Barukh son of Neriya came from a distinguished Jerusalemite family, trained to serve as the king’s scribe, yet he left everything behind to accompany Yirmiyahu through his trials and tribulations. He stood by him through fire and water, risking himself in his mission and in the mission of God. In a sense, he even recorded much of Sefer Yirmiyahu for us (Yirmiyahu 36:18).

The rebuke he receives in this prophecy reveals that he, too, had his own struggles and his own suffering. Like Yehoshua after Moshe, like Elisha after Eliyahu, Barukh son of Neriya sought ‘great things’. According to many commentators, he wished to carry on the prophetic dynasty after Yirmiyahu. But God explains to him that after the impending destruction, there will be no continuity, and Barukh ben Neriya must content himself with his own life, for that alone will be spared to him: “For I am about to inflict disaster upon all flesh – declares the Lord – but I will grant you your life as a prize of war everywhere you may go” (Yirmiyahu 45:5).

This prophecy, seemingly out of place in the book, serves two purposes:
1.    It concludes Yirmiyahu’s life story by addressing the fate of his devoted apprentice who did not get to inherit his role.
2.    It returns us to the fourth year of King Yehoyakim, setting the stage for the prophecies concerning the nations that we will begin studying tomorrow.

Archaeology in the Chapter

Professor Nahman Avigad discovered a bulla in the southwestern Judean mountains bearing the inscription “Belonging to Berekhyahu son of Neriyau the scribe” in ancient Hebrew script. Around twenty years later, another bulla was found with the same inscription.