Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BARUCH, BOOK OF

A five-chapter pseudepigraphic work attributed to Baruch, the highly placed Jerusalem scribe who appears in the book of Jeremiah (Jer. 32, 36, 43, 45). It is preserved in the Greek LXX, where it immediately follows the book of Jeremiah. Bar. 1:1–3:8 and perhaps the whole book were translated from a Hebrew original. It is recognized as canonical by Roman Catholics and the Orthodox communities, but classified among the Apocrypha by the Jewish and Protestant communities because it is not part of the Hebrew Bible.

Baruch may be divided into four uneven parts, the first two of which are prose and the second two poetry: narrative introduction (1:1-14); prayer of confession and repentance (1:15–3:8); wisdom poem of admonition and exhortation (3:9–4:4); poem of consolation and encouragement (4:5-5:9). Though each of the parts of Baruch has a distinctive style and themes, the author has linked the parts with words, themes, and traditions so that their different outlooks and rhetorical purposes work together to form a rhetorical and literary unity which moves from suffering and repentance for sin (1:15–3:8) to devotion to wisdom and obedience to God’s commands (3:9-4:4) and concludes with encouragement to endurance and the promise of divine intervention (4:5–5:9).

Baruch draws upon and is part of the traditions of Israel as they developed from the Babylonian Exile through the Second Temple period: cf. 1:15–3:8 with Dan. 9, Jeremiah, and Deuteronomy; 3:9–4:4 with Job 28 and the Wisdom tradition; and 4:5–5:9 with Isa. 40–66. The confession and prayer of repentance, which addresses God with the liturgically proper title “Lord,” is similar to many Second Temple prayers such as Ezra 9:6-15; Neh. 1:5-11; 9:5-37; Dan. 9; ; the Prayer of Azariah (Dan. 3:3-22 LXX); and the Words of the Luminaries (4QDibHama-c). The wisdom poem identifies true wisdom with the biblical law (Torah) and wise behavior with obedience to God’s commandments, as do other 2nd-century books (e.g., Sir. 24). Contrary to many sectarian polemical texts, such as those found at Qumran, Baruch does not distinguish between those Jews who are faithful to a certain way of keeping the law and those who are unfaithful. The author invites all Jews to acknowledge the nation’s sinfulness, repent, obey the commandments, and hope for divine assistance in a restored nation. The author has produced a middle-of-the-road, traditional theology for Israel to adhere to under all circumstances. Baruch’s very generality and lack of originality, for which it has often been criticized, made it attractive and available to Jews of every inclination. It seems to have been especially useful to Jews in the Greek-speaking Diaspora since it survived in Greek.

The book of Baruch is extremely difficult to date because it provides no certain allusions to events contemporary with the author(s) and is couched in traditional language that has a “timeless” quality. Modern commentators do not place the composition of Baruch in the Babylonian period assigned it by the narrative frame, but somewhere in the Greco-Roman period from 300 b.c.e. to 135 c.e., and within that time the Maccabean crisis in 167-164 b.c.e. has found favor recently. Though Bar. 1:15–2:18 is literally related to Dan. 9:4-19 as is Bar. 5:5-9 to Pss. Sol. 11, , the evidence for dependence and dates is ambiguous. The internal atmosphere of the book and allusions to its time of composition are vague and contradictory.

The book of Baruch as a whole is oriented toward Jerusalem and probably originated there. The goal of the prayers and exhortations is the restoration of Jerusalem and its people. The author(s) knew thoroughly the biblical and Second Temple traditions and supported worship at the temple, the holiness of Jerusalem, the restoration of Israel, and obedience to the Torah. The author(s) may have been teachers or officials in Jerusalem, part of a learned circle devoted to the study and promotion of the traditions of Israel. In the swirl of conflicts, dangers, and changes in the Hellenistic period Baruch probably sought to influence the outlooks, commitments, and policies of the Jerusalem leadership and people by encouraging adherence to the traditional Deuteronomic theology, the wisdom of Israel articulated in the Torah, and the commandments as a guide for life.

Anthony J. Saldarini

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BARUCH, BOOK OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)