And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
Three or four leaves - not distinct leaves as in a book, but the consecutive spaces or columns on the long roll in the shape of doors (whence the Hebrew name х dªlaatowt (H1817)] is derived) into which the writing is divided: as the books of Moses, in the synagogue, in the present day, are written in a long parchment rolled round a stick, the writing being divided into columns, like pages.
When Jehudi had read ... he cut it with the penknife - the writer's knife with which the reed used as a pen was mended. "He" refers to the king (Jeremiah 36:22). As often as Jehudi read three or four columns, the king cut asunder the part of the roll read; and so he treated the whole, until all the parts read consecutively were cut and burnt; Jeremiah 36:24, "all these words" imply that the whole volume was read through, not merely the first three or four columns. Compare the similar dislike of hearing the truth felt by Ahab in the case of the prophet Micaiah, "There is yet one man, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him: for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil" (1 Kings 22:8).