Baruch
About this date: Dates are broad scholarly estimates of composition or final editing, not dates of the events narrated. Traditional attributions and scholarly assessments can differ.
Baruch frames confession, wisdom, and consolation through the experience of exile and the voice associated with Jeremiah's scribe. Its promise of divine instruction and return should be read before later interpretations of wisdom dwelling among humanity.
Historical context
The work adopts an exilic setting and Baruch's name, but literary setting and authorship remain separate questions. The Letter of Jeremiah is Baruch 6 in Catholic editions and may be printed separately in Orthodox arrangements.
Key points
- The confession interprets exile through communal responsibility.
- The wisdom poem identifies the path of instruction with Israel's received law.
- Christian readings of wisdom appearing on earth must be labeled as reception rather than assumed to be an uncontested original reference to the incarnation.
Scripture
- Baruch 1:15-2:10 — The confession names communal wrongdoing and the consequences of disobedience.
- Baruch 3:9-4:4 — The wisdom poem moves from searching for wisdom to Israel's covenant instruction.
- Baruch 5:1-9 — Jerusalem is called to exchange mourning for the hope of gathered children.
Sources and further reading
- Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles: canonical books and Apocrypha
- Baruch: complete public-domain WEB text
- Catholic Catechism §120: canon and book list
- Orthodox Church in America: canon of Scripture
- Orthodox Church in America: Old Testament historical books
- USCCB Bible introductions: historical and literary notes