Book of Baruch
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The Book of Baruch is a
The Book of Baruch is sometimes referred to as 1 Baruch[4] to distinguish it from 2 Baruch, 3 Baruch and 4 Baruch.
Although the earliest known manuscripts of Baruch are in Greek, linguistic features of the first parts of Baruch (1:1–3:8) have been proposed as indicating a translation from a
Although not in the
Basic structure
The basic outline of the book of Baruch:
- 1:1–14 Introduction: "And these are the words...which Baruch...wrote in Babylonia.... And when they heard it they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord."
- 1:15–2:10 Confession of sins: "[T]he Lord hath watched over us for evil, and hath brought it upon us: for the Lord is just in all his works.... And we have not hearkened to his voice"....
- 2:11–3:8 Prayer for mercy: "[F]or the dead that are in hell, whose spirit is taken away from their bowels, shall not give glory and justice to the Lord..." (cf. Psalms 6:6/5)
- 3:9–4:14 A paean for Wisdom: "Where are the princes of the nations,... that hoard up silver and gold, wherein men trust? ... They are cut off, and are gone down to hell,..."
- 4:5–5:9 Baruch's Poem of Consolation:[7] messages for those in captivity, for the "neighbours of Zion", and for Jerusalem: "You have been sold to the Gentiles, not for your destruction: but because you provoked God to wrath.... [F]or the sins of my children, he [the Eternal] hath brought a nation upon them from afar...who have neither reverenced the ancient, nor pitied children..." "Let no one gloat over me [Jerusalem], a widow, bereft of many, for the sins of my children I am left desolate, for they turned from the law of God". "Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God".[8]
- Chapter 6: see Letter of Jeremiah
Early evidence of use
No reference to the Book of Baruch is found in
Manuscripts
Both the Book of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah are separate books in the great
Book of Baruch and Book of Jeremiah
The evident variation among early Christian divines as to whether a particular reading is to be cited from 'Baruch' or 'Jeremiah' is generally regarded as relating to the very different texts of the
Authorship and date
Baruch 1:1–14 gives a narrative account of an occasion when Baruch ben Neriah reads the book of 'these words' before the Israelites in Babylon, and then sends that book (together with collected funds) to be read in Jerusalem. Where the Book of Baruch is considered to be a distinct work of scripture, it is commonly identified as the book that Baruch reads; and hence Baruch himself has traditionally been credited as the author of the whole work. However, the syntactical form of Baruch chapter 1 has been held rather to imply that 'these words' correspond to a preceding text – which might then be identified with Lamentations or with the Book of Jeremiah; in which case comparison may be made with a corresponding notice of Baruch writing down reading the prophecies of Jeremiah, recorded at Jeremiah chapter 36.[14] These considerations underlie an alternative tradition (found for instance in Augustine) in which all four works (Book of Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations, Letter of Jeremiah) are credited to Jeremiah himself as author.
Critical scholarship is, however, united in rejecting either Baruch or Jeremiah as author of the Book of Baruch, or in dating the work in the period of its purported context; the
Language
The Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Arabic, Bohairic and Ethiopic versions of Baruch are all translated directly from the Greek;[5] the text of which survives in Vaticanus and Alexandrinus, and is highly consistent.[18] Jerome (5th century) states that no Hebrew text was in existence,[19] and Origen (3rd century) appears to know of no Hebrew text in the preparation of the text of Baruch in the Hexapla Old Testament. Nevertheless, there are a number of readings in the earlier sections of Baruch (1:1 to 3:8) where an anomalous reading in the Greek appears to imply a mistranslation of a Hebrew or Aramaic source; as at chapter 3:4, where 'hear now the prayers of the dead of Israel' (מֵתֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל) is assumed to be a mistranslation of, 'hear now the prayers of the men of Israel'[5] (מְתֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, from the plural word מְתִים 'men' as in biblical expressions like מְתֵי אָהֳלִי 'men of my tent',[20] מְתֵי שָׁוְא 'men of vanity'[21] or מְתֵי מִסְפָּר 'men of few [numbers]'[22]). Since the 19th century, critical scholars have assumed a Semitic original for these earlier parts of the book, and a number of studies, such as that of Tov,[23][24] have sought to retrovert from the Greek to a plausible Hebrew source text. Whereas in the Revised Standard Version (1957) of Bible, the English text of Baruch consistently follows the Greek in these readings; in the New Revised Standard Version (1989) these readings are adjusted to conform with a conjectural reconstruction of a supposed Hebrew original.
Nevertheless, some more recent studies of Baruch, such as those by Adams and Bogaert, take the Greek text to be the original.[25][14] Adams maintains that most of the text of Baruch depends on that of other books of the Bible; and indeed it has been characterised by Tov as a "mosaic of Biblical passages" especially in these early sections.[24] Consequently, variations from the literal Hebrew text could have found their way directly into a dependent Greek version, without having to presume a Semitic intermediary stage. Moreover, Adams takes issue with the presupposition behind conjectural retroversions to conform to a supposed Hebrew text; that the author of Baruch understood the principle of literal translation, and aspired to follow that principle; and yet lamentably failed to do so.[26]
Canonicity
In the Greek East, Athanasius (367 AD),[27] Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 350 AD),[28] and Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 385 AD)[29] listed the Book of Baruch as canonical. Athanasius states "Jeremiah with Baruch, Lamentations, and the epistle"; the other Fathers offer similar formulations.
In the Latin West Pope
The
It is commonly accepted that the absence of specific mention of Baruch in canon lists circulating in the West cannot be interpreted as an assertion that the Book of Baruch was non-canonical, only that it is being assumed within Jeremiah ; although there was also an extensive body of
Liturgical use
Western
Catholic usage
In the Catholic Church, Baruch 3:9–38 is used in the liturgy of Holy Saturday during Passiontide in the traditional lectionary of scripture readings at Mass. A similar selection occurs during the revised liturgy for the Easter Vigil.[38]
Baruch 1:14 – 2:5; 3:1–8 is a liturgical reading within the revised Roman Catholic
Justice is with the Lord, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem, that we, with our kings and rulers and priests and prophets, and with our fathers, have sinned in the Lord's sight and disobeyed him. ... And the Lord fulfilled the warning he had uttered against us.... Lord Almighty, ... Hear... and have mercy on us, who have sinned against you... (Baruch 1:15–18; 2:1; 3:1–2)
St. Augustine's reflection, which is paired with this reading, on this occasion speaks of prayer: "[S]ince this [that we pray for] is that peace that surpasses all understanding, even when we ask for it in prayer we do not know how to pray for what is right..."; from there he explains what it means that the Holy Spirit pleads for the saints.
Baruch 3:9–15, 24–4:4 is a liturgical reading for the Saturday of the same week. The theme is that the salvation of Israel is founded on wisdom: "Learn where prudence is, ... that you may know also where are length of days, and life, where light of the eyes, and peace. Who has found the place of wisdom, who has entered into her treasuries? ... She is the book of the precepts of God, ... All who cling to her will live... Turn, O Jacob, and receive her: ... Give not your glory to another, your privileges to an alien race." Paired with this on the same day is a reading from St. Peter Chrysologus,[40] died AD 450, who quotes Paul the Apostle: "let us also wear the likeness of the man of heaven".[41]
Anglican usage
Baruch is listed in Article VI of the
In the American 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the Daily Office lectionary includes the Book of Baruch for the First Lesson on several occasions: Baruch 4:21–30 on the Second Sunday after Easter; Baruch 3:14–15, 29–37 for the 21st Sunday after Trinity; and Baruch 5 for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity.[44] In the American Book of Common Prayer (1979) Baruch 5:1–9 is the Old Testament reading for Advent II (Year C); and in the Daily Office (Year 2) Baruch 4:21–29 is prescribed for Advent IV, and Baruch 4:36–5:9 for Dec. 24.[45]
Eastern
In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, a selection from Baruch (which is considered an extension of the Book of Jeremiah, and is announced in the services as "Jeremiah") is read as one of the eight Paroemia (Old Testament readings) during the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Christmas Eve.
Use by theologians, Church Fathers, the Second Vatican Council
In Summa Theologiae III 4 4, Doctor of the Church Thomas Aquinas quotes Baruch 3:37 (3:38 in Vulgate) to affirm that "the Son of God assumed human nature in order to show Himself in men's sight, according to Baruch 3:38: Afterwards He was seen upon earth, and conversed with men. This statement, more properly rendered as Afterward he appeared on earth and lived with humankind. is part of his discussion of "the mode of union on the part of the human nature" III 4. He quotes the same passage of Baruch in III 40 1 to help answer "whether Christ should have associated with men, or led a solitary life" III 40. By switching the gender of the pronoun, this reading, which properly is discussing Divine Wisdom was widely re-interpreted in Christian discourse as a prophecy of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
, referring to the passage thus: "Divine Scripture, addressing itself to those who love themselves and to the boastful, somewhere says most excellently: 'Where are the princes of the nations...'" (see "Paean for Wisdom" example infra) (Jurgens §410a).Baruch 3:38(37) is referenced in the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council.[48]
Use in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church
Baruch 6 is quoted in the
In Popular Culture
The Book of Baruch by the Gnostic Justin is a sequence of 270 poems by the English poet Geoffrey Hill, published posthumously by Oxford University Press in 2019.[50]
See also
- Books of the Bible
- Major prophets
- 2 Baruch
- 3 Baruch
- 4 Baruch
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59856-464-8.
- ^ Cp. Jeremiah 36:9–10 and Baruch 1:1–5.
- ^ Reginald C. Fuller, ed. (1975) [1953]. A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Thomas Nelson., §504h. Also, "late Babylonian"; "alluded to, seemingly, in 2 Mac 2:1–3" in The Jerusalem Bible, 1966, p. 1128.
- ^ Bible Society, Baruch, Bible Book Club, accessed 22 July 2019
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-927718-6.
- ^ "Baruch" by P. P. Saydon, revised by T. Hanlon, in A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Reginald C. Fuller, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publishers, 1953, 1975, §504j. The same source states that "[t]here is also evidence that Baruch was read in Jewish synagogues on certain festivals during the early centuries of the Christian era (Thackeray, 107-11)", i.e. Henry St. John Thackeray, The Septuagint and Jewish Worship, 1923.
- New American Bible (Revised Edition), sub-heading at Baruch 4:5
- ^ Quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version
- ^ Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 18.
- ^ Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 19.
- ^ Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 16.
- ^ a b Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 17.
- ^ Paedagogus, Book II, Ch. 3
- ^ .
- ^ Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 1.
- ^ Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 3.
- ^ Tov, Emmanuel (1976). The Septuagint Translation of Jeremiah and Baruch: A Discussion of an Early Revision of Jeremiah 29–52 and Baruch 1:1–3:8. Scholars Press.
- ^ Adams, Sean.A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 12.
- ^ Adams, Sean.A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 2.
- ^ Job 31:31
- ^ Job 11:11 or Psalms 26:4
- ^ Genesis 34:30 or Deuteronomy 4:27
- ^ Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 2.
- ^ a b Tov, Emmanuel (1975). The Book of Baruch also Called I Baruch (Greek and Hebrew). Scholars Press.
- ^ Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 4.
- ^ Adams, Sean A. (2014). Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah. Brill. p. 8.
- ^ of Alexandria, Athanasius. CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 39 (Athanasius). newadvent. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
- ^ of Jerusalem, Cyril. Catechetical Lecture 4 Chapter 35. newadvent. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ISBN 9004079262. Archived from the originalon 6 September 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ISBN 1597522392.
- ^ "Canon XXIV. (Greek xxvii.)", The Canons of the 217 Blessed Fathers who assembled at Carthage, Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- ^ Council of Carthage (A.D. 419) Canon 24
- ^ of Hippo, Augustine. On Christian Doctrine Book II Chapter 8:2. newadvent. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ^ Eccumenical Council of Florence and Council of Basel Session 11—4 February 1442. ewtn. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ Session IV Celebrated on the eighth day of April, 1546 under Pope Paul III
- ^ Decretum Gelasianum
- ^ of Laodicea, Synod. Synod of Laodicea Canon 60. newadvent. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ^ Catholic Calendar Archived 7 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine web page
- Paul VI, 1 November 1970
- ^ Crossroads Initiative, Adam and Christ – Peter Chrysologus, accessed 25 July 2019
- ^ 1 Corinthians 15:49
- ^ "The Thirty-Nine Articles". Anglicans Online. 15 April 2007. Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ "Lectionary for Anglican Church at". Bcponline.org. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ "Psalms and Lessons for the Christian Year, Book of Common Prayer, 1928 pg. xxii–xxxviii" (PDF). Oxford University Press, New York, USA. 1952. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ Prayer Book and Hymnal, Containing The Book of Common Prayer and The Hymnal 1982, According to the use of The Episcopal Church, The Church Hymnal Corporation New York, 1986.
- ^ [1] Archived 6 June 2004 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [2] Archived 6 April 2004 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation – Dei verbum". Vatican.va. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ "§2112". Vatican.va. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ "The Book of Baruch by the Gnostic Justin". global.oup.com. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
External links
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Baruch
- Baruch in the Latin Vulgate
- The Book of Baruch Full text from http://St-Takla.org (also available in Arabic)
- 1Baruch 2012 Translation & Audio Version
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Baruch public domain audiobook at LibriVox Douay-Rheims Version