2 Baruch
Encyclopedia
2 Baruch is a Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 pseudepigraphical text thought to have been written in the late 1st century CE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

 or early 2nd century CE, after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. It is attributed to the Biblical Baruch
Baruch ben Neriah
Baruch ben Neriah was the scribe, disciple, secretary, and devoted friend of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. According to Josephus, he was a Jewish aristocrat, a son of Neriah and brother of Seraiah ben Neriah, chamberlain of King Zedekiah of Judah.Baruch wrote down the first and second editions of...

 and so is associated with the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

, but not regarded as scripture by Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 or by most Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 groups. It is included in some editions of the Peshitta
Peshitta
The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition.The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from the Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century AD...

, and is part of the Bible in the Syriac Orthodox tradition. It has 87 sections.

2 Baruch is also known as the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch. The Apocalypse proper occupies the first 77 chapters of the book. Chapters 78-87 are usually referred to as the Letter of Baruch to the Nine and a Half Tribes.

Manuscript Tradition

The Letter of Baruch had a separate and wider circulation than the rest of the book, and is attested in thirty-six Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...

 manuscripts.

The Apocalypse proper has been less widely available. One Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 excerpt was known from a quotation in Cyprian
Cyprian
Cyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...

. A 4th-5th century CE Greek
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....

 fragment was found among the Oxyrhynchus
Oxyrhynchus
Oxyrhynchus is a city in Upper Egypt, located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo, in the governorate of Al Minya. It is also an archaeological site, considered one of the most important ever discovered...

 manuscripts. Two excerpts were known from 13th century lectionaries of the Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....

..

The full text of 2 Baruch is now known from a 6th or 7th century CE Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...

 manuscript discovered by Antonio Ceriani in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Biblioteca Ambrosiana
The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo , whose agents scoured Western Europe and even Greece and Syria for books...

 in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 in 1866. An Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 manuscript of the whole text was discovered in 1974. It is apparently a rather free translation from a Syriac text similar to the Milan manuscript.

Description

Although the canonical Book of Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....

 portrays Baruch
Baruch ben Neriah
Baruch ben Neriah was the scribe, disciple, secretary, and devoted friend of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. According to Josephus, he was a Jewish aristocrat, a son of Neriah and brother of Seraiah ben Neriah, chamberlain of King Zedekiah of Judah.Baruch wrote down the first and second editions of...

 as Jeremiah's scribe, 2 Baruch portrays him as a prophet in his own right. It has a similar style to the writings attributed to Jeremiah: a mix of prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

, lamentation, and visions
Precognition
In parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...

. Although Baruch writes of Nebuchadnezzar's sack of Jerusalem in 586 BC, it is currently believed as having been written in reaction to the fall of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (70)
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was the decisive event of the First Jewish-Roman War. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in...

 in 70 CE, but before 135 CE.

The Syriac is almost certainly a translation from the Greek
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....

; the original was probably written in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

. There is a close relation between this apocalypse and that of 2 Esdras
2 Esdras
2 Esdras or Latin Esdras is the name of an apocalyptic book in many English versions of the Bible . Its authorship is ascribed to Ezra. It is reckoned among the Apocrypha by many Protestant churches. Although Second Esdras exists in its complete form only in Latin, it was originally written in...

, but critics are divided over the question, which has influenced the other. The probabilities favor the hypothesis that the 2 Baruch is an imitation of that of Esdras and therefore later. This Apocalypse of Baruch deals in part with the same problems, the sufferings of the theocratic people, and their ultimate triumph over their oppressors. Its Messianim
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...

 in general is earthly, but in the latter part of the book the Messiah's realm tends unmistakably towards a more spiritual conception. Greater importance is attached to the law than in the related composition. Some scholars of 2 Baruch have seen in it a composite work, but the majority of critics consider it a unity.

As in 2 Esdras
2 Esdras
2 Esdras or Latin Esdras is the name of an apocalyptic book in many English versions of the Bible . Its authorship is ascribed to Ezra. It is reckoned among the Apocrypha by many Protestant churches. Although Second Esdras exists in its complete form only in Latin, it was originally written in...

 sin is traced to the disobedience of Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...

, but different stances are taken about the hereditary of Adam's sin: while 2 Esdras supports the heredity, 2 Baruch has a quite different position: "each of us has been the Adam of his own soul" (54:15).

The first part of the text is structured in triplets: three fasts each followed by three visions and three addresses to the people. The visions are notable for their discussion of theodicy
Theodicy
Theodicy is a theological and philosophical study which attempts to prove God's intrinsic or foundational nature of omnibenevolence , omniscience , and omnipotence . Theodicy is usually concerned with the God of the Abrahamic religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, due to the relevant...

, the problem of evil
Problem of evil
In the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to explain evil if there exists a deity that is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient . Some philosophers have claimed that the existences of such a god and of evil are logically incompatible or unlikely...

, and an emphasis on predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...

. According to the text, the Temple's sacred objects were rescued from destruction under the protection angels to be returned during the restoration prophesied in the Book of Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....

. The second part of the text is a long letter (known as Letter of Baruch), which many scholars believe was originally a separate document.

Content

  • Chapters 1-5: God reveals to Baruch
    Baruch ben Neriah
    Baruch ben Neriah was the scribe, disciple, secretary, and devoted friend of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. According to Josephus, he was a Jewish aristocrat, a son of Neriah and brother of Seraiah ben Neriah, chamberlain of King Zedekiah of Judah.Baruch wrote down the first and second editions of...

     the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, and asks him leave the city along with all other pious persons. Baruch cannot understand how the name of Israel can be remembered and the promises made to Moses
    Moses
    Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

     can come true if the Temple
    Temple in Jerusalem
    The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

     is in ruins. God explains that such earthly building is not the one he showed to Adam before the Fall and to Moses on the Sinai
    Biblical Mount Sinai
    The Biblical Mount Sinai is the mountain at which the Book of Exodus states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God...

     and assures Baruch that Israel's woes will not be permanent. Then Baruch, Jeremiah
    Jeremiah
    Jeremiah Hebrew:יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...

    , and all other pious ones go to the Kidron Valley
    Kidron Valley
    The Kidron Valley is the valley on the eastern side of The Old City of Jerusalem which features significantly in the Bible...

    , where they sorrow and fast.

  • Chapters 6-8: On the following day the Chaldeans
    Neo-Babylonian Empire
    The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. Throughout that time Babylonia...

     surround the city; and Baruch is carried up miraculously to the walls of Jerusalem and he sees four angels with torches firing the walls, but not before another angel has consigned the sacred vessels of the Temple to the earth, which swallows them up till the latter days.

  • Chapters 9-12: Seven days after the capture of Jerusalem, Baruch again receives a revelation. He is told that Jeremiah should go with the captives to Babylon
    Babylon
    Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

    , but that he himself must remain at the ruins of Jerusalem, where God will reveal to him what shall happen at the end of days. Then Baruch sings a dirge on the destruction of Jerusalem.

  • Chapters 13-20: After fasting seven days, Baruch receives a revelation concerning the future punishment of the heathen and of all godless persons; he replies to the Lord complaining about the sad fate of the men. God answers that the man was instructed in the Law and that now the time shall be sped up, referring to the end of days soon to come.

  • Chapters 21-30: After another seven-day fast and long prayers the heavens open and Baruch hears a heavenly voice. First he is blamed for the doubt and the Lord explains that "because when Adam sinned and death was decreed against those who should be born, then the multitude of those who should be born was numbered, and for that number a place was prepared where the living might dwell and the dead might be guarded", and so the "future time" will come only when the earth shall have brought forth all her fruit. Baruch demands when this time will arrive, and the Lord gives a first description of the "future time", explaining the twelve divisions of the time of oppression (the same division we find in the Ladder of Jacob
    Ladder of Jacob
    The Ladder of Jacob is a pseudepigraphic writing of the Old Testament. It is usually considered to be part of the Apocalyptic literature. The text has been preserved only in Slavonic, and it is clearly a translation from a now lost Greek version...

    ), and foretelling the Messianic
    Messiah
    A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...

     era of joy and the resurrection of the dead
    Resurrection of the dead
    Resurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...

    s.

  • Chapters 31-44: Baruch assembles the elders of the people and tells them that Zion
    Mount Zion
    Mount Zion is a place name for a site in Jerusalem, the location of which has shifted several times in history. According to the Hebrew Bible's Book of Samuel, it was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered by King David, becoming his palace in the City...

     will soon be restored, but destroyed once again, then to be rebuilt for all eternity.

  • Chapters 35-40: Baruch, while sitting in the ruins of the Temple
    Temple in Jerusalem
    The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

     lamenting, receives a new revelation in the form of the following vision: In his sleep he sees a wood surrounded by rocks and crags, and, opposite the wood, a growing vine, beneath which flows a spring. The spring runs quietly as far as the wood, where it waxes to a mighty stream, overwhelming the wood and leaving only one cedar standing. This cedar, too, is finally swept away and carried to the vine. God explains the meaning of the vision to Baruch. The wood is the mighty fourth power (probably the Roman Empire
    Roman Empire
    The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

    ); the spring is the dominion of the Messiah
    Messiah
    A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...

    ; and the vine is the Messiah himself, who will destroy the last hostile ruler on Mount Zion
    Mount Zion
    Mount Zion is a place name for a site in Jerusalem, the location of which has shifted several times in history. According to the Hebrew Bible's Book of Samuel, it was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered by King David, becoming his palace in the City...

    .

  • Chapters 42-46: Baruch is explained about the fate of converts and apostates, and is directed to warn the people and to prepare himself for another revelation. He predicts to his son and to other seven elders his own death and foretells that shall not be wanting to Israel a wise man nor a son of the law.

  • Chapters 47-52: This central part of the Apocalypse begins with the great prayer of Baruch, full of humility in front of the majesty of God. And God revels him the oppressions in the latter days, the resurrection, the final destiny of the righteous ("there shall then be excellency in the righteous surpassing that in the angels"), and the fate of the godless. Thus Baruch understands not to grieve for who die, but to joy for the present sufferance.

  • Chapters 53-74: A second prophetic vision follows, whose meaning is explained by the angel Ramiel
    Ramiel
    Râmîêl is a fallen Watcher in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, one of 20 leaders, mentioned sixth. Ramiel means "thunder of God" from the Hebrew elements ra'am and El, "God". Remiel is one of the archangels of the Christian and Islamic traditions, the Hebrew name meaning "Mercy of God" or "Compassion...

    . A cloud which arises from the sea rains down twelve times alternately dark and bright waters. This indicates the course of events from Adam
    Adam
    Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...

     to the Messiah. The six dark waters are the dominion of the godless—Adam, Ancient Egypt
    Ancient Egypt
    Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

    , Canaan
    Canaan
    Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...

    , Jeroboam
    Jeroboam
    Jeroboam was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy....

    , Manasseh
    Manasseh of Judah
    Manasseh was a king of the Kingdom of Judah. He was the only son of Hezekiah with Hephzi-bah. He became king at an age 12 years and reigned for 55 years. Edwin Thiele has concluded that he commenced his reign as co-regent with his father Hezekiah in 697/696 BC, with his sole reign beginning in...

    , and the Chaldeans
    Neo-Babylonian Empire
    The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. Throughout that time Babylonia...

    . The six bright waters are Abraham
    Abraham
    Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...

    , Moses
    Moses
    Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

    , David
    David
    David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...

    , Hezekiah
    Hezekiah
    Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and the 14th king of Judah. Edwin Thiele has concluded that his reign was between c. 715 and 686 BC. He is also one of the most prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Bible....

    , Josiah
    Josiah
    Josiah or Yoshiyahu or Joshua was a king of Judah who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Jewish scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after...

    , and the time of the Second Temple
    Second Temple
    The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...

     ("nevertheless, not fully as in the beginning"). After these twelve waters comes another water still darker than the others and shot with fire, carrying annihilation in its train. A clear flash puts an end to the fearful tempest. The dark cloud is the period between the time of the Second Temple and the advent of the Messiah, which latter event determines the dominion of the wicked, and inaugurates the era of eternal bliss.

  • Chapters 75-77: After Baruch has thanked God for the secrets revealed to him, God asks him to warn the people, and keep himself in readiness for his translation to heaven, since God intends to keep him there until the consummation of the times. Baruch admonishes the people and, besides, writes two letters: one to the nine and one-half tribes (sent them by means of an eagle); the other to the two and one-half tribes exiled in Babylon (of which no content is given).

  • Chapters 78-87 (known also as Letter of Baruch to the nine and one-half tribes): the mains themes of this letter are: the hope for a future reward after the present sufferance, the speed up of the times, the constancy of Moses's covenant and the freedom of the man to follow God.

Sources

  • A.F.J. Klijn 2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch, a new Translation and Introduction in ed. James Charlesworth The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol 1 ISBN 0385096305 (1983)
  • F. Leemhuis, A.F.J. Klijn, G.J.H. van Gelder The Arabic Text of the Apocalypse of Baruch: Edited and Translated with a Parallel Translation of the Syriac Text ISBN 9004076085 (1986)
  • P. Bettiolo Apocalisse Siriana di Baruc in ed. P.Sacchi Apocrifi dell'Antico Testamento Vol 2 ISBN 9788802076065 (2006)

External links

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