^ In the Hebrew : He spake all these words to me with
his mouth, and I wrote them with ink. The LXX omit !
With his mouth. Erbt follows them ; considering the omitted
phrase to be a gloss. The LXX also omit : With ink. Duhm
believes ink was used only in preparation of permanent
records : so used here. But it is surely better, with a slight
alteration of the text, to read as above. Thus (a) Baruch
received the message direct from the prophet's own mouth ;
and (6) with his own hand, he committed it to writing.
* M.T. reads : They went in to the King into the court,
i.e. they passed through the court so as to reach the royal
apartments. But read n"i"jn (to his private room).
THE BURNING OF THE ROLL 295

silence he listens ; then, suddenly bending forward
he snatches the Roll from the reader's hands, cuts it
in pieces with a knife, and flings it, page by page, upon
the fire. Remonstrance is vain. Imperturbably reso-
lute, he pursues his work of destruction till a heap
of ashes smouldering on the hearth is aU that is left
of the prophet's Roll.
