It is a remarkable fact that most of the above awkward renderings occur in the LXX Gr. of Jer. There can be little doubt that he who translated Jer also translated Bar l'-3*, and probably found it in Heb. attached to Jer. (So Westcott in Smith DB. ) The Greek of the rest of Baruch is almost certainly from another hand. We have here a further evidence of the antiquity of our section.
ii. The Historical Introduction, I'-".— This is probably from a later author, because of the discre]iancies between it and l"-3'. We conceive the matter thus : There were in existence two jienitcntial prayers — one for the remnant, one for the exiles — both associated with the name of Baruch, and the problem was to find a suitable historic origin for them. The solution is : Baruch is in Babylon, and reads a form of confession and iirajer, 2"-3', to king Jeconiah and the exiles. They listen, weep, and fast, and long that their brethren in Judah should also turn to the Lord. B. writes a confession suited to the Judasans, l"'-2', and the exiles send it to Judah by him. Thus does the would-be historian explain the duality of l"-."?". His historic locus now calls for explanation. The book was written in the 5th year on the 7 th of the mouth, at the time of the year when the Chal- daans took Jerus., i.e. on the fifth anniversary of the first fall of Jerus., B.C. 597 — the era from which Jer, Ezk, and Dn reckon. In B.C. 593 Seraiah, brother of Bar., was in Babylon with king Zedekiah (Jer 51°"). The natme of their mission is uncertain, but it was such as to rouse expectation; for at the same time prophets in Babylon, Jer 27", and Hananiah in Judah, Jer 28^, foretold that within two years the sacred ve.ssels would be restored, and Jeconiah and the exiles allowed to return ; but Jer
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sternly contradicts this (Jer 29). These are the circumstances, shortly after which our author says that b. comjioseii his book. The etiect of the read- ins of it we have described. In penitence the people send to Joakini the priest — probably the ba^an — money with which to purchase sacrifices and in- cense to olier on the altar of J". Thus far tliere is verisimilitude in the story. Jeconiah might well be present, for the first exiles, ' the good tigs,' were treated far more leniently than tlie second. The hoof of ignorance and late authorship shows itself, however, (1) in the statement that Jerus. was burnt with fire in Jeconiah's reign ; (2) that the exiles asked the Juda;ans to ' pray for Nebuchad. and Ids tun lialtasar.' The monuments show that Hel- shazzar was the son of Nabonidus, who usurped the throne of Babylon ; and thouL'b Belshazzar might claim to be ' son ' of NebucTiad. to add to uis dignity, the title could not be given by one living years before. (3) The restoration of the silver vessels made by Zcdekiah after the deportation of Jeconiah (1^ ") is a hopeless tangle. The
fta.ssage has probably been worked over by a ater hand, who conceived of the locus as five years after the Jinal destruction of the city and temple.
iu. A ^okhmist's Message to the Exiles, 3*-4*. — '0 Isr. whj' art thou in the land of thy foes? and grown old in a foreign land ? ' The reason is, 'Ihou hast forsaken the fountain of Wisdom.' Learn where Wisdom is, and there thou wilt find life and joy and peace. But where does Wisdom dwell ? Have kings found her in the thickets of the forests hunting the boar ? Have birds stored in rojal aviaries seen her on high ? Have silver- workers mining under the earth seen her ? Young men, with vision unbedimmed by sin, can they give no clue ? Merchants of I'hijenicia and Teman, have they not seen her bj' sea or land ? The heroes of the hoary pa-st, — the giants, — can they help? No. God only knows her abode — the Creator of the beasts, the lightning, and the stars. He has embodied Wi.sdom in the Law, and given it to Jacob. And in this guise Wisdom .appears on the earth and is accessible to man. The eternal Law is Wisdom incarnate. Walk in her light, O Israel ! and give not thy glory to another, nor thy advantages to a strange nation.
DiUe. — Much of this section (3'"") is a close Imitation of Job 28 and 38 ; yet it possesses as much poetic fervour as an imitation can well do. It has nothing in common with 1"3' except the exile. The part which is truly original is 3*^-4*, and therefore here we must seek for the date of composition. Israel is ' God's beloved,' ' having (Ro 2*') in the Law the form (libptpuaiv) of know- ledge and of truth ' ; and she is charged not to give her glory to another, nor her advantages {irvfi<pf- pofTo, cf. Ho 3') to a foreign jieople, but to walk in the light of the law, cf. Bar 4», Ho 2'". Evidently, the privileges referred to are spiritual ones ; and Kneucker can hardly be incorrect in maintaining that Gentile Christians, the O'vp, are the dWiT-piox Idyot, of wliom the rigorous Jew bids his co- religioni.sls beware. There is no reference to recent calamities. Israel has 'grown old in a foreign land.' Therefore I should place this section a few years before, or some years after, the fall of Jerus- alem in A.D. 70.