2 Baruch

Historical printed page 510

Il BARUCH 58. 1—54, 3 LIII-LXXIV. THE MESSIAH APOCALYPSE. 1111. Zhe Vision of the Cloud with black and white Waters. 53: And when 1 had said these things I fell asleep there, and I saw a vision, and lo! a cloud was liii-t ascending from a very great sea, and I kept gazing upon it, and lo! it was full of waters white and = ἃ black, and there were many colours in those self-same waters, and as it were the likeness of great 2 lightning was seen at its summit. And I saw the cloud passing swiftly in quick courses, and it 3 covered all the earth. And it came to pass after these things that that cloud began to pour 4 upon the earth the waters that were in it. And I saw that there was not one and the same like- 5 ness in the waters which descended from it. For in the first beginning they were black and many for a time, and afterwards I saw that the waters became bright, but they were not many, and after these things again I saw black (waters), and after these things again bright, and again 6 black and again bright. Now this was done twelve times, but the black were always more numerous 7 than the bright. And it came to pass at the end of the cloud, that lo! it rained black waters, and they were darker than had been all those waters that were before, and fire was mingled 8 with them, and where those waters descended, they wrought devastation and destruction. And after these things I saw how that lightning which I had seen on the summit of the cloud, seized 9 hold of it and hurled it to the earth. Now that lightning shone exceedingly, so as to illuminate the whole earth, and it healed those regions where the last waters had descended and wrought 10, 11 devastation. And it took hold of the whole earth, and had dominion over it. And I saw after these things, and lo! twelve rivers were ascending from the sea, and they began to surround 12 that lightning and to become subject to it. And by reason of my fear I awoke. LIV-LV. Baruch's Prayer for an Interpretation of the Vision: Ramiel’s advent for this Purpose. 541 And I besought the Mighty One, and said: ‘Thou alone, O Lord, knowest of aforetime the deep things of the world, And the things which befall in their times Thou bringest about by Thy word, And against the works of the inhabitants of the earth Thou dost hasten the beginnings of the times, And the end of the seasons Thou alone knowest. to (Thou) for whom nothing is too hard, But who dost everything easily by a nod: 3 (Thou) to whom the depths tcome} as the heights, And whose word the beginnings of the ages serve: LIII-LXXIV. The third Messiah Apocalypse, or A%. In date it seems to be prior to A.D. 70 (Ixviii. 5-6), and subsequent to A.D. 50. If this is the date of this section, it is distinct from B! and B*, which were composed subsequently to the fall of the Temple. In B! and B? there is no expectation of the Messiah, whereas in A® the Messiah is the centre of interest. Again, it appears to be distinct from A'; for in A! the Messiah does not appear till the enemies of Israel are destroyed, whereas in A* the Messiah is the agent of their destruction. The relations of A® to Αἴ are doubtful. They could come from the same hand. The warlike character of the Messiah in this section is noteworthy. LIII. In this vision a cloud rises from the sea with its summit crowned with lightning. After six successions of black and bright waters, comes the blackest shower of all. Then the lightning flashes forth and heals the earth. I. avery great sea. Cf. Dan. vii. 2. 5. and many. Here, as the words in the next line ‘not many’ show, we expect ‘and many’. Hence with ‘Ryssel I emend wg into cohvqaoo. 6. For the twelvefold division of history see 4 Ezra xiv. 11, 12. 7. These black waters are interpreted in Ixix, xx, They symbolize the travail pains of the Messiah. 8. The lightning on the cloud symbolizes the Messiah. The imagery is derived from Dan. vii. 13. 9. lightning shone . . . whole earth. Cf. Matt. xxiv. 27 ‘as the lightning . . . so shall be the coming of the Son of man’, 12. Are these twelve rivers the Gentiles submitting to the Messiah, or the twelve tribes of Israel ὃ LIV. 1. Before this chapter the MS, inserts the words ‘ The Prayer of Baruch’. 2. I have with Ryssel restored ‘ Thou’ at the beginning of verses 2, 3, 4. The context requires this restoration. for whom nothing is too hard. This is a rendering of the phrase found in Gen. xviii. 14; Jer. xxxii. 17, 27. 510