When did Jeremiah speak a word to Baruch?

 Jeremiah 45:1–5 is a very brief chapter that records a word from the Lord that Jeremiah spoke to Baruch, son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah. Chronologically, this chapter belongs with Jeremiah 36:1–32 which records the episode where Baruch assists Jeremiah in writing his words of judgment on a scroll. He has to rewrite the words after Jehoiakim cuts the scroll up and burns it piece by piece. Many commentators believe that Jeremiah 36:1–32 and Jeremiah 45:1–5 mark the beginning and end of a section in Jeremiah which consists of the memoirs of Baruch who had a large part to play in Jeremiah’s ministry and in the final form of the book.¹ Baruch then follows a recognized ancient pattern of writing a brief postscript about himself at the end of what he has produced as scribe and editor on Jeremiah’s behalf.² The message given to Baruch promises that he will survive the Babylonian invasion, which he does, and he also travels with Jeremiah to Egypt. So, this short account in Jeremiah 45:1–5 may also serve to show the reader that Baruch was left as a witness to all that Jeremiah did and spoke.