{"id":2145,"date":"2019-05-28T12:04:26","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T10:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/?p=2145"},"modified":"2019-05-28T12:04:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T10:04:51","slug":"outside-the-bible-commentary-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/2019\/05\/28\/outside-the-bible-commentary-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Outside the Bible Commentary – 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

the beginning of kings, a priesthood for Israel. This second explanation survives in Greek only, but is probably original. It may or may not have been a Hebrew gloss, as is found in the onomastic midrashim of Merari and Jochebed (see T. Levi 11:5\u20136). Thus, the ALD applied Judahite messianic language and characteristics, such as kingship, to the priestly-Levitical messiah. This is particularly striking in view of the frequent references to the dual figures, Judah and Levi, in Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.
\n11:7 Jub. 28:14 sets Levi\u2019s naming, and perhaps his birth, on the same date that the ALD assigns to Kohath\u2019s birth. That was a most significant date.
\n11:8. Merari A triple onomastic midrash is offered for this name: (1) \u201cfor I was bitter on his account particularly, for when he was born he was dying\u201d; (2) \u201cand I was very bitter on his account since he was about to die, and I implored and beseeched on his account\u201d; and (3) \u201cand there was bitterness in everything.\u201d Biblical scholars usually explain the name Merari as meaning \u201cstrong\u201d but in the ALD it is taken to mean \u201cbitter.\u201d The first two explanations of Merari are different formulations of the same etymology. The third etymology is a Hebrew gloss following those two basically Aramaic onomastic midrashim. It changes the subject from Levi to the general situation and its exact meaning is unclear (an equivalent midrash on the same name is found in T. Levi 11:7).
\n11:10. when she was born to me, \u201cFor glory was she born to me, for glory for Israel\u201d Here we have a repetition of the same phrase, once in Aramaic and once in Hebrew, the latter with an addition \u201cfor Israel.\u201d The Hebrew was a gloss that was included in the etymology, similar to Merari and Gershom. The tradition adduced here in the ALD, that Levi was 64 when Jochebed was born, that is 16 years after they came to Egypt, is shared with Visions of Amram (4Q543 1 a\u2013c:2\u20134) and contradicts the Rabbinic view. An onomastic midrash relating to Levi\u2019s three sons is found in the late midrashic collection Sekel Tov. There, as in the ALD, there is a negative element in the Gershom etymology, and a similar relationship to ykht for that of Kohath. Merari is derived from a different but graphically similar root.
\n11:11. in the 64th year of my life \u2026 on the first of the seventh month, after we entered Egypt According to 12:3 Amram married Jochebed in Levi\u2019s 94th year, that is, when she was 30 years old. In 12:5 the text adds that Amram and Jochebed were born on the same day, the first day of the seventh month (11:11), so we may infer that they were both exactly 30 when they were married. In many sources, it is stated that Adam and Eve were 30 years old when they first had intercourse and begot a child. In Visions of Amram (4Q545) 1:5\u20136, when Miriam was 30 she married Uzziel, her uncle. Thus, it is possible that 30 was considered an ideal age (see also comment on 6:4). The chronological calculation of the ALD clearly resembles that of Biblical Chronology (4Q559) 2:5\u20139, even though that text is largely restored.
\n12:1 The list of Levi\u2019s grandchildren includes the offspring of Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. Note that according to it, Merari was not dead, apparently contradicting the phrase in his name midrash in ALD 11:8: \u201cHe was dying.\u201d ALD 12:1 refers to Levi\u2019s sons Gershom, Kohath, and Merari marrying his brothers\u2019 daughters. Moreover, Levi himself married the granddaughter of his maternal uncle, while his daughter Jochebed married her fraternal nephew. Thus endogamy is rife in the priestly genealogy (see comment on 6:4).
\n12:4 It is significant that it is Levi who named Amram, and not his father Kohath. This, together with Amram being the only grandson of Levi, provided with an onomastic midrash, highlights the significance attached to his position in the priestly line. In fact, it was not Amram who would raise the people up from Egypt, but Amram\u2019s son Moses. This transfer is no different, however, than that in the prophecy delivered to Kohath in 11:6. That prophecy says that Kohath will receive the high priesthood, when actually his grandson Aaron received it. The position of this onomastic midrash, after Amram\u2019s marriage and not after his birth, is unparalleled in the ALD or the Testament of Levi.
\nwill raise up This explains the onomastic midrash. Zohar Exod. 19a gives a similar midrash for Amram: \u201cWhy was he called Amram? Because a people, higher than all the high ones, descended from him.\u201d
\n12:6\u20139 These verses summarize the chronology of events in Levi\u2019s life and supplement the dates given in the preceding chapter for the birth of Kohath (11:7) and Jochebed (11:11) and in 13:1 for Levi\u2019s age at the time of Joseph\u2019s death. These dates have parallels in T. Levi 11\u201312 and in the Syriac translation (in a manuscript dated 874 CE). With minor exceptions, the chronologies of the ALD and the Testament of Levi are identical.
\n13 This chapter contains a wisdom poem, which is almost unique in Aramaic sources, and some subsequent parenetic text. The text of the Qumran fragments seems to have been longer than that of the Genizah manuscript, and it has been shown that 4QLevie is a shorter recension than the other witnesses, so there were at least two recensions of the ALD. Chapter 13 includes a long summons given by Levi to his children when his brother Joseph died, 19 years before he himself died (the last part resembles Isaac\u2019s blessing of Levi found in Jub. 31:13\u201317). What is significant in the ALD\u2019s mention of Joseph\u2019s exemplary conduct, and particularly in a sapiential connection, is that in the ALD his role is already paradigmatic. Thus, views that see the key to Joseph\u2019s central role in Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs to be that he was regarded in Christian sources as a forerunner of Christ do not provide an adequate explanation of this phenomenon. Daniel\u2019s mantic (prophetic) role in the book of Daniel is fashioned on that of Joseph. It is far from clear that the wisdom here attributed to Joseph is thought of as mantic, and it seems much more likely to be that of the wise courtier. Joseph\u2019s early paradigmatic function in both courtly and mantic wisdom may lie in the background of his role in the ALD. To the basis of this complex understanding of Joseph, the Christian redactor\/author of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs may subsequently have added the Joseph-Christ typology. Moreover, it is significant that Joseph plays a teaching and wisdom role, rather than a priestly teacher or tradent, in this Levitical priestly document (see comment on 13:4).
\n13:4. reading and writing and teaching wisdom to your children The tradition that attributes learning and wisdom to Levi derived in part, doubtlessly, from the biblical priestly function of instruction and judgment. In the wisdom poems in Bar. 3:36\u20134:1 and Sir. 24:23 the identification of wisdom with the Torah is a point strongly made, and it is implied in the earlier 11QPs 18:12\u201315. Similarly, when we compare 11QPs 21\u201322 with the Syriac and Greek versions of Sir. 51, in the praise of wisdom we observe the same shift as between the ALD and the Testament of Levi. There the change from erotic love song to wisdom and then to Torah learning can be seen.
\n13:5 Wisdom brings honor, many friends, and social position to those who have it. This idea is already found in biblical wisdom literature, for example, Prov. 3:35. Very striking is the parallel in Sir. 39:4, referring to the wise man.
\n13:6. my brother Joseph [who] taught Joseph\u2019s learning did lead to his reaching high places.
\nand kings Cf. Ahiqar line 12: \u201cthe wise [sc] ribe, counselor of Assyria, all of it.\u201d
\n13:8. and he is [not a] s a stranger in it, and he is not li[ke] a stranger therein, and not like a scoundr[el] in it Cf. 4Testament of Kohath (4Q542) 1 1:4\u20136. Joseph retained wisdom, even in adverse circumstances (see Isa. 32:5, 7; Wis. 10:13\u201314; T. Levi 13:9).
\n13:12\u201313. treasure This word is often used of the fruit of wisdom or of righteous action (Wis. 7:14; Sir. 29:11\u201312; cf. 2 En. 50:5). As priceless, wisdom here is to be compared with Beatitudes (4Q525) 2 3:2\u20133. Wisdom is often compared to gold, said to be better than gold, but it is not said to be gold. In many other passages it is compared with precious metals and jewels (see Job 28:18; Prov. 8:11; 16:16).
\n13:15. and now, my sons This opening, together with the second-person plural, shows that the author here shifts to parenesis (exhortation).
\n13:16 After the [blank], this verse is a beginning of a new section, signaled by the marginal paragraph mark. The following broken lines have no exact parallel in the other sources, but they seem to deal with a positive prophecy about Levi\u2019s descendants.<\/he><\/of><\/teach><\/p>\n

Visions of Amram<\/p>\n

Andrew D. Gross<\/p>\n

This Aramaic composition survives in five, and perhaps as many as seven, copies discovered in Cave 4 at Qumran. The storyline begins with Amram, father of Moses and Aaron, delivering a deathbed valediction about a vision he had received. This vision includes, among other things, strong elements of dualism, a theological element common among the sectarian compositions from Qumran. While this would certainly account for the multiple copies found within the Qumran library, scholars do not believe this to be a sectarian composition (as with all Aramaic texts discovered at Qumran).
\nThe narrative context preserved at the text\u2019s beginning allows us to classify this composition as a testament, a popular genre in biblical and post-biblical literature, prompting some scholars to refer to it as the Testament of Amram. On the other hand, the extant fragments of this text actually preserve its ancient title, a rarity among the Qumran materials, and most scholars prefer to use that title, namely, the Vision(s) of Amram. Josephus (Ant. 2:210\u2013216) also records a tradition about Amram being the recipient of divine visions.
\nThe Visions of Amram forms part of a trilogy of works, together with the Testament of Levi and the Testament of Kohath (both also preserved at Qumran), concerning the priestly patriarchs leading up to the generation of Aaron and Moses.
\nThe five manuscripts that indisputably belong to the work (officially designated 4Q543\u2013547) preserve parts of at least eight columns. \u00c9mile Puech, who edited the editio princeps of the Visions, tentatively identifies the two manuscripts officially designated as 4Q548 and 4Q549 as two additional copies of it. While the extant portions of these first five manuscripts overlap in numerous places, none of the fragments of these latter two manuscripts appear to overlap with any of the other ones.
\nPuech dates the manuscripts paleographically to the latter half of the 2nd century BCE (4Q543, 544, 547), the first half of the 1st century BCE (4Q545 and 546), and the latter half of the 1st century BCE (4Q548 and 549).<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Drawnel, Henryk. \u201cThe Initial Narrative of the Visions of Amram and Its Literary Characteristics.\u201d RevQ 24 (2010): 517\u201354.
\nDuke, Robert. \u201cMoses\u2019 Hebrew Name: The Evidence of the Vision of Amram.\u201d DSD 14 (2007): 34\u201348.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. The Social Location of the Visions of Amram (4Q543\u2013547). New York: Peter Lang, 2010.
\nGoldman, Liora. \u201cDualism in the Visions of Amram.\u201d RevQ 24 (2010): 421\u201332.
\nHogeterp, Albert L. A. \u201cBelief in Resurrection and Its Religious Settings in Qumran and the New Testament.\u201d In Echoes from the Caves: Qumran and the New Testament, edited by Florentino Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, 299\u2013320. STDJ 85. Leiden: Brill, 2009.
\nMilik, J\u00f3sef T. \u201c4Q Visions de Amram et une citation d\u2019Orig\u00e8ne.\u201d RB 79 (1971): 77\u201397.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201c\u00c9crits pr\u00e9ess\u00e9niens de Qumr\u00e2n: D\u2019H\u00e9noch \u00e0 Amram.\u201d In Qumr\u00e2n: sa pi\u00e9te, sa th\u00e9ologie et son milieu, edited by Mathias Delcor, 91\u2013106. BETL 46. Paris: Ducolot\/Leuven University Press, 1978.
\nPuech, \u00c9mile. Qumran Grotte 4. XXII. Textes aram\u00e9ens, premi\u00e8re partie 4Q529\u2013549, 283\u2013405. DJD 31. Oxford: Clarendon, 2001, 283\u2013405, Pls. 16\u201322.
\nStone, Michael E. \u201cAmram.\u201d Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1:23\u201324. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
\nVanderKam, James C. \u201cJubilees 46:6\u201347:1 and 4QVisions of Amram.\u201d DSD 17 (2010) 141\u2013158.
\nVermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, revised edition. New York: Penguin, 2004.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

1:1. the visio] n of Amram Based on overlaps with extant text from other manuscripts, the reconstructions here are certain. Nonetheless, Aram. h. zwt is ambiguous with respect to its grammatical number and could be translated either \u201cvision\u201d or \u201cvisions.\u201d
\n1:2\u20133. on the day of [his] death, in the year one hundred and thirty-six\u2014this is the year of his death According to the Masoretic Text of Exod. 6:20, Amram died at the age of 137. The variant tradition recorded here in the Visions of Amram is attested in other textual witnesses to Exod. 6:20, including the Samaritan Pentateuch and certain Greek recensions.
\n1:3\u20134. year one hundred and fifty-two of the exile of [I]srael in Egypt While the Masoretic Text of Exod. 12:40 records an Israelite sojourn in Egypt of 430 years, according to the Septuagint and Samaritan versions of Exod. 12:40, these 430 years included both the years during which the patriarchs lived in Canaan as well as the sojourn in Egypt (see also Galatians 3:16\u201317). Thus, according to this latter tradition, the sojourn in Egypt was much shorter, lasting only about 210 years (see Ant. 2:318).
\n1:9. the messengers Robert Duke suggests that we may have a tradition here recording Moses\u2019s original Hebrew name. He renders the Arc. ml\u2019kyh, here translated as \u201cthe messengers\u201d as the Hebrew name, Malachiah, which he argues refers to Moses.
\n2:1\u20139 Ch. 46 of Jubilees also recounts a war between Egypt and Canaan at this time. The two accounts share various elements, including its narrative tie-ins to the burial of the patriarchs in Canaan, and the war-induced border closings that force the separation of Amram and Jochebed. There are some differences between the accounts, as Jubilees does not mention the involvement of Philistia, and so ultimately, the exact literary relationship between these two accounts is not entirely clear.
\n2:8. And I did [not] take ano [ther] wife The text emphasizes Amram\u2019s chastity during his years of separation from his wife Jochebed, and thus ensures the purity of the priestly line.
\n2:10\u2013Col. 3. The text here describes a dualistic vision received by Amram in which he is confronted by two angelic figures who both embody and lead the two opposing forces that govern human affairs, namely good and evil (often metaphorically referred to as light and darkness, respectively).
\n4Q548 As mentioned above in the introduction, the relationship between 4Q548 and the other manuscripts is a matter of dispute. Part of the dispute is that while they share dualistic ideas in a general sense, the other manuscripts lack 4Q548\u2019s specific references to the Sons of Lights and the Sons of Darkness (or at least their extant portions do). Note, however that the references to the Sons of Light in 4Q548 are mostly reconstructed. In general, these dualistic references to light and darkness have strong parallels in Qumran sectarian literature, such as War Scroll and the Treatise on the Two Spirits in columns 3\u20134 of Rule of the Community.<\/p>\n

Song of Miriam<\/p>\n

Sidnie White Crawford<\/p>\n

This short poem appears in Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript 4Q365, which is part of a group of Hebrew manuscripts named Reworked Pentateuch (4Q158, 4Q364\u201367). These documents were copied no later than the early 1st century BCE. Reworked Pentateuch adds short exegetical comments into the received text of the Torah in order to illuminate an obscure passage or to fill a gap in the biblical narrative, making in essence an internal commentary on the Torah. The Song of Miriam fills one such gap. After Moses sings his Song at the Sea following the defeat of the Egyptians at the Sea of Reeds (Exod. 15:1\u201317), the text of Exodus continues, \u201cThen Miriam the prophetess, Aaron\u2019s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them: \u2018Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously; \/ Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

Miriam\u2019s short song parallels almost word for word the opening of Moses\u2019s song in Exod. 15:1. It is not surprising that later interpreters wondered if Miriam sang a longer song, containing more than the refrain of Moses\u2019s song. One answer, the Song of Miriam, appears here in 4Q365 and nowhere else in Jewish tradition, although, interestingly, Tg. Ps.-J. at Exod. 15:21 attributes very similar content to Miriam\u2019s song. Miriam\u2019s song is similar to other songs of triumph by biblical women, for example that of Deborah in Judg. 5.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Brooke, George. \u201cPower to the Powerless: A Long-Lost Song of Miriam.\u201d Biblical Archaeology Review 20 (1994): 62\u201365.
\nCrawford, Sidnie White. \u201cTraditions about Miriam in the Qumran Scrolls.\u201d In Women and Judaism, edited by L. J. Greenspoon, R. Simkins, and J. Cahan, 33\u201344. Studies in Jewish Civilization 14. Omaha: Creighton University Press, 2003.
\nTov, Emanuel, and Sidnie White. \u201c365. 4QReworked Pentateuchc (Pls. 22\u201332).\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.VIII, Parabiblical Texts, Part 1, edited by H. W. Attridge, et al., in consultation with J. C. VanderKam, 255\u2013318. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 13. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

1 The extant text, which begins at the top of a column, starts in the middle of the song. Exodus 15:21, the introduction to the Song of Miriam, appears at the bottom of the previous column. The subject of the verb \u201cdespised\u201d is the LORD; the object is the Egyptian pursuers.
\n2\u20133 The poet praises God, and credits God with Israel\u2019s escape at the Sea of Reeds. Synonyms to \u201cmajesty\u201d occur in Exod. 15:1, 7.
\n4\u20135 The poet makes specific references to the destruction of the Egyptian army, as narrated in Exod. 14. The phrase \u201cin the mighty waters\u201d echoes Exod. 15:10.
\n6\u20137 The poet returns to praise of God. The imperative \u201cPraise\u201d in line 6 is a feminine plural, addressed to the women following Miriam. The song ends in line 7, indicated by a blank space; the biblical narrative continues on line 8 with Exod. 15:22.<\/p>\n

Apocryphon of Joshua<\/p>\n

Miriam Zangi and Hanan Eshel<\/p>\n

Five different fragmentary manuscripts from Qumran (4Q123, 4Q378, 4Q379, 4Q522, and 5Q9), and one from Masada (MasParaJosh), are based on the Book of Joshua. Some scholars consider them to be copies of a single composition that has been named Apocryphon of Joshua. Together these fragments contain references to most of the chapters of the biblical book of Joshua, interspersed with prayers, blessings, and discourses, most of them placed in the mouth of Joshua.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

The extant Joshua manuscript copies all date from different parts of the 1st century BCE, but the work was probably authored during the 2nd century BCE. Though none of the fragments contains any terms characteristic of the literature authored by the Qumran community, several passages adopt ideas known only from the sectarian literature.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The Apocryphon of Joshua fragments present a good example of the interpretive technique known as \u201crewritten Bible,\u201d which was used widely in the Second Temple period. Such texts retell biblical narratives, sometimes sticking close to the texts but often \u201cfilling in gaps\u201d or giving background for the Bible\u2019s account. The Qumran Joshua fragments represent a wider tradition of retelling most of what we know today as the book of Joshua, answering such questions as the one addressed in the fragment presented here: why was the Tent of Meeting not brought to Jerusalem as a matter of course, given Deuteronomy\u2019s instructions to worship \u201cin the place your God shall choose\u201d (Deut 16:2, 6, 15\u201317)? Although some of the traditions in the Joshua fragments seem unique, others are echoed in Rabbinic Midrash, as will be noted in the commentary below.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

We have chosen to present here a fragment of the manuscript 4Q522 (fragment 9 column 2, lines 1\u20133), the best preserved of the Joshua texts. It contains a reworking of the story in Joshua 9, telling of the deception of the Gibeonites, in the framework of a discourse by Joshua.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Berthelot, Katell. \u201cJoshua in Jewish Sources from the Second Temple Period.\u201d Meghillot 8\u20139, 2010, 97\u2013112 (Hebrew).
\nDimant, Devorah. \u201cThe Apocryphon of Joshua\u20144Q522 9 ii: A Reappraisal.\u201d In Emanuel: Studies in Hebrew Bible Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls in Honor of Emanuel Tov, edited by S. M. Paul, R. A. Kraft, et. al., 179\u2013204, SuppVT 94. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
\n\u2014. \u201cBetween Sectarian and Non-Sectarian: The Case of the Apocryphon of Joshua.\u201d In Reworking the Bible: Apocryphal and Related Texts at Qumran, edited by E. G. Chazon, D. Dimant, and R. A. Clements, 105\u201334. Leiden: Brill, 2005.
\nEshel, Hanan. \u201cThe Historical Background of the Pesher Interpreting Joshua\u2019s Curse on the Evildoers of Jericho.\u201d RevQ 15 (1990): 409\u201320.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cA Note on a Recently Published Text: The \u2018Joshua Apocryphon.\u2019 \u201d In The Centrality of Jerusalem: Historical Perspectives, M. Poorthius and Ch. Safrai, 89\u201393. Kampen: Peeters, 1996.
\nNewsom, Carol. \u201cThe Psalms of Joshua from Qumran Cave 4.\u201d JJS 39 (1988): 56\u201373.
\nPuech, Emile. \u201cLa Pierre de Sion et l\u2019autel des Holocaustes d\u2019apres un manuscript hebreu de la grotte 4.\u201d RB 99 (1992): 676\u201396.
\nQimron, E. \u201cConcerning \u2018Joshua Cycles\u2019 from Qumran (4Q522).\u201d Tarbiz 63 (1994): 503\u20138 (Hebrew).
\nTalmon, Shmaryahu. \u201cFragments of a Joshua Apocryphon-Masada 1039\u2013211.\u201d JJS 47 (1996): 126\u201339.
\nTov, Emanuel. \u201cThe Rewritten Book of Joshua as Found at Qumran and Masada.\u201d In Biblical Perspectives: Early Use and Interpretation of the Bible in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 233\u201356, STDJ 28. Leiden: Brill, 1998.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

This fragment presents a speech given by Joshua, probably directed to Eleazar, the High Priest at that time, and concerns the situation of the Tent of Meeting. According to this passage, Joshua sinned when he made a covenant with the Gibeonites (one of the Canaanite peoples) because he failed to consult the Urim and Tumim. This sin prevented the people from bringing the Tent of Meeting to Jerusalem, its proper place. The passage attributes prophetic powers to Joshua, who anticipated the building of the Temple in Jerusalem in the time of David and Solomon, an idea found nowhere in the Bible or Rabbinic literature.
\n1 This line must end with a reference to Bnei Yisrael since the verb \u201ccome\u201d in line 2 is in the plural. Joshua contrasts the situation in his time with the bringing of the Ark to Jerusalem in the time of David (2 Sam. 6:15) and the bringing of the Ark into the Temple in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 8:2\u20135) when all the people participated.
\n2. install Heb. lehashkin (install), the first of four appearances of the root sh-kh-n, is the key word in this passage. In 2 and 12 (install) it refers to the impossibility of bringing the Ark to Jerusalem in the time of Joshua. In lines 8 and 9 (dwell) it describes the idyllic situation when the Temple will stand in Jerusalem. The same verb occurs in Exod. 25:8 and Deut. 12:5, two verses considered by the Rabbis to be commandments to build the Temple upon entering into the land of Israel.
\n3. for behold a son will be born Joshua\u2019s ability to prophesy future events appears nowhere in the Bible or in Rabbinic literature, though it is clear that he was a prophet who spoke with God.
\n4. the rock of Zion probably refers to the even hashtiyah that is mentioned in Lev. Rab. 20:4. The Amorites here are the Jebusites, who continued to live in Jerusalem until David conquered the city.
\n5\u20136. Gold and silver \u2026 cedar trees and junipers According to 1 Chron. 22:17 and 29:12, David prepared a similar list of materials for the building of the Temple by his son Solomon.
\n7. grace will come upon him According to this translation, it was Solomon himself who offered sacrifices as is implied in 1 Kings 8:62\u201366. Other scholars have suggested a variant reconstruction that implies that it was Zadok, the first High Priest in the time of Solomon, instead.
\n8\u20139. will dwell in safety \u2026 will dwell forever The blessing in these lines quotes the blessing of Moses to the tribe of Benjamin in Deut. 23:12, but it seems to be applied here either to Solomon, to the Levites who served in the Temple, or to the Temple itself. A similar multifaceted application of the term yedid Hashem \u201cthe beloved of the LORD\u201d is found in Sifrei Devarim 352:12.
\n10\u201311 The words \u201cled me to sin\u201d and \u201cdeceived\u201d clearly refer to the story of the Gibeonites in Joshua 9. Scholars have reconstructed the words Urim and Tumim at the end of line 10, which, while not mentioned in the story in the Book of Joshua, are found in Num. 27:21, where Joshua is commanded by Moses to \u201cpresent himself to Eleazar the priest who shall on his behalf seek the decision of the Urim before the LORD.\u201d Correct use of the Urim and Tumim seems to be a prerequisite for serving as king in Midrash Tehillim (midrash to Psalms 27). In the story in the book of Joshua, the Gibeonites are told, \u201cTherefore be accursed! Never shall your descendents cease to be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the House of my God,\u201d as a result of their deception. Here there may also be a reference to the curse of Canaan, the son of Noah, their ancestor, in Gen. 9:25.
\n12. and now let us in[st] all the T[ent of Mee]ting As a result of his sin, Joshua has to take the Tent of Meeting elsewhere, probably to Shiloh where it is found in Joshua 18:1. Scholars have reconstructed the words far from the Amorites and the Canaanites in accordance with the mention of these nations in line 9. Perhaps there was a necessity to distance the people from these nations so that they would not learn their idol worship as in Deut. 20:18. Another possibility is that Joshua is here lamenting the fact that he is forced to distance the Tent of Meeting from Jerusalem, where it belongs. The sin with the Gibeonites has prevented Joshua from building the Temple himself, and that task will now wait for the birth of David in the distant future.<\/p>\n

The Vision of Samuel<\/p>\n

Andrew D. Gross<\/p>\n

This composition was originally dubbed The Vision of Samuel because it mentions the biblical prophet Samuel\u2019s receiving of a vision from God. This vision, however, plays a rather small part in the extant portion of this text, and some scholars therefore prefer to call it The Samuel Apocryphon, which better accounts for the variety of content in the text. The text is known only from a single copy discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran Cave 4 (4Q160). This copy, which dates to approximately 100 BCE, is preserved in eight small fragments, only five of which provide enough text to reconstruct any sort of intelligible context. These five fragments can be grouped into three main sections: (1) Fragment 1 paraphrases the narrative in 1 Sam. 3:14\u201318, where Samuel receives a visitation from God announcing the end of the priestly house of Eli. (2) Fragments 3\u20135 preserve parts of three columns and include a prayer rendered in the first person that is presumably being delivered by Samuel himself. (3) Fragment 7 also appears to record the words of Samuel, speaking in the first person. This may be a valedictory address in which he reflects upon his life and service to God.
\nIn his prayer, Samuel intercedes on Israel\u2019s behalf, a role for which he was uniquely qualified. In both biblical and postbiblical literature, Samuel is depicted as having access to God to an extent equaled only by Moses (see Jer. 15:1 and Ps. 99:6). Furthermore, he was regarded as a leader of unimpeachable integrity who served Israel well, both in religious and military affairs (see 1 Sam. 7). In Rabbinic tradition, Samuel had a reputation as a powerful intercessor with God. According to one tradition, God had wanted to kill Saul for his transgressions during the Amalekite war (1 Sam. 15), but Samuel successfully interceded on his behalf, saying that Moses and Aaron were spared from having their handiwork destroyed during their lifetime and he wished the same would be true for him. Presumably, it was because of Samuel\u2019s role as a powerful intercessor that the author of The Vision of Samuel chose him as his protagonist. Unfortunately, we can only speculate as to what crisis may have prompted the author to compose this text or even who this author may have been.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Allegro, John. Qumr\u00e2n Cave 4.I (4Q158\u20134Q186), 77\u201380. DJD 5. Oxford: Clarendon, 1968.
\nJassen, Alex P. \u201cIntertextual Readings of the Psalms in the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q160 (Samuel Apocryphon) and Psalm 40.\u201d RevQ 22 (2006): 403\u201330.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cLiterary and Historical Studies in the Samuel Apocryphon (4Q160).\u201d JJS 59 (2008): 21\u201338.
\nPolak, Frank. \u201cSamuel.\u201d In Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 2:822\u201323. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
\nStrugnell, John. \u201cNotes en marge du volume V des \u2018Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan.\u2019 \u201d RevQ 7 (1970): 252\u201355.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

Fragment 1<\/p>\n

1. Assuredly Following most editions of this fragment, the first two lines have been reconstructed from 1 Sam. 3:14. Even the minimal amount of actual text that has been preserved, however, does not agree with the traditional Hebrew text of this verse. In the Qumran fragment, the word translated here as \u201cassuredly\u201d is Heb. ki, whereas in the traditional text of Samuel the word is lakhein.
\n2. [And] Samue[l] heard the wo[rd of the LORD] While the few words preserved in line 1 only partially agree with the traditional Hebrew text of Samuel, the end of line 2 has no parallel in any ancient version of Samuel at all and thus appears to be an expansion of the biblical text. The contents of these first two lines\u2014and of the rest of the fragment\u2014raise fundamental questions about the relationship between this text and the canonical book of Samuel. What version of Samuel was the author using? Was he using a variant tradition, or did he have a version of the text similar to ours that he simply altered and expanded? Or was his editorial process some combination of the two?
\n3. before Eli, and he arose Lines 3\u20134 are reconstructed on the basis of 1 Sam. 3:15, but the preserved text in this line further illustrates how complicated the relationship is between this Qumran composition and the book of Samuel. The first phrase, \u201cbefore Eli,\u201d does not appear in any known versions of 1 Sam. 3:15. As for the second phrase, \u201cand he arose\u201d: while it does not appear in the traditional Hebrew text, it does appear in the Septuagint version (an ancient Greek translation of the Bible) of this verse. Again, the author either was working from a variant version of Samuel or took certain literary liberties with the text (or both).<\/p>\n

Fragments 3\u20135 ii<\/p>\n

2:1\u20133 This column appears to be part of a prayer in which Samuel beseeches God to deliver the people of Israel from a particular crisis. Because of the fragmentary condition of the text, it is not entirely certain what this crisis may have been. The first three lines of this column clearly make reference to the opening verses of Ps. 40, apparently chosen by the author because of its focus on God\u2019s powers of salvation during times of crisis. For some particularly noteworthy parallels, consider verse 3 of this psalm: \u201cHe lifted me out of the miry pit, the slimy clay, and set my feet on a rock, steadied my legs.\u201d Of the three elements in the first half of this verse, the first, \u201cHe lifted me out,\u201d appears in a modified form at the end of Vision of Samuel\u2019s line 2, and the third element, \u201c(from) the slimy clay,\u201d is preserved in the middle of line 3 (rendered above as \u201cfrom the miry bog\u201d). The second element, \u201cout of the miry pit,\u201d (rendered above as \u201cfrom the pit of desolation\u201d), can plausibly be reconstructed in the missing part at the beginning of line 3.<\/p>\n

Fragment 7<\/p>\n

1\u20134 The speaker in this fragment is likely Samuel himself. He appears to be delivering an autobiographical discourse, but the context in which he is doing so is not entirely clear. The denials of corruption could fit in one of two contexts. He could be distinguishing himself from the corrupt practices of Eli\u2019s sons described in 1 Sam. 2:12\u201317, or this could be a version of Samuel\u2019s valediction in 1 Sam. 12, in which he proclaims himself to be untainted by any corruption (vv. 3\u20135).<\/p>\n

Pseudo-Ezekiel<\/p>\n

Devorah Dimant<\/p>\n

Pseudo-Ezekiel is the name given to a hitherto unknown writing discovered among the scrolls from Qumran. Six copies of this writing turned up in Cave 4 near the site of Qumran. The manuscripts originally assigned to this work were combined by John Strugnell with fragments from another work, now called the Apocryphon of Jeremiah C. But the fragments assigned Pseudo-Ezekiel are distinct in style and content from the Apocryphon fragments, for they mention Ezekiel by name, rewrite some of his canonical prophecies, and strive to imitate his scriptural style.
\nIt appears that the original work followed the sequence of biblical Ezekiel. Some of the fragments rewrite and interpret two of the visions contained in the canonical Ezekiel: the vision of the chariot (merkabah) (Ezek. 1) and the vision of the dry bones (Ezek. 37:1\u201314). Most of the biblical materials included in the surviving fragments are styled as prophecies of the last days, presented as dialogues between God and the prophet Ezekiel, in which God answers Ezekiel\u2019s queries concerning the visions he has been shown. The scroll 4Q391 version contains exchanges with the elders of Israel and perhaps scenes of the eschatological Temple, based on the descriptions found in Ezek. 40\u201348.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

Although five or six copies of Pseudo-Ezekiel are extant, they yield a relatively small amount of text. However, in spite of the paucity of material, the surviving fragments of 4Q385 and 4Q386 furnish enough information to reconstruct part of six successive columns of 4Q385, all dealing with two eschatological themes: resurrection and the ingathering of the Israelites from the Diaspora to the Land of Israel.
\nEschatological issues were central in the thinking of the Qumran community, but Pseudo-Ezekiel contains none of the terminology and ideas distinctive of the literature produced by that community. Thus, Pseudo-Ezekiel cannot be assigned with certainty to that body of literature. Yet the fact that several copies of this writing were housed in Qumran Cave 4 indicates that the members of this community read and studied it. The oldest copy of this work, 4Q391, is dated to the last quarter of the 2nd century BCE; given the many affinities of Pseudo-Ezekiel with writings of the 2nd century BCE, the present work should be assigned to this same century at the latest. Accordingly, the historical events alluded to in column 3 cannot refer to developments later than this.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The exceptional interest of this Qumran document lies in the complex exegesis it weaves around the idea of resurrection. The surviving fragments preserve several reworked visions of Ezekiel. One section (4Q385 2\u20133; 4Q386 1 i 1\u201310; 4Q388 7 2\u20137) recounts in an abbreviated form the vision of the dry bones of Ezek. 37:1\u201314. It is presented as a divine reply to the prophet\u2019s query about the future reward for the righteous. By supplying such a question, the author transforms the vision into a revelation about the eschatological resurrection of the righteous as their reward. Pseudo-Ezekiel thus joins Dan. 12:2 in expressing the idea of the resurrection of the righteous and provides an early attestation to the understanding of Ezek. 37 in this way. In addition, the description of the blessing uttered by the resurrected people in 4Q385 2 8\u20139 and probably in 4Q385 12 seems to be based on Isa. 26:19 (\u201cAwake and sing [rannenu], you who lie in the dust\u201d\u2014all biblical translations from the King James version, sometimes slightly adapted), and thus indicates that already as early as the 2nd century BCE this Isaianic verse was also taken to refer to the same idea.
\nIn later Jewish and Christian exegesis, both Isa. 26:19 and Ezek. 37:1\u201314 were considered biblical prooftexts for the belief in resurrection. Pseudo-Ezekiel shows that such an understanding goes back to Jewish tradition of the 2nd century BCE at the latest. Another fragment, 4Q385 4, quotes God\u2019s consent to grant Ezekiel\u2019s request to hasten the days in order to speed up Israel\u2019s redemption. Together with the reinterpretation of the vision of the dry bones, 4Q385 4 shows the author\u2019s concern with things to come at the final stages of history. Another surviving piece reproduces with slight changes the merkabah vision of Ezek. 1:5\u201322 (4Q385 6 5\u201314). References to this vision appear also in 4Q391 65 4. The vision is related to another Qumran composition describing the heavenly hosts, the so-called Angelic Liturgy, or Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifices (4Q400\u20134Q407), and is related to the history and development of the later genres of hekhalot literature (dealing with the ascension to the heavenly realm and the merkabah). 4Q391 also contains remnants of a description of the Temple, apparently corresponding to the vision of the Temple shown to Ezekiel according to Ezek. 40\u201343. Another vision (in 4Q386 1 ii\u2013iii)\u2014this time a nonbiblical one\u2014forecasts destruction and desolation for Egypt, as well as military battles to take place in Babylon. These details appear to refer to historical events in Ptolemaic Egypt and Syria-Mesopotamia under the Seleucids during the 2nd century BCE. However, their fragmentary state and allusive language makes it difficult to identify their precise import.
\nThe present composition reworks the canonical prophecies of Ezekiel by two methods:<\/p>\n

1. A concise quotation of a given biblical passage followed by a nonbiblical interpretation. The reworking of the vision of the dry bones illustrates this method.
\n2. A free composition occasionally using biblical formulas. Such is, for instance, the passage concerning the \u201chastening\u201d of the times (4Q385 4).<\/p>\n

These techniques were prevalent in contemporary Jewish literature, in the Qumran scrolls as well as apocryphal and pseudepigraphic compositions. However, Pseudo-Ezekiel presents an unusual case since its author identifies himself with an authoritative, perhaps already canonical, prophet. In fact, Pseudo-Ezekiel is the only Hebrew prophetic pseudepigraphon found at Qumran, or indeed anywhere else. None of the known Jewish apocalyptic works is attributed to one of the great classical prophets, whose writings are handed down to us in the Scriptures. There exist various aggadic elaborations of certain points in the careers of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, but none constitute \u201crewritten prophecies\u201d as does Pseudo-Ezekiel.
\nThis is all the more striking in that unlike the Hebrew Pseudo-Ezekiel, most of the pseudepigraphic works found among the Qumran scrolls were composed in Aramaic and are attributed to nonprophetic figures, antediluvian heroes (Enoch), the patriarchs (Levi, Qohat, Amram), Daniel, or anonymous seers. It is therefore notable that stylistic and literary affinities link Pseudo-Ezekiel to the later apocalyptic books 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, both of which were probably written in Hebrew around 100 CE. Such links suggest that 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch drew from an older Hebrew literary tradition, created for apocalyptic writings and at home in the Land of Israel, reflected in the earlier Pseudo-Ezekiel.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

The manuscript sequence used in this commentary has been established on the basis of both physical data of the manuscripts and thematic links. Column 1 is represented by a few words from 4Q388 7 1\u20132; column 2 is formed by 4Q385 2+3, and partly overlaps 4Q386 1 i and 4Q388 7 2\u20137; column 3 is supplied by 4Q386 1 ii; column 4 is represented by 4Q386 1 iii, a sequence established by the succession of columns in this fragment. Column 5 is partly represented by 4Q385 4, which is connected to resurrection and therefore should follow column 4; part of column 6 is produced by 4Q385 6, which in lines 1\u20134 contains the conclusion of the theme of resurrection and therefore should follow column 5. The themes and exegesis recovered from this sequence show that the string of passages was based on Ezek. 37\u201339, and probably also Ezek. 43.
\n4Q391 is a papyrus copy so fragmentary that no sequence of columns may be reconstructed. However, the Ezekiel connection is clear, for the fragment includes a reference to the vision near the river Chebar (4Q391 65 4; cf. Ezek. 1:3; 3:23; 10:15, 20). This manuscript also mentions the prophet being questioned by a group of people (4Q391 55 5), referring perhaps to situations similar to Ezek. 14:1; 20:1. Some description of the Temple was also part of this manuscript (4Q391 65 6\u20138), corresponding to Ezek. 40\u201343. The fragments of 4Q391 contain first person singular verbs (9 3; 20 2; 36 2; 65 4; F 3) or pronouns (55 5; 62 ii 4), indicating that the prophet is still speaking in this autobiographic style.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Bauckham, R. \u201cA Quotation from 4Q Second Ezekiel in the Apocalypse of Peter.\u201d Revue de Qumran 15 (1992): 437\u201345.
\nDimant, D. \u201c4Q386 ii\u2013iii: A Prophecy on Hellenistic Kingdoms?\u201d Revue de Qumran 18 (1998): 511\u201329.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Qumran Cave 4.XXI: Parabiblical Texts, Part 4: Pseudo-Prophetic Texts, 7\u201351. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert [DJD] 30. Oxford: Clarendon, 2001.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cPseudo-Ezekiel and the Apocryphon of Jeremiah C in Perspective.\u201d Revue de Qumran 25 (2011): 17\u201339.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cResurrection, Restoration and Time-Curtailing in Qumran, Early Judaism, and Christianity.\u201d Revue de Qumran 19 (2000): 527\u201348.
\nEshel, H. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hasmonean State, 151\u201360. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans; Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi, 2008.
\nKister, M. \u201cBarnabas 12:1, 4:3 and 4Q Second Ezekiel.\u201d Revue biblique 97 (1990): 63\u201367.
\nKister, M., and E. Qimron. \u201cObservations on 4QSecond Ezekiel (4Q385 2\u20133).\u201d Revue de Qumran 15 (1992): 595\u2013602.
\nPuech, \u00c9. \u201cL\u2019image de l\u2019arbre en 4QDeut\u00e9ro-\u00c9z\u00e9chiel (4Q385 2, 9\u201310).\u201d Revue de Qumran 16 (1994): 429\u201340.
\nSmith, M. \u201c391. 4QpapPseudo-Ezekiele.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.XIV: Parabiblical Texts, Part 2, by M. Broshi, et al., in consultation with J. C. VanderKam, 153\u201393. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert [DJD] 19. Oxford: Clarendon, 1995.
\nWright, B. G. \u201cQumran Pseudepigrapha in Early Christianity.\u201d In Pseudepigraphic Perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, edited by E. G. Chazon and M. E. Stone, 183\u201393. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 31. Leiden: Brill, 1999.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

Column 2 (4Q385 2 [4Q386 1 i; 4Q388 7])<\/p>\n

2\u20134 This passage shows that the following vision of the dry bones is conceived here as a recompense for the righteous. Cf. Dan. 12:2\u20133, a contemporary of Pseudo-Ezekiel.
\n8. and a large crowd of people came [to li] fe and blessed the LORD Sebaoth This interesting detail, not found in the biblical description, reflects the late practice of reciting blessings at various occasions, well attested in the Qumran scrolls as well as in contemporary Jewish writings. Such blessings were often recited after certain deeds or events. The report of a blessing here shows that in the vision, the resurrection actually took place and is not a mere parable. The praise to God is also repeated in 4Q385 3 2\u20133. These blessings and thanksgiving may refer to Isa. 26:19: \u201cAwake and sing (rannenu), you who lie in the dust,\u201d which would indicate that the author of Pseudo-Ezekiel understands this verse as referring to resurrection (it is also interpreted this way in the Septuagint and the Targum to this verse; note that the Targum Jonathan to this verse understands verannenu as \u201cpraise to God\u201d). The exegetical complex related to Isa. 26:19 is further developed in the citation of Isa. 26:20 by 4Q385 6 1\u20132; see the comment on Ps.-Ezek. 6:3, \u201cconceal yourself for a little wh[ile.\u201d
\n10. a tree shall bend and shall stand erect The picture of the bending tree has a striking parallel in Ep. Barn. 12:1, presented as the first part of an anonymous prophetic citation. This may indicate a common tradition rather than a direct literary dependence of Barnabas, dated to the beginning of the 2nd century CE, on Pseudo-Ezekiel.<\/p>\n

Column 3<\/p>\n

3. A son of Belial According to line 6 this enigmatic figure will be killed in Memphis (Mof) in Egypt. I have suggested elsewhere that the figure should be located in Ptolemaic Egypt and identified with a historical personality active during the political unrest in Egypt in the years 164\u2013163 BCE or 132\u2013129 BCE. Even if the specific identification remains doubtful, the Ptolemaic background is certain. Since the dates and literary allusions of Pseudo-Ezekiel point to the 2nd century BCE, it is the Ptolemaic Egypt of that century that fits the picture, rather than Egypt of the 1st century BCE, as argued by Eshel (see \u201cIntroduction\u201d and note 3).
\n5. caperbush This translates the Hebrew nitzpah, attested also in the Mishnah (M. Demai 1:1; cf. also B. Ber. 36a).
\nhornet This translates the word tziz, a unique attestation in Hebrew literature.
\n7. peace and tranquility have come Perhaps based on the recurring biblical formula in which peace and tranquility for \u201cforty years\u201d is reported (Judg. 3:11; 5:31; 8:28).<\/p>\n

Column 4<\/p>\n

1. Babylon (will be) like a cup in the hand of the LORD A reference to Jer. 51:7: \u201cBabylon was a golden cup in the LORD\u2019s hand.\u201d
\n5. pasture Cf. Isa. 13:21.<\/p>\n

Column 5<\/p>\n

3. The days are hastening on so that the children of Israel may inherit Possibly a reference to Isa. 60:22: \u201cThe smallest shall become a clan; \/ The least, a mighty nation. \/ I the LORD will speed it in due time.\u201d The idea of the shortening of days and years to hasten the eschatological conclusion of history and redemption of Israel is known from both Jewish and Christian writings. Cf. 1 En. 80:2; T. Mos. 7:1\u20132; L.A.B. 19:13. The idea may have been based on the interpretation of Isa. 60:22 (see B. Sanh. 98a; Shir Rab. on Song of Sol. 8:14). Isaiah 60:22 is explicitly alluded to in 4Q386 1 iii 1\u20132, while Isa. 60:21 may be referred to in 4Q385 4 3.<\/p>\n

Column 6 (4Q385 6)<\/p>\n

3. conceal yourself for a little while A slightly reworked quotation of Isa. 26:20 (\u201cGo, my people, \u2026 \/ Hide but a little moment, \u2026\u201d), which ties up with the allusion to Isa. 26:19 in 4Q385 2 8; see the comment on Ps.-Ezek. 2:8.
\n5. The vision which Ezek[iel] saw This line clearly introduces a new section. It has the character of a title and is formulated in the third person, in contrast with the singular first person narrative that is used in other sections of the work.
\n6. chariot Hebrew merkabah. This term is absent from the biblical vision of Ezekiel. In the Hebrew Bible, the word occurs only in 1 Chron. 28:18, where it is used to describe a piece of furniture in the Temple that is placed above the Ark of the Covenant. But in Sir. B.49:8, the word has already become a technical term for the vision of Ezekiel. The term is also invoked in the Qumran work Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifices to describe various details in the heavenly world.<\/p>\n

4Q391 9<\/p>\n

2. they are unclean of person The editor of this fragment reads tmeo nefesh (tmeo with a final waw understood as the singular adjective tame with the singular masculine possessive pronoun) and translates it \u201chis uncleanness person,\u201d syntactically disconnecting the two words. However, the expression may also be read as temei nefesh, with a final yod, with temei read as a constructed plural of the adjective tame, \u201cimpure of (their) person.\u201d In my judgment the reading with yod, is preferable.<\/p>\n

The Apocryphon of Ezekiel<\/p>\n

Benjamin G. Wright III<\/p>\n

The Apocryphon of Ezekiel survives in five citations of diverse character preserved in numerous Christian sources. All are attributed to the biblical prophet Ezekiel somewhere in their transmission history. If all five belonged to the same work, it is difficult to tell exactly what the entire document looked like. Scholars are not agreed, however, that all five must have originated in a single document. Josephus (Ant. 10.5.1), Epiphanius of Salamis (4th century CE; Panarion 64.70.5), and the Stichometry of Nicephorus (9th century CE but perhaps older) demonstrate that an apocryphal Ezekiel book did exist, and scholars find confirmation in what looks like a copy of at least part of it in Papyrus Chester Beatty 185 (4th century CE).<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

Because of its fragmentary nature and the uncertainty of whether all of the fragments belong to one book, it is hard to say much about authorship. If there was one Greek Apocryphon, it likely (but not necessarily) came from a Jewish author. The Apocryphon\u2019s date, language, and place of origin remain uncertain as well. It could have been written either in Hebrew or in Greek, probably before the middle of the 1st century CE. The surviving fragments contain the themes of repentance, resurrection, and eschatological judgment, which may have characterized the entire work. The Apocryphon of Ezekiel might be related to 4QPseudo-Ezekiel, an apocryphal Ezekiel text in Hebrew from Qumran. A relationship is by no means assured, since other than similar themes and some intriguing similarities in language there is no verbal overlap between them.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The surviving fragments of the Apocryphon, together with the Qumran Ezekiel pseudepigraphon, Pseudo-Ezekiel, testify to the tremendous vitality and variety of early Jewish literature, especially to the possible ways that the biblical prophets could be interpreted. That they were preserved as quotations in Christian writers underscores the difficulty of identifying and describing Jewish texts in these sources, but this example demonstrates the potential importance of later Christian writers, who preserved texts like the Apocryphon of Ezekiel. Moreover, in this case, the existence of Pseudo-Ezekiel exemplifies the problems associated with understanding how these traditions were transmitted from Jewish to Christian contexts and from one language to another.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Mueller, James R. The Five Fragments of the Apocryphon of Ezekiel: A Critical Study. Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement 5. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1994.
\nMueller, James R., and S. E. Robinson. \u201cApocryphon of Ezekiel.\u201d In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by J. H. Charlesworth, 1.487\u201395. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1983.
\nStone, Michael E., Benjamin G. Wright, and David Satran. The Apocryphal Ezekiel. Society of Biblical Literature Early Judaism and Its Literature 18. Atlanta: SBL, 2000.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

Fragment 1<\/p>\n

After a short introduction, the parable proper begins with \u201cA certain king\u201d and continues to \u201cAnd he was amazed\u201d in paragraph 13. Epiphanius inserts a brief comment before resuming the parable with \u201cHe (the king) sent.\u201d He refers to the parable later in Panarion 64.71.8, 10, interpreting it in the light of several biblical passages, most significantly Ezek. 37, the vision of the dry bones. Several rabbinic texts also transmit slightly differing versions of the story in Hebrew.
\n5. for the dead shall rise Although the parable is attributed to Ezekiel, the section begins with a quotation of Isa. 26:19 according to the Septuagint.
\nin his own apocryphon Epiphanius refers to the source of his story. See also \u00a713.
\n6. riddles With this term Epiphanius indicates to his reader that what seems like a straightforward story is really one in which veiled language hides deeper spiritual truths, which he will explain.
\neach lived separately It is not clear how the two men meet in Epiphanius\u2019s version (cf. \u00a78). In the midrashic versions of the story found in rabbinic literature (see especially Va-yikra Rabbah 4:5 and B. Sanh. 91a-b), the blind and the lame men meet when the king sets them as guards over his garden so that neither would be able to eat the fruit.
\n9. but let us devise a plan Actually the lame man makes the plan, but the suggestion, coming from the blind man in \u00a79, makes them both responsible.
\n12. all are soldiers in your kingdom and there is no civilian This response by the wedding guests assumes a difference between the tracks left by a civilian\u2019s shoes or sandals and those of a soldier. This paragraph recalls \u00a76, where the two disabled men are explicitly called paganos, here translated \u201ccivilian\u201d\u2014everyone else serves in the army. Marc Bregman suggests that the image reflects real-life circumstances in which Roman soldiers wore nail-studded sandals whose tracks would have been clearly distinguished from a civilian\u2019s.
\n13. for God is ignorant of nothing Epiphanius anticipates the deeper truth of this \u201cparable,\u201d as he calls the story. This impinging of the moralizing meaning of the story on the narrative of the men\u2019s trial continues through the remainder of the text, especially in \u00a715. From \u00a713 onward, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the parable itself and Epiphanius\u2019s interpretation of it.
\n15. he sets the lame man on the blind man This manner of judging the two occurs in all the versions of the parable.
\n17. in this way the body is joined with the soul Epiphanius reveals the allegorical import of the story. Both body and soul deserve punishment for wicked deeds. They will get their just desserts at the final judgment. This statement brings the parable full circle both to his citation of Isaiah and his introductory comments in \u00a76.<\/p>\n

Fragment 2<\/p>\n

Other citations of this late 1st-century CE saying occur in Clement of Alexandria\u2019s Paedagogus 1.10.91.2 (late 2nd century CE), who attributes this teaching to the prophet Ezekiel, and the Gnostic Exegesis on the Soul from Nag Hammadi (3rd century CE?). The passage resembles prophetic calls for repentance in language reminiscent of Ezek. 18:30\u201332; 33:10\u201320; and Isa. 1:18.
\nhouse of Israel See Ezek. 18:30; 33:20.
\nredder than scarlet See Isa. 1:18.
\nblacker than sackcloth See Isa. 50:3; Rev. 6:12.<\/p>\n

Fragment 3<\/p>\n

Tertullian cites two distinct forms of this late-2nd\/early-3rd-century CE saying. The \u201cheifer\u201d form is probably the more original. The saying has no clear parallels with Scripture, but one non-biblical touchstone might be 1 En. 85:3, part of the so-called Animal Apocalypse, where Eve is symbolized as a heifer. The Animal Apocalypse closes with the birth of a messianic figure in the form of a white bull. In its Christian context, the saying refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus the messiah, whom Christian sources often compare to Eve.<\/p>\n

Fragment 4<\/p>\n

This 2nd-century CE saying appears in at least 19 different Christian sources. Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho 47.5) reports it as a saying of Jesus, but two later Christian writers, John Climacus (6th century CE; Scala Paradisi 7) and Evagrius (4th century CE; Latin version of Athanasius\u2019s Life of St. Anthony 15), attribute it to Ezekiel. The saying emphasizes eschatological judgment, with close biblical parallels in Ezek. 18:30 and 33:20.<\/p>\n

Fragment 5<\/p>\n

Whereas Papyrus Chester Beatty 185 is comprised of several fragments that could be part of the apocryphon, these lines overlap almost exactly with Clement of Alexandria\u2019s Paedagogus 1.9.84, which he attributes to Ezekiel. This passage shares much in common with Ezek. 34, but substantial differences from biblical Ezekiel show it to be an independent composition. The section contains many parallels to the biblical prophets, particularly Ezekiel. Campbell Bonner\u2019s reconstruction of the papyrus is based on Clement\u2019s citation.
\n1\u20132. you did not turn back \u2026 you did not heal See Ezek. 34:4. Turning back and wandering are double entendres for shepherding and sinning. In Ezek. 34 shepherding is also the primary metaphor. God is the speaker both here and in Ezekiel, and God indicts Israel\u2019s leaders for failing to protect his sheep, a metaphor for the community at large.
\n7. every shep] herd The leaders of Israel. See Ezek. 34:2, 7.
\n8. became food [for them See Ezek. 34:2, 5, 8\u201310.
\n9\u201310. I will judge The text turns from God\u2019s accusations against the shepherds to the claim that God will take direct responsibility for shepherding the people. For the same transition, see Ezek. 34:11\u201317.
\n[ram against ram] \u2026 bull against bull See Ezek. 34:17, 20.
\n13. I will shepherd them See Ezek. 34:15\u201316. The image of God as shepherd appears throughout the Jewish and Christian Bibles. See, for example, Ps. 23; Isa. 40:11; John 10:11 (about Jesus).
\n14. my holy mountain Probably the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, traditionally called Mt. Zion. See Isa. 56:7; Joel 4:17; Ps. 78:68\u201369.
\n15\u201316. near to them See Jer. 13:11. This saying also circulated independently of its larger context; see Origen, Homilies on Jeremiah 18.9 (3rd century CE) and Manichean Psalmbook 239.5\u20136 (3rd\u20134th century CE?).
\n17\u201318. I am here See Isa. 58:9.<\/p>\n

The Letter of Jeremiah<\/p>\n

Steven D. Fraade<\/p>\n

The Letter (or Epistle) of Jeremiah belongs among the books of the Septuagint (LXX) that were not included in the canon of the Hebrew Bible, but are included in the canons of some Christian Bibles. In some ancient versions it either follows or is attached to (as chapter 6 of) 1 Baruch, with which it has no direct literary connection, but shares a similar chronological and geographical setting. In other versions, it follows Lamentations, similarly ascribed to Jeremiah, preceding Ezekiel. Except for its superscription (v. 1), there is no reason to suppose that it is either a letter or that it was written by the prophet Jeremiah. It is so framed by the superscription, most likely under the influence of Jer. 29:1\u201323, which speaks of a letter from Jeremiah to the exiles in Babylonia. Whereas Jer. 29 speaks of a letter to those already in exile (following 597 BCE), the Letter is framed in v. 1 as anticipating that exile.
\nIts contents may be characterized as a homily admonishing its audience against the worship or veneration of idols in Babylonia. In particular, the Letter repeatedly mocks the idols and those who would worship them, since the idols are mundane objects that are constructed by humans and lack any power to provide benefits to their worshipers, or even to protect themselves against rot, theft, and toppling. The repeated message of the Letter is negative: the idols are not gods, and to worship them is foolish.
\nThe work is composed of 10 stanzas of unequal length ranging from 4 to 10 verses each, with each stanza, except for the last, ending with a refrain, of which the following is typical: \u201cFrom this you will know that they are not gods; so do not fear them\u201d (v. 23). The 10 stanzas, while displaying somewhat different emphases, are mainly repetitive. Rather than progressing linearly, they recycle familiar ideas and images that are mainly drawn from other earlier Scriptures. Thus, to the extent that the Letter coheres as a whole, it does so through repetition, the recurrence of key words and phrases, and rhetorical devices, especially the satirical use of similes, which link the otherwise autonomous individual stanzas to one another.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

While the Letter is universally acknowledged by scholars not to have been authored by the prophet Jeremiah, determining its actual author, date, and historical circumstances of composition is impossible based on internal criteria alone. Some scholars date it to the 2nd\/1st century BCE, for two reasons: (1) The Letter may be referred to in 2 Macc. 2:1\u20133, a section commonly dated to the 2nd century BCE. (2) A Greek fragment discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, dated to the 1st century BCE, has been claimed to contain a small section of Ep. Jer. 43\u201344. More recently, D. Dimant has suggested that the Letter (like 2 Macc. 2:1\u20133 and 1 Baruch) may be related, whether directly or indirectly, to the Apocryphon of Jeremiah C, discovered in fragmentary form among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This would suggest that our text is part of a larger corpus of texts, framed as letters attributed to Jeremiah, circulating in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.
\nHow much earlier the Letter may have been composed is more difficult to judge. Some scholars, relying on v. 3, which warns of a long exile of \u201cup to seven generations,\u201d take it to indicate a time of composition prior to 317 or 307\/306 BCE, or shortly after Alexander the Great\u2019s conquest. However, given the unlikeliness that the \u201cseven generations\u201d of v. 3 is to be taken literally, and judging from other internal Hellenistic locutions, a date in the 3rd century BCE is more likely as a terminus a quo. Narrowing the date of composition further between 300 and 100 BCE is not possible.
\nThere appears to be a consensus that the original language of the Letter was Hebrew (or possibly Aramaic), even though nothing of the Hebrew original has survived. This is based on what appear to be frequent mistakes or difficult expressions in the Greek that can be attributed to some combination of the following: (1) mistranslations of a Hebrew original; (2) Hebraisms (e.g., the infinitive absolute) that did not translate smoothly into Greek; and (3) instances in which the underlying biblical text is more likely to have been a Hebrew recension than the LXX.
\nWhile the Letter seems clearly to address a Jewish audience, it is uncertain for which Jewish audience it was composed, that is, whether in Babylonia, as the narrative frame and the seeming familiarity with Babylonian forms of worship and cultic practice would suggest; or in Palestine, which a Hebrew original would seem to support; or in Egypt, where it is likely to have been translated into Greek. Scholars today favor Palestine for the original Hebrew composition, on the view that its familiarity with Babylonian idolatry could derive from scriptural antecedents or from vernacular familiarity with such worship through the ancient Near East, and that the message of the text, to refuse the allurements of pagan worship, would not have been lost on Palestinian Jews in an age of hellenization. The Babylonian setting is as much part of the literary fiction as is the attribution to Jeremiah at the time of the Babylonian exile. The favoring of a Palestinian provenance for the work is more recently strengthened by the discovery of the possibly related Hebrew Apocryphon of Jeremiah among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
\nAs already stated, scholars are unanimous in considering the Letter to be a pseudepigraph, fictitiously attributed to Jeremiah. Unlike 1 Baruch, to which it is sometimes attached, it appears to be the product of a single author, except perhaps for the superscription and the prologue (vv. 1\u20137), which could have been combined with a homily that was not originally framed as a letter. It is generally assumed that the author of the Hebrew original was a Palestinian Jew, living in the 3rd century BCE, but not someone of particular literary skill or creativity, as the text is highly repetitive and draws heavily on antecedent sources.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The Letter of Jeremiah is one of several examples of how Jewish communities in the Hellenistic age looked back to the figure of Jeremiah (or his scribal confidant Baruch) for prophecies or homilies, beyond those contained within the book of Jeremiah itself, that would speak to their own condition of continued \u201cexile,\u201d that is, subjugation to foreign powers and cultures. In the absence of a contemporary prophetic figure of Jeremiah\u2019s revelatory authority, they reworked received prophetic teachings that warned of the folly and uselessness of idolatry, so as to address anew the cultural threats posed by the surrounding non-Jewish cultures and to give renewed voice to their hopes for ultimate divine restoration to their native land and worship and of political sovereignty.
\nThe Letter appears to have had very little impact on the subsequent history of Judaism, except perhaps as might be glimpsed in the Dead Sea Scrolls as part of a larger cycle of pseudepigraphs attributed to Jeremiah. Despite being translated from the LXX into several languages (Latin, Syriac, Arabic), for inclusion in Christian Bibles, it appears to have played no significant role within Christianity either, being rarely cited by church fathers.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

The literary quality of the Letter has been frequently disparaged, its poor Greek perhaps being due to its translation from a Hebrew original that has not survived. Even so, its repetitive nature, saying much the same thing over and over again, has been criticized as being unappealing and rhetorically ineffective. These have been cited as explanations for the fact that it does not appear to have been taken seriously by either later Judaism or Christianity.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READINGS<\/p>\n

Ball, Charles James. \u201cThe Epistle of Jeremy.\u201d In The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, ed. R. H. Charles, 1:596\u2013611. Oxford: Clarendon, 1913.
\nDimant, Devorah. \u201cApocryphon of Jeremiah.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4, XXI. Parabiblical Texts, Part 4: Pseudo-Prophetic Texts. Discoveries in the Judean Desert 30. Oxford: Clarendon, 2001.
\nMendels, Doron. \u201cJeremiah, Epistle of.\u201d Anchor Bible Dictionary 3:721\u201322. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
\nMoore, Carey A. Daniel, Esther, and Jeremiah: The Additions. Anchor Bible 44. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1977.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014.\u201cJeremiah, Additions to. The Epistle of Jeremiah.\u201d Anchor Bible Dictionary 3:703\u20136. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
\nNickelsburg, George W. E. Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah: A Historical and Literary Introduction. 2nd edition, with CD-ROM. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

1. a copy of a letter Modeled after Jer. 29:1\u201323, a letter from Jeremiah to the Babylonian exiles after the deportation of 597 BCE. (2 Kings 24:10\u201317). Compare 2 Macc. 2:1\u20133, which refers to a document in which Jeremiah instructs those about to be exiled not to be led astray by the sight of gold and silver statues with adornments. Notwithstanding the superscription, there is nothing in what follows that requires the present text to be a letter. God (first person) speaks to the people directly (second person) only in the prologue (vv. 3, 7).
\n3. for many years, for a long time Cf. Jer. 28:11; 32:14; Bar. 3:10 (with comment); 4:35.
\nup to seven generations Cf. Jer. 25:11\u201312; 29:10, where the prophet predicts that the exile will last 70 years. If \u201cseven generations\u201d is to be taken literally, and assuming that a biblical generation is 40 years, the exile is predicted to last up to 280 years, that is, until 317 BCE if calculated from the deportation of 597, or until 307\/306 BCE, if calculated from the destruction of the Temple (2 Kings 25:8\u201312). Some scholars have used this calculation to establish the terminus ad quem for the composition of the Letter, on the assumption that it is looking forward to that date. However, like the number 70 in Jeremiah (and the three generations of Babylonian kings in Jer. 27:7), \u201cseven generations\u201d may be symbolic, prolonging the period of Jeremiah\u2019s prediction, as does Dan. 9:24 (\u201c70 weeks [of years]\u201d = 490 years). Compare the Damascus Document\u2019s designation of the exile as having lasted 390 years (1:5\u20136), deriving from Ezek. 4:5.
\n4. now in Babylon you will see gods made of silver and gold and wood See Ps. 115:4; 135:15; Deut. 4:28. The danger of being seduced by idolatry is understood to be particularly acute in the Babylonian exile, where the exiles may be drawn to imitate their Gentile neighbors. While the exile is a divine punishment for Israel\u2019s sins (Ep. Jer. 2), it is also a place in which Israel\u2019s fidelity to God will be tried.
\nwhich people carry on their shoulders See Isa. 46:7; Jer. 10:5.
\n5. letting fear for these gods possess you Cf. Deut. 12:30; Jer. 10:2\u20135.
\n7. for my angel is with you God has not abandoned the Israelites in their exile, but has sent his angel to accompany them. Cf. Ezek. 11:16.
\nand he is watching over your lives Literally, \u201cseeks out your lives.\u201d The meaning of the Greek is somewhat uncertain, as it can carry both a benevolent and malevolent sense. The former meaning here is presumed by most commentators.
\n8. their tongues are smoothed by the carpenter The opening of the first (vv. 8\u201316) of 10 stanzas, in which the satiric mocking of idols and idolatry will be repeated in a variety of ways employing language drawn from Scripture. The idols are the fabrications of humans, their appearances being mere veneers; they are without any power, e.g., speech, of their own.
\n9. gold \u2026 crowns Whereas golden crowns might denote royalty and power, here they are mere ornaments that are taken by the priests, who are assigned to serving the idols, for perverse purposes. Since gold does not tarnish, the writer is heaping up in vv. 9\u201311 incompatible images for the helplessness and corruptibility of the idols.
\n12. dressed in purple robes Again, such indications of royal power, conferred on the idols by humans, are of no avail to the idols, which are lifeless and powerless against decay. Some understand this clause to go with what precedes it.
\n16. from this it is evident A similar conclusion to each stanza is repeated as a refrain in v. 23, 29, 40, 44, 52, 56, 65, 69.
\n17. someone\u2019s dish is useless when it is broken The second stanza (vv. 17\u201323) again stresses the uselessness and powerlessness of idols. They cannot even protect themselves. Note the emphasis on their inability to see, and v. 8 (with comment). For a broken dish as a symbol of uselessness, see Jer. 19:11; 22:28; Hosea 8:8; as well as Ep. Jer. 59.
\n18. the priests make their temples secure with doors and locks and bars The idols are prisoners in their very own temples.
\n20. their hearts, it is said, are eaten away This must be intended sarcastically since the idols, like the temple beams, lack hearts.
\n22. bats, swallows, and birds These regard the idols as lifeless places upon which to perch. See v. 71.
\n23. from this you will know The refrain. See comment on v. 16.
\n24. as for the gold The third stanza (vv. 24\u201329) emphasizes the inability of the idols to move themselves.
\n25. there is no breath in them See Jer. 10:14; Ps. 135:17.
\n26. they are carried on the shoulders of others See v. 4 (and comment).
\n27. if any of these gods falls See Wis. 13:16: \u201cHe takes thought for it, so that it may not fall, because he knows that it cannot help itself, for it is only an image and has need of help\u201d (NRSV).
\ngifts are placed before them just as before the dead For the practice of placing gifts before the dead, see Tob. 4:17; Sir. 30:18\u201319.
\n28. use the money themselves The priests are corrupt with respect to the idols, but the idols are helpless to do anything about it. See v. 10.
\n29. women in their periods or at childbirth See Lev. 12:2\u20135; 15:19\u201330, 33.
\nsince you know by these things The refrain. See comment on v. 16.
\n30. for how can they be called gods? The fourth stanza (vv. 30\u201340a) stresses the inability of the idols to perform the sorts of acts expected of God.
\nwomen serve meals for gods In the Israelite cult, there is no allowance for women priests, making the service described here all the more ludicrous. The serving of food to inanimate objects is being mocked.
\n31. clothes torn Typical acts of mourning, but prohibited to Israelite priests. See Lev. 21:1\u20136, 10\u201312; Jer. 16:6; Ezek. 44:25.
\n32. as some do at a funeral banquet Idol worship is identified with mourning the dead. For the association of the idols with the dead, see v. 27 and v. 71. For funerary mourning rites as part of the worship of foreign gods, see Ezek. 8:14.
\n33. the priests take some of the clothing of their gods See vv. 10, 28.
\n34. they will not be able to repay it In contrast to the God of Israel: 1 Sam. 2:7; Jer. 16:18; Job 2:10.
\n35. they will not require it In contrast to Deut. 23:22: \u201cWhen you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not put off fulfilling it, for the LORD your God will require it of you, and you will have incurred guilt.\u201d
\n36. they cannot save anyone from death Cf. Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6; Ps. 49:16.
\n37. they cannot restore sight to the blind Note the closeness to Ps. 146:8\u20139.
\n39. overlaid with gold and silver Cf. Hab. 2:19.
\n40. why then must anyone think The refrain. See comment on v. 16.
\nbesides, even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them The fifth stanza (vv. 40b\u201344) stresses the foolishness of those who dishonor their idols in worship, giving two examples.
\nChaldeans May refer either to Babylonians or to professional magicians or diviners, but here the latter is more likely.
\nas though Bel were able to understand! Bel, meaning \u201clord,\u201d is a title of Marduk, the chief of the Babylonian pantheon. See Isa. 46:1; Jer. 50:2; 51:44. The idol worshipers are mocked for thinking that Bel, who can neither speak nor understand, has the power to confer speech on the mute.
\n42. and the women, with cords around them Some sort of cultic prostitution is described. Similar, but not identical, Babylonian rites are described by Herodotus (5th century BCE) in his History 1.199. For the rejection of cultic prostitution in Israelite worship, see Deut. 23:18\u201319. See also Gen. 38:21; Hosea 4:14.
\n44. why then must anyone think \u2026 or call them gods? The refrain. See v. 30.
\n45. they are made by carpenters and goldsmiths The sixth stanza (vv. 45\u201352) continues to mock the human-made idols for being fraudulent, and their worshipers for failing to recognize the idols\u2019 powerlessness.
\n50. overlaid with gold and silver A recurring theme, indicating that the idols are not what they might appear to be from their exteriors. See vv. 39, 55, 57, 70, 71. See Jer. 10:9; Isa. 40:19.
\n52. who then can fail to know that they are not gods? The refrain. See comment on v. 16.
\n53. they cannot set up a king over a country The seventh stanza (vv. 53\u201356) reiterates the helplessness of the idols to do what their worshipers would seek from them. By contrast, Israel\u2019s God does establish kings. See 1 Kings 14:14; Dan. 2:44.
\ngive rain to people Again, by contrast Israel\u2019s God provides rain. See Deut. 11:14 (recited daily as part of the second paragraph of the Shema prayer); Ps. 147:8; Jer. 10:13; 51:16. In later Jewish liturgy, God\u2019s power to provide rain at its appropriate time (in the Land of Israel) is invoked as part of the thrice-daily (four times on Sabbaths and Festivals) Amidah prayer.
\n55. crows Some suggest emending to \u201cclouds,\u201d based on the Syriac (\u201cravens\u201d) and a proposed misreading of Hebrew k\u2019bym (as clouds) as if it were k\u2019rbym (as ravens). If so, the idols are as helpless as the clouds buffeted \u201cbetween heaven and earth.\u201d
\nwooden gods overlaid with gold or silver See vv. 39, 50, 57, 70, 71.
\n56. they can offer no resistance to king or enemy Another expectation of gods is that they protect their cities\/lands against capture and plunder, which the idols are unable to do. See v. 49.
\nwhy then must anyone admit The refrain. See comment on v. 16.
\n57. gods made of wood and overlaid with silver and gold The eighth stanza (vv. 57\u201365) stresses, once again, the powerlessness of the idols, especially when compared with mundane human-made objects and the bodies and forces of nature that fulfill their assigned purposes. For wood overlaid with silver and gold, see vv. 39, 50, 55, 70, 71.
\nthieves or robbers Note the recurring motif of the idols being prey to theft or misappropriation: vv. 10, 15, 18, 28, 33.
\n59. a household utensil that serves its owner\u2019s need Contrast v. 17. Better to be a mundane object that fulfills its function than a false god that fulfills no function.
\n60. sun and moon and stars \u2026 when sent to do a service, they are obedient Nature serves God by obeying his commands.
\n65. since you know then that they are not gods The refrain. See comment on v. 16.
\n66. they can neither curse nor bless kings The ninth stanza (vv. 66\u201369) once again stresses the impotency of idols. In Israelite religion, the blessing and cursing of kings is the provenance of divine prophets. See Num. 22:6; Jer. 10:5.
\n67. signs in the heavens See v. 60 (and comment). See Jer. 10:2.
\n69. so we have no evidence whatever that they are gods The familiar refrain. See comment on v. 16.
\n70. like a scarecrow in a cucumber bed The tenth and final stanza (vv. 70\u201373) includes by now familiar themes and images. The text bears a very close resemblance to Jer. 10:3\u20135.
\n71. on which every bird perches See v. 22.
\nlike a corpse thrown out in the darkness Like the dead, the idols are helpless and will ultimately be discarded.
\n72. from the purple and linen that rot upon them See v. 12.
\n73. better, therefore, is someone upright who has no idols Concluding on a more positive note: honor derives from upright behavior and character, rather than from the worship of idols.<\/p>\n

1 Baruch<\/p>\n

Steven D. Fraade<\/p>\n

1 Baruch (also known as the book of Baruch) is classified in the \u201cOld Testament Apocrypha,\u201d meaning it is one of the books of the Septuagint (LXX) not included in the canon of the Hebrew Bible but included in various Christian Bibles. It is named for the scriptural figure Baruch (son of Neriah son of Mahseiah), who was the prophet Jeremiah\u2019s scribe and confidant (Jer. 32:9\u201315; 36:1\u201332; 43:1\u20137; 45:1\u20135) and who accompanied Jeremiah into exile following the conquest of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. In 1 Baruch, and in other works ascribed to him, he becomes a prophetic figure in his own right. In the LXX (and in subsequent Christian Bibles) 1 Baruch follows the book of Jeremiah as an appendix. Scholars universally are of the view that the books that bear Baruch\u2019s name are pseudepigraphs, that is, fictitiously and retroactively ascribed to him.
\n1 Baruch is a composite literary work, made up of three to five distinct compositions, depending on how they are divided or combined, which differ from one another in theme, mood, language, divine appellation, literary form, scriptural dependency, and perspective, but which have been editorially combined at some point after their individual compositions. Their common theme is seeking to convey the meaning of the Babylonian exile, perhaps as a paradigm for subsequent periods of exile and foreign rule. The parts of the book may be summarized as follows:<\/p>\n

1. Historical introduction (1:1\u201314). Presents the book as a letter sent by Baruch from exile in Babylonia to the priests and people in Jerusalem, in the fifth year of the exile (582 BCE), instructing them to read it as a confessional liturgy during the festivals.
\n2. Confession of sins (1:15\u20132:5 [or 1:15\u20132:10]). A preliminary confession and prayer emphasizing that the sins committed by the people and their received punishments are in accord with Moses\u2019 predictions. This section and the next are especially dependent upon Dan. 9:4\u201319, with many elements from Deut. 28\u201332 and Jer. 29\u201352.
\n3. Petitionary prayer (2:6\u20133:8 [or 2:11\u20133:8]). Written from the perspective of the Diaspora Jews, a petition to rescue the repentant remnant from exile, where they suffer, returning them to the Promised Land and renewing the covenant.
\n4. Poem in praise of Wisdom (3:9\u20134:4). The powerful and the rich are unable to find Wisdom (here personified), for Wisdom is identical with Torah, which has been given to Israel alone. Thus, the praise of Wisdom ends as a praise of Israel. Close affinities to, and perhaps incorporation of, wisdom texts such as Job, Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Wisdom of Ben Sira.
\n5. Psalm of consolation (4:5\u20135:9). The final section of 1 Baruch offers words of encouragement to the remnant of Israel in exile, featuring personified \u201cmother\u201d Jerusalem as both the source and recipient of consolation. Following the biblical, especially Deuteronomic, pattern of sin-exile-return, Israel is assured that its exile is not permanent, but will be followed by return to the Promised Land, accompanied by the punishment of Israel\u2019s enemies in the very ways that they were the agents of Israel\u2019s punishment. In effect, Israel\u2019s confessional and petitionary prayers have been answered, its sorrow has turned to joy. This section is particularly dependent on Isa. 40\u201355 (Deutero-Isaiah), with Bar. 4:36\u20135:9 displaying similarities to Pss. Sol. 11:1\u20137.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

The dating and provenance of 1 Baruch are clouded by its anonymous, pseudepigraphic authorship and its composite contents. That is, it is likely that its component parts were authored separately and only later combined to form the book as we have it. It is generally held that the major parts were originally authored in Hebrew (at least 1:1\u20133:8), but since no part of the book survives in Hebrew even this has been questioned. Arguments for a Hebrew original for 3:9\u20135:9 rest on weaker grounds. The earliest surviving text is in Greek, from which other versions (Syriac, Latin, Arabic, Armenian, Bohairic, Ethiopic) are thought to be translations. Since it is difficult to date the text, either as a whole or in its parts, because it lacks specific internal historical references, scholars have sought to date it with respect to earlier texts upon which it might be dependent and according to its attitude toward continuing exile and the rule and fate of foreign rulers. Neither of these criteria allows for precise dating. The predominant view arrives at a chronological span from the first half of the 2nd century through the 1st century BCE, with some extending into the 1st century CE. Based on the Greek, the relation of the translation to that of Jeremiah, and the possible meaning for a later time of the fictional historical setting of the Babylonian exile, an early to mid-2nd century BCE date, at least for the bulk of the book, seems the most likely.
\n1 Baruch was authored neither by Baruch nor by any single person. Some think that the compiler of 1:15\u20135:4 added the historical introduction (1:1\u201314) so as to establish the pseudepigraphic historical setting, while someone later added the final stanza (5:5\u20139) so as to conclude with the fulfillment of God\u2019s reassuring promises having been accomplished. Yet some see the poem in praise of Wisdom (3:9\u20134:4) as a later interpolation. Thus, notwithstanding its composite nature, it is uncertain whether a single compiler produced the text as it now stands. Those who favor a Hebrew original tend to assume that the work was authored in Palestine, notwithstanding its exilic setting. While it is generally presumed that the author\/compiler was Jewish (the term itself being somewhat anachronistic), some have thought that 3:37 reveals a Christian hand (or at least interpolation), but this need not be the case (see commentary).<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

Once excluded from the canon of the Hebrew Bible, 1 Baruch, even if based, and if only in part, on a Hebrew original, appears to have eventually disappeared from Jewish study and communal liturgical life. The church fathers Origen and Jerome (3rd and 4th centuries, respectively) are both unaware of any Hebrew versions of the text in their time, and the latter claims the book was not read any longer among the \u201cHebrews.\u201d How much earlier it fell from Jewish use, in whatever language, is impossible to know. We have no record of its being cited or referenced by any Jewish author in a religious context. Nor is there any evidence for its having been translated into any Jewish dialect of Aramaic. No remnant of it has been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (unlike other apocryphal and pseudepigraphic works), nor is there any allusion to it in early Rabbinic literature. Even among Christians, in whose biblical canons it was included, reference to 1 Baruch (aside from 3:36\u201337) is extremely rare.
\nTherefore, consideration of the significance of 1 Baruch as a Jewish writing must be limited to its supposed time of composition and original reception in the early to mid-2nd century BCE, a period of Seleucid domination and Maccabean resistance. Its fictive setting in the time of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s conquest of Jerusalem and exile of its inhabitants would provide a powerful template for a later time, in which the book\u2019s call for confession, contrition, devotion to Torah, and hope in Israel\u2019s imminent restoration would no less ring true. The significance of 1 Baruch, then, is in the artful way that it has reworked and combined its scriptural (from our perspective, both canonical and noncanonical) sources and composite parts to offer an urgent call that deeply reverberated and resonated both with received traditional memories and with pressing historical circumstances.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

The reader of 1 Baruch would benefit from consulting the frequent scriptural parallels to, and possibly sources of, the text in Wisdom of Ben Sira, Wisdom of Solomon, and Psalms of Solomon indicated in the commentary.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READINGS<\/p>\n

Burke, David G. The Poetry of Baruch: A Reconstruction and Analysis of the Original Hebrew Text of Baruch 3:9\u20135:9. SBL Septuagint and Cognate Studies 10. Chico CA: Scholars Press, 1982.
\nDavila, James R. \u201c(How) Can We Tell If a Greek Apocryphon or Pseudepigraphon Was Translated from Hebrew or Aramaic?\u201d Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 15.1 (2005): 3\u201361.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or Other? Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 105. Leiden: Brill, 2005.
\nMendels, Doron. \u201cBaruch, Book of.\u201d Anchor Bible Dictionary 1:618\u201320. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
\nMoore, Carey A. Daniel, Esther, and Jeremiah: The Additions. Anchor Bible 44. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1977.
\nNickelsburg, George W. E. Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah: A Historical and Literary Introduction. 2nd edition, with CD-ROM. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005.
\nTov, Emanuel, ed. and trans. The Book of Baruch Also Called 1 Baruch (Greek and Hebrew): Edited, Reconstructed, and Translated. Society of Biblical Literature Texts and Translations 8\/Pseudepigrapha Series 6. Missoula MT: Scholars Press, 1975.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. The Septuagint Translation of Jeremiah and Baruch: A Discussion of an Early Revision of the LXX of Jeremiah 29\u201352 and Baruch 1:1\u20133:8. Harvard Semitic Museum, Harvard Semitic Monographs 8. Missoula MT: Scholars Press, 1976.
\nWright, J. Edward. Baruch ben Neriah: From Biblical Scribe to Apocalyptic Seer. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2003.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

1:1. Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah son of Zedekiah son of Hasadiah son of Hilkiah In Jer. 32:12, Baruch\u2019s name is given as \u201cBaruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah.\u201d A seal inscription found in a royal archive reads, \u201cBelonging to Berechiah, son of Neriah, the scribe.\u201d The long list of patronyms in our text may serve to emphasize that Baruch comes from a prominent scribal family.
\nwrote in Babylon According to Jer. 43:1\u20137, Baruch (along with Jeremiah) was forcefully exiled to Egypt rather than to Babylonia, contrary to God\u2019s will. For the tradition that Baruch was exiled to Babylonia in later Jewish literature, see S. Olam Rab. 26; Songs Rab. 5:5; B. Meg. 16b.
\n1:2. in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month It is not clear whether the \u201cfifth year\u201d counts from the siege and exile of Jerusalem (597 BCE), as in 2 Kings 24:10\u201317, or from the destruction of the Temple (586 BCE), as in 2 Kings 25:8\u201312. The continuation of Bar. 1:2 would favor the latter, resulting in the year of 582 BCE for the date of the narrative setting. Although the specific month is not provided here, it can be presumed to have been the fifth month (Av), as per 2 Kings 25:8. Thus, this gathering would commemorate the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple.
\n1:3. Jeconiah, also known as Jehoiakim, last king of Judah, exiled in 597 BCE.
\nto all the people Repeated in Bar. 1:4 (cf. 1:7). For similar emphases on the totality of the assembly for a public reading of revelation, see Deut. 31:12; 2 Kings 23:2; Jer. 36:6; Neh. 8:1\u20138; 2 Chron. 34:30.
\n1:4. by the river Sud Otherwise unknown. For the significance of prophecy at rivers in the exile, see Mek. R. Ish., Pisha 1, citing Dan. 8:2; 10:4; Ezek. 1:3.
\n1:5. then they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the LORD Contrast how Baruch\u2019s reading of a scroll with Jeremiah\u2019s prophetic words is received by King Jehoiakim, Jeconiah\u2019s father, in 604 BCE, as recounted in Jer. 36:20\u201326.
\n1:7. the high priest Jehoiakim The Greek has \u201cthe priest,\u201d which may denote \u201cthe high priest,\u201d but no high priest by the name of Jehoiakim is known.
\n1:8. the vessels of the house of the LORD Cf. Ezra 1:7\u201311, for the return of the Temple vessels by the Persian king Cyrus in 538 BCE For the removal of the Temple vessels by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 and 587 BCE, see 2 Kings 24:13; 25:13\u201317; 2 Chron. 36:10, 18; Jer. 52:17\u201323, where no mention is made of silver replacements. Regarding their return, see Jer. 27:16; 28:6; Ezra 6:5.
\n1:9. and brought them to Babylon Echoing Jer. 24:1.
\n1:10. they said The letter is supposed to be written from the exiles in Babylonia to their brethren who remained in Jerusalem, providing them with words of confession to recite.
\non the altar of the LORD our God Presuming the continuation of sacrificial worship after the destruction of the Temple. See also Jer. 41:5, where grain and incense offerings are mentioned, but no animals (burnt and sin offerings in our text).
\n1:11. pray for the life of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon The practice of Diaspora Jews praying for the welfare of the foreign ruling monarch (or government) goes back at least to the time of Persian rule (see Ezra 6:10) and continues down to the present. In the mid-3rd century BCE Egypt, synagogues have dedicatory inscriptions that honor the Ptolemaic king, his wife, and children. The cessation of the offering of sacrifices in the Second Temple in Jerusalem on behalf of the Roman emperors is cited as marking the beginning of the Jewish revolt against Roman rule.
\nBelshazzar Cf. Dan. 5:2, 11\u201312, 30, which similarly identify Belshazzar as the son of Nebuchadnezzar and as king (cf. 7:1; 8:1). However, Balthazar\u2019s father was Nabonidus, and Belshazzar was never king of Babylon. The text is most likely influenced by Dan. 5.
\nso that their days on earth may be like the days of heaven For the idiom, see Deut. 11:21: \u201cTo the end that you and your children may endure \u2026 as long as there is a heaven over the earth.\u201d
\n1:14. and you shall read aloud this scroll For the conjunction of reading from a scroll, confession of sin, and prayer, see Neh. 9:3.
\n1:15. the LORD our God is in the right God is blameless for our suffering, since we brought it upon ourselves. In later Jewish prayer and confession, this is known as tzidduk hadin, the rightness of the (God\u2019s) verdict. Cf. Dan. 9:7: \u201cWith You, O LORD, is the right [tzedakah], and the shame is on us to this very day, on the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all Israel, near and far, in all the lands where You have banished them, for the trespass they committed against You.\u201d The section beginning here and continuing through Bar. 3:8 is made up largely of a pastiche of quotes from Daniel and Jeremiah, with particular affinities to Dan. 9:4\u201319, as will be indicated below.
\n1:17. we have sinned before the LORD The confession is in the collective, plural first person, as in the confession (Vidui) of the later Yom Kippur liturgy. Cf. Dan. 9:8; Neh. 9:32\u201334; Jer. 32:32.
\n1:18. have not heeded the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in the statutes For very similar language, see Dan. 9:9\u201310 and Neh. 9:26 for rebellion and rejection of God\u2019s Torah.
\n1:19. from the time when the LORD brought our ancestors out of the Land of Egypt until today For Israel\u2019s rebelliousness beginning with the Exodus from Egypt, see Deut. 9:7; Jer. 7:25.
\nin not heeding his voice See Dan. 9:11.
\n1:20. so to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse The recent and present sufferings are the result of the cumulative sins of the Israelites over time, continuing to the present, thereby underscoring the depth of the guilt. See Dan. 9:11; Jer. 11:4\u20135. Cf. the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QS 2:15\u201316: \u201cAnd may all the curses of this covenant stick to him.\u201d
\nthat the LORD declared through his servant Moses The present sufferings are the fulfillment of the predicted curses recorded by Moses in Deut. 28\u201332, esp. 29:19\u201320.
\n1:21. we did not listen to the voice See Dan. 9:10. The language of rejection of God\u2019s voice\/commands is very Deuteronomic: Deut. 9:23\u201324; 28:15; Jer. 26:5.
\n1:22. doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD Cf. Jer. 7:24; 32:30.
\n2:1. so the LORD carried out the threat See Dan. 9:12.
\n2:2. under the whole heaven there has not been done For the uniquely exceptional nature of Israel\u2019s calamity, see Dan. 9:12.
\nin accordance with the threats that were written in the law of Moses See Dan. 9:13 and comment on Bar. 1:20.
\n2:3. some of us ate the flesh of their sons For the consumption of one\u2019s own children as one of the most dire effects of being under siege, see Lev. 26:29; Deut. 28:53; 2 Kings 6:28\u201329; Jer. 19:9; Lam. 2:20; 4:10.
\n2:4. to be an object of scorn See Jer. 29:18.
\n2:5. they were brought down and not raised up See Deut. 28:13, for the blessing: \u201cYou will always be at the top and never at the bottom,\u201d the Greek terms being identical.
\nin not heeding his voice See Dan. 9:10\u201311 and Bar. 1:19, 21.
\n2:6. the LORD our God is in the right Repeating the language of 1:15, it would appear that the confession is beginning anew. Whereas the preceding confession is from the perspective of the remnant remaining in Jerusalem and displays the particular influence of Daniel, what follows is usually understood to express the perspective of those suffering exile and dispersion in foreign lands (e.g., 2:13\u201314, 30) and displays the additional influence of Jeremiah. See Dan. 9:7.
\n2:8. yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD The emphasis of the confession continues to be that of continued disobedience and unworthiness of divine favor. Similarly, 2:10. See Dan. 9:13; Jer. 7:24.
\n2:9. and the LORD has kept the calamities ready Closely following Dan. 9:14.
\n2:10. yet we have not obeyed his voice See Bar. 1:19, 21; 2:5; Dan. 9:10\u201311.
\n2:11. and now Following the initial confession, here begins the petitionary section of the prayer (2:11\u201318), even though the confessional theme will recur (2:12). This section closely follows Dan. 9:15\u201319 and like it employs the language of the Exodus from Egypt (e.g., Exod. 3:7\u20138, 20\u201321), framing the return from exile in terms of a second exodus. Cf. also Jer. 32:20\u201321.
\n2:12. we have sinned For the confessional language, see Dan. 9:5; 1 Kings 8:47; 2 Chron. 6:37.
\n2:13. let your anger turn away from us See Dan. 9:16.
\nfew in number, among the nations where you have scattered us See Deut. 4:27; Jer. 42:2.
\n2:14. Hear, O LORD, our prayer and our supplication See Dan. 9:17.
\nfor your own sake deliver us A recurring theme of the traditional Jewish High Holiday liturgy is \u201cfor your sake if not for our sake,\u201d as in the Avinu Malkeinu prayer: \u201cOur father, our king, act for your sake if not for ours; our father, our king, graciously answer us, although we are without merits.\u201d In our text, the petition is to redeem Israel for the sake of God\u2019s reputation among the non-Jewish nations, even though Israel is unworthy. See 2 Kings 19:19; Dan. 9:18\u201319.
\ngrant us favor in the sight of those who have carried us into exile Cf. Gen. 39:21.
\n2:15. for Israel and his descendants are called by your name See Dan. 9:19.
\n2:16. look down from your holy dwelling See Deut. 26:15.
\n2:16\u201317. incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes O LORD, and see See Dan. 9:18; 2 Kings 19:16.
\n2:17. the dead who are in Hades \u2026 will not ascribe glory or justice to the LORD The dead cannot praise God, only the living, and especially those who have been tried. See Ps. 6:6: \u201cFor there is no praise of You among the dead; in Sheol, who can acclaim You?\u201d Similarly, Ps. 30:9; 88:10\u201312; 115:17; Isa. 38:18. For the netherworld, see also Job 10:21\u201322.
\n2:18. with failing eyes and famished soul See Deut. 28:65.
\n2:19. not because of any righteous deeds of our ancestors Compare the later Rabbinic idea of the zekhut \u2018avot (merits of the ancestors), which accrue to the credit of the people as a whole, and which credit can be drawn upon to avert the consequences of the sinful behavior of later generations. See Bar. 2:14 and Dan. 9:18\u201319.
\n2:20. your anger and your wrath See Ps. 78:49.
\nby your servants the prophets See Jer. 26:5.
\n2:21. thus says the LORD What follows is a pastiche from Jer. 7:34; 27:9, 12; 48:9. Jeremiah urged the acceptance, rather than resistance, of Babylonian rule as part of God\u2019s historical use of the nations to punish Israel.
\n2:23. the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness The Hebrew of Jer. 7:34, upon which this is based, is combined with Jer. 33:10\u201311 and included in the seventh traditional Jewish wedding blessing: \u201cMay there soon be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride.\u201d
\n2:24. but we did not obey your voice A continuation of confession of Israel\u2019s disobedience and justification of God\u2019s punishment of them, with echoes of 1:11\u201312, 20\u20132:1.
\n2:27. you have dealt with us \u2026 in all your kindness See Ps. 119:124: \u201cDeal with Your servant as befits Your steadfast love [hesed].\u201d Here, and through the end of the chapter, purporting to quote God\u2019s words recorded through Moses, the tone turns much more hopeful, emphasizing God\u2019s mercifulness, and the ability of the surviving remnant in exile to return. This section draws heavily on Jeremiah, but with some Deuteronomic highlights (e.g., Deut. 30:1\u20135).
\n2:29. if you will not obey my voice See Bar. 2:10 and Deut. 28:15.
\nthis very great multitude will surely turn into a small number See Jer. 42:2.
\namong the nations, where I will scatter them See Jer. 24:9.
\n2:30. but in the land of their exile they will come to themselves See 2 Chron. 6:37.
\n2:31. I will give them a heart that obeys See Jer. 24:7.
\n2:33. turn from their stubbornness and their wicked deeds See Jer. 25:5.
\n2:34. I will bring them again into the land that I swore to give to their ancestors See Jer. 30:3; Deut. 30:5.
\nI will increase them, and they will not be diminished See Jer. 29:6. Cf. Deut. 28:62.
\n2:35. I will make an everlasting covenant with them See Jer. 32:40.
\nand they shall be my people See Jer. 31:33.
\nI will never again remove my people Israel Cf. 1 Kings 14:15.
\n3:1\u20138. O LORD Almighty, God of Israel Concluding section of confessional and petitionary prayer. Though battered, the exilic remnant is confident that it is not abandoned. Cf. Lev. 26:40\u201345; Deut. 30:1\u201310; Jer. 29:12\u201314.
\n3:1. the soul in anguish and the wearied spirit cry out to you See Ps. 107:5\u20136.
\n3:2. hear, O LORD, and have mercy See Ps. 27:7.
\n3:3. enthroned forever \u2026 perishing forever See Isa. 57:15; Ps. 9:19.
\n3:4. calamities have clung to us See Bar. 1:20.
\n3:5. do not remember the iniquities of our ancestors See Ps. 79:8 and Bar. 2:19. Just as the \u201cmerits of the ancestors\u201d could be credited to their descendants, so too the sins of the ancestors could be visited upon their descendants.
\n3:7. for you have put the fear of you in our hearts See Jer. 32:40.
\n3:8. see, we are today in our exile where you have scattered us See Jer. 24:9.
\nfor all the iniquities of our ancestors See Bar. 3:5. While having confessed their own sins, the extent of their exile and suffering can be understood only as the cumulative effect of ancestral sinfulness. Their confession is, thus, not just for themselves, but for previous generations as well. Cf. Lev. 26:40: \u201cAnd they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers.\u201d The text suggests a petition from the penitents to be gathered from their exile and returned to their land, which is never made explicit.
\n3:9. hear the commandments of life, O Israel; give ear, and learn wisdom! Here through 4:4 is a poem in praise of Wisdom that is noticeably different in language, form, and content from what precedes it, even though it shares the theme, more subtly expressed here, of exile.
\nhear \u2026 O Israel For the call to listen up, often in didactic contexts, cf. Deut. 4:1; 5:1; 6:3\u20134; 9:1, and elsewhere. For the parallelism of \u201chear\u201d and \u201cgive ear,\u201d see Deut. 32:1; Isa. 1:2.
\n3:10. you are in the land of your enemies \u2026 growing old in a foreign country In contrast to the preceding sections (cf. 1:2, 11), here the sense is that the exile has already lasted a while. Some use this to push the dating of the composition later rather than earlier. The continuing exile is now not so much the consequence of Israel\u2019s sinful behavior as its failure to find the true source of wisdom. Cf. the opening of the Damascus Document, now found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, which describes the period of the sectarian movement\u2019s wandering in the wilderness, before they were provided with the Teacher of Righteousness to instruct them: \u201cAnd they discerned their iniquity and knew that they were guilty people; and they were as blind as those who grope for a way\u201d (1:8\u201310).
\nyou are defiled with the dead Probably intended figuratively. Having rejected the \u201ccommandments of life,\u201d Israel in exile is as good as dead.
\n3:11. you are counted among those in Hades Cf. Ps. 55:16; 88:4, as well as Bar. 2:17.
\n3:12. fountain of wisdom See Prov. 18:4. Water is frequently used in wisdom and prophetic, as well as later Rabbinic, literature as a metaphor for wisdom and Torah teaching. The fountain, or source of wisdom, is God. See Jer. 2:13: \u201cFor My people have done a twofold wrong: They have forsaken Me, the Fount of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, which cannot even hold water.\u201d For God as the source of all wisdom, see Sir. 1:1, 5. The present verse is the beginning of the response to the rhetorical question of Bar. 3:10\u201311.
\n3:14. learn where there is wisdom \u2026 strength \u2026 understanding \u2026 length of days, and life \u2026 light \u2026 peace See Prov. 3:13\u201318; Job 12:13; 28:12, 20. Wisdom is seen as the source of all other desirable qualities.
\n3:15. who has found her place? Here through 3:31 we are told of those who have failed to find wisdom, mainly the rich and powerful. The answer does not come until 3:32\u20134:4. See Job 28:12\u201328.
\n3:16. those who lorded it over the animals on earth For Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dominion over animals and his descent to the level of the animals, see Dan. 2:37\u201338; Jer. 28:14; Jdt. 11:7; and especially Dan. 4:20\u201321. Sporting with and collecting animals was associated with royal power. See 1 Kings 10:22; Jer. 27:6.
\n3:17. those who made sport of the birds of the air The mighty in ruling over and sporting with animals fail to learn from them. See Job 12:7\u20139.
\n3:18. those who schemed to get silver The mighty accumulate riches, which prove to be transient. Cf. Prov. 2:4.
\n3:20\u201321. later generations \u2026 their descendants Here the emphasis is less on the mighty per se, than on the unawareness of humanity in general, in successive generations, with respect to wisdom.
\n3:21. from her way Following the Syriac version, with \u201cher\u201d referring back to wisdom, as preferred by most commentators. However, the Greek has \u201ctheir,\u201d referring to the previous generation.
\n3:22. Canaan \u2026 Teman Places associated with wisdom do not know true wisdom. For Canaan, land of the Phoenicians (Zeph. 2:5), with cities Tyre and Sidon, see Isa. 23:8; Ezek. 28:3\u20135; Zech. 9:2\u20134. For Teman, see Jer. 49:7; Obad. 8\u20139.
\n3:23. the descendants of Hagar Ishmaelite merchants, Ishmael being the son of Hagar (Gen. 16:11\u201312, 15). For Ishmaelites as traveling merchants, see Gen. 37:25. Travelers may be thought to seek and transmit wisdom (Sir. 39:4), but in this case they are as lost as everyone else.
\nMerran Unknown. Perhaps an error for Midian, since Midianites are associated with caravans. See Gen. 37:28.
\n3:24. the house of God In light of what follows, this refers to the whole universe and not to the Temple, either earthly or heavenly.
\n3:25. it is great and has no bounds The enormity of the universe suggests the majesty of God and his wisdom.
\n3:26. the giants The offspring of the antediluvian \u201cfallen angels\u201d and human women of Gen. 6:1\u20134, there called in Hebrew the Nephilim. For their deeds, including waging war, see 1 En. 7:2\u20135; Jub. 7:22\u201323; Sir. 16:7.
\n3:27\u201328. or give them the way to knowledge \u2026 because they had no wisdom According to 1 En. 6\u201311, their fathers, the \u201cfallen angels,\u201d brought wisdom from heaven to earth. If that tradition is alluded to here, then the wisdom received by the giants was not true wisdom and was certainly of no value to them.
\nthey perished through their folly According to Wis. 14:6, they perished in the Flood.
\n3:29\u201330. who has gone up into heaven \u2026 who has gone over the sea Cf. Deut. 30:12\u201313 as well as Prov. 30:4; Isa. 40:12\u201314. Here, however, the emphasis is on the impossibility of finding wisdom unassisted, no matter how far one might travel (or how powerful and rich). Cf. Sir. 24:4\u20135 and Wis. 9:4, where Wisdom is said to dwell in heaven. In the many similarities between this section of Baruch and Sir. 24, it should be noted that in Sir. 24:1\u201322 personified Wisdom speaks in the first person, whereas here she is referred to in the third person.
\n3:30. and will buy her for pure gold See Job 28:15\u201319.
\n3:31. No one knows the way to her The negative answer to the rhetorical question of 3:29\u201330. For the same pattern, see 3:12.
\n3:32. but the one who knows all things knows her God alone has direct access to wisdom. See Job 28:23\u201327.
\n3:33. the one who sends forth the light \u201cLight\u201d here most likely refers to lightning, as in Job 36:30, 32; 37:11, 15. Cf. Job 38:35: \u201cCan you dispatch the lightning on a mission and have it answer you, \u2018I am ready\u2019?\u201d See also Job 37:3.
\n3:34. he called them The stars appear in response to God\u2019s call to them. See Isa. 40:26.
\n3:35. this is our God; no other can be compared to him Like the stars, Israel bears witness to God, here proclaiming God\u2019s uniqueness. See Exod. 15:2, 11; Deut. 4:35; Isa. 43:10\u201311; 44:6\u20137; 45:18.
\n3:36. he found the whole way to knowledge Here, finally, begins the answer to the question rhetorically asked in 3:15: God, and not the seemingly rich and mighty humans, has found wisdom. Cf. Job 28:23: \u201cGod understands the way to it; He knows its source.\u201d
\nand gave her to his servant Jacob Having concluded that wisdom is with God alone, our text pronounces that he has given it, in an act of love, to Israel alone and, by implication, not to the Gentiles. See Sir. 24:8: \u201cThen the Creator of all things gave me [= Wisdom] a command, and my Creator chose the place for my tent. He said, \u2018Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.\u2019 \u201d For a similar paralleling of Israel and Jacob, see Isa. 44:1.
\n3:37. afterward she appeared on earth Through Israel, Wisdom lives on earth and is finally available to humankind. Early church fathers saw in this verse a prediction of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Some modern scholars have suggested that the verse is a Christian interpolation. However, presuming that the subject of \u201cappeared\u201d is the \u201cfeminine\u201d \u201cknowledge\u201d of the previous verse (and \u201cshe\u201d of the next verse), the verse is consistent with other expressions of Wisdom\u2019s having come to dwell on earth. See Prov. 8:1\u20133, 31; Wis. 9:10; Sir. 24:10\u201312.
\n4:1. she is the book of the commandments of God Having located Wisdom in God, gifted to Israel, it is now, in conclusion, identified with the eternal Torah (Greek nomos). For the same identification, see Sir. 24:23: \u201cAll this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the law [nomos = Torah] that Moses commanded us as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob.\u201d The last clause is identical in Greek to Deut. 33:4 LXX. See also Deut. 4:5\u20138.
\nthat endures forever For the eternity of Torah\/Wisdom, see Sir. 1:15.
\nall who hold her fast will live Cf. Prov. 3:18: \u201cShe is a tree of life to those who grasp her.\u201d
\n4:2. the shining of her light See Prov. 6:23: \u201cFor the commandment is a lamp, the teaching is a light.\u201d
\n4:3. do not give your glory to another \u2026 alien people Cf. Deut. 4:6\u20138. Israel\u2019s distinction from the other peoples by virtue of possessing the Torah would be gone if were to become a universal possession. Perhaps an allusion to the (false) wisdom, and its competing claims, of other (e.g., Greek) cultures.
\n4:4. for we know what is pleasing to God See Wis. 9:18: \u201cAnd people were taught what pleases you, and were saved by wisdom.\u201d
\n4:5. take courage, my people Here through the end (5:9), what was probably once a separate poetic composition offers words of encouragement to Israel, first from God (4:5\u20139a) and then from personified Jerusalem (4:9b\u201329), continuing (4:30\u20135:9) with words addressed to Jerusalem. The Deuteronomic motif of sin, exile, and return is emphasized, drawing heavily for language on Isa. 40\u201355, with its image of Mother Zion and her children. The opening \u201ctake courage\u201d is repeated in Bar. 4:21, 27, 30.
\nwho perpetuate Israel\u2019s name Literally, the \u201cmemory of Israel.\u201d The remnant of the people who have survived the exile preserve the memory\/reputation\/name of Israel (Jacob), perhaps alluding to past covenantal fortunes and promises, expected to be restored.
\n4:6. it was not for destruction that you were sold to the nations That is, sent into exile. Israel\u2019s exile, in punishment for its sins, is not final. It was not intended to sever God\u2019s covenantal relationship with it, but a necessary aspect of that relationship. See Isa. 50:1; 52:3.
\n4:7. sacrificing to demons That is, to false gods. See Deut. 32:17, most likely the basis for this verse.
\n4:8. you grieved Jerusalem, who reared you Literally, \u201cwho nursed you.\u201d For this image of a nursing God, see Hosea 11:4; Ezek. 16:4\u20137. While the parental image of God\u2019s relationship to Israel is biblically common, casting Jerusalem as aggrieved parent is less so.
\n4:9. listen, you neighbors of Zion From here through 4:16, personified Jerusalem addresses its hostile neighbors.
\n4:15. for he brought a distant nation against them, a nation ruthless and of a strange language See Deut. 28:49\u201350, where the \u201cdistant nation\u201d is Babylonia. Some have suggested that the image is to bring to mind a more recent conqueror, e.g., the Seleucids or the Romans, depending on one\u2019s dating of the poem. See also Jer. 5:15; 6:22\u201323.
\nof a strange language See Ezek. 3:5.
\n4:17. but I, how can I help you? Here through 4:29, personified Jerusalem, the aggrieved widow, whose children have been taken from her, seeks to comfort them by assuring them that God, who has punished them, will soon deliver them back to Jerusalem.
\n4:20. and put on sackcloth for my supplication See Lam. 2:10; Isa. 52:1.
\n4:22. Everlasting The repeated use of this epithet (Greek aionios) for God distinguishes this section from those that precede it. See Isa. 26:4; 40:28.
\nHoly One See Bar. 4:37; 5:5; Isa. 41:20; Hab. 3:3; Ps. 71:22; 78:41; Sir. 48:20.
\n4:23. but God will give you back to me with joy and gladness See Ps. 126:6; Isa. 35:10; 51:11.
\n4:24. so they soon will see your salvation \u2026 with the splendor See Isa. 60:1\u20133 (especially in Greek).
\n4:25. and will tread upon their necks See Deut. 33:29. Cf. Isa. 51:23.
\n4:26. my pampered children For the expression (in Greek), see Deut. 28:56; Isa. 47:1, 8; Mic. 1:16.
\n4:30. take courage, O Jerusalem The addressee from here through the end is now Jerusalem, the speaker being either God (4:34) or the prophet on God\u2019s behalf. For God as Israel\u2019s comforter, see Isa. 51:12. For God\u2019s (re) naming of Israel, see 62:2, 4. Through Bar. 4:37, the first indication of Israel\u2019s redemption will be the downfall and ruination of those who oppressed Israel, all at God\u2019s hand. Contrast this with the attitude to Babylonia expressed in 1:11\u201312.
\n4:31. rejoiced at your fall Repeated in 4:33. For nations, especially Edom, having gloated at Jerusalem\u2019s destruction, see Lam. 4:21; Obad. 12\u201313.
\n4:33. so she will be grieved at her own desolation She (the nation that has dispossessed Israel) will receive her own punishment in due time. See Deut. 30:7. For the enemy personified as a woman, see Isa. 47:1\u20139.
\n4:35. for fire will come upon her See Jer. 50:32; 51:30, 58.
\nshe will be inhabited by demons See Isa. 13:21; 34:14.
\n4:36. look to the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy Through 5:4, Jerusalem\u2019s joy at seeing its children returning from exile. Cf. Isa. 40:9\u201311.
\n4:37. gathered from east and west Cf. 4:36, \u201cLook to the east.\u201d Although the returning exiles are coming mainly from the east, that is, from Babylonia, \u201cfrom east and west\u201d denotes from all directions. The same is restated in 5:5.
\n5:1\u20132. take off the garment \u2026 put on the robe Reversing the signs of mourning of 4:20. Donning new clothes symbolizes a new (or renewed) condition. See Isa. 52:1, 61:10; Job 29:14 (especially in the Greek); Pss. Sol. 11:7.
\n5:4. for God will give you evermore the name A change of name signifies a change in status. See Isa. 1:26; 62:2\u20134. For names given to Jerusalem, see Isa. 60:14; Jer. 33:16; Ezek. 48:35.
\nRighteous Peace For the combination, see Isa. 32:17.
\n5:5. arise, O Jerusalem Regarded and renamed, Jerusalem is now ready to welcome back its returning children (exiles). Elements of this verse resonate with Isa. 40:9; 43:5; 51:17; and 60:4. Its closest parallel is Pss. Sol. 11:2: \u201cStand on a high place, Jerusalem, and look at your children, from the east and the west assembled together by the LORD\u201d (OTP 2:662).
\nthat God has remembered them As predicted in 4:27\u201329. In what follows, the final (seventh) stanza, what was previously predicted is now unfolding.
\n5:6. Carried in glory, as on a royal throne Unlike Israel\u2019s exile, its return will be like a festive, victory procession. See Isa. 49:22; 66:20.
\n5:7. every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low Here and in the following verse, all of nature obeys God\u2019s commands so as to facilitate Israel\u2019s glorious return to Jerusalem. See Isa. 40:4\u20135; Pss. Sol. 11:4.
\n5:8. the woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel See Pss. Sol. 11:5\u20136.
\n5:9. in the light of his glory See Isa. 60:1\u20133.<\/p>\n

2 Baruch<\/p>\n

Adam H. Becker<\/p>\n

Although it was composed after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, 2 Baruch, or the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, is an apocalyptic text that purports to be composed by Baruch, the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah, just after the destruction of the First Temple in 587 BCE. It therefore allows the destruction of the First Temple to serve as a model for understanding the destruction of the Second. The pseudepigraphic Baruch describes his experiences during and after the siege of the city, particularly the different visions he received as well as their interpretations during this cataclysmic time, while exhorting his audience to trust in God and maintain his law. This text deals with the existential question of the viability of the covenant and of the bitter fact that the Gentiles have destroyed the holy city and defeated the people of the covenant. The book begins with the destruction of Jerusalem foretold to Baruch (2 Bar. 1:1\u20134:1) as well as a description of a heavenly Jerusalem (4:2\u20137). After questioning God about the ethical and cosmological consequences of the destruction and receiving reassurance (5:1\u20137), he describes the Chaldean invasion of the city and how the Temple vessels were divinely hidden; further, how the city was actually destroyed by angels, not by human beings (6:1\u20138:5). Baruch and Jeremiah fast over the ruined city for seven days, Jeremiah leaves for Babylon, and Baruch begins an extended dirge over the city (9:1\u201312:4). After another fast of seven days Baruch questions God about the benefit of being righteous when such woes befall the righteous. He is told that they will receive their recompense (12:5\u201320:4). Another seven-day fast follows; then an account of the sequence of events of the end of the world, including the coming of the messiah, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment (21:1\u201334:1). Baruch receives a vision of a forest and a plain surrounded by mountains, which is then explained, after which he addresses the people about the coming judgment (35:1\u201346:7). After another seven-day fast Baruch prays to God and confirms that all is determined by him (47:1\u201348:50). Baruch inquires into the bodily form of the resurrected (49:1\u201352:7). He has a vision of a cloud that alternates between pouring forth bright and dark waters; this vision is then extensively interpreted as representing the course of human history (53:1\u201374:4). After thanking God, Baruch addresses the people again about how the righteous will be saved (75:1\u201377:26). The work ends with a letter to the nine and a half tribes who were taken to Mesopotamia after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They are encouraged to have faith in God and to follow his commandments (78:1\u201387:1).<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

The author is unknown, but some scholars have drawn connections between the text and the post-destruction Pharisaic movement, whose members are the possible predecessors of the Rabbis. Some have even attributed 2 Baruch to Rabbi Akiva himself. Baruch was a popular pseudepigraphic figure who appears in a number of Second Temple period and early Christian texts. That Baruch was Jeremiah\u2019s scribe (e.g., Jer. 36:26\u20137) may suggest that it was scribes who took an interest in him in this later period. This points to a possible connection between the author of this text and the scribes of Jerusalem. Although the text was later preserved only by Christians and despite its numerous parallels to formative Christian texts, its author does not seem to have been a follower of Jesus. However Rivka Nir has most recently argued for a Christian origin. Since 2 Baruch addresses general issues that would have been significant to most parts of the Jewish community in the post-70 CE period, arguments connecting it to one particular Jewish sect, such as the Pharisees or the Jesus movement, are unfounded. 2 Baruch was composed in Palestine in the period after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The text may have been originally composed in Hebrew or Aramaic and then translated into Greek, a fragment of which has been found. Scholars have been divided on the question of the original language. However, the text is only fully extant in a Syriac (Christian Aramaic) translation of the Greek text found in a manuscript from the 6th or 7th century. A few short passages are preserved elsewhere in Syriac and there is also an Arabic version, which was translated from a now lost Syriac manuscript. The last portion of the text, the so-called Epistle of Second Baruch (78:1\u201387:1), of which there are over three dozen manuscripts, was circulated separately within the West-Syrian (Monophysite) liturgy. Scholars have noted many parallels between 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra (2 Esdras), another apocalyptic text composed after the destruction of the Second Temple. If 2 Baruch does not have a shared source with 4 Ezra but rather depends on it, then perhaps its date is a little later, either the very end of the 1st century or the beginning of the 2nd. We also find parallels with other noncanonical literature from approximately the same time, such as the Paraleipomena Jeremiou, with which it shares a focus on the figure of Baruch. In a number of places, the author seems to incorporate earlier traditions into the text. However, we cannot determine if any of these traditions derive from a prior textual source. Earlier scholarship tended to emphasize the disparateness of these various traditions, but more recently scholars have understood the text as a coherent whole.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

2 Baruch is an important attestation of the tremendous shock the destruction of the Second Temple induced within the Jewish community. Perhaps not coincidentally it also is an important witness to the further development of ideas about the messiah, eschatology, resurrection, and paradise. The text has a strong messianism (e.g., 29:3, 39:7\u201340:2; 70:9 and 72:2). The messiah is imagined as a robust figure who will come to judge and destroy the Gentiles (39:7\u20138; 40:1; 72:2). The three visions (27:1\u201330:5; 36:1\u201340:4; 53:1\u201376:5) that Baruch receives are explicated as representing the course of human history moving toward a final endtime when, after judgment there will be an ingathering of Israel, God\u2019s kingdom will be restored with the righteous resurrected, and paradise will be established on earth. The text imagines a world without Rome, which was at the height of its power at the time of composition. Despite the lack of interest the later Rabbis showed for apocalyptic literature, 2 Baruch shares with the later Rabbinic movement a number of ideas about God\u2019s relationship with creation, eschatology, and the centrality of the Law. This helps explain why some scholars have labeled it a Pharisaic document.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

2 Baruch consists of a number of disparate and striking passages, including visions, prayers, and lamentations. Furthermore, scholars have proposed various structural outlines for how the text should be understood as a whole. Thus it is difficult to select a representative portion. Included here is approximately one quarter of the original text; this limitation does not allow the reader to experience the structural repetition the author has placed in the text by concluding each section with Baruch fasting for seven days. In selecting from the text, a balance has been sought between the significant ideas of the text and its rich imagery.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Brockington, L. H. \u201cThe Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch.\u201d In The Apocryphal Old Testament, edited by H. F. D. Sparks, 835\u201395. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
\nCharles, R. H. \u201cII Baruch.\u201d In The Apocrypha and Pseudipigrapha of the Old Testament, 2:470\u2013526. Oxford: Clarendon, 1913.
\nCollins, John J. The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature, rev. ed., 212\u201325. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 1998.
\nHobbins, John F. \u201cThe Summing Up of History in 2 Baruch.\u201d Jewish Quarterly Review 89, no. 1\u20132 (1998): 45\u201379.
\nKlijn, A. F. J. \u201c2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch.\u201d In Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by J. H. Charlesworth, 1:615\u201352. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1983\u201385.
\nMurphy, Frederick James. The Structure and Meaning of Second Baruch. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985.
\nNir, Rivka. The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Idea of Redemption in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch. Society of Biblical Literature Early Judaism and Its Literature 20. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature; Leiden: Brill, 2003.
\nSayler, Gwendolyn B. Have the Promises Failed? A Literary Analysis of 2 Baruch. Chico CA: Scholars Press, 1984.
\nWhitters, Mark F. The Epistle of Second Baruch: A Study in Form and Message. London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2003.
\nWillett, Tom W. Eschatology in the Theodicies of 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra. Sheffield, England: JSOT Press, 1989.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

1:1. Jeconiah, king of Judah Jeconiah is an Aramaic rendering of the Septuagint version (e.g., 2 Chron. 36:9 LXX) of Jehoiachin, who according to 2 Kings 24:8\u201317 began his reign of only three months in his 18th year and soon afterward was deported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 598 or 597 BCE. If we compare this with the reference to King Zedekiah\u2019s deportation at 2 Bar. 8:5, it seems that the author is conflating a number of events that extended over a period of more than 10 years.
\nBaruch Baruch was the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah. See the discussion in the introduction.
\n1:2. two tribes \u2026 ten tribes The tribes of Judah and Benjamin made up the Southern Kingdom of Judah, while the other tribes of the original 12 disappeared after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. However, identifying the \u201clost tribes of Israel\u201d has been a popular practice for a long time. An early concern for these lost tribes can be seen in the Epistle of 2 Baruch (78:1\u201387:1), which is addressed to them. The 10 tribes are also referred to as the \u201cnine and a half tribes\u201d elsewhere in this text (see 62:5; 77:19; 78:1) as well as in some of the eastern Christian versions of 4 Ezra 13:40. This has been variously understood, but no clear explanation has been offered.
\n1:3. compelling their kings to commit sin In contrast to 2 Kings 24:9, which describes Jehoiachin as evil, this passage seems to apologize for his actions. Additionally, this can be understood as continuing the process (begun in the Bible itself) of coming to terms with the downfall of the kingdom during the reign of the \u201cgood\u201d king Josiah. 2 Kings repeatedly blames Manasseh for the calamities that later befall Josiah. The shift of responsibility away from Jehoiachin fits with positive statements made about him in other late texts (e.g., Josephus, Ant. 10.100, J.W. 6.106; B. Arak. 17a) and also functions to increase the guilt of the people by setting up a contrast with the fall of the Northern Kingdom, which simply had evil kings.
\n1:4. that they may do good to the Gentiles This may be a reference to proselytism among Gentiles or perhaps simply the spreading of the knowledge of the God of Israel. The inclusion of the Gentiles within God\u2019s promises to Israel is a common eschatological theme, so this mention of them may fit squarely with the larger events described in the text. Elsewhere the author seems to make specific reference to proselytes (2 Bar. 41:4; 42:5; see also Deutero-Isaiah\u2019s notion of light unto the nations: Isa. 42:6; 49:6.) Paul\u2019s mission to the Gentiles within the Jesus movement may also be understood as part of this eschatological framework; similar statements can be found in his authentic letters (e.g., in Rom. 1).
\n2:1. Jeremiah The prophet Jeremiah, whom Baruch served as a scribe, was under house arrest during the siege of Jerusalem; see Jer. 37:11\u201316.
\n2:2. your works are to this city as a firm pillar It is not uncommon to find the notion that the righteousness of a few serves as a form of protection for a larger community contaminated with evil; see, for example, Gen. 18:16\u201333. Pesikta Rabbati 26:6 specifically states that Jerusalem could not fall so long as Jeremiah was in it.
\n3:1\u20133. my mother That is, Jerusalem. The canonical prophetic texts engage in this kind of feminine personification of Jerusalem as a mother.
\n3:2. If I have found grace in your sight This phrase, which appears also at 28:6, is found repeatedly in 4 Ezra: see 5:56; 7:102; 8:42; 12:7. This is one of various verbal links between these texts.
\n3:3. For two things vehemently constrain me The Syriac is strikingly similar to the Syriac version of Phil. 1:23. Furthermore, this line may be a Christian interpolation since it does not appear in the Arabic version of the text.
\n3:4\u20139. What, therefore, will there be after these things? Baruch\u2019s questions demonstrate the cosmic significance of the destruction of the Temple and the numerous philosophical and ethical problems such an event raised.
\n3:6. to whom shall \u2026 your law be explained The focus on the Law and especially its interpretation is one of the characteristics that have led scholars to think that 2 Baruch was composed by a Pharisee or someone from the developing Rabbinic movement. However, the Law and its interpretation were also important for other Second Temple period Jewish sects, such as the Qumran community and so a focus on the Law here does not provide clear evidence of a Pharisaic origin.
\n3:7. shall the world return to its nature The Syriac word for \u201cworld\u201d here means literally \u201cadornment\u201d and is thus a translation of the Greek kosmos, which can mean both. The issue of the world returning to what existed before Creation is raised at 4 Ezra 7:30, although the reconnection of pre-time with post-time is a standard feature of apocalyptic writing.
\n4:2\u20137 Baruch learns that a heavenly version of Jerusalem and its Temple reside with God, and that it is the heavenly version that matters, and will endure. Charles takes this whole passage to be an interpolation because he believes that it is contradicted by 2 Bar. 6:7\u20139, which points to the future restoration of the Temple.
\n4:2. On the palms of my hands have I graven you By implying that the earthly Jerusalem is not the one \u201cgraven\u201d on the palms of God\u2019s hands, the text here is indirectly arguing that the biblical source for this line, Isa. 49:16 (\u201cSee, I have engraved you \/ On the palms of My hands, \/ Your walls are ever before Me\u201d), refers to the heavenly Temple.
\n4:3\u20136. This building now built in your midst is not that which In as early a text as Exodus (25:9, 40), God shows Moses the heavenly equivalent of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. However, in later texts, when the motif of the Temple in heaven is more common, the Temple is often described as existing prior to the world and as being shown by God to earlier figures, such as Adam and Abraham. Furthermore, in this later tradition the Temple is often connected with paradise. In this passage the Exodus tradition, which is in fact older, is placed last.
\n4:4. I showed it to my servant Abraham This is based on a later interpretation of Gen 15:7\u201321, a passage in which God commands Abraham to make a sacrifice after which he receives what seems to be a revelatory dream about the future of his offspring. In the later reading that we find here God also offered Abraham a glimpse of the Temple he had created at the same time as paradise. A similar interpretation of this Genesis passage can be seen in 4 Ezra 3:13\u201314, which refers to the revelation of the endtimes made to Abraham; and in the Apocalypse of Abraham, another contemporary text, which relies heavily on this esoteric reading of Gen 15. In later Rabbinic texts we find a similar reading of this passage as prefiguring the sacrifices that were made in the Temple.
\n5:1\u20133. what will you do \u2026? And the LORD said unto me The issue raised in this question and response is one of the central themes of the whole text. Cf. this to 4 Ezra 4:23\u201325, where Ezra asks several questions about the apparent illogic of God\u2019s plan. As early as Ezek. 8\u201311, God is described as abandoning the Temple prior to its capture (e.g., at Ezek. 10:18: \u201cThen the Presence of the LORD left the platform of the House\u201d). This concern for protecting the majesty of God in times of defeat leads to discussion in later texts of God\u2019s presence specifically leaving the Temple before its destruction (e.g., in Josephus, J.W. 6.293\u2013300).
\n5:1. So then I am destined to grieve for Zion This reading is based upon an emendation made by Charles. The original text has \u201cto be guilty\u201d instead of \u201cto grieve.\u201d Klijn (\u201c2 [Syriac Apocalypse of] Baruch,\u201d suggests that the original reading may be maintained, since Baruch may be guilty because he left the city at 2 Bar. 2:1 or because his prayer in chapter 3 was not heard.
\n5:3. the ministers of the Judge for the time That is, the invaders will be acting on God\u2019s behalf for a while. See also the comment on 6:1 below.
\n5:5. I went and took \u2026 all the honorable men The righteous, on account of whom the city was being protected (2:2), now leave the city just before its fall.
\nAdu This name shows up at Ezra 8:17 (NJPS \u201cIddo\u201d) and Neh. 12:16 (NJPS \u201cthe Iddo clan\u201d).
\nSeriah The brother of Baruch and a chamberlain of Zedekiah, according to Jer. 51:59, 61 (NJPS \u201cSeraiah\u201d).
\nJabish This figure is unknown.
\nGedaliah He appears in Jer. 38\u201341. According to the book of Jeremiah, the Babylonian king puts Gedaliah in charge of the remnant of residents left in \u201cthe towns of Judah\u201d (Jer. 40:7) during the exile; later (41:2) Gedaliah is killed by Ishmael son of Nethaniah. This assassination is commemorated in the Jewish calendar with the Fast of Gedaliah, which immediately follows Rosh Hashanah on the third of Tishrei.
\nValley of Kidron The valley just east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Mount of Olives.
\n5:6. and they all wept Weeping is common in this text (for example, 2 Bar. 6:2, 9:2). The book of Lamentations is traditionally attributed to Jeremiah, and this focus on lamentation over the city may be related to Baruch\u2019s connection to him.
\n5:7. we \u2026 fasted until the evening This is different from the series of seven-day fasts that structure much of 2 Baruch as a whole (see discussion in the introduction, including under \u201cGuide to Reading\u201d).
\n6:1\u20138:4 This section begins and ends with the Assyrians (synonymous at this point with \u201cChaldeans\u201d) laying siege to and capturing Jerusalem. However, the author of 2 Baruch goes out of his way to remove any responsibility or credit that the foreign invaders might have taken for their conquest of the city by explaining that the city only seemed to fall to them (see 7:1). Earlier the invading Chaldeans were referred to as ministers of divine judgment (5:3), that is, carrying out God\u2019s plan rather than acting on their own behalf.
\n6:1. the oak This seems to be a place outside the city, perhaps in the Kidron Valley (see 5:5).
\n6:2. I was grieving over Zion, and lamenting See comment on 5:6 above.
\n6:3. a strong spirit raised me The Syriac word for \u201cspirit\u201d (ruha) like its Hebrew equivalent (ruah) can also be translated as \u201cwind.\u201d
\n6:4\u20135. four angels \u2026 And another angel A similar passage describing four angels as the ministers of destruction, with one of them stepping forward to make an address, can be found in the Apocalypse of John (at 7:1\u20132; see also Pesik. Rab. 26:6).
\n6:6. to place in it 2 Maccabees 2:4\u20138 states that Jeremiah placed the Tabernacle and its implements in hiding until the time when God would bring his people together again.
\n6:7\u201310. The hiding of the Temple vessels occurs in a number of post-biblical texts, with the theme continuing in Rabbinic literature (e.g., M. Shek. 6:2; Num. Rab. 15:10). Descriptions of this event form part of the larger project of addressing the challenge to God\u2019s power and majesty that the assault on his city and Temple would imply, and allow the audience to imagine a future restoration of the Temple, its vessels and implements representing the structure as a whole.
\n6:7. the altar of incense The Syriac word p\u012brm\u0101 usually means \u201ccenser\u201d or \u201cincense,\u201d but its Greek equivalent thymiaterion means \u201caltar of incense\u201d in some Second Temple period authors.
\nforty-eight precious stones The reason for this particular number of precious stones is unclear. It perhaps corresponds to the number of letters in the names of the tribes; there is a Rabbinic tradition that the names of the tribes were on the stones. Twelve were on the breastplate of the high priest (Exod. 28:15\u201321) and two on the ephod, a special garment worn by the high priest (Exod. 28:9).
\n7:1. lest the enemy should boast The text emphasizes that not only was the capture of the city possible solely due to God\u2019s permission, but its actual destruction was caused by the angels acting on God\u2019s orders and not the enemy armies.
\n7:2. they renewed the place Charles takes the Syriac to mean \u201cyou have seized the place,\u201d but here I follow the critical text of the Syriac, which corresponds with the Arabic version. One conjectural reading is: \u201cAnd the spirit restored me to the place.\u201d
\n8:1\u20132. a voice was heard The tradition that a voice welcomed the invaders about to enter the Temple appears elsewhere (Josephus, J.W. 6.300; Tacitus, Hist. 5.13). Contrast the rabbinic legend of Titus (B. Git. 56b) which focalizes God\u2019s silence and Titus\u2019s eventual non-verbal response from God. See also the comment on the theodical issue of the fall of the city at 5:1\u20133 above.
\n8:5. bound Zedekiah the king, and sent him to \u2026 Babylon See the comment on 1:1 above.
\n9:1. And we \u2026 fasted seven days This is the first of a number of seven-day fasts interspersed through the rest of the text. This section ends with a fast at 12:5.
\n10:1\u20135. the word of God \u2026 said unto me: \u201cTell Jeremiah\u201d Baruch is portrayed as more important than Jeremiah throughout this book, but here we see an explicit subordination of the latter to the former. The prophet is following the commands of his scribe, who himself is receiving prophecy.
\n10:2. Tell Jeremiah to go Different traditions exist about where Jeremiah went after the capture of the city. The older tradition is that he went to Egypt, which is more likely to be historically accurate (see Jer. 43:6\u20137). Some texts, like this one, hold that he went to Babylon (1 Bar. 1:1). There is also a tradition that he returned from Babylon to Jerusalem (see Pesik. Rab. 26:6).
\n10:3. end of days By the time 2 Baruch was written, this had become a standard term in eschatological discussion. The Hebrew equivalent, aharit hayamim, appears regularly in prophetic literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
\n10:5. I lamented \u2026 over Zion See the text and commentary at 5:6.
\n10:8. Sirens At 1 En. 19:2 (Greek version), the Sirens are described as the wives of the fallen angels. The name shows up in the Septuagint (Mich. 1:8 NETS: \u201c[Samaria] shall make lamentation like that of dragons \/ and mourning like that of the daughters of Sirens\u201d); compare the corresponding Hebrew text (Mic. 1:8 NJPS: \u201cI [God] will lament as sadly as the jackals, \/ As mournfully as the ostriches.\u201d).
\ndemons These female night demons go back to Assyrian and Babylonian demonology. They appear in biblical texts (e.g., the Lilith of Isa. 34:14) as well as in later texts (e.g., B. Shab. 151b). These demons, are gendered male in the Syriac and in other Aramaic dialects, are common in the magical texts from this period. At Deut. 32:17 and Ps. 106:37, they are connected to the worship of idols.
\n10:18\u201319 References to the keys of the Temple and the virgins weaving appear in other texts.
\nOphir A region in the south, perhaps in present-day Yemen, from which gold and other precious cargos were brought to Jerusalem (see, e.g., 1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 22:49).
\n11:1. Babylon In the Apocalypse of John, a work nearly contemporary with 2 Baruch, Babylon clearly represents Rome; the author of 2 Baruch seems to intend the same interpretation here.
\n12:1\u201313:2 This portion of 2 Baruch is extant in Greek; see \u201cAuthorship and History\u201d for discussion of original languages and translations of 2 Baruch.
\n12:1\u20134. I will speak against you This passage may be understood as a warning directed against Rome and reflects the kind of resentment that would have been felt, especially after the destruction of the Temple. We find a similar animosity toward Rome in the Apocalypse of John.
\n12:5. I fasted seven days This seven-day fast concludes this section of the text.
\n29\u201330 These chapters describe the coming of the messiah, which may also be rendered as \u201cthe anointed one,\u201d the literal meaning of the term. A number of contemporary texts focus on the coming of the messiah, most notably a number of texts from the Jesus movement (e.g., 1 Thess. 4:13\u20135:11; 2 Thess. 2:1\u201312).
\n29:4. Behemoth \u2026 Leviathan Both of these creatures are referred to in the Hebrew Bible. (For the former, see Job 40:15\u201324.) Leviathan, a sea monster, appears more often in Scripture (Ps. 74:13\u201314; Job 3:8; 41:1\u201334; Isa. 27:1; Ps. 104:25\u201326; see also Job 7:12; Ps. 148:7). Later traditions developed around these creatures referred to so obscurely in Scripture. The two are placed together also in 4 Ezra 6:49\u201352 and 1 En. 60:7\u20138. That they should serve as food in the endtime seems appropriate since they are connected in the sources to the time of Creation, and the restoration 2 Baruch describes will entail a return to the origins of the world, a time before humanity sinned.
\n29:5. The earth also shall yield its fruit ten thousandfold An immense increase in the earth\u2019s fertility in the Messianic Era also appears in some early Christian ideas about the endtime, as well as in other Jewish texts.
\ncor This term\u2019s common biblical usage is as a dry measure, but here it is used as a wet measure. It consist of 220 liters, or 58 gallons. (see Josephus, Ant. 15.14).
\n29:7\u20138. the dew of health \u2026 the treasury of manna The presence of dew at the endtime is a motif mentioned elsewhere (e.g., 1 En. 60:20; see also B. Hag. 12b), as is the sending down of manna, the food the Israelites ate in the wilderness, from heaven (Sib. Or. 3:746; L.A.B. 19:10; B. Hag. 12b).
\nconsummation of time See Gal. 4:4, where the similar phrase \u201cfullness of time\u201d is used to refer to the endtime. See also 2 Bar. 30:3.
\n30:1. advent The Syriac word for \u201cadvent\u201d is equivalent to the Greek parousia, which can be rendered \u201cadvent\u201d or simply \u201cpresence\u201d (see, e.g., Matt. 24:37).
\nthe messiah \u2026 shall return What the text means by the messiah\u2019s \u201creturn\u201d is unclear. In a Christian context this could be read as the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. However, here it may be a reference to the messiah\u2019s genealogical kinship to the Davidic line of kings (e.g., 2 Sam 7:1\u201317).
\n30:2\u20133. Then all \u2026 shall rise again Again, the best parallel to this passage can be found in Paul\u2019s letters (e.g., 1 Thess. 4:15\u201317), but parallels can be found in other texts from the period as well (e.g., L.A.B. 3:10; 11:6; 16:3; 19:2; 51:5).
\n49\u201352 In this section, Baruch turns to a specific question about the nature of the resurrection and what lies ahead for both the good and the bad.
\n49:2. In what shape The shape of the resurrection body was often an issue of speculation. For example, Paul raises the same issue in his First Letter to the Corinthians: \u201cBut someone will ask, \u2018How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?\u2019 \u201d (1 Cor. 15:35; see 1 Cor. 15:32\u201349).
\n49:3. these members of chains Meaning \u201cthese bodies.\u201d The Syriac is awkward but the sense is clear. Comparing the body to chains was not uncommon in antiquity, especially in Platonist contexts. The emphasis on transformation also appears in Paul\u2019s discussion of the resurrection (e.g., in 1 Cor. 15:51).
\n50\u201351. Hear, Baruch, this word God\u2019s long response can be divided into two parts. First comes a description of the general resurrection that will occur before the final judgment (2 Bar. 50:2\u20134). Following that is a description of how the good and the bad will be divided and given their rewards and punishments according to whether they lived their life according to the Torah (51:1\u201316). Regarding Baruch\u2019s question concerning the shape of the resurrection body in 49:2, the text gives a different answer for each part of this sequence. In the general resurrection, human beings will be restored to the form they had just prior to burial; however, during final judgment, the good will take on any form they like and will be radiant, while the character of the evil people will be apparent in their appearance.
\n50:2. receives The text of the manuscript seems to be corrupt here and this reading is a conjecture.
\n51. And it shall come to pass This chapter relates how the resurrection will remove all the contradictions of this world, in that there will no longer be a disparity between moral character and the rewards each one receives for the quality of his or her character. At the same time, everything that is hidden in this world will be revealed.
\n51:3, 7. my law \u2026 the law Again, we see the centrality of the Law for the author of this text. Those who follow the Torah in this life will be rewarded.
\n51:5\u201313. those, over whom they are now exalted, \u2026 shall then be exalted \u2026 more than they The endtime will see a reversal corresponding to the elevation of Israel and the demotion of Rome addressed above (for example, 12:1\u20134). A similar sense of resentful reversal can be found in the beatitudes in the Gospels, especially in Luke 6:20\u201326.
\n51:5, 10. into the splendor of angels \u2026 made like unto the angels The resurrected at the endtime are not infrequently compared to angels, due to both the radiance of their appearance and their immortality.
\n51:11. the throne, and all the armies of the angels The resurrected righteous will receive a vision of the throne of God with its angelic retinue. Descriptions of God\u2019s heavenly throne become more common in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, but derive from extrapolations on certain key biblical texts. An extensive description of the heavenly throne appears in the Apocalypse of John 4\u20135.
\nthe living creatures which are beneath the throne The creatures, deriving from Ezek. 1:5\u201325, are cherubim, the angelic beings that guard the throne of God. Elsewhere it is human souls that stand over the throne (B. Shab. 152b).
\n51:16. For then they chose for themselves this time Charles suggests that a negative particle has fallen out here and that the line should read: \u201cFor then they chose (not) for themselves this time.\u201d
\n52. And I answered and said Baruch\u2019s response is the logical conclusion of what he has just learned.
\n52:6 Although parallels from contemporary texts can be found, the notion that the text\u2019s audience should find pleasure in suffering is striking. However, this follows the logic of God\u2019s explanation of the coming course of events in 2 Bar. 51:7\u201316. Those who suffer now will rejoice later.
\n53:1. And when I had said these things This is a transition to a new section, which runs through 2 Bar. 74. Charles thought that chapters 53\u201374 were composed prior to the destruction of the Temple and were later incorporated into the text, because this section differs in its messianic expectations from others. However, his speculation cannot be proven.
\nI fell asleep there, and I saw a vision Dreams were thought to be one of the ways God revealed His will or certain secrets of the universe. However, the visions offered in dreams, as here, often required interpretation as well.
\na very great sea (Dan. 7:1\u201314 begins with winds stirring up the great sea (7:2).
\n53:4\u20137. And I saw \u2026 black (waters), and after these things again bright In 2 Bar. 56\u201368, the text provides a detailed interpretation of this alternation between black and white (or bright) waters by equating them respectively to the various high and low points in the course of human history, running from the creation of Adam through the whole biblical narrative.
\n53:6. this was done twelve times History is also divided up into 12 parts in 4 Ezra 14:11\u201312.
\n53:7. it rained black waters, and \u2026 they wrought devastation These black waters are interpreted in 2 Bar. 69\u201370 and have special significance as the final low point in human history prior to the restoration and the coming of the messiah. They represent the time when the wicked rule the world and war, hunger, famine, and other tribulations abound. According to the sequence the interpreted vision provides, the low point is in fact the time of this text\u2019s composition; that is, some time not long after the destruction of the Temple, when Israel has been scattered and Rome is triumphant.
\n53:8. that lightning \u2026 on the summit of the cloud This may derive from Dan. 7:13, because the lightning on the cloud represents the messiah.
\n53:9. that lightning shone \u2026 and it healed The coming of the Son of Man is described \u201cas the lightning\u201d at Matt. 24:27.
\n53:11. twelve rivers What the 12 rivers represent remains unclear. Some scholars have taken this image to represent the submission of the Gentiles to the messiah, but it could also represent the 12 tribes of Israel, perhaps their return and restoration from the Diaspora.
\n54 The one full Syriac manuscript we have refers to this chapter as \u201cThe Prayer of Baruch.\u201d
\n54:2, 3, 4. You for whom \u2026 you to whom \u2026 you who reveal The word \u201cyou\u201d has been restored by editors of the text.
\n54:2. for whom nothing is too hard Such a phrase recalls similar lines in Scripture (e.g., Gen. 18:14; Jer. 32:17, 27).
\n54:5. who in faith have submitted themselves Charles took the last part of this line to be a later interpolation because of the emphasis on faith. There is no reason to believe this. Charles assumed that a focus on faith would be a Christian addition to the text.
\n54:8. my members \u2026 and the hairs of my head An awareness of the significance of the body in praising God can be found in a number of texts, especially those that are liturgical in genre (see, e.g., Pss. Sol. 15:3; Odes Sol. 26:4).
\n54:10. Blessed be my mother Although similar expressions are attested elsewhere (Judg. 5:24; Luke 1:42; 11:27), this line could be a later interpolation because it breaks up the flow of the text.
\n54:12. does like unto The Syriac word translated here may alternatively be rendered as \u201cto imagine\u201d and \u201cto imitate.\u201d
\n54:15. each one \u2026 has prepared for his own soul torment to come The author limits the significance of Adam\u2019s fall in the Garden by suggesting that despite this original failure, which has affected all of us, each one of us personally fails as well. As he states below at 54:19: \u201ceach of us has been the Adam of his own soul,\u201d a statement decidedly against a doctrine that would later develop into the Christian notion of original sin. Treating Adam as representative of the fallen state of all human beings appears also in Paul\u2019s letters (1 Cor. 15:22, 45), but the notion that each of us is his or her own Adam perhaps resembles most the allegorical readings of Gen. 1\u20133 we find in Philo of Alexandria\u2019s On the Creation of the World.
\n54:18. his works have not taught you, nor \u2026 his creation This line contains a form of natural theology, that is, the notion that creatures can infer the existence and will of their Creator from the work of Creation. Similar statements can be found in Wis. 13:1\u20139 and most famously in Rom. 1:20\u201321. (See Legends of the Jews, 172, #16.)
\n55:3. Ramael Or, Ramiel. He is called Jeremial at 4 Ezra 4:36, but he is Ramael in the Syriac translation. Ramael is one of the angels in Sib. Or. 2:215\u201317 and 1 En. 20:8.
\n72:1. luminous waters Charles replaced \u201cwaters\u201d with \u201clightning\u201d in order to make the sense of the passage more clear and to fit it with 53.8\u201310.
\n72:2. and some of them he shall kill Like 4 Ezra 12:32\u20133 as well as in some Second-Temple period texts the messiah is imagined as one who will come and violently destroy the unjust.
\n72:3. by him The Syriac in fact has a feminine marker and therefore this should literally read \u201cfrom her\u201d or \u201cfrom it,\u201d with the \u201cit\u201d referring to a feminine noun. However, there is no clear feminine antecedent here.
\n72:4, 6. does not know Israel \u2026 or have known you It is not clear what is inherently wrong with \u201cknowing\u201d Israel. It is possible that the text means to avoid the possible injustice of God punishing those nations that never had any interaction with Israel and therefore can not be accused of oppressing her.
\n73:1. he shall be revealed in joy Charles suggests \u201cjoy will be revealed,\u201d which makes more sense and renders the line parallel to the following, but the manuscript has the word \u201cin\u201d (b-) here.
\n74:3. from evils This could also be \u201cfrom evil men\u201d in which case the rest of the verse should be \u201cnear to those men who will not die.\u201d
\n77:4. he brought vengeance upon you and upon them This seems to refer to the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the subsequent destruction of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
\n77:15. though we depart, yet the law abides This is another example of the author\u2019s interest in making the Law central to the future of Israel. Leaders and guides are no longer needed since the Law can serve as this and much more for the people.
\n77:17. I will write \u2026 unto your brethren \u2026 and \u2026 to the nine tribes and a half Although the text mentions two letters, only one, the latter of the two, is provided. The one to the brothers in Babylon seems to be to those taken into captivity with the destruction of the First Temple, as opposed to the nine and a half tribes, who are the group taken after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
\n77:19. one I sent by an eagle After this, in chapter 78, Baruch directly addresses the eagle before the text of the letter is given.<\/p>\n

3 Baruch<\/p>\n

Yevgeniy Y. Zingerman<\/p>\n

3 Baruch, or the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch, contains an account of the scribe Baruch\u2019s journey to the five heavens, a journey resulting from his ceaseless prayers in which he questioned how God could make possible the destruction of Jerusalem. Among the celestial inhabitants Baruch sees are the builders of the Tower of Babel, a huge serpent swallowing the bodies of the wicked, a lake of praising birds, and the lights of the firmament. Finally, he is present at the offering of people\u2019s good deeds before God, and he witnesses their divine reward.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

The book has reached us in two Greek manuscripts relatively similar to each other and in at least a dozen manuscripts written in different Slavonic languages, with considerable discrepancies between them. In the Greek version there are a number of interpolations of a clearly Christian character; these are mostly absent from the Slavonic ones. On the other hand, in one Slavonic manuscript there is a legend concerning Satan\u2019s revolt against God, lacking from the rest of the versions. The mention of five firmaments only (and not of the seven, as usual in other apocryphal writings) raises the possibility of a truncated ending of the text.
\nAccording to some scholars, the original language of the text was Semitic (Hebrew or Aramaic), while others believe it was Greek. The proposed dates for the text\u2019s composition range from the first to the early 3rd century CE, with most scholars pointing to the early decades after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE as the likely period of the book\u2019s creation. As for the place of composition, Egypt, Palestine, or even Asia Minor has been suggested. The author\u2019s identity is the subject of some controversy: some scholars treat the book as a Jewish composition, while others consider it the work of a Christian apocalyptic writer since Jesus Christ is mentioned in one of its passages (ch. 4, v. 15) and some Christian terms (\u201cchurches\u201d or \u201cspiritual fathers\u201d) are found in chapter 16 (according to the first opinion these instances are mere later Christian interpolations).<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The book belongs to a group of five different texts all ascribed to Baruch son of Neriah and is related as well to other compositions dealing with the destruction of the Second Temple. Indeed, 3 Baruch bears some resemblance to a number of less closely related writings of different genres (testamental literature, eschatological visions) containing apocalyptic elements, as well as to later midrashic traditions. Connections to the Bible and pagan mythology are fewer but cannot be overlooked: they testify the tight interweaving of Greek and Jewish cultures in Late Antiquity.
\nParticularly interesting are possible connections between 3 Baruch and Zoroastrian apocalyptic tradition. For example, the ancient Zoroastrian apocalypse called \u201cClaims of the Spirit of Reason,\u201d written in the Pahlavi language, contains many different elements mentioned in 3 Baruch: seer\u2019s journey through different heavens, prophetic call for moderate wine drinking, detailed lists of sins, hydrologic cycle, oil as a symbolic reward for the righteous, heavenly creatures who manage nature and defend the world, and even the destruction of Jerusalem by \u201csome evil man.\u201d
\nThe question as to the purpose of the book has led to some disagreement among scholars. Some see in it a text composed principally for the reader\u2019s enjoyment. Other scholars have found in it some pedagogical purpose. The majority of those who have grappled with this question believe, however, that its main purpose was to explain why God could have allowed the destruction of the Second Temple.
\nStill, the book was not meant primarily as a theological endeavor, an attempt to explain the destruction of the Temple. It seems that, for its writer, the destruction was an unchangeable fact of history. The book was intended rather to soothe the national pain and to try to reestablish normal Jewish life in the new reality. The author thus deals with the national trauma by turning his attention from the specifics of the recent history to more general themes: the physical nature of the world, the makeup of heaven, the reward of the righteous. He invites his readers to abandon their focus on the past as well as unrealistic national prospects.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

Readers should note the materialistic (pseudoscientific rather than mythical or moral) explanations of natural phenomena, the principles of the divine reward-and-punishment system, and the large number of Greek mythological motifs.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Charlesworth, J. H. \u201cBaruch, Book of 3 (Greek).\u201d In The Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by D. N. Freedman, 1:621\u201322. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
\nCollins, J. J. Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora, 255\u201359. New York: Crossroad, 1983.
\nDean-Otting, M. Heavenly Journeys: A Study of the Motif in Hellenistic and Jewish Literature, 98\u2013174. JudUm 8. Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang, 1984.
\nGaylord, H. E., Jr. \u201c3 (Greek Apocalypse of) Baruch.\u201d In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by J. H. Charlesworth, 1:635\u201379. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1983\u201385.
\nGinzberg, L. \u201cBaruch, Apocalypse of (Greek).\u201d In The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Literature and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, edited by I. Singer, 2:549\u201351. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1901\u20135.
\nHarlow, D. C. The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch) in Hellenistic Judaism and Early Christianity. Studia in Veteris Testamenti pseudepigrapha 12. Leiden: Brill, 1996.
\nNickelsburg, G. W. E. Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah: A Historical and Literary Introduction, 299\u2013303. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981.
\nSch\u00fcrer, E. The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, 3:789\u201393. Edited by G. Vermes, F. Millar, and M. Goodman. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1987.
\nStone, M. E. \u201cApocalyptic Literature.\u201d In Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran Sectarian Writings, Philo, Josephus, edited by M. E. Stone, 410\u201312. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984.
\nWright, J. A. Baruch ben Neriah: From Biblical Scribe to Apocalyptic Seer. Columbia SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2003.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

Double Title Both titles are considered by some scholars as a later addition.
\n2. while Abimelek was safeguarded in the estate of Agrippa by the hand of God The story of Abimelek, this Jewish version of Greek Epimenides and American Rip Van Winkle, who fell asleep at the time of Jerusalem\u2019s destruction and whose awakening after many years was interpreted as a prefiguration of the forthcoming salvation, is told in another apocryphal book named \u201cParalipomena Jeremiae\u201d (\u201cThe rest of words of Jeremiah\u201d) 3:9\u20135:30. The mention of Abimelek in the title should immediately hint at the correct context of the composition, its optimistic mood, and fantastic literary framework on the one hand and its application to other attempts to deal with the Temple\u2019s destruction on the other.
\nthe estate of Agrippa Agrippa (the Second, Marcus Julius), one of the Herod\u2019s successors, was a well-known and quite ambiguous figure, a kind of mediator between the Hellenistic world and his own people. You can read about him in Josephus\u2019s works.
\nby the Beautiful Gates \u201cBeautiful\u201d is the proper name of the gates, not an adjective modifying the noun \u201cGates,\u201d as clearly seen from Acts 3:2. They may be described in J.W. 5.5.3. It was the place where the disabled and needy were pleading for alms. Baruch\u2019s position at this spot is meaningful: he considers himself a beggar who humbly asks for what he really needs\u2014an explanation for the fact of the Temple\u2019s destruction (see 1:1) or even the salvation of Jerusalem (see 1:3).
\n1:2. your vineyard Since ancient times, the relationship between the Jews and God have been likened to those existing between a vineyard and its gardener; for the most explicit and influential instance, see Isa. 5:1\u20137, where a disappointed God promises to lay his vineyard waste (5:6) (cf. also Ezek. 15:1\u20138). If, as it seems, the author of 3 Baruch intentionally alludes to those verses, it is difficult to understand why the question of the vineyard\u2019s destiny is posed at all, when its answer can be easily obtained from this very text: the vineyard was laid waste because of sins. Therefore, we must conclude that Baruch is not interested in logical explanations for the fact of Jerusalem\u2019s destruction, which is obvious, but rather incorporates rhetorical questions into his lament while grieving the recent catastrophe.
\n\u2018Where is their God?\u2019 One of the customary ways in the Bible of persuading God to withhold his rage and do no harm to the Jews was appealing to the reaction of Gentiles to the suffering of the Chosen People: it may cause them to doubt the omnipotence of the Almighty (see, e.g., Exod. 32:12; Num. 14:15\u201316; Ps. 79:10; and Ps. 115:2). It is significant, that unlike Moses and the psalmist, who mention the expected Gentiles\u2019 reaction in order to prevent divine punishment, Baruch uses the formula de facto, after the Jews were already punished; thus, his main purpose is not to prevent, but to understand, or even less\u2014to express his grief through another rhetorical question. It is also possible that Baruch\u2019s own faith was shaken by Jerusalem\u2019s destruction, and he needs the answer to the question \u201cWhere is God?\u201d no less than those hypothetical Gentiles.
\n1:3. do not concern yourself so much over the salvation of Jerusalem Cf. Dan. 9 and the different angelic response there (vv. 24\u201327). From this response to Baruch\u2019s prayer, we may conclude that he was not really concerned with theological or historical questions of Jerusalem\u2019s devastation (otherwise he would be granted wordy explanations, as in 2 Baruch), but his main problem was \u201cthe salvation of Jerusalem,\u201d that is, he was longing to see the ancient capital rebuilt as soon as possible and could not bear the thought that now it lay in ruins. The angel hints to him that \u201cthe salvation of Jerusalem\u201d is not relevant just now, and he should free his mind for other, more crucial matters.
\n1:6. Cease irritating God Baruch leaves the angel\u2019s address without reply, and so the angel speaks once again, this time in a harsher tone. He states that Baruch\u2019s sorrowful mood irritates God, and therefore he must stop it at once. This is a very unusual demand, not only in the Jewish apocryphal literature dealing with the absence of earthly Jerusalem, but in the whole Jewish tradition, according to which \u201cthe salvation of Jerusalem\u201d is one of the main national priorities and every Jew must (prescriptively!) long and pray for it (see, e.g., Ps. 137:5; B. Sot. 48; and Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayyim 1:2\u20133). Moreover, it looks very strange when the author who obviously intends to cope with the fact of Jerusalem\u2019s destruction proclaims the major subject of his work irrelevant in the very first chapter of his book and abandons it completely in the second chapter, as the author of 3 Baruch does. A possible explanation for this peculiarity may be found in the well-known argument of Rabbi Joshua and the representatives of a new sect that appeared and was taking form during the first decades after the loss of the Temple. The Tosefta (15:11) tells us that there was a large group whose members resolved to abstain from drinking wine and eating meat in mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem. Eventually, Rabbi Joshua was impelled to demonstrate to them how mistaken their way of thinking was; he proclaimed that an extensive mourning is not desirable behavior. It seems probable that the author of 3 Baruch addressed his work to a similar mind-set; he recommends not to shut oneself off in sorrow, but to continue with life in the new circumstances following the destruction.
\nmysteries greater than these Since the angel has not yet shown any mysteries to Baruch, his words should be interpreted as a straightforward borrowing of the leitmotif from the visionary chapters of Ezekiel, \u201cYou shall see even more terrible abominations than these\u201d (8:6, 13, 15). The allusion seems deliberate, and its intention is clear: while Ezekiel may have witnessed a number of different sins during his \u201cguided tour\u201d in the Temple, Baruch is going to see great wonders (and hear about some new crimes, too) in heaven, and thus, after the destruction of the Temple, the emphasis should be shifted from the Temple to the firmament, while sins, horrible as they are, should not be Baruch\u2019s primary concern.
\n1:7. if you disclose a word to me and I hear it from you, I shall speak no further Baruch\u2019s answer is very evasive and vague; his reply should be understood as \u201cif you satisfy me, I will keep silent.\u201d In other words, he leaves to himself the right to decide whether the promised visions justify abandoning his mourning.
\n2:1. where the heaven was set fast Cosmological views presented in 3 Baruch consist of a wondrous mixture of Jewish and classical Greek elements (later, Milton will deliberately do the same in his Paradise Lost, see esp. 3:13\u201336). Both Jews and Greeks believed heaven to be made of some solid material (cf. Gen. 1:6\u20138 and Hesiod\u2019s Theog. 517\u201318). The English word \u201cfirmament\u201d reflects the same belief.
\nwhere there was a river which no one is able to cross According to classical mythology, the earth is surrounded by the ocean, beyond which there is an entrance to the subterranean world of the dead, Hades. Some trace of those cosmological notions can be seen in a midrash stating that the lost tribes of Israel were expelled behind the river Sambathion that no one is able to pass, and that they will be reunited with their brethren at the end of the days (Gen. Rab. 73:6; Num. Rab. 16:25). It seems probable that the author of 3 Baruch shares the same views, especially if we take into account that Baruch is going to see Hades (4:3). For other parallels, see Hag. 15:1 and Gen. Rab. 4:3 and the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh.
\nnot even one of the foreign winds which God created In Greek mythology, the winds are deities with even greater powers than the gods themselves (for the best-known example, see Virgil\u2019s Aen. 1.52\u201370). Of course, these kinds of deities are \u201cforeign\u201d for Jewish monotheism, although it is God who created them. The author emphasizes here that Baruch\u2019s journey cannot be paralleled to other such enterprises (as that of Homer\u2019s Od. 11.1\u201319) and generally is beyond any proof or doubt, since verity of this journey cannot be checked.
\n2:2. first heaven The division of the sky into different heavens is very popular in Jewish postbiblical literature, but in the Hellenistic world it reached wide acceptance only with the Ptolemaic astronomical system (2nd century CE) of concentric spheres. This tradition came to its acme in Dante\u2019s Divine Comedy, where the Jewish postbiblical and Hellenistic astronomical systems were brought together.
\nvery large door The immense size of heavenly bodies and entities is one of the prominent traits of the sky, according to 3 Bar. 2:2; 3:1; 5:3; 6:2, 7; 10:3\u2014an unsophisticated way to overwhelm a reader\u2019s imagination.
\nthe distance of 30 days\u2019 journey That is, within a short period of time Baruch and the angel covered the distance that normally takes 30 days to pass on foot. The approach to the upper world in 3 Baruch is very unusual in Jewish postbiblical literature because of its extreme materialism and highly scientific interest. The firmament lacks any spiritual, abstract, or allegorical dimension; all the descriptions are forthright and unambiguous. Everything can be measured (2:2, 5; 3:2; 5:3; 6:7), heavenly beings have bodies that should be sustained by eating and drinking (4:5; 6:11) and release of excrement (6:12), and even the dead arrive there in the flesh (4:5). The sun is not an abstract or angelic entity, but, as a matter of fact, is just a man (6:2). Moreover, the upper and the lower worlds are united into one physical system: the heavenly dragon participates in the hydrologic cycle (4:6), the crown of the sun is defiled by the crimes committed on earth (8:4), the heavenly phoenix produces a worm (6:12), some heavenly sound wakes up the earthly cocks every morning (6:15), and the Flood over the earth submerges paradise too (4:10). (Cf. Yalkut Shimoni, Kohelet 967.) The author addresses those who have abandoned their regular course of life in consequence of the Temple\u2019s destruction (see comment on 1:6) and have found some sort of refuge in dreaming of God\u2019s upper realm, where no enemies can prevail and everything is just and right. Such a materialistic conception of heaven could provoke some questions concerning the supposed difference between the two worlds and arouse people\u2019s interest in the surrounding nature anew, eventually bringing them back to the normal way of living, despite the fact that the Jewish nation remained without its center of worship.
\n2:3. men \u2026 with faces of cattle and horns of deer and feet of goats and loins of sheep As verse 7 states, those mutants are the builders of the Tower of Babel, punished for their cruelty (3:5) and arrogance (3:7). Punishment of humans by converting them into wild animals is both a biblical and classical motif (cf. Dan. 4:29\u201333 and, e.g., Ovid\u2019s Metam. 4.562\u2013602; 6.1\u2013145). In this case, the combination of body parts from different animals creates the effect of an arch-beast, the total opposite of a human being. Maybe this penalty is according to the principle of \u201cmeasure for measure\u201d: those who treated their fellows with brutish cruelty (3:5) and considered themselves superior to God (3:7) turned into actual beasts, inferior even to people.
\n2:4. what is the thickness of this heaven in which we have journeyed, and what is its width, and what is this plain Cf. B. Hag. 13a. To our surprise, Baruch does not ask about the wondrous creatures he has just seen, but wants to know some technical details. Apparently, he is more interested in the structure and the nature of the world than in promised \u201cmysteries\u201d (see comment on 3 Bar. 2:2).
\nthat I may report these to the sons of men This is the first and only hint that the author of 3 Baruch intended his book for a real reader and that it is not merely art for art\u2019s sake or some private record for limited use.
\n2:5. Phamael Only when the real wonders start does the author give the angelic mediator a name, increasing in this way the credibility of the story.
\nThis door which you see The door is at a distance of 30 days\u2019 journey (2:2), but nevertheless Baruch can clearly see it. It means that there is no horizon in heaven and the ability to see is unlimited (another miracle!).
\n2:7. the tower of the war against God The author means the Tower of Babel. Cf. B. Sanh. 109a.
\n3:5. in the time of her delivery In Jewish midrashic literature, this incident was related to the slavery in Egypt (see Tg. Nev. on Exod. 24:10; Pirke R. El. 48; and The Book of Jashar, Exod. 113:2).
\n3:7. taking an auger \u2026 saying, \u2018Let us see whether the heaven is (made) of clay or copper or iron.\u2019 For parallels, see B. Sanh. 109a and Tanh. Noah 18. The arrogant curiosity of the Babel Tower\u2019s builders is opposed to the pious inquisitiveness of Baruch. The message is clear: to the venerated scientist God himself discloses the secrets of nature, but supercilious endeavors are condemned to failure. Does it give a hint to the reader that correct understanding of historical events (like the destruction of Jerusalem) also must begin with proper piety?
\n3:8. struck them with blindness Blindness is a popular \u201cweapon of mass punishment\u201d in biblical literature (Gen. 19:11; 2 Kings 6:18), but it is not present in the biblical account of the Tower of Babel.
\n4:3. Hades See comment on 2:1, where \u2026 fast.
\n4:5. eats the bodies See comment on 2:2, the distance of 30 days\u2019 journey.
\nhe is nourished by them See comment on 2:2, the distance of 30 days\u2019 journey. According to that, there is no eternal life for the wicked.
\n4:6. Hades which is like him The relationship between the dragon, its belly, and Hades is unclear in the original; see 5:3.
\ndrinks about one cubit from the sea Since the author is familiar with the hydrologic cycle in nature (10:8), the dragon not only explains why \u201call the streams run into the sea [cf. the next verse], yet the sea is never full\u201d (Eccles. 1:7), but also mythically represents clouds, which often resemble huge figures.
\n4:7. how is that? Since the dragon constantly drinks its water, how can it be that nothing is diminished from the sea?
\n4:8. the tree which caused Adam to stray The suddenness of that request, the prolongation of the following answer, the mention of Jesus (4:15), and the return to the subject of the dragon in the next chapter point to the possibility that all the text from here to the beginning of the next chapter is a Christian addition or even that the author of 3 Baruch was a Christian himself. Still, we may limit the addition to some part of verse 15 and see the rest as the natural course of unconstrained conversation: the doom of the wicked reminds Baruch of the \u201cfirst disobedience,\u201d and the angel gladly expounds the following beautiful story, a close parallel to which is found in Pirke R. El. 13. See also the next comment.
\nIt is the vine This conception of the Tree of Knowledge is very materialistic: it is a most ordinary vine, and its main damage (or even the very essence of Adam\u2019s sin) consists of alcohol addiction (4:16)! See comment on 2:2 and parallels in B. Ber. 40a, B. Sanh. 70a\u2013b, and Gen. Rab. 19:5. Such great attention to the matter of sobriety (4:16\u201317) hints that it was a real problem among the author\u2019s audience\u2014a highly natural reaction to the loss of independence, the Roman oppression, and the subsequent misfortunes of each Jew in Palestine.
\nangel Samael planted Since there is no clear indication that the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life were planted by God (Gen. 2:9, this legend fills the gap in the biblical text).
\nFor this reason he did not permit Adam to touch it According to Gen. 2:17, God did not prohibit Adam from touching the Tree of Knowledge; it was Eve who \u201cinvented\u201d that prohibition while answering the serpent, and the Talmud (B. Sanh. 29a; Midr. Ps. 1:9) criticizes her for that lie. The author of 3 Baruch apparently chooses a harmonizing approach.
\nAnd because of this the devil became envious See parallels in Pirke R. El. 13, Rashi on Gen. 1:26, and B. Shab. 88b. The belief that God loves people, weak as they are, more than the mighty immortals, may serve as an efficient psychological consolation in the face of sorrowful human existence.
\n4:9. how is it now of such great use Why did God not prohibit its usage completely? This is a highly understandable question in the light of strict Jewish dietary laws (see esp. Gen. 32:32\u201333).
\n4:10. 409,000 giants The hostility between giants and gods and the victory of the latter are a classical mythological motif (see Hesiod\u2019s Theogonia; Edda, Vafthrudnismal). For the extinction of giants during the Flood, see Damascus Document 2:16\u201321; Wis. 14:6, and 3 Macc. 2:4.
\n15 cubits See Gen. 7:20.
\nthe water entered paradise According to this verse, paradise lies on the top of some high mountain and resembles the dwelling of gods on Olympus. It is a totally material part of the world and has nothing to do with the posthumous reward of the righteous.
\n4:11. discovered plants God commanded Noah to gather all the animals into his ark but said nothing about the plants (Gen. 6:19). The present story fills that gap and tells us how the flora of the flooded earth was restored.
\n4:14. in 40 days he completed his prayer See parallel in B. Sanh. 70a. Since Noah dedicated 40 days for continuous prayer, it seems that the permission to plant the vine was very important to him. The conflict in his family following Noah\u2019s wine production justifies the reluctance of God to give him a positive answer.
\n4:15. angel Sarasael Perhaps from Hebrew s-r-s el, which means \u201cGod planted.\u201d
\nits fruit will become the blood of God By the sacrament of the Eucharist; cf. Matt. 26:27\u201328, Mark 14:23\u201324, and Luke 19\u201320. This verse looks like a Christian addition or, more probably, alteration. We can only guess what God\u2019s answer was in the Jewish original.
\n4:16. stripped of the glory of God For the physical changes Adam underwent after his fall, see, for example, B. Sanh. 38b and Tanh. Bereshit 6.
\n4:16\u201317. insatiably \u2026 excessively Only intemperate consuming of alcoholic drinks is condemned by God. There is nothing wrong with moderate drinking.
\n4:17. nothing good is accomplished through it The words provide another indication that at least some part of verse 15 is not originally in the book. If the wine \u201cwill become the blood of God,\u201d through whom humankind \u201cwill receive a calling and entrance into paradise,\u201d how can the author say two verses later that \u201cnothing good is accomplished through it\u201d? For the negative relation to wine, see also B. Ber. 40a and B. Sanh. 70a.
\n5:2. how large its belly is See comment on 2:2.
\n5:3. Its belly is Hades See comment on 4:6.
\nAs far as 300 men can throw a weight A similar method of measuring the size of Hades (more accurately, the distance of Hades from the earth) is mentioned in Hesiod\u2019s Op. 721\u201375 and can also be found in the New Testament pseudepigraphic books The Apocalypse of Paul (chap. 32) and The Apocryphal Apocalypse of John (chap. 20).
\n6:2. chariot drawn by four horses and fire underneath it The description of the sun is borrowed from Greek mythology; cf. Homeric Hymns 31 (to Helios). Cf. also Pirke R. El. 6.
\na man See comment on 2:2.
\na bird runs along before the sun Cf. Leucippe and Cleitophon (3.25) by Achilles Tatius: \u201cThe Phoenix \u2026 is proud to acknowledge the Sun as his lord, and his head is witness of his allegiance, which is crowned with a magnificent halo\u2014a circular halo is the symbol of the sun. It is of a deep magenta color, like that of the rose, of great beauty, with spreading rays where the feathers spring\u201d (translation by S. E. Gaselee).
\nas large as nine mountains See comment on 2:2.
\n6:5. absorbs its fire-shaped rays Cf. Pirke R. El. 6: \u201cThe sun\u2019s rays and face, which are turned downward (to the earth), are of hail, and were it not for the hail which quenches the flames of fire, the world would be consumed by fire\u201d (translation by G. Friedlander). See also Yal. Shimoni, Kohelet 967.
\n6:7. like the place of a threshing floor, having the space of 4000 modia The immense size of heavenly bodies and entities is one of the prominent traits of the sky, according to 3 Bar. 2:2; 3:1; 5:3; 6:2, 7; 10:3\u2014an unsophisticated way to overwhelm a reader\u2019s imagination.
\nand the letters were gold Another parallel to Leucippe and Cleitophon (3.25) by Achilles Tatius: \u201cHis wings are a mixture of gold and scarlet\u201d.
\n6:10. \u201cHis name is Phoenix.\u201d The phoenix itself and the description that follows are taken completely from classical mythology; cf., again, Leucippe and Cleitophon (3.25) by Achilles; and see also Herodotus\u2019s History 2.73 and Ovid\u2019s Metam. 15.393\u2013407.
\n6:11. \u201cAnd what does he eat?\u201d See comment on 2:2.
\n\u201cThe manna of heaven and the dew of earth.\u201d Also according to Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses 15.391, the phoenix eats some \u201cspiritual\u201d kind of food\u2014\u201cgum of frankincense\u201d and \u201cjuices of amomum.\u201d
\n6:12. \u201cDoes the bird excrete?\u201d See comment on 2:2.
\nHe excretes a worm See comment on 2:2.
\nyou will see the glory of God Until the end of the apocalypse, Baruch will not see the glory of God himself. It looks as if Phamael means here that Baruch will see the splendor of the sunrise, since \u201cthe heavens declare the glory of God\u201d (Ps. 19:2; this psalm continues with a detailed description of the sunrise).
\n6:13. 365 gates of heaven Probably, the number of sky gates corresponds to the number of days in a year. See also 4:7, and cf. Pirke Rabbi Eliezer.
\nlight is separating itself from darkness God separated the light from darkness on the first day of Creation (Gen. 1:4). The daily separation of the two means that every morning we should see some cyclic repetition of this initial act. The Talmud states it very clearly: \u201cEvery day God renews the act of Creation\u201d (B. Hag. 12b). See also Pirke R. El. 51.
\n6:14. \u201cLight giver, give splendor to the world!\u201d In the midst of mythical descriptions of the sun and the phoenix, the author reminds us that his book is still monotheistic, and without God\u2019s will the sun will never rise.
\n6:16. This is what wakens the cocks on earth Earthly cocks have some limited supernatural powers that help them to understand when the time of dawn is approaching (cf. B. Ber. 60b; Zohar 3:22b\u201323a, 49b). In Greek mythology (Pausanias\u2019s Descr. 3.25.9), the cock is sacred to Helios.
\n8:5. By means of these it is defiled The sun as an all-seeing and subsequently omniscient entity is well attested in classical Greek mythology. See, for example, Od. 8.270; Prom. 91 and Cho. 984\u201386, both by Aeschylus; and Homeric Hymns 5 (to Demeter) 69\u201371. For the defilement of the sun, see S. Eli. Rab. 2; for the purification of lights, see Pirke R. El. 51.
\n8:6. It is overcome because it checks the rays of the sun Although the people, by whose \u201clawlessness and unrighteousness\u201d the sun is defiled every day (8:5) do not deserve it, the phoenix is still continuing to fulfill his tiring duty, saving the humans from extinction. Generally, the theodicy of 3 Baruch is based on the principle of mercy rather than on threats and punishments. Thus, the reward of the righteous is one hundredfold (15:2), and even those who did not do all the good deeds they were expected to do receive the reward (15:3). God relates to the righteous as to his friends (15:4), not good slaves (as, e.g., in Matt. 25:21 and Luke 19:17). Even the wicked should not be deprived of their angelic guards (3 Bar. 16:1). Nevertheless, God is not all-forgiving (see 16:2\u20134).
\n9:3. \u201cyou will see this shortly.\u201d And on the morrow I saw There is no sense of time in the eternity of heaven. The angel says right after the sunset that the moonset will be \u201cshortly,\u201d and indeed Baruch does not feel that since the angel\u2019s reply the whole night has already passed.
\nwoman, seated in a wheeled chariot This conception of the moon is (how surprising!) totally Greek; see Homeric Hymns 32 (to Selene).
\noxen and lambs Selene, the Greek moon goddess, was granted a herd of lambs by her lover Pan (Virgil\u2019s Georg. 3.391\u201393). Oxen, according to some Greek authors, pulled her chariot.
\n9:4. \u201cThese are angels also.\u201d Here, as in other places (see comments on 2:1, not even \u2026 created, and on 6:14), the author of 3 Baruch reminds us that although he uses ancient Greek mythological motifs, he does not believe in Greek gods, and therefore the lambs in front of the moon cannot be the herd presented to her by Pan (see previous comment), but they are another kind of angels.
\n9:5. \u201cWhy does it sometimes grow larger and sometimes grow smaller?\u201d Different phases of the moon are particularly important to Jews, since the Jewish calendar is almost totally lunar and the calculation of the exact date of every particular festival depends on the moon cycle.
\n9:7. she gave light to Samael According to this, Samael embarked upon his plan at night. Since Adam was created on the sixth day (Gen. 1:26, 31), he did not sin before the beginning of the Sabbath. This observation has important theological consequences and is contrary to the official Jewish tradition, according to which Adam and Eve sinned on Friday and were banished from the Garden of Eden before the sunset, indicating the start of the first Sabbath in the world. (B. Sanh. 38b; Pirke R. El. 11).
\ntook the serpent as a garment If Samael was the real cause for Adam\u2019s fall, why did God punish the serpent (Gen. 3:14)? The answer to this question is hinted here: the serpent permitted Samael to use his body as a disguise.
\ndiminished her and shortened her days For a similar, yet not exactly the same explanation of the moon cycle, see B. Shevu. 9a, B. Hul. 60b, and Gen. Rab. 4:3. Interestingly, Tanh. Bereshit 6 also connects the diminishing of the moon to Adam\u2019s fall.
\n9:8. before the sun, the moon and stars are unable to shine Unexpectedly correct from a scientific point of view, this answer does not look strange, however, to the mythological spirit of the book.
\n10:3. birds of every species but unlike those here. But I saw a crane, like large oxen \u2026 and all were great See comment on 2:2.
\n10:5. and in which are other mysteries The statement is clear indication that Baruch did not see every interesting phenomenon in heaven, and there is much more to be described in other apocalypses. See also comments on 11:7.
\nwhere the souls of the righteous come when they assemble, living together choir by choir This lake presents a heavenly parallel of the synagogue. It may be significant that this \u201csynagogue\u201d is not a kind of building, but an open lake; this fact may hint to the reader that there is no need for the Temple or other permanent structures in order to pray and praise God.
\n10:7. \u201cWhat are the birds?\u201d \u2026 \u201cThese are the ones who continuously praise the LORD.\u201d Unlike the righteous, who gather around the lake from time to time, the birds praise God \u201ccontinuously.\u201d
\n10:8. \u201cLORD, why do men say that the water which rains is from the sea?\u201d See comment on 4:6.
\n10:9. that which produces the fruits is from here Without the water from the \u201cLake of Praising Birds,\u201d this essential and ultimate fertilizer, rain has no effect on the plants\u2019 growth. (Cf. Eccles. Rab. 1:7.)
\ndew of heaven The term \u201cdew of heaven\u201d appears in the blessings of Isaac (Gen. 27:28, 39), where it is paired with \u201cthe fat of the earth\u201d and therefore should be understood as some means of increasing the earth\u2019s fertility.
\n11:2. And the gate was closed The fifth heaven is the residence of God himself, and therefore not everyone, and not at any time, may enter there. As in a real palace, there are \u201creception hours\u201d (after the sunrise in this case), and only the officials of highest rank (like Michael the archangel) may see the King face-to-face. Cf. B. Hag. 13a.
\nMichael the holder of the keys of the kingdom of heaven Cf. Matt. 16:19, where Jesus appoints Peter to this position.
\n11:4. descending to receive the prayers of men The good and the bad deeds of every human are to be measured in the few minutes, and the reward is to be given. In order to remunerate everyone according to their own wishes, Michael is descending to accept the personal entreaties of every man.
\n11:6. regiment The notion of an angelic army carrying on the wars of God is biblical, although in some instances God\u2019s army mentioned in the Bible is not angelic but consists of stars (Neh. 9:6; Dan. 8:10) or even mortal humans (Isa. 13:4). One of the divine names is \u201cGod of regiments\u201d (or \u201cLORD of Hosts\u201d; e.g., 1 Sam. 1:3; Isa. 1:9; Ps. 24:10; 1 Chron. 11:9).
\n11:7. to those who pass through life rightly Evidently, Baruch is not the only one who deserves (and gains) a tour in the sky, and the guidance of those through the heavens is Phamael\u2019s personal duty. The author of 3 Baruch does not intend to deny the trustworthiness of other Jewish apocalypses. See comment on 10:5, and in which are other mysteries.
\n11:8. its depth being so great as from heaven to earth, and its width so great as from north to south In other words, people are expected to fill the whole universe with their righteous deeds every day.
\n12:3. angels over the principalities Even the idea that every person is accompanied by an angel who guards him, rewards his good deeds, and reports about the bad ones to the higher deity is borrowed from classical mythology; see Hesiod\u2019s Op. 121\u201326. Cf. also B. Hag. 16a.
\n12:5. \u201cThese above-mentioned flowers are the virtues of the righteous.\u201d The presentation of virtues as heaps of flowers demonstrates the aesthetic side of the author\u2019s imagination.
\n12:6\u20138. less than full.\u2026 And Michael was greatly distressed See comments on 8:6 and 11:8. Although disappointed, Michael is not full of anger, but rather pities the humans.
\n13:1. blackened As sins defile the sun\u2019s crown (8:5), so they blacken the guarding angels and make them look ugly.
\nhanded over to evil men Attending to evil men, those angels record their actions and mediate between them and the higher ranks of heaven\u2019s hierarchy.
\n13:2. the enemy will not dominate at the end Satan, and not the wicked people, who are rather his victims, is the real enemy of God.
\nyou must not withdraw from them.\u2026 But tell me what you desire Michael declines the angels\u2019 request to be released from their duty to accompany the wicked, but he is ready to carry out any other solicitation of theirs.
\n13:3. transfer us from them The angels insist that their only wish is to be removed from the wicked persons.
\n13:4. enter into no church, nor (go) to the spiritual fathers The terms \u201cchurch\u201d and \u201cspiritual fathers\u201d may be considered Christian, but it is still possible that in the Greek original they meant such Jewish institutions as the synagogue and the Rabbis.
\n13:5. \u201cWait until I learn from the LORD what is to happen.\u201d Michael is going to ask God whether the angels attending to the wicked may leave their posts.
\n14:1. and the doors closed While Michael was bringing the virtues of people to God, Baruch, Phamael, and the angels stayed before the gates of the fifth heaven. See comment on 11:2, And the gate was closed.
\n15:2. he filled (the baskets) with oil The oil, by which the kings are anointed, represents here the divine reward. Like flowers in 12:5, this representation is aesthetic rather than allegorical.
\na hundredfold reward to our friends See 15:4 and comment on 8:6. Cf. also John 15:15.
\n15:3. receive the reward according to what you brought Even those who failed to realize fully their potential still get the reward. See comment on 8:6.
\n15:4. bless our friends See comment on 8:6.
\n\u2018You have been faithful over a little, he will set you over much; enter into the delight of our LORD.\u2019 This proverb may also be found in Matt. 25:23 (note the same context), but the supposition of simple borrowing is not necessary; both Mathew and the author of 3 Baruch could have quoted the same contemporary popular proverb.
\n16:1. do not leave the sons of men alone God declines the request of the angels attending to the wicked to be released from their duties, because otherwise the \u201csons of men\u201d will be \u201cleft \u2026 alone,\u201d that is, will have no strength to oppose the evil. See comment on 8:6.
\n16:2. But since they have provoked me to anger God is merciful, but not all-forgiving. The punishment is to come during the life of the wicked, since there is no posthumous existence for them (see comment on 4:5).
\nembitter them against those who are no nation, against a people without understanding Cf. Deut. 32:21.
\n16:4. nor observe my commands The term \u201ccommands\u201d is used both in Jewish and Christian compositions (cf. John 15:10). Since there is no distinction between the Jews and the Gentiles from the beginning of the apocalypse, it seems that in the author\u2019s opinion the Gentiles are subject to the divine commandments no less than the Jews are.
\ndespised my commands and my churches, and insulted the priests proclaiming my words to them The idea that the priests are those who should teach the people God\u2019s will and commands is presented for the first time in Deut. 17:9, and it continues until the end of the Second Temple period, during which priests claimed that their interpretation of the Law was more correct than that represented by the Rabbis (see the second book of Josephus\u2019s Jewish War for a detailed account of exegetical schools and parties in Judea of the 1st century CE). The word \u201cchurch\u201d (\u201cecclesia\u201d in Greek) here can designate the Christian authorship of the whole apocalypse; on the other hand, it could be a later change made by a Christian scribe who was copying this apocalypse and changed the word \u201csynagogue\u201d to \u201cchurch.\u201d Nevertheless, the word \u201cecclesia\u201d was not used exclusively in Christian contexts, and could easily mean Jewish congregation as well (cf. LXX Deut. 9:10; 18:16; Acts. 7:38).
\n16:5\u20138 In original, numbering for verses 5\u20138 is present, although there is no text for those verses.
\n17:3. I praised God, who had deemed me worthy Cf. 11:7.
\n17:4. And you, brethren, who happen upon these revelations See comments on 10:5, and in which there are other mysteries, and 11:7.
\nglorify God also so that he will glorify us The heavenly journey has completely cured Baruch\u2019s melancholy. He is convinced that despite the loss of \u201cthe Jewish war,\u201d there is still a God in heaven, who not only rules his marvelous universe, but also demands from humans righteous and just lives according to his commandments. As to the question how God could make possible the destruction of his Temple, no satisfying answer is given, but actually Baruch never wanted a real answer to this question (see comments on 1:2). True to his promise (1:7), Baruch does not mention the destruction of Jerusalem until the very end of the book, but glorifies God for the wonderful world he has created.<\/p>\n

Prayer of Nabonidus<\/p>\n

John J. Collins<\/p>\n

In 1956, J. T. Milik published three fragments of the first column of this Qumran text (4Q242) and one fragment of a later column. A further fragment was published by R. Meyer in 1962. The reconstruction of the manuscript was improved by F. M. Cross in 1984, by placing the fragments differently and reducing the lacunae (gaps).
\nNabonidus was the last king of Babylon (556\u2013539 BCE). For seven or 10 years he was absent from Babylon, and lived in Teima in Arabia. Scholars have long suspected that this incident underlies the legend of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s madness in Dan. 4.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

The Prayer of Nabonidus supplies a missing link between the Babylonian traditions and the biblical text, while it differs from both. The Babylonian traditions do not say that the king suffered from sickness, and they have no place for a Jewish diviner. In contrast to Daniel, the Prayer identifies the king as Nabonidus and mentions Teima explicitly. The relationship between the Qumran text and Dan. 4 is problematic, as the Prayer has to be reconstructed. In both texts, a Babylonian king is afflicted for seven years, and learns of his true situation from a Jewish exile. In both, the king speaks in the first person.
\nThe actual \u201cprayer\u201d of Nabonidus is not preserved, but the surviving text leaves little doubt that it involved a confession and praise of the true God. The biblical text changes the name of the king to the better-known Nebuchadnezzar and gives the Jew a name, Daniel. The polemic against idols is paralleled in Dan. 5 rather than in Dan. 4. Some scholars have restored a reference to a beast or to a dream about a cosmic tree on the basis of Daniel, but such restorations are dubious at best. Whether the Prayer served as a source for the author of Daniel is not clear; it may simply preserve an older form of the story. The Judean diviner is not clearly identified as Daniel in the Qumran text.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

A crucial issue for the interpretation is the reading of 4Q242 1:4, and the question of whether God or the diviner is the subject of the verb \u201cto remit (sin).\u201d The reconstruction presented here assumes that God is the subject, and that the diviner\u2019s role is to explain to the king that both his affliction and his deliverance were by the decree of God Most High. On this reconstruction, the king is restored by gratuitous divine mercy. This leads the king to wonder why he was afflicted and then restored, and the diviner supplies the answers. As a result, the king abandons idolatry and turns to the worship of the true God. The story, then, is a \u201ccourt tale,\u201d analogous to the stories found in Dan. 1\u20136, but independent of them, and has as its focus the conversion of a foreign king.<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Collins, J. J. \u201c242. 4QPrayer of Nabonidus ar.\u201d In Qumran Cave 4.XVII: Parabiblical Texts, Part 3, by G. Brooke et al., in consultation with J. C. VanderKam, 83\u201393. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 22. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.
\nCross, F. M. \u201cFragments of the Prayer of Nabonidus,\u201d IEJ 34 (1984): 260\u201364.
\nFitzmyer, J. A., and D. J. Harrington. A Manual of Palestinian Aramaic Texts, 2\u20134. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1978.
\nGarc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, F. \u201cThe Prayer of Nabonidus: A New Synthesis.\u201d In Qumran and Apocalyptic, by F. Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, 116\u201336. Leiden: Brill, 1992.
\nGrelot, P. \u201cLa pri\u00e8re de Nabonide (4QOrNab). Nouvel essai de restauration.\u201d RevQ 9 (1978): 483\u201395.
\nMeyer, R. Das Gebet des Nabonid: Eine in den Qumran-Handschriften wiederentdeckte Weisheitserz\u00e4hlung. Berlin: Akademie, 1962.
\nMilik, J. T. \u201c \u2018Pri\u00e8re de Nabonide\u2019 et autres \u00e9crits d\u2019un cycle de Daniel.\u201d RB 63 (1956): 407\u201315.
\nNewsom, C. A. \u201cWhy Nabonidus? Excavating Traditions from Qumran, the Hebrew Bible, and Neo-Babylonian Sources.\u201d In The Dead Sea Scrolls: Transmission of Traditions and Production of Texts, edited by Sarianna Metso, Hindy Najman, and Eileen Schuller, 57\u201379. STDJ 92. Leiden: Brill, 2010.
\nPuech, E. \u201cLa pri\u00e8re de Nabonide (4Q242).\u201d In Targumic and Cognate Studies: Essays in Honour of Martin McNamara, edited by K. J. Cathcart and M. Maher, 208\u201328. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series 230. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

Fragments 1, 2a, 2b, 3<\/p>\n

1:1. Nabonidus The last king of Babylon, who was overthrown by Cyrus of Persia in 539 BCE. His \u201cprayer\u201d is not preserved, but\u2014based on the manuscript\u2019s surviving lines\u2014was evidently a confession of praise and thanks to God.
\n1:2. disease The Aramaic word used here is also used for boils in the account of the plagues in Exodus. Genesis Rabbah distinguishes 24 kinds of boils, with reference to Gen. 12:17.
\nTeima The place in Arabia where Nabonidus spent seven or 10 years engaged in the worship of the moon-god Sin.
\n1:3. seven years as in Dan. 4. The stereotypical number is substituted for the seven or 10 years of the Babylonian account.
\nsin[ce] G[od] set his face on me The Aramaic verb \u201cset\u201d (shwy) can also mean \u201cto be equal or like.\u201d F. M. Cross restores here \u201cI was like unto a beast,\u201d by analogy with Dan. 5:21. There is no mention of a beast in the fragments, and the verb would normally be spelled differently (shw\u2019 or shwh).
\n1:4. he remitted it Some scholars argue that the diviner remits the sin. It is possible that a human agent could forgive sin on behalf of God, but more likely that God is the subject of the verb (cf. Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21: \u201cwho can forgive sin but God alone?\u201d). On the connection between healing and the forgiveness of sin, see B. Ned. 41a: R. Alexandri said in the name of R. Hiyy b. Abba: \u201cA sick man does not recover from his sickness until all his sins are forgiven him, as it is written, \u201cWho forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.\u201d
\nA diviner The diviner\u2019s role in this story was to identify the cause of the illness and the identity of the god responsible for the cure. He was not an exorcist. Some scholars restore the text to read that the king prayed to God Most High before he was healed, but if this were the case, the king would already have known who the true God was, and the diviner would be superfluous. On the reconstruction proposed here, the king is healed by a gratuitous act of divine mercy.
\na Judean Or, \u201ca Judahite\u201d; that is, someone whose ancestral home was in Judah. The term designates ethnicity rather than religion, but the two usually went hand in hand.
\n1:5. Pro[cla]im Cf. the proclamation of Nebuchadnezzar in Dan. 4:31\u20132.
\n1:6. by the decree The affliction of Nebuchadnezzar was likewise by divine decree (Dan 4:28\u20139).
\n1:7. gods of silver and gold Cf. the metals in Dan. 5:4, 23. Clay appears in the statue in Dan. 2:35, 45.<\/p>\n

Fragment 4<\/p>\n

1. I was made strong The verb could also be taken as \u201cI began to dream.\u201d
\n3. my friends Cf. the restoration of Job 42:10\u201317.
\n4. how you are like Milik supposed that the king was speaking to a figure in his dream who reminded him of Daniel, but this is entirely hypothetical.<\/p>\n

4 Ezra<\/p>\n

Karina Martin Hogan<\/p>\n

4 Ezra, which comprises chapters 3\u201314 of the book of 2 Esdras in the Apocrypha, is a Jewish apocalypse that is generally classed among the Pseudepigrapha. It is a continuous narrative set in the Babylonian Exile, and is clearly divided into seven episodes (see Guide to Reading). The first three episodes take the form of dialogues between the protagonist, Ezra, and an angel, Uriel. The dialogues raise questions of theodicy (the defense of God\u2019s justice in light of the existence of evil), provoked by the fall of Jerusalem and by the evil tendencies of humankind. Each of the dialogues begins with a monologue full of questions by Ezra, which leads to a dispute between him and Uriel. The first two dialogues conclude with a series of eschatological (relating to the end of the world) predictions, during which Ezra drops his argumentative stance. The much longer third dialogue contains several rounds of dispute and prediction, as well as a second monologue by Ezra.
\nThe pivotal fourth episode begins like the first three with a monologue, but the dialogue that follows is between Ezra and a mourning woman, who is suddenly revealed to be Zion when she is transformed into a city before Ezra\u2019s eyes. Uriel then interprets the vision, which includes the woman\u2019s speech as well her transformation. The fifth and sixth episodes each contain a dream vision, also interpreted by Uriel. The fifth episode, called the Eagle Vision, depicts the rise of the Roman Empire and its fall when the messiah comes. The Vision of the Man in the sixth episode provides another perspective on the role of the messiah. By the end of the sixth episode, Ezra\u2019s faith in God\u2019s goodness and justice has been restored. He is then divinely inspired, in the seventh episode, to dictate 94 books to five scribes: the 24 books of Scripture (which, in the fictional world of 4 Ezra, were destroyed along with the Temple) and 70 secret books, reserved for the wise.<\/p>\n

Authorship and History<\/p>\n

Although in the early 20th century 4 Ezra was widely believed to be a compilation of several sources, the majority of scholars today view it as the work of a single author. It is a pseudepigraphic work attributed to the biblical scribe Ezra, who is anachronistically situated in the Babylonian Exile, 30 years after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Nothing is known about the actual author, but based on the choice of Ezra as protagonist and hints that his intended audience was \u201cthe wise,\u201d he was probably a scribe who considered himself a sage. He had certain ideas in common with the Qumran community, Jewish-Christians, and (based on later evidence) the early Rabbinic sages, but the evidence of the book does not warrant placing him in any of these groups.
\nThe book of 4 Ezra was almost certainly written in Hebrew, probably in the land of Israel, around 100 CE. The dating of the book is based on a widely accepted interpretation of the Eagle Vision, according to which the Roman Empire will fall shortly after the end of the reign of Domitian (d. 96 CE). None of the original text survives.
\nThere were two independent Greek translations of the original, from one of which the Latin and Syriac versions derive, as well as a rather loose Arabic translation; versions derived from the second Greek translation include the Ethiopic, a partial Georgian version, and a Coptic fragment. There is also an Armenian version based on a reworked Greek translation, and a second Arabic version. There are some tertiary versions translated from the Latin or Syriac, including a Hebrew translation that probably dates to the 16th century. Only a few fragments of the Greek translations survive, in quotations in other ancient authors and in two Byzantine Greek apocalypses loosely based on 4 Ezra, called the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra and the Apocalypse of Sedrach.
\nAll of the extant versions were transmitted by Christians, but in most of them the Jewish apocalypse survives intact. In the Latin version, two short Christian apocalypses (referred to by scholars as 5 Ezra and 6 Ezra, respectively) were appended at the beginning and end of 4 Ezra, and the composite work, 2 Esdras, was included in many Latin Bibles. For this reason, 2 Esdras enjoyed considerable authority in the Western Church prior to the Reformation and the Council of Trent (1545\u20131563), when it was officially excluded from the Roman Catholic canon of Scripture and relegated to an appendix to the Vulgate. Although it was rejected early on from the Greek canon, in some of the Eastern churches it was considered canonical Scripture until relatively recent times.
\nThe extraordinary length of the seventh chapter has a curious explanation. The chapter and verse numbering was first done using Vulgate manuscripts that lacked verses 7:35\u2013105 in the present numbering. All of those manuscripts had been copied from a single manuscript, dating from 822 CE, from which a page had been cut out, probably as a form of censorship. In the late 19th century, the Latin text of the \u201cmissing fragment\u201d was rediscovered and the seventh chapter was renumbered to include the missing verses.
\nThe Jewish text that has the most in common with 4 Ezra is the nearly contemporaneous apocalypse 2 Baruch, which shares imagery as well as a strong interest in Torah observance and in the effects of Adam\u2019s transgression. 4 Ezra also shares certain concepts and interpretations with the New Testament book of Revelation and with Pseudo-Philo, Book of Biblical Antiquities (L.A.B.). Both the fifth and sixth episodes of 4 Ezra are loosely based on chapter 7 in the book of Daniel, while the dialogues contain a number of allusions to the book of Job.<\/p>\n

Significance<\/p>\n

4 Ezra is generally recognized as an important witness to the impact of the destruction of the Second Temple on the Jewish people, particularly in the Land of Israel. The author uses the setting of the Babylonian Exile and the authoritative voice of Ezra to express the anguish and doubts he and others must have felt in the aftermath of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The dialogues of 4 Ezra provide a window into aggadic (non-legal interpretative) discussions that were going on during the formative period of Rabbinic Judaism, a period for which the Rabbinic sources preserve mainly halakhic (legal) debates. Some of Ezra\u2019s speeches are examples of \u201crewritten Bible\u201d (a paraphrase of a biblical text with interpretive insertions) (e.g., 4 Ezra 6:38\u201354), while others are closer to midrash (e.g., 5:23\u201330, 7:132\u201340). Another (8:20\u201334) is an outstanding example of penitential prayer. Uriel\u2019s speeches are less rooted in Scripture, but they do include a few examples of aggadic interpretation (imputing a new theological meaning to a biblical text) (6:8\u201310, 7:127\u201329).
\nThe visions in episodes 5 and 6 shed light on Jewish messianic expectations in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132\u2013135 CE). It is impossible to know how widespread the messianic expectations around Bar Kokhba were, but many historians believe that they had a significant influence both on the split between Judaism and Christianity and on subsequent Rabbinic mistrust of apocalyptic thought.
\nThe seventh episode is significant for what it reveals about one Jewish scribe\u2019s understanding of revelation and Scripture at the end of the 1st century CE. Although the traditional view that the Jewish canon was decided around that time by the Rabbinic sages at Yavneh has been largely discredited by historians, 4 Ezra 14 provides evidence that a consciousness of canon was \u201cin the air\u201d at that time.<\/p>\n

GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n

Since 4 Ezra is a narrative in which the character development of the protagonist, Ezra, is a key element, it is important to read it in order, from beginning to end. The structure of the book is the key to its interpretation The parallel structure of episodes 1 (First Dialogue) and 2 (Second Dialogue) reflects their parallel content: each begins with an introductory monologue; then a dispute occurs between Ezra and Uriel; this is followed in each case by a prediction by Uriel concerning the end-time; and both episodes end with a list of \u201csigns\u201d of the end-time and a narrative conclusion. Episodes 5 (Eagle Vision) and 6 (Vision of the Man) also parallel each other: each begins with a dream vision; then Ezra appeals for interpretation of the vision; Uriel provides interpretation; and the episode concludes.
\nFrom the nearly identical dispute sections in the first and second dialogues, it is clear that Ezra and Uriel are talking past one another at first. Although their understanding of one another\u2019s arguments deepens as the dialogues progress, the extreme length of the third dialogue allows the reader to experience Ezra\u2019s mounting frustration. Ezra never admits to being in error; his last statement in the dialogues (9:15\u201316) indicates that he has not changed his mind. It is important to consider why the author chose to devote more than half of the book\u2019s length to these dialogues, without providing a clear resolution to the issues debated in them.
\nThe shift from dialogue to vision in the fourth episode, which happens without Ezra\u2019s even being aware at first that it has taken place, is a crucial turning point. When Ezra sees the mourning woman transformed into a city, he cries for Uriel, suddenly realizing that he needs the angel\u2019s help to regain his understanding. In reading the narrative surrounding the visions in episodes 4, 5, and 6, one might consider what accounts for Ezra\u2019s growing self-confidence and trust in God. Since the messages of the Eagle Vision (Episode 5) and the Vision of the Man (Episode 6) overlap considerably (like Dan. 7 and 8), Ezra\u2019s transformation must be due to the experience of having the symbolic dreams and having them interpreted for him, as much as to their content.
\nFinally, the reader must ask about the purpose of Episode 7, and what it reveals about the purpose of the entire book. What makes Ezra worthy to be taken up to heaven to be with the messiah? How are the 94 books that he leaves behind as his legacy related to his experiences in the book?<\/p>\n

SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n

Brandenburger, Egon. Die Verborgenheit Gottes im Weltgeschehen: Das literarische und theologische Problem des 4. Esrabuches. Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen Testaments 68. Z\u00fcrich: Theologischer Verlag, 1981.
\nCollins, John J. The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids MI: Eerdmans, 1998.
\nHamilton, Alastair. The Apocryphal Apocalypse: The Reception of the Second Book of Esdras (4 Ezra) from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Oxford-Warburg Studies. Oxford: Clarendon, 1999.
\nHayman, A. Peter. \u201cThe Problem of Pseudonymity in the Ezra Apocalypse.\u201d JSJ 6 (1975): 47\u201356.
\nHogan, Karina Martin. Theologies in Conflict in 4 Ezra: Wisdom Debate and Apocalyptic Solution. Journal for the Study of Judaism: Supplement Series 130. Leiden: Brill, 2008.
\nHumphrey, Edith McEwan. The Ladies and the Cities: Transformation and Apocalyptic Identity in Joseph and Aseneth, 4 Ezra, the Apocalypse and the Shepherd of Hermas. Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha: Supplement Series 17. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995.
\nKnibb, Michael A. \u201cApocalyptic and Wisdom in 4 Ezra.\u201d JSJ 13 (1982): 56\u201374.
\nKnowles, Michael P. \u201cMoses, the Law and the Unity of 4 Ezra.\u201d Novum Testamentum 31 (1989): 257\u201374.
\nLongenecker, Bruce W. Second Esdras. Guides to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995.
\nStone, Michael E. Fourth Ezra: A Commentary on the Book of Fourth Ezra. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/p>\n

3:1. In the thirtieth year Like the book of Ezekiel, which begins with these words, 4 Ezra is set in the Babylonian Exile (see Introduction) because the author saw the defeat of the Jewish people by the Romans as parallel to the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians centuries earlier.
\nI, Salathiel, who am also called Ezra Salathiel is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Shealtiel, which means \u201cI asked God.\u201d Shealtiel, the father of Zerubbabel, lived during the Exile, while the biblical Ezra lived about a century later. The name Salathiel appears only here in 4 Ezra, perhaps in an attempt to correct the anachronism of placing Ezra in the Exile.
\n3:4. at the beginning when you planted the earth Ezra\u2019s first monologue or lament begins by recalling the events of Gen. 2\u20133, in order to raise the issue of universal human sinfulness.
\n3:7. you appointed death for him and for his descendants The author interprets Gen. 3:19 to mean that human mortality is the result of Adam\u2019s transgression of God\u2019s command not to eat from \u201cthe tree of knowledge of good and bad\u201d (Gen. 2:17). Eve\u2019s role is not mentioned, because the focus is on Adam as the ancestor of all humankind (the word adam means \u201chuman being\u201d).
\n3:9\u201311. the flood Genesis 6\u20139 is cited both as a second example of divine punishment for human sin and as the first example of God\u2019s election of a righteous individual: Noah.
\n3:12\u201313. you chose for yourself \u2026 Abraham The next example of election is also set against the background of humanity\u2019s general sinfulness.
\n3:14. to him alone you revealed the end of the times Cf. 4 Ezra 14:5. When God revealed future events to Abraham in Gen. 15:13\u201316, the author believes that God revealed the whole plan of history up to the end-time.
\n3:19. the four gates of fire and earthquake and wind and ice The general idea that God appeared on Mt. Sinai in the form of multiple natural phenomena is found in Exod. 19:16\u201319; cf. 1 Kings 19:11\u201312 for the first three phenomena. For the notion that natural phenomena pass through heavenly \u201cgates,\u201d cf. 1 En. 33\u201336, 72\u201376.
\n3:20\u201322. their evil heart The \u201cevil heart,\u201d a prominent theme in 4 Ezra, is probably a precursor to the Rabbinic notion of the yetzer ha-ra (inclination to evil), a belief that all human beings have an inherent tendency to sin, based on Gen. 6:5 and 8:21. Although in some Rabbinic texts Torah observance is said to be a \u201cremedy\u201d for the yetzer ha-ra, it is understood to be a means of subduing the yetzer ha-ra, not eradicating it, because without it there would be no procreation or human striving. Ezra is pessimistic about the feasibility of observing the Torah, given the existence of the \u201cevil heart.\u201d
\n3:24. to build a city for your name, and there to offer you oblations This statement conflicts with 4 Ezra 10:46, where Solomon is said to have \u201cbuilt the city, and offered offerings,\u201d and with 2 Sam. 7:5\u201313, in which God commands David to leave the building of the Temple to Solomon. On the other hand, Jerusalem is frequently called the \u201ccity of David,\u201d because David conquered it (2 Sam. 5:7).
\n3:25\u201327. \u2026 you handed over your city to your enemies Ezra seems to blame God for the fall of Jerusalem (cf. 4 Ezra 3:30), implying that the transgressions of its inhabitants were inevitable, because God created them with \u201cthe evil heart.\u201d
\n3:28. Are the deeds of those who inhabit Babylon any better? The question pertains as much to Rome, or to any other oppressive power.
\n3:31. have not shown to anyone how your way may be comprehended This clause anticipates the debate in the first two dialogues over the possibility of human comprehension of \u201cthe way of the Most High\u201d (4:2, 11; 5:34).
\n3:32. Or has another nation known you besides Israel? Ezra does not claim that Israel has not sinned like the other nations, but he feels that they deserve recognition for acknowledging God and \u201cbeliev[ing] the covenants,\u201d as other nations have not done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

the beginning of kings, a priesthood for Israel. This second explanation survives in Greek only, but is probably original. It may or may not have been a Hebrew gloss, as is found in the onomastic midrashim of Merari and Jochebed (see T. Levi 11:5\u20136). Thus, the ALD applied Judahite messianic language and characteristics, such as … <\/p>\n

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