REVELATIONS, SPURIOUS 1072 REVELATIONS, SPURIOUS
the day of judgment which is close at hand (i, 37-41), and the frequent reference to a future life. Ewald (Gesch. Isr. iv, 233) and Fritzsche (Exegef. Handb. zu
.,-. i. 17."d ( emptuously dismiss it in a few
i mosf unjustly regard ii as written "in a pro- lix and senseless style" by a monk. Besides the Lon- don and Paris Polyglots, the Syriac is contained in the
beautiful edition of the A] ryphajusl published I I fori
\',i,,i< Testamenti Apocryphi Syriace, recogn. Paul. Anton, de Lagarde, Lond. 1861 >, and the Latin may be found in Fabricii Cod. Pseudepigr. V. T. ii. 1 17 sq. See Baruch.
8. The Apocalypse of Baruch was discovered in a Syrian manuscript, judged by Cureton in belong in the 6th century, and was first published by Cerrain in 1866 in :i close Latin translation | Mon. Sacet Prof. I. ii. 7:; 98), and in 1871 in the original Syriac i ibid. V. ii i. The last few chapters, however, had Inn-- been known .■I- i he •■ Kpistle of Baruch" noticed above.
1 1. 1 Contents. The c poser of this work lias, like
the author of the 1 k of Baruch in the ordinary Apoc- rypha of the Old Test, chosen as the fictitious writer of his revelations the friend and amanuensis of Jere- miah. The scene is laid in or near Jerusalem : and the supposed time is that immediately preceding and fol- lowing the destruction of the city and the transporta- tion of the people to Babylon. The author professes to give the exact year. -the twenty-fifth of Jechoniah ofJudah." Jechoniah musl here stand for Jehoiakim, ami the twenty-fifth year ought to be the eleventh. The work divides itself into seven parts, if we treat the letter to the nine and a half tribes as a kind of appen- dix. Baruch is throughoul represented as the speaker, referring to himself in the lir-t person, except in the opening of ch. i and lxxviii. which are of the nature of
a title.
The first part (eh. i ix) opens by telling how the Word of the Lord came to Baruch, and warned him of the destruction impending over Jerusalem on account of the wickedness of its inhabitants. The punishment should last only for a time, and the ruin of the city should not be accomplished by the hands of its enemies. The next day the army of the Chaldseans surrounded Jerusalem; and when the sacred vessels bad been com- mitted to the safe Custody of the earth, to he kept till the last time-, angels overthrew the walls, the enemy were admitted, and the people were led captive to Baby- Ion. Then Baruch and Jeremiah rent their clothes and fasted seven days.
In the second part (ch. x-xii) Jeremiah is sent to Babylon, hut Baruch is told to remain amid the desola- tion ofZion, that (hid may show him what will come to pas- at the end of days. So Baruch sits before the gates of the Temple and utters a lamentation over the fate of /ion. and prophesies vengeance against the vic- torious land now so prosperous. Having thus given vent to his grief, he again fasts lor seven days.
Ill the third part I eh. xiii xx) he slam!- upon Mount Zion, and is told that he shall ho preserved till the end ol lime-, thai he may hear testimony against, the na- I his people. |l,. answers that only few shall survive in those days to hear lie' word of the Lord, and complains that those who have not walked in vanity like other peoples have derived no ad- rom their faithfulness. The Lord answers that the future world was made on account of the just, "for ihi- world i- a contest and trouble to them 'in much labor, and therefore thai which i- to come is a crown in ui'-ai glory." in further conversation Baruch is ad- vised not i,, estimate the Messing of lit,- by its li ugth, and io look rather to the end than the beginning, lie is then desired to sanctify himself and fast for seven
In the fourth pan (ch. \\i xxx") he comes from a
Cave in the valley of (Vdron, whither he had wnh-
to the place where God -poke win, him before. ■ t, and he begins to deplore the bitti
life, and calls upon ( lod to hasten the promised end. In reply he is reminded .if hi- ignorance, and told that the predetermined number of men must he completed, but "that the end is not far distant." Baruch then says that he does not know what will happen to the enemies of his people, or al what time God will visit them. The signs of the end are accordingly enumerated, the last time being divided into twelve parts, each with its distinguishing characteristic. These pans, however, are to he mixed together and to minister to one an- other. The specified Signs shall affect the whole earth. '•and then .Messiah will begin to he revealed." A de- scription of the Messianic period follows, on which we need not dwell. With this the conversation terminates, and though the usual fast i- not, mentioned, the section evidently comes to a close.
In the fifth part (ch. xxxi-xliii), having consoled the people by telling them of the future glory of /ion. he e,-oes and sits upon the ruin- of the Temple. While he laments he falls asleep, and has a vision of a vine and a cedar, of which the interpretation is afterwards given to him. The vision relates to the triumph of the Mes- siah. Baruch then asks. To whom and to how many shall these things he. or who shall he worthy to live in that time? for many of God's people have thrown away the yoke of the law. hm others have left their vanity and fled for refuge under Cod'- wings. God answers him, To those who have believed will he the predicted blessings, and to those who despise will he the opposite of this. Baruch is then commanded to go and instruct the people, and afterwards to fast for seven days, pre- paratory to further communications.