2 Baruch

Historical printed page 499

II BARUCH 31. 4—35. ; 4 Forget not Zion, | But hold in remembrance the anguish of Jerusalem. 5 For lo! the days come, When everything that is shall become the prey of corruption And be as though it had not been. 32:1 ‘But as for you, if ye prepare your hearts, so as to sow in them the fruits of the law, it shall pro- 2 tect you in that time in which the Mighty One is to shake the whole creation. [Because after a 3 little time the building of Zion will be shaken in order that it may be built again. But that building will not remain, but will again after a time be rooted out, and will remain desolate until 4,5 the time. And afterwards it must be renewed in glory, and perfected for evermore.| Therefore we should not be distressed so much over the evil which has now come as over that which is 6 still to be. For there will be a greater trial than these two tribulations when the Mighty One will renew His creation. And now do not draw near to me for a few days, nor seek me till I come to g you.’ And it cameto pass when I had spoken to them all these words, that I, Baruch, went my way, and when the people saw me setting out, they lifted up their voice and lamented and said : ‘ Whither departest thou from us, Baruch, and forsakest us as a father who forsakes his orphan children, and departs from them ? 3x ‘Are these the commands which thy companion, Jeremiah the prophet, commanded thee, and 2 said unto thee: ‘“ Look to this people till I go and make ready the rest of the brethren tint Babylon, 3 against whom has gone forth the sentence that they should be led into captivity”? And now if Phen also forsakest us, it were good for us all to die before thee, and then that thou shouldst withdraw from us.’ XXXIV-XXXV. Lament of Baruch. 34 And I answered and said unto the people: ‘ Far be it from me to forsake you or to withdraw from you, but I will only go unto the Holy of Holies to inquire of the Mighty One concerning you and concerning Zion, if in some respect I should receive more illumination: and after these things I will return to you.’ 851 And I, Baruch, went to the holy place, and sat down upon the ruins and wept, and said: 2 ‘O that mine eyes were springs, And mine eyelids a fount of tears. 3 For how shall I lament for Zion, And how shall I mourn for Jerusalem ? 5. shall become the prey of, lit. ‘ shall be taken to’. See xxi. 19, note. XXXII. 1. prepare your hearts. An O.T. phrase, and a favourite expression in b? and B’; cf. xlvi. 5, lii. 7, &c. the fruits of the law, i.e. good works. Cf. 4 Ezra iii. 20, ix. 32. it shall protect. Cf. xlviii. 22-4, xliv. 13, 14. shake the whole creation, i.e. to prepare for new heavens anda new earth. The thought comes originally from Haggai ii. 6; cf.’ Heb. xii. 26. 2-4. Here it is said that after a little time Zion will be destroyed. But according to xx. 1-2, xxxi. 4, xxxii. 5, xxxiii. 2-3, xxxv. 1 Jerusalem is already overthrown. These verses also break the connexion of thought between xxxii. 1 and xxxii. 5, The people are to prepare themselves by obedience to the law for the end of all things, xxxii. 1. Compared with this the evils attendant on the fall of Jerusalem are slight. These three verses are closely akin to Tobit xiv. 4-5. Cf. Ber. R. 2 and Pesikta 145 for a similar hope. These verses are an intrusion here. 2. Zion will be shaken. Apparently ‘after a little time’ = by Nebuchadnezzar in 588 B.C be built again, i.e. by Ezra and Nehemiah. 3. again . . . be rooted out, i.e. by the Romans in A. D. 70. 4. On the heavenly Jerusalem, see iv. 3, note. 5. be distressed. 1 have here followed Bensly’s emendation of the Syriac, which has the active form instead of ssive. ὰ the evil which has now come = Jerusalem’ s fall. 6. two tribulations, i. e. those accompanying the destruction of Jerusalem and the renewal of creation. Perhaps ‘than these two tribulations’ is an addition ; the text without them would run ‘For the trial will be great when’, &c. renew His creation, i.e. replace the corruptible by the incorruptible world. See further li and lii, It was a current expectation after the captivity (cf. Isa. xv. 17; 1 En. xlv. 4, note; 4 Ezra vii. 75; Matt. xix. 28; 2 Pet. iii. 13; Rev. xxi. 1). 7. This verse was originally preceded by xliv. 8-15. for a few days, i.e. for the seven days’ fast, omitted in xxxv. Cf. 4 Ezra v. 18, 19. XXXIII. 1.2. Seex. 2, note. According to B Jeremiah does not seem to have gone to Babylon. On ‘make ready’ see note on x. 2. Here the ‘in’ is decidedly corrupt. See note on x. 2. 3. Cf. 4 Ezra xii. 44, 48. h 4 XXXIV. Holy of Holies. Cf. x. 5, xxxv. 1; the holy place, xxxv. 4, where the altar stood. t XXXV. 2. From Jer. ix. 1; cf. 1 En. xcv. 1. te 499 Kk 2