- 2 Baruch
2 Baruch, also known as the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, is a Jewish
pseudepigraphical text thought to have been written in the late1st century CE or early2nd century CE , after the fall ofJerusalem to the Romans in70 CE . It is not part of the canon of either the Jewish or mostChristian Bibles but is part of theSyriac Peshitta . It has 87 sections.Description
Although the canonical
Book of Jeremiah portrays Baruch as Jeremiah's scribe, 2 Baruch portrays him as a prophet in his own right, and superior to Jeremiah. It has a similar style to the writings attributed to Jeremiah – a mix ofprayer ,lamentation , and visions. Although Baruch writes ofNebuchadnezzar 's sac of Jerusalem in 586 BC, it is generally believed as having been written in reaction to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. According to the text, the Temple's sacred objects were rescued from destruction under the protection angels to be returned during the restoration prophesied in theBook of Jeremiah .The first part of the text is structured in triplets – three fasts each followed by three visions and three addresses to the people. The visions are notable for their discussion of
theodicy , theproblem of evil , and an emphasis onpredestination . The second part of the text is a long letter, which many scholars believe was originally a separate document, which discusses the importance and primacy of Jewish law.The complete exists in Syriac and Arabic; there are also fragments in Greek of chapters 12 through 14 and in Latin of chapter 48. Quotations are also found in
Cyprian .ee also
* Baruch
*Book of Baruch
*3 Baruch
*4 Baruch External links
* [http://ocp.acadiau.ca/?2Bar Text of 2 Baruch in its ancient versions: Syriac, Greek, and Latin]
* [http://www.carm.net/lost/2baruch.htm Translation from "The Apocrypha and Pseudeipgrapha of the Old Testament"] ,R. H. Charles
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=330&letter=B&search=2%20baruch Jewish Encyclopedia: BARUCH, APOCALYPSE OF (Syriac)]
* [http://earlyjewishwritings.com/2baruch.html 2 Baruch at earlyjewishwritings.com]
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