he fed his eyes with ſuch a ſad ſpectacle, and was ready to ſay as Solon did, when he burnt the Uſurers bonds in Athens, that he never ſaw a fairer or clearer fire burn in all his life.