Book of Baruch

Contents

The Book of Baruch presents itself as a work written by Baruch in Babylon during the Babylonian exile. Baruch was the scribe who recorded the words of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36). Its contents fall broadly into three parts.

• 1:1–3:8: The book opens with an introduction stating that the exiles sent this writing to Jerusalem along with an offering. A penitential prayer follows, confessing that Israel suffered destruction and exile because it did not heed the word of God, and pleading for mercy.
• 3:9–4:4: A poem in praise of wisdom. It declares that human beings cannot find wisdom on their own but that God gave it to Israel, and it identifies this wisdom with the Law.
• 4:5–5:9: A poem of consolation for Jerusalem, promising that her scattered children will return.

Catholic Bibles include the "Letter of Jeremiah," a short work criticizing idolatry, as chapter 6 of Baruch. Bibles in the Orthodox tradition separate this letter and treat it as a distinct book.

Background

The Book of Baruch is absent from the Hebrew Bible (the Masoretic Text) and was transmitted through the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament. It was later included in the Latin Vulgate as well. Scholars generally date its actual composition to the intertestamental period, well after Baruch's lifetime. Many scholars hold that writings from different periods were combined into a single book. The prayer in the opening section closely resembles the wording of the prayer in Daniel 9. It has been suggested that the first part was originally written in Hebrew, but no definitive conclusion has been reached.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

The identification of wisdom with the Law connects the book to the broader tradition of wisdom literature. It is generally held that the New Testament contains no direct quotation of Baruch. However, Baruch 3:37–38 states that wisdom appeared upon earth and dwelt among people, and some Church Fathers are known to have read this passage in connection with the Incarnation of Christ.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

The chief point of disagreement concerning Baruch is whether it should be recognized as canonical.

• Catholic Church: The Council of Trent in 1546 affirmed it as a deuterocanonical book, that is, a book belonging to the canon.
• Orthodox Church: Following the Septuagint tradition, it includes the book in the Bible.
• Protestantism: Protestants classify it as apocryphal on the grounds that it is not in the Hebrew Bible. Martin Luther's German Bible gathered the Apocrypha into a separate section between the Old and New Testaments. The Westminster Confession of Faith (1.3), the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian churches, states that the Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon. The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church treat the Apocrypha as books that may be read for example of life and instruction of manners but are not to be used to establish doctrine.

Other writings also bear Baruch's name, such as 2 Baruch (the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch) and 3 Baruch. These are distinct from the Book of Baruch and belong to the pseudepigrapha, which neither the Catholic Church nor the Orthodox Church accepts as canonical.

In the Korean Church

Because the Book of Baruch does not appear in the New Korean Revised Version, the translation most Protestant churches use, it is rarely addressed in preaching or church life. It is included in the Korean Common Translation, which contains the Apocrypha, and in the Bible of the Catholic Church. Protestants therefore encounter Baruch mainly through these translations. The Anglican Church of Korea, in keeping with Anglican tradition, regards the Apocrypha as books to be read for instruction.