2 Baruch

Historical printed page 481

THE BOOK OF THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH THE SON OF NERIAH [Translated from the Greek into Syriac. ] I—IV.1. Announcement of the coming Destruction of Ferusalem to Baruch. 1: And it came to pass in the twenty-fifth year of Jeconiah, king of Judah, that the word of the Lord i-ix. 1 2 came to Baruch, the son of Neriah, and said to him: ‘Hast thou seen all that this people are doing = B* to Me, that the evils which these two tribes which remained have done are greater than (those of) 3 the ten tribes which were carried away captive? For the former tribes were forced by their kings to commit sin, but these two of themselves have been forcing and compelling their kings to commit 4sin. For this reason, behold I bring evil upon this city, and upon its inhabitants, and it shall be removed from before Me for a time, and I will scatter this people among the Gentiles that they may do good to the Gentiles. And My people shall be chastened, and the time shall come when they will seek for the prosperity of their times. 1 For I have said these things to thee that thou mayst bid Jeremiah, and all those that are like you, to retire from this city. 2 For your works are to this city as a firm pillar, And your prayers as a strong wall.’ THE First SECTION. I-V. 6. The first of the seven sections into which, according to the scheme of the final editor, the book was originally divided by fasts, generally lasting seven days. See v. 7, note; ix, note. In this section the word of the Lord comes to Baruch announcing the coming, though temporary, destruction of Jerusalem (i); Baruch is to bid Jeremiah to withdraw (ii); Baruch then asks, Will this destruction be final? will chaos return ? (iii); God answers that the punishment is temporary (iv. 1). Yet even so, Baruch rejoins, The enemy will boast before their idols over God’s own nation (v. 1). Not so, God replies, the heathen will have no cause to glory, as it is not they who will destroy Zion (v. 2, 3). Baruch assembles the people, and delivers the message (v. 5). I, [Translated from the Greek into Syriac.] These words occur in the Syriac MS., and the statement is supported by (1) transliterations of Greek words ; (2) renderings explicable only on the hypothesis that the translator followed the wrong meaning of the Greek word before him. I. 1. in the twenty-fifth year of Jeconiah. The reckoning is by the years of Jeconiah’s life, and not of his reign. He was eighteen years old when he began to reign in 599, and thus his twenty-fifth year would be 592, or two years before Nebuchadrezzar’s approach. In vi. 1 only one day, and not two years, elapses between the prediction and its fulfilment. So, too, the siege of Jerusalem is there represented as lasting but one day, whereas it lasted two years. Moreover, Jeconiah was in captivity when the city fell, and Zedekiah was king, as the author was aware (viii. 5). Accuracy of detail is sacrificed to general dramatic effect. the Lord. This title of God is found in all sections of the book alike. Baruch, the son of Neriah. Cf. Jer. xxxii. 12; xxxvi. 4; 1 Baruchi. 1. 2. the ten tribes. Elsewhere in this Apocalypse called ‘the nine and a half tribes’. See Ixxviii, 1 note. 3. forced by their kings, e.g. Jeroboam, and other kings of Israel. these two... compelling their kings to commit sin. It was the princes of Judah rather than Zedekiah that resisted Jeremiah’s teaching and prophecy. 4. for a time. This phrase recurs in iv. 1, vi. 9; xxxii. 3. It is thus peculiar to Β΄, Jerusalem has fallen under the Romans, but the writer of these chapters believes its desolation will be but ‘for a time’. Its future restoration is implied also in Ixxvii. 6, xxviii. 7, where the return of the ten tribes is foretold. In B?, and B® i.e. Ixxxv, no such restoration is looked for; Jerusalem is removed, xx. 2 (see note ¢# /oc.) in order to usher in the judgement more speedily ; in x. 10 the writer abandons all hope of a restored acon do good to the Gentiles. This seems to mean to make proselytes of the Gentiles. Cf. xlii. 5. My people shall be chastened. Cf. xiii. 10, ἅς. Pss. Sol. vii. 3, ἄς, the prosperity of their times, a Messianic kingdom or period of blessedness for Israel on earth. Il. 1. According to Jer. xxxviii. 13, 28 Jeremiah was a prisoner in the court of the guard till the capture of Jerusalem. those that are like you. This phrase recurs in three of the sections of this book. Cf. 4 Ezra iv. 36, &c. retire from this city. Cf. 4 Baruch (‘The Rest of the Words of Baruch’) i. 1. ‘Jeremiah... go forth from this city’. The reason for this command appears in the Talmud. In Taanith 19 we are told a house cannot fall so long as a good man is init. In Pesikta 115 » (Buber’s edition, 1868) it is said ‘So long as Jeremiah was in Jerusalem it was not destroyed, but when he went forth from it, it was destroyed’. 2. your works are to this city as a firm pillar, kc. Here Jer. vi. 27 is illegitimately applied, ‘1 have made thee a tower and a fortress among my people.’ Cf., however, Gen. xviii. 23-33. ἐξ a works. On the doctrine of works taught in this book see note on xiv. 7. 4 Baruch omits the reference to ‘wi ’, as it is of Christian authorship. 1106.2 481 TA