2 Baruch
Template:Books of the Old Testament 2 Baruch also known as the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to have been written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE. It is not part of the canon of either the Jewish or most Christian Bibles but is part of the Syriac Peshitta. It has 87 sections.
Description
Although the canonical Book of Jeremiah portrays Baruch as Jeremiah's scribe, 2 Baruch portrays him as a prophet in his own right, and superior to Jeremiah. It has a similar style to the writings attributed to Jeremiah – a mix of prayer, lamentation, and visions. Although Baruch writes of Nebuchadnezzar's sac of Jerusalem in 586 BC, it is generally believed as having been written in reaction to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. 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.
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, the problem of evil, and an emphasis on predestination. The second part of the text is a long letter, which many scholars believe was originally a separate document, which discusses the importance and primacy of Jewish law.
The complete exists in Syriac and Arabic; there are also fragments in Greek of chapters 12 through 14 and in Latin of chapter 48. Quotations are also found in Cyprian.
4 Baruch
Fourth Baruch is a condensed, fabulous version of 2 Baruch. It replaces "Baruch" with Jeremiah in some instances; Paralipomena of Jeremiah appears as the title in several ancient Greek manuscripts of the work, meaning "things left out of (the Book of) Jeremiah."[1] Fourth Baruch is regarded as pseudepigraphical by all Christian churches and neither scripture nor apocrypha.
The text appears to have been heavily edited, and while the start and end clearly portray Jeremiah as the hero, other parts focus on Baruch. Some parts of 4 Baruch may have been added in the Christian era, such as the description of Jeremiah's stoning due to his prophecy of the coming of Jesus. Like the greater prophets, it advocates the divorce of foreign wives and exile of those who will do not. According to 4 Baruch, the Samaritans are the descendants of such mixed marriages.[2]
Fourth Baruch may be related to the additions found at the end of the canonical Book of Jeremiah in Ethiopian manuscripts known as the Rest of the Words of Baruch.[3]
See also
External links
2 Baruch
- Text of 2 Baruch in its ancient versions: Syriac, Greek, and Latin
- Translation from "The Apocrypha and Pseudeipgrapha of the Old Testament", R. H. Charles
- Jewish Encyclopedia: BARUCH, APOCALYPSE OF (Syriac)
- 2 Baruch at earlyjewishwritings.com