Lives of Scripture

Jerahmeel is identified in Scripture as "the king's son," one of three officials King Jehoiakim commanded to arrest Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch his scribe (Jeremiah 36:26). The order came at the climax of one of the Old Testament's most vivid confrontations between a king and God's word: Baruch had written down Jeremiah's prophecies on a scroll, and when it was read aloud to Jehoiakim in his winter house, the king responded not with repentance but with contempt -- as each section was read, he cut it off with a scribe's knife and threw it into the fire burning in the brazier before him, until the entire scroll was consumed, and neither he nor his attendants showed any fear (36:20-24). Some officials had urged him to stop, but he would not listen (36:25). His response to God's word being destroyed was to try to destroy God's messengers as well: he commanded Jerahmeel, along with Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Jeremiah and Baruch (36:26). The attempt failed -- "the LORD hid them" (36:26) -- and Jeremiah promptly dictated the entire scroll again to Baruch, with additional words added besides, undoing the king's attempt to erase God's message (36:27-32).