Jeremiah 36:10

On this occasion also, Baruch read Jeremiah’s scroll to all the people present. He stood in the room of Gemariah ben Shaphan the scribe (state secretary), in the upper or outer temple courtyard near the New Gate of the temple (cf. Jeremiah 20:2; Jeremiah 26:10; 2 Kings 15:35). [Note: See the diagram of Solomon’s Temple near my comments on 20:2.] This location would have made it easy for the people there to hear him. It also suggests that Gemariah was sympathetic to Jeremiah (cf. Jeremiah 26:24). When the priests discovered the scroll of the law in the temple during Josiah’s reign, it was Shaphan, Gemariah’s father, who had read it to the people (cf. 2 Kings 22:3 to 2 Kings 23:3). [Note: See the diagram with information about Shaphan’s sons near my comments on 26:24.]