2 Baruch

Historical printed page 487

And say to the dead: t But I will say this as I think. And I will speak against thee, O land, which art prospering. 2 The noonday does not always burn. Nor do the rays of the sun constantly give light. 3 Do notexpect [and hope] that thou wilt always be prosperous and rejoicing. And be not greatly up- lifted and boastful. 4 For assuredly in its own season shall the (divine) wrath awake against thee. Which now in long-suf- fering is held in as it were by reins. XII. ΧΙΠ. 5 And when I had said these things, I fasted seven days. 4. went torest .. XII. 3. [and hope]. II BARUCH 11. 4—12. 5 (2-5) (6-8) (8-10) Second Fast. The text is very confused. See next note. XIII-XXV. The text of these chapters is inexplicable as it stands. though this exists, but to a recasting of the original text. contexts and placed in settings which are quite unsuitable. not only were the chapters broken up and rearranged, but also mutilated and interpolated. sible to explain the grounds for such dislocations of the text. 4 Our fathers went to rest without grief, a And lo! the righteous sleep in the earth in tranquillity ; 5 For they knew not this anguish, Nor yet had they heard of that which had befallen us. 6 Would that thou hadst ears, O earth, And that thou hadst a heart, O dust: That ye might go and announce in Sheol, 7 “Blessed are ye more than we who live.”’ OXYRHYNCHUS GREEK FRAGMENT, from Grenfell and Hunt’s Oxyrhynchus Papyri, vol. iii. 3-7, 1903. Verso. 12. 1. But I will say this as I think, And speak against thee, the land that is prospering. 2. Not always does the noon- day burn, Nor do the rays of the sun constantly give light. 3. And do not thou expect to rejoice, Nor jcondemn}j greatly. 4. For assuredly in its season shall the (divine) wrath be awak- ened against thee, Which is now restrained by long-suffering as it were by a rein. 5. And having said these things I fasted seven days. A duplicate rendering. be... uplifted = xwin. The Greek ‘condemn’= yern, is against the parallelism. boastful. 1 have emended g.,S>ab = ‘do (not) oppress’, into gio>heal. Verso. { 17 letters αλλα r)ovro 12 £ o1o(v) (οιομαι epw καὶ Aadn)ow προς σε THY (γην τὴν εὐοδουσαν ονυ 2 παντοτε μεσεμ 5 (Bpia αποκαιει ovd)e τὸ διηνεκες at axte (ves Tov ἡλιον λα)μπουσιν" 3 και συ μὴ προς (δοκα χαιρήσειν nde επζύπολυ καταδικα (Ce αληθως yap ev) καιρω 4 εξῦπνισθησεται (προς σε ἡ οργὴ ἡ νυν ὑπὸ τὴ μακροθυμ(ι) Revelation as to the coming Fudgement on the Heathen. (10-16) to(as ws χαλίνω KarexeTat 5 Kal) εἰπὼν TavTA . Sleep in the earth. Cf. xxi. 24. Dan. xii. 2, ‘sleep in the dust of the earth.’ 5-6. In Berakh 18” there is a long legend narrated, the object of which is to teach that the departed know nothing of what is going on in this world. 6. That ye might go. The Syriac = ‘and go ye’, a Hebrew idiom, i.e. an imperative used for a jussive: see Driver, Moods and Tenses,’ p. 82. THE FoURTH SECTION. XII. 5-XX. After a fast of seven days follows a long revelation to Baruch (xiii. 2-xx. 2). it The difficulties are due not to corruption, In this process many passages were torn from their original It appears impossible to restore the original order; for It is only occasionally But that they occur not infrequently is indubitable. Ὁ have it on a large scale in 2 Corinthians which is composed of two letters, and where the Jater in date is placed before the earlier. Other instances which can be consulted by the reader occur in this volume: see 1 Enoch xii-xvi ; where the dislocation and consequent confusion are almost as great as in our text : Ixxviii-Ixxxii ; xci-xciii. But let us return and state the chief grounds for regarding this section as disarranged and confused. 1° In xiii. 4 ‘those prosperous cities’ are represented as speaking without a single note of introduction. some reference was made to these cities. Before xiii. 4 probably 2°. The retribution of the Gentiles referred to in xiii. 4, 5 has not been 487