LiTER*TrR«.— In ultlitlon U) tho workii alriiuly clt«l In this uticlt! the rvafier may consult IjinRfn, I)e ajtrtcatmnti Tinntrh anno mjuTxnri pn'iDtim fftita rnwineiiliitto (\t<lS7) ; Kwald, ^^(f^ g'l. Ameiqrn (1807). rP ITOni". ITJO; llinlar]/ of Itrnrl, lill. S7-fll ; llruminonil. The .lru-<»h M -miah (1877), pp. 117-l:iJ ; Kneuckcr. Dot Duch Baruch (1S70), pp. 11K)-I08; Dillniann,
'Pseudepipraphen' in Hcrzog's RE^ lii. pp. 356-3.18; Deane, Pseiuiepigraplta (1801), pp. 130-162 ; De Faye, La Apocalupta Juivea (1B92), pp. 195-204 ; Charles, Apoc. o/ Baruch, 1898.
K. H. Charles.
BARUCH, BOOK OF One of the deutero-
canoiiical books of OT found in LXX between Jer and La, in the Lat. Vulg. after La, and in the Syr. as the second Letter of Baruch — the first Letter having been recently ascertained to be part of the Apoc. of Baruch (wh. see). The book claims to have been written by Baruch, the friend and secretary of Jeremiah ; but in reality it consists of four portions so distinct that they have probably come from four different authors.
ll-l*. Historical preface, giving ft description of the origin
and purpose of the book. 118_3S. A confession of the sins which led to the Captivity,
and a prayer (or restoration to divine favour, largely in
Deuteronomic phraseolo^^y. 89-4'. A panegyric on Wis'iora, and an identification of
Wisdom with Torah. after the manner of the later liokhmia
school. 4B-6". Consolation and encourtgement to the exiles, with
such rich personification as to recall some of the most
poetical passages in Deutero-Isaiah.
We will describe and comment on these parts in the order in which we conceive that they came into existence.
i. The second section, l"-3', will thus claim our first consideration, and it may be subdivided into two parts —
(1) l"-2'. This we designate An Ancient Form ofConkessionofSinusedbythePal. Rkmnant. It professes to have been sent from Babylon to Jems., to be read in the house of God ' on the d.ay of the feast and on the days of solemn assembly ' (1" RV). It opens with words found also Dn 9' ' To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness, but to us confusion ... to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jems.' ; and its restricted design for the use of the home remnant is intimated in the nonoccurrence of the words of Dn ' and to all Isr. that are near and that are afar off,' etc. ; as well as by the words Bar 2*- ', ' He hath given Ihem to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us . . . where the Lord has scattered them: and <Aey have become " beneath and not above," because tae sinned.' The con- fession of sins is national, embracing the whole period from the Exodus, and recognising in the Exile the righteous fullilinent of repeated warnings.
(2)2»-3*. The Exiles' Confes.sion, 2^", and Prayer, 2"-3'. The confession of the exiles opens as the above (cf. also Dn 9') with the words, 'To the Lord our God belongeth righteousness?,' etc., but the suppliants do not describe themselves as ' men of Judah.' Indeed we would submit — though it .seems to have escaped notice hitherto — that this penitential prayer was not meant for the same Ijcrsons as the foregoing. This is evident from 2" ' We are left a few among the nations where thou hast scattered mj' (contrast this with 2* 'The Lord hath scattered thern'), v." 'Give us favour before those who have led us cai)tive.' So also vv.**- *". Further, tho confession, '2""", is little more than a repetition in different order of phrases found in l"-'2° ; only, th.at in the second confession the suppliants do not (as we have seen) identify themselves with Judah ; and the divine threat realised in t/ieir experience is captivity, 2'- " ; whereas, in the first confession, it w.'is that thev hiul eaten the llesh of their children, 2''. At 2'» the confession turns to prayer for ]iardon and bless- ing, pleading the divine election of Isr., the divine compassion and tho divine glory. They acknow- ledge tho error of not obeying the warnings of Jer (7'"8»27" 29»*) to be submissive to the king of Babylon, and regard that as the cause of the national ruin. In 2-'' the suppliants admit that to them personally God has manifested ' leniency and
252
BAKUCH, BOOK OF
BAEUCH, BOOK OF
compassion.' They quote several passages from Dt (collected Kneucker, p. 30) wliich threaten dirine wrath on their sins, out which also promise that if in captivity they repent, God will renew His covenant, and restore them. They virtually express their faithful allegiance, and claim the promises.
Ch. 81 « is regarded by Bertholdt and Reuscb as a separate p}<alm ; but, bj* showu by Kneucker (p. 263) and Gifford (in Speaker's Apocr. ii. 267), the links of connexion between tliis portion and the foregoing are beyond dispute. Here the aliscnce of the sense of pergonal demerit is still more apparent. True they say, ' We have sinned," but the * we' denotes the solidarity of Isr.: for in 3-* they say * Hear the prayer of the smii of tliose who sinned against Thee, for the^ were disobedient, and the evils cleave to ns.' ' We have put away from our hearts every iniauity of our fathers who sinned against Thee.' * Lo I we are tOHjay la our captivity,' 3^.