Letter of Jeremiah

Place in the Bible and Contents

The Letter of Jeremiah appears as a separate book in the Old Testament of the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament). In the Latin Vulgate and in the Catholic Bibles that follow it, it appears as chapter 6, the final chapter of the book that bears the name of Baruch.

The text is short, consisting of about seventy verses. It opens by identifying itself as a letter that Jeremiah sent to those about to be taken captive by the king of Babylon. It then repeatedly ridicules the idols of Babylon as mere objects that craftsmen have fashioned from wood overlaid with gold and silver. The idols are portrayed as unable to speak or move and incapable of protecting themselves from rust or dust, while their priests divert for their own use the offerings presented to them. A refrain to the effect of "Whereby they are known not to be gods: therefore fear them not" recurs several times.

Among Korean Bible translations, the ecumenical Korean Common Translation likewise places the work as Baruch 6, whereas the New Korean Revised Version used by Korean Protestants does not include it.

Background

The work is set in the period of the Babylonian exile. The opening of the letter states that the captivity will last "seven generations," in contrast to the "seventy years" of the Book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29:4–14). Its mockery of idols closely resembles Jeremiah 10:1–16, Isaiah 44:9–20, and Psalm 115. The surviving text is in Greek, and scholars disagree about whether it was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, a Greek fragment thought to belong to this work was found in Qumran Cave 7. The date of composition is likewise uncertain, though it is generally placed somewhere between the Persian and Hellenistic periods.

Significance in the Wider Bible

The work's central theme, the critique of idolatry, continues the tradition of the Old Testament prophets. The New Testament does not quote it directly. Nevertheless, the idea that an idol is nothing carries forward in passages such as 1 Corinthians 8:4–6, Acts 17:29, and 1 John 5:21. Second Maccabees 2 relates that Jeremiah charged the captives not to be led astray by idols of gold and silver, and some connect this reference with the letter.

Interpretation and Debated Questions

• Canonicity: The Catholic Church accepts it as Baruch 6 and includes it among the deuterocanonical books (books recognized as canonical at a later stage). The Orthodox Church, following the Septuagint, reads it as Scripture. Protestants generally regard it as part of the Apocrypha (books outside the canon). Chapter 1 of the Westminster Confession of Faith denies that the Apocrypha are inspired Scripture. The Anglican tradition holds that the Apocrypha may be read for instruction but may not be used to establish doctrine.
• Authorship: Traditionally, the work was attributed to Jeremiah. However, some have doubted this since antiquity, Jerome among them, and modern scholarship widely holds that it was written by a later author under Jeremiah's name.

In the Korean Church

Korean Catholics read the work as part of the Bible. Korean Protestants may encounter it through the Korean Common Translation, but it is rarely used for public reading in worship or as a sermon text.