2 Baruch

Historical printed page 524

II BARUCH 83. 13--8ὅ. 2 And every beauty of graccfulness of this time is turning faded and hateful, 13 And every proud dominion of the present is turning into humiliation and shame, And every praise of the glory of this time is turning into the shame of silence, And every vain splendour and insolence of this time is turning into voiceless ruin. 15 And every delight and joy of this time is turning to worms and corruption, - 16 And every clamour of the pride of this time is turning into dust and stillness. 1 And every possession of riches of this time is being turned into Sheol alone, 18 And all the rapine of passion of this time is turning into involuntary death, And every passion of the lusts of this time is turning into a judgement of torment. 19 And every artifice and craftiness of this time is turning into a proof of the truth, 20 And every sweetness of unguents of this time is turning into judgement and condemnation, 21 And every love of lying is turning to contumely through truth. 22 Since therefore all these things are done now, does anyone think that they will not be avenged? But the consummation of all things will come to the truth.] 84 1 Behold! I have therefore made known unto you (these things) whilst I live; for I have said (it) that ye should learn the things that are excellent; for the Mighty One hath commanded me to δ᾽ instruct you: and I will set before you some of the commandments of His judgement before I die. 2 Remember that formerly Moses assuredly called heaven and earth to witness against you and said; 3 ‘If ye transgress the law ye shall be dispersed, but if ye keep it ye shall be kept.’ And other 4 things also he used to say unto you when ye the twelve tribes were together in the desert. And after his death ye cast them away from you: on this account there came upon you what had been 5 predicted. And now Moses used to tell you before they befell you, and lo! they have befallen you : 6 for ye have forsaken the law. Lo! I also say unto you after ye have suffered, that if ye obey those things which have been said unto you, ye will receive from the Mighty One whatever has been laid “7 up and reserved for you. Moreover, let this epistle be for a testimony between me and you, that ye may remember the commandments of the Mighty One, and that also there may be to me a defence 8 in the presence of Him who sent me. And remember ye the Jaw and Zion, and the holy land and 9 your brethren, and the covenant of your fathers, and forget not the festivals andthe sabbaths. And deliver ye this epistle and the traditions of the law to your sons after you, as also your fathers 10 delivered (them) to you. And at all times make request perseveringly and pray diligently with your whole heart that the Mighty One may be reconciled to you, and that He may not reckon the 11 multitude of your sins, but remember the rectitude of your fathers. For if He judge us not accord- ing to the multitude of His mercies, woe unto all us who are born. 85: pore ye, moreover, that boxy n former times and in the generations of old our fathers had helpers, BS Righteous men and holy prophets: 2 Nay more, we were in our own land [And they helped us when we sinned], 12. beauty ... hateful. Cf. xlviii. 35. 14. glory ... shame. Again a play on words in the Hebrew 1133... pop. LXXNIV. 1. learn... instruct you. So bdghilWP. c reads ‘above all things learn the commandments of the Mighty One wherein 1 should instruct you’. 2. See xix. 2, note. In this verse we get several traces of the Hebrew original: the idiom TM IN; the play on ‘keep’ and ‘kept’; and perhaps a paronomasia in ‘ transgress’ and ‘ be dispersed’ 10M and Win. be kept. So all MSS. but c which reads ‘be planted ’. 6. The nine and a half tribes must endure chastisement before they could attain to the promised happiness. This chastisement was for their well-being (Ixxviii. 6); was less than they deserved (lxxix. 2), and was intended to make them worthy of their fathers in the last days (Ixxviii. 5). 10. that the Mighty One may be reconciled to you. Cf. 4 Ezra x. 24. The return to Palestine is to follow the reconciliation (Ixxvili. 7). the rectitude of your fathers. For their merit see xiv. 7, note; and contrast this next verse. _ LXXXV. An interpolation, B®. The restored Jerusalem and the return expected in B? is here implicitly denied, as in B*. This world is lost, and only spiritual blessedness is looked for in the world of incorruption. B* is more individualistic than B*, and moreover was written outside Palestine (lxxxv. 2, 3), whereas B? seems to have been written in Jerusalem. B* is the most pessimistic part of this book. _ 3-3. In these verses we have a strophe of five lines and an antistrophe. I have bracketed two clauses in verse 2 as interpolations. 1. Jeremiah’s generation seems far in the past. 2. The writer is among the Dispersion. they helped us. Cf. 4 Baruch ii. 3. 524