ירמיהו, פרק ל״ו, פסוק כ״ו

The king's fury reaches a boiling point upon hearing the contents of the scroll, shifting his response into an active hunt for God's messengers. He orders his men to capture Jeremiah and Baruch. The primary approach among commentators is that the king intended to bring the two men before him and execute them for producing the offending document [מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. Alternatively, his goal was at least to imprison and punish them [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Their specific titles—the scribe and the prophet—are deliberately noted to emphasize the distinct role each played in creating the message that sparked the king's rage. Jeremiah delivered the prophecy, while Baruch recorded his words [אברבנאל].

Despite the king's orders, his men return empty-handed. The commentators agree that the survival of Jeremiah and Baruch was not the result of natural evasion or clever hiding tactics. Instead, it was an open miracle born of divine mercy [מצודת דוד, חומת אנך, אברבנאל]. When explaining the exact nature of this miracle, it is noted that the king's messengers actually arrived and searched the very location where the two men were staying. However, God actively prevented the searchers from noticing them. This divine concealment was accomplished either by God surrounding the prophet and the scribe with a special darkness, or by temporarily disabling the eyesight of the king's messengers while they were in that specific place [רד"ק].