Gemariah seems to have inherited his father's office of public scribe or secretary of state (see 2 Kings 22:3). As brother of Ahikam, he would be favorable to Jeremiah.

The higher court - The inner court; into which it was not lawful for the people to enter, but the chamber probably itself formed one of its sides, and could be approached from the outer court.

In the chamber of Gemariah - He was one of the princes of Judah. See Jeremiah 36:12.

Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord,.... The prophecies of Jeremiah he had taken from him in writing on a roll of parchment; these he read in the temple, in a part of it, after described:

in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe; not a scribe of the law, or an officer of the temple, but the king's chancellor or secretary of state; for this is the title, not of Gemariah, who had a chamber in the temple here mentioned, in which Baruch read his roll, and was an officer there, but of Shaphan, as the accents show, and as his title runs elsewhere, 2 Kings 22:9; which chamber was

in the higher court; it looked into it, which some say was the court of the priests; but into that Baruch, not being a priest, could not enter: rather, according to Dr. Lightfoot, it was the court of Israel, on the same ground with it, though parted from it, and divided from the court of the women by a wall, to which they went by an ascent of fifteen steps; so that it might with great propriety be called the higher court:

at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house; the eastern gate, as the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it: here Baruch read his roll,

in the ears of all the people; that were in the court; so that being in a chamber, he must read out of the chamber window, or in a balcony before it.

On this day Baruch read the addresses of Jeremiah out of the book to the people who had come to the temple, in the "chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper forecourt, at the entrance of the new gate of the house of the Lord." Gemariah the son of Shaphan was one of the king's private scribes, a secretary of state. For, according to Jeremiah 36:12, he belonged to the princes, and was probably a brother of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, who had already shown himself, before this, a protector of the prophet (Jeremiah 26:24). The chamber which he had in the temple was situated in the upper forecourt, at the entrance of the new gate, whose position we cannot exactly determine (see on Jeremiah 26:10), but which led from the outer to the inner court of the priests, which rose higher than the others.

Then Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entrance of the {h} new gate of the LORD'S house, in the ears of all the people.

(h) Which is the East gate of the temple.

36:10 Then read - Most likely out of some window, or balcony, the people being below, and hearing it.

entry: or, door

10. chamber-Baruch read from the window or balcony of the chamber looking into the court where the people were assembled. However, some of the chambers were large enough to contain a considerable number (Ne 13:5).

Gemariah-distinct from the Gemariah, son of Hilkiah, in Jer 29:3.

Shaphan-the same person as in 2Ki 22:3.

scribe-secretary of state, or he who presided over the public records.

higher court-that of the priests, the court of the people being lower (2Ch 4:9).

new gate-(Jer 26:10). The east gate.

36:9-19 Shows of piety and devotion may be found even among those, who, though they keep up forms of godliness, are strangers and enemies to the power of it. The princes patiently attended the reading of the whole book. They were in great fear. But even those who are convinced to the truth and importance of what they hear, and are disposed to favour those who preach it, often have difficulties and reserves about their safety, interest, or preferment, so that they do not act according to their convictions, and try to get rid of what they find troublesome.