Syrian Baruch Apocalypse

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The Syrian Baruch Apocalypse (also: 2. Baruch, abbreviated: 2Bar or syrBar) is one of the so-called pseudepigraphies of the Old Testament . It is a Jewish script that probably originated in the late 1st century AD or early 2nd century AD, apparently between the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70 and the Bar Kochba- Uprising 132–135 AD

The script is ascribed to the biblical person Baruch , but is certainly not written by him. Today the book is not counted in either the Jewish or the Christian Bible canon , but it is included in some versions of the Syrian Bible (the Peshitta ).

Text transmission

The existence of the book was known from a Latin quote from the church father, Cyprian of Carthage , as well as in excerpts from medieval lectionaries of the Syrian Orthodox Church . A complete version in Syrian was discovered in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan in 1866 , as was an Arabic translation in 1974, which depends on the Syrian text. Furthermore, Greek fragments have been found among the Oxyrhynchus papyri.

content

The book is divided into 87 chapters and two parts: Chapters 1-77 contain the actual Apocalypse , Chapters 78-87 the letter of Baruch to the 9 1/2 tribes .

The Apocalypse depicts, as a vision of Baruch, the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II in the year 586 BC. BC, (apparently a reaction to the destruction of the temple in AD 70). Baruch learns that although the earthly temple has been destroyed, the eternal cult of God is continued in heaven by the angels, so that the temple does not have to be rebuilt. Ultimately, it is a consolation for the Jewish religious community that has lost its sanctuary.

  • Chapters 1–5: God reveals to Baruch that the destruction of Jerusalem is imminent and tells him to leave the city with the remaining pious. Baruch does not understand how God's covenant promises (to Moses and David ) can continue to apply when the city and temple go under. God declares that the earthly buildings are not the real ones and that Israel's rejection will not last forever. Baruch, Jeremiah and the upright leave Jerusalem and lament and fast.
  • Chapters 6–8: The Chaldeans enclose the city. Baruch is led to the city wall in a vision and sees four angels throwing torches at the city, while a fifth angel throws the sacred temple implements to the ground. The earth opens up and devours the devices until the end of days.
  • Chapter 9–12: Seven days after conquering Jerusalem, Baruch has another vision: He is revealed that Jeremiah is to go with the prisoners to Babylon while he is to remain in the ruined city, where he will receive further revelations about the future.
  • Chapters 13–20: Baruch fasts seven days and has another vision of the future punishment of the Gentiles and the wicked. He complains to God about the fate of men, but God replies that in the law (of Moses) men have a guideline for their lives.
  • Chapters 21–30: After another seven day fast, Baruch sees the open sky. He is admonished about his doubts, and then he learns that after Adam's fall the number of all people is predetermined so that the end will come when their number is fulfilled. Baruch asks when that will be, and in response receives an explanation of the twelve ages which will end with the time of the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead.
  • Chapters 31–34: Baruch gathers the elders of the people and tells them that Zion will indeed be rebuilt, but will be destroyed again. Only then will it rise again for all eternity.
  • Chapters 35–40: Baruch has another vision as he sits mourning in the ruins of the temple. In it he sees how the Messiah overcomes the fourth great human empire (probably the Roman Empire).
  • Chapters 41–46: Baruch receives revelations about the fate of converts and apostates . He is to warn the people and prepare for further visions. He foresees his own death.
  • Chapters 47–52: This is the central part of the book. He begins with a great prayer from Baruch in the face of the majesty of God. God reveals to him the oppression of humanity during the last days, the resurrection and the ultimate fate of the righteous as well as that of the wicked. This is how Baruch realizes that there is no need to mourn the dead.
  • Chapter 53-74: The angel Ramiel brings Baruch another vision with the six dark (bad) and the six light (good) ages of mankind. Then comes a great darkness, the time after the destruction of the Second Temple, which is illuminated by the coming of the Messiah.
  • Chapters 75–77: Baruch thanks God for allowing him to see these mysteries. God instructs Baruch to warn the people and to prepare himself for his ascension into heaven. Baruch writes two letters: the one to the 9 1/2 tribes and the one to the 2 1/2 in exile (which is handed down in the Book of Baruch).
  • Chapters 78-87: The Baruch's letter to the 9 1/2 tribes. Baruch exhorts the people to believe in the promised future and the coming of the Messiah despite the present sufferings.

Related literature

Some traditions that are used in the 2nd Baruch can also be found in other writings, for example in the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum des Pseudo-Philo, in the Paralipomena Jeremiae (4th Baruch), in the Apocalypse of Abraham and in the Apocalypse of Moses . In addition, 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra are related to each other.

See also

Web links

Wikisource: The German translation by Paul Rießler  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Testimoniorum adversus Judæos III.29: contains 2Bar 48:36, 48: 33-34
  2. ↑ British Museum, Addit. 14.686, 1255 CE: verses 44: 9-15; British Museum, Addit. 14.687, 1256 CE: verses 72: 1-73: 2; the same excerpts were also found in a 15th century lectionary in Kerala
  3. ↑ Manuscript "B. 21 inf" ff 264a-276a. A. Ceriani Apocalypsis Baruch (notae criticae) in Monumenta sacra et profana 1,2, Milano 1866 pag 73-98
  4. ^ P. Oxy. 403, contains 2Bar 12: 1-13: 2; 13: 11-14: 3
  5. ↑ Cf. Bruno Violet, Die Apokalypsen des Esra and Baruch in German form. Leipzig 1924.
  6. ↑ See also, especially on the Syrian text of the Baruch Apocalypse and related early Jewish and early Christian literature, Timothy B. Sailors, "Der Römerbrief und die 2. (Syrian) Baruch-Apocalypse", in The Letter to the Romans, ed. U. Fast. Löwen 2009, pp. 563-594.