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Fourth Baruch is a pseudepigraphical text of the Old Testament. Paralipomena of Jeremiah appears as the title in several Ancient Greek manuscripts of the work, meaning "things left out of (the Book of) Jeremiah." [1] It is part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.
Fourth Baruch is regarded as pseudepigraphical by all Christian churches, except the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (see Rest of the Words of Baruch).
The text is known in both full-length and reduced versions. The full-length versions came down to us in Greek (older manuscripts dated 10th–11th centuries [2] and 15th century [3] ), in Ethiopic Ge'ez (titled Rest of the Words of Baruch, the older manuscript dated to the 15th century), in Armenian, [4] and in Slavic. [5] The shortened versions have come down to us in Greek (named Meneo), Romanian and Slavic. [6]
4 Baruch is usually dated to the first half of the 2nd century AD. Abimelech's sleep of 66 years, instead of the usual 70 years of Babylonian captivity, makes scholars tend toward the year AD 136, that is, 66 years after the fall of the Second Temple in AD 70. This dating is coherent with the message of the text. [2]
4 Baruch uses a simple and fable-like style, with speech-making animals, fruit that never rots, and an eagle sent by the Lord that revives the dead.
Some parts of 4 Baruch appear to have been added in the Christian era, such as the last chapter; due to these insertions, some scholars consider 4 Baruch to have Christian origins. [2] Like the greater prophets, it advocates the divorce of foreign wives and exile of those who will not do so. According to 4 Baruch, the Samaritans are the descendants of such mixed marriages.
The Lord reveals to Jeremiah that Jerusalem will be destroyed because of the impiety of the Israelites. Jeremiah informs Baruch, and that night they see angels open the door to the city. Jeremiah is instructed by the Lord to miraculously hide in the earth the vestments of the high priest of the Temple. The Chaldeans enter Jerusalem, and Jeremiah follows the Israelites into exile, while Baruch remains in Jerusalem. Abimelech (= Ebedmelech the Ethiopian of Jeremiah 38:7) falls asleep for 66 years and awakens next to a basket of figs, preserved perfectly fresh. Because the figs are fresh out of season, Abimelech realizes that he slept for years miraculously. Abimelech reunites with Baruch. They want to communicate with Jeremiah, who is still in Babylon, so Baruch prays to the Lord, who sends him an eagle. The eagle takes a letter and some of the figs to Jeremiah. It finds Jeremiah officiating at a funeral and alights on the corpse, bringing it back to life, thus announcing the end of the exile. The Israelites return to Jerusalem, but only those men who have no foreign wives are allowed to pass the Jordan.
This Jewish pseudepigraphical text belongs to the cycle of Baruch and is related to 4 Baruch. It is longer and probably older than 4 Baruch. [7] [8] It has very few and circumscribed Christian insertions and it hasn't the fable-like style of 4 Baruch. Abimelech's sleep is here of 70 years, the usual duration of the Babylonian captivity.
The original Greek is lost, but we have Sahidic Coptic manuscripts [9] and, even if less ancient, Arabic Garshuni manuscripts [10]
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The Bible is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthology – a compilation of texts of a variety of forms – originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. These texts include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, among other genres. The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon. Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text can vary.
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the book as "the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah". Of all the prophets, Jeremiah comes through most clearly as a person, ruminating to his scribe Baruch about his role as a servant of God with little good news for his audience.
The deuterocanonical books are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be canonical books of the Old Testament, but which Protestant denominations regard as apocrypha. They date from 300 BC to 100 AD, mostly from 200 BC to 70 AD, before the definite separation of the Christian church from Judaism. While the New Testament never directly quotes from or names these books, the apostles most frequently used and quoted the Septuagint, which includes them. Some say there is a correspondence of thought, and others see texts from these books being paraphrased, referred, or alluded to many times in the New Testament, depending in large measure on what is counted as a reference.
The Old Testament is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The second division of Christian Bibles is the New Testament, written in the Koine Greek language.
Jeremiah, also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, the Books of Kings and the Book of Lamentations, with the assistance and under the editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple.
The Apocalypse of Baruch are two different Jewish pseudepigraphical texts written in the late 1st/early 2nd century AD/CE, after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 AD, though attributed to Baruch ben Neriah.
The Testament of Adam is a Christian work of Old Testament pseudepigrapha that dates from the 2nd to 5th centuries AD in origin, perhaps composed within the Christian communities of Syria. It purports to relate the final words of Adam to his son Seth; Seth records the Testament and then buries the account in the legendary Cave of Treasures. Adam speaks of prayer and which parts of Creation praise God each hour of the day; he then prophesies both the coming of the Messiah and the Great Flood; and finally, a description of the celestial hierarchy of angels is given.
The Book of Baruch is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible, used in most Christian traditions, such as Catholic and Orthodox churches. In Judaism and Protestant Christianity, it is considered not to be part of the canon, with the Protestant Bibles categorizing it as part of the Biblical apocrypha. The book is named after Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah's well-known scribe, who is mentioned at Baruch 1:1, and has been presumed to be the author of the whole work. The book is a reflection of a late Jewish writer on the circumstances of Jewish exiles from Babylon, with meditations on the theology and history of Israel, discussions of wisdom, and a direct address to residents of Jerusalem and the Diaspora. Some scholars propose that it was written during or shortly after the period of the Maccabees.
The Second Book of Enoch is a pseudepigraphic text in the apocalyptic genre. It describes the ascent of the patriarch Enoch, ancestor of Noah, through ten heavens of an Earth-centered cosmos. The Slavonic edition and translation of 2 Enoch is of Christian origin in the 8th century but is based on an earlier work. 2 Enoch is distinct from the Book of Enoch, known as 1 Enoch, and there is also an unrelated 3 Enoch, although none of the three books are considered canonical scripture by the majority of Jewish or Christian bodies. The numbering of these texts has been applied by scholars to distinguish each from the others.
The Letter of Jeremiah, also known as the Epistle of Jeremiah, is a deuterocanonical book of the Old Testament; this letter is attributed to Jeremiah to the Jews who were about to be carried away as captives to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. It is included in Roman Catholic Bibles as the final chapter of the Book of Baruch. It is also included in Orthodox Bibles as a separate book, as well as in the Apocrypha of the Authorized Version.
2 Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to have been written in the late 1st century CE or early 2nd century CE, after the destruction of the Temple in CE 70. It is attributed to the biblical Baruch and so is associated with the Old Testament, but not regarded as scripture by Jews or by most Christian groups. It is included in some editions of the Peshitta, and is part of the Bible in the Syriac Orthodox tradition. It has 87 sections (chapters).
3 Baruch or the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch is a visionary, pseudepigraphic text written some time between the fall of Jerusalem to the Roman Empire in 70 AD and the third century AD. Scholars disagree on whether it was written by a Jew or a Christian, or whether a clear distinction can be made in this era. It is one of the Pseudepigrapha, attributed to the 6th-century BC scribe of Jeremiah, Baruch ben Neriah, and does not form part of the biblical canon of either Jews or Christians. It survives in certain Greek manuscripts, and also in a few Old Church Slavonic ones.
The Ethiopic Lamentations of Jeremiah is a pseudepigraphic text, belonging to the Old Testament canons of the Beta Israel and Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It is not considered canonical by any other Judeo-Christian groups.
Baruch ben Neriah was the scribe, disciple, secretary, and devoted friend of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. He is traditionally credited with authoring the Book of Baruch.
There have been many Coptic versions of the Bible, including some of the earliest translations into any language. Several different versions were made in the ancient world, with different editions of the Old and New Testament in five of the dialects of Coptic: Bohairic (northern), Fayyumic, Sahidic (southern), Akhmimic and Mesokemic (middle). Biblical books were translated from the Alexandrian Greek version.
The Old Testament is the first section of the two-part Christian biblical canon; the second section is the New Testament. The Old Testament includes the books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) or protocanon, and in various Christian denominations also includes deuterocanonical books. Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Protestants use different canons, which differ with respect to the texts that are included in the Old Testament.
The Ladder of Jacob is a pseudepigraphic writing of the Old Testament. It is usually considered to be part of the apocalyptic literature. The text has been preserved only in Slavonic, and it is clearly a translation from a now lost Greek version. It is not regarded as scripture by Jews or any Christian group.
The History of the Captivity in Babylon is a pseudepigraphical text of the Old Testament that supposedly provides omitted details concerning the prophet Jeremiah. It is preserved in Coptic, Arabic, and Garshuni manuscripts. It was most likely originally written in Greek sometime between 70 and 132 CE by a Jewish author and then subsequently reworked into a second, Christian edition in the form of 4 Baruch. It is no. 227 in the Clavis apocryphorum Veteris Testamenti, where it is referred to as Apocryphon Jeremiae de captivitate Babylonis. However, the simple form Apocryphon of Jeremiah, which is sometimes employed, should be avoided as the latter is used to describe fragments among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Jeremiah 5 is the fifth chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. Chapters 2 to 6 contain the earliest preaching of Jeremiah on the apostasy of Israel. This chapter is sub-titled "The Justice of God’s Judgment" in the New King James Version.
Jeremiah 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. This chapter concerns Jeremiah's vision of two baskets of figs.
