Scriptures & Texts
Book of Baruch
Deuterocanonical Books
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
A short composite book presented as the work of Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe of Jeremiah, and set among the exiles in Babylon. It gathers a confession of national sin, a poem in praise of Wisdom identified with the law, and words of consolation to Jerusalem, in a Greek that appears to translate a lost Hebrew original in its opening chapters. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles receive it as deuterocanonical, usually placing it after Jeremiah or Lamentations; Judaism and Protestantism do not count it as scripture. In the Catholic arrangement the Letter of Jeremiah is attached as its sixth chapter, while the Orthodox and Protestant traditions keep the Letter as a separate work, one of several points at which the same material is divided differently by the canon that prints it.
Facts
Origins
Era of Composition Attributed Author / CompilerAn anonymous composite, c. 2nd-1st c. BCE (critical) 1 Attributed Author / CompilerBaruch ben Neriah, scribe of Jeremiah (traditional) 1 Status
Canonical StatusSourced to the subject's own accountDeuterocanonical 2Tradition: Roman Catholicism Canonical StatusSourced to the subject's own accountDeuterocanonical 3Tradition: Eastern Orthodoxy Canonical StatusNon-canonical 1Tradition: Judaism Text
Literary Form Structure
Structure5 chapters (Letter of Jeremiah forms ch. 6 in Catholic bibles) 4 StructureConfession, wisdom poem, and consolation 4 Learn More
The Book of Jeremiah's Scribe
The Book of Baruch is a short work attributed to Baruch ben Neriah, the faithful secretary of the prophet Jeremiah, and set in Babylon among the exiles after the fall of Jerusalem. It presents itself as written by Baruch and read aloud to the exiled community, and it interweaves several distinct kinds of material: an opening narrative and a long prayer of confession, in which the exiles acknowledge that their suffering is the just consequence of the nation's sin; a poem in praise of divine Wisdom, identified with the Law of Moses, closely echoing the wisdom literature; and a concluding section of consolation, in which Jerusalem, personified as a bereaved mother, is comforted and promised the return of her scattered children. Though ascribed to Baruch in the sixth century BCE, the book is generally regarded by scholars as a composite work assembled considerably later, probably in the second century BCE, from originally separate pieces, and drawing heavily on the language of Jeremiah, Daniel and Isaiah. It was transmitted in Greek, though parts may rest on a Hebrew original.
Canon and the Letter of Jeremiah
The Book of Baruch belongs to the deuterocanonical Scriptures received by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and to the Apocrypha as reckoned by Judaism and the Protestant tradition, which follow the Hebrew canon in which it does not appear. In many Bibles it is closely associated with the Letter of Jeremiah, a separate anti-idolatry composition that Catholic tradition appends as the sixth chapter of Baruch, while other traditions keep the two apart.
Because of its attribution to Jeremiah's companion and its Jeremianic tone, Baruch was often treated in antiquity as closely bound up with the prophetic book, and its themes (the justice of God in the exile, repentance, the identification of Wisdom with the Torah, and hope for restoration), made it valued in both Jewish and Christian devotion. The Catholic and Orthodox churches read it liturgically, particularly in seasons of penitence and at the Easter vigil. Scholars study Baruch as a characteristic product of Second Temple Judaism's reflection on the meaning of the exile, and as an example of how the memory and authority of the classical prophets were extended in later writings.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Held Differently
Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners but does not apply to establish any doctrine. Printed and appointed to be read, at a status deliberately short of the canon affirmed at Trent in 1546.
Anglicanism, Denominations Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church of England reads for example of life and instruction of manners, but does not apply to establish doctrine, a status short of full doctrinal canon.
Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners but does not apply to establish any doctrine. Printed and appointed to be read, at a status deliberately short of the canon affirmed at Trent in 1546.
Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners but does not apply to establish any doctrine. Printed and appointed to be read, at a status deliberately short of the canon affirmed at Trent in 1546.
Named in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1571, among the books the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners but does not apply to establish any doctrine. Printed and appointed to be read, at a status deliberately short of the canon affirmed at Trent in 1546.
Church of Sweden, Denominations Not canonized, but retained. Luther gathered the deuterocanonical books into a separate Apocrypha section of his 1534 Bible, headed as not equal to Holy Scripture yet good and useful to read, and Lutheran Bibles have printed and read them there since.
Not canonized, but retained. Luther gathered the deuterocanonical books into a separate Apocrypha section of his 1534 Bible, headed as not equal to Holy Scripture yet good and useful to read, and Lutheran Bibles have printed and read them there since.
Lutheranism, Denominations Lutheranism does not canonize Book of Baruch. Luther placed the deuterocanonical books in a separate section of his 1534 Bible as good and useful to read, but not equal to scripture.
Belongs to Tradition
Held as canonical scripture in the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament, affirmed at the Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.
Declared canonical scripture for the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent, Session IV, 1546.
Excluded from Canon
Anabaptism, Denominations This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Book of Baruch, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
Baptist, Denominations This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Book of Baruch, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Book of Baruch, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Book of Baruch, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Book of Baruch, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
Protestantism, Denominations The Protestant confessional consensus holds a thirty-nine-book Old Testament and does not canonize Book of Baruch, against the wider canon affirmed at Trent in 1546 and at Jerusalem in 1672. Lutheran and Anglican practice retains several of these books as edifying reading while denying them authority to establish doctrine.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Book of Baruch, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
This tradition holds the standard thirty-nine-book Protestant Old Testament and does not canonize Book of Baruch, following the confessional consensus among Protestant bodies against the wider Trent and Synod of Jerusalem deuterocanon.
Found In
Sources
1. An Introduction to the Apocrypha
Bruce M. Metzger, Oxford University Press, 1957The Book of BaruchView the Source 2. Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent, 1563Fourth Session (1546), listing Baruch among the received booksthe holders' own accountView the Source 3. The Confession of Dositheus (Synod of Jerusalem, 1672)
Synod of Jerusalem, Eastern Orthodox Church, 1672Vol. I, on Critopulus' Confession and the canonQuote, Vol. I, on Critopulus' Confession and the canon
mentions only twenty-two canonical books of the Old Test., and excludes from them the Apocrypha, mentioning Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach, Baruch, and the Maccabees.
4. The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority
Lee Martin McDonald, Hendrickson, 2007On Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah and their divided placement across the canonsView the Source The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion
Church of England, 1571Page descriptionQuote, Page description
The Thirty Nine Articles of Religion outline the doctrinal foundation of the Church of England. They address key theological issues such as the nature of God, the role of the Holy Scriptures, and the sacraments.
The Holy Bible
The Westminster Confession of Faith
The Belgic Confession
Guido de Bres, 1561Article 6Quote, Article 6
We distinguish between these holy books and the apocryphal ones, which are the third and fourth books of Esdras; the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Sirach, Baruch; what was added to the Story of Esther; the Song of the Three Children in the Furnace; the Story of Susannah; the Story of Bel and the Dragon; the Prayer of Manasseh; and the two books of Maccabees.
Festal Letter 39
Athanasius of Alexandria, 367The 367 list, where Baruch is grouped with Jeremiah and Lamentations
Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source Essays About This Entity (1 essay)
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.