Some interesting details about scrolls in the Bible:

After 22 years of prophesying words from God, Jeremiah was told to write down every word God had ever said to him (Jeremiah 36:2).  This was a big job.  Jeremiah dictated all the words to Baruch, a scribe (Jeremiah 36:4).  God’s instruction was given in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim and the scroll was ready to read to the people in the ninth month of the fifth year.  A long time.

Sadly, the scroll was then taken and read to King Jehoiakim.  After a few columns had been read, he cut off what had been read and threw it in the fire.  He continued to do this until eventually all of the scroll had been burned up.  Months of Baruch's work had gone up in smoke.

God told Jeremiah and Baruch to do it all over again, and we are told that many more similar words were added also.

Several years later, when Jerusalem was under siege by the Babyonians, Jeremiah was told to buy some land which he did following a process that is somewhat reminiscent of land purchases today.  Jeremiah had to get witnesses, sign two copies of the deed and have the witnesses sign also, then pay an agreed price.  One copy of the signed deed was sealed, presumably to make sure that no-one made any unauthorised changes, and then both copies were put in storage, under the care of Baruch.  God was using this as a sign that the nation would not be destroyed forever, but that after a time, buying and selling of land would begin again.  Jeremiah had bought some land that was completely worthless and which he could not even visit because of the surrounding Babylonian army, but God’s message was made clear.  See Jeremiah 32 for more information.

The book of Jeremiah is not in chronological order.  Opinions vary as to why, but some traditions suggest that the scroll may have been cut into pieces for transporting to Egypt and subsequently mixed up.  There is no way to know.

If you want a difficult but valuable challenge, try writing out one of the gospels from the New Testament.  This is similar to the command God gave to the kings of Israel, that they should write out the book of the law for themselves (Deuteronomy 17:18-19).  The job will take a long time, so make sure you allow some time every day – and don’t give up.  Once you have finished, read it over and see how many copying errors you can find – or get someone else to do it for you.  After this, I can guarantee that you will feel a much greater respect for the unknown men who have copied out the Bible over thousands of years and managed to achieve such incredible accuracy.  If you have done this before, please reply and let me know what you chose to copy.