ירמיהו, פרק ל״ו, פסוק כ״ג

Hearing prophecies of impending doom, the king reacts with dramatic violence, stubbornly refusing to accept the inevitable collapse of his reign. Rather than heed the warning, he attempts to physically destroy the written message.

As the scroll is read aloud by a man named Yehudi, the king systematically destroys it piece by piece. Commentators differ on the exact nature of the segments being read. One perspective suggests the text was divided into columns or pages [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. These sections are compared to doors because they open and close in a similar manner [רד״ק]. According to this view, each time the reader finished three or four pages, the king would slice them off [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. An alternative approach, rooted in early rabbinic tradition, proposes that the segments were actually individual verses [מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם]. A verse is likened to a door because the pause and space between each one act as a closing boundary [מלבי״ם]. In this scenario, the reader completed three verses and finished the fourth before the king intervened [מצודת דוד].

After listening to these portions, the king violently cut and tore the scroll [רש״י, מצודת דוד]. He used a scribe's razor, a specially sharpened knife typically used for preparing scrolls [מצודת ציון]. He then threw the severed pieces directly onto the fire burning in the hearth. He repeated this methodical destruction until the entire document was cast into the flames and completely turned to ash [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Ancient tradition identifies the destroyed text as the Book of Lamentations, read before King Yehoyakim. As the reader recited the first four verses detailing the coming destruction, the king remained entirely unmoved. He arrogantly dismissed the warnings, boasting that he still ruled over the surviving nation. However, upon hearing the fifth verse, which declares that the nation's enemies have become the head, the king finally understood that his royal power was being stripped away. Consumed by anger, he demanded to know who claimed this was God's will. In his rage, he immediately slashed the scroll, deliberately cutting out every instance of God's name, and threw them all into the fire [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת דוד].