| 1 Καὶ οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι τοῦ βιβλίου, οὓς ἔγραψεν Βαροὺχ υἱὸς Νηρίου υἱοῦ Μαασαίου υἱοῦ Σεδεκίου υἱοῦ Ἁσαδίου υἱοῦ Χελκίου ἐν Βαβυλῶνι 2 ἐν τῷ ἔτει τῷ πέμπτῳ ἐν ἑβδόμῃ τοῦ μηνὸς ἐν τῷ καιρῷ, ᾧ ἔλαβον οἱ Χαλδαῖοι τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἐνέπρησαν αὐτὴν ἐν πυρί. 3 καὶ ἀνέγνω Βαροὺχ τοὺς λόγους τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου ἐν ὠσὶν Ἰεχονίου υἱοῦ Ἰωακὶμ βασιλέως Ἰούδα καὶ ἐν ὠσὶ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν ἐρχομένων πρὸς τὴν βίβλον 4 καὶ ἐν ὠσὶν τῶν δυνατῶν καὶ υἱῶν τῶν βασιλέων καὶ ἐν ὠσὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ ἐν ὠσὶ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ ἀπὸ μικροῦ ἕως μεγάλου, πάντων τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν Βαβυλῶνι ἐπὶ ποταμοῦ Σοὺδ. | 1 And these are the words of the book which Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, the son of Zedekiah, the son of Hasadiah, the son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon, 2 in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans captured Jerusalem and burned it with fire. 3 And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people who came to hear the book, 4 and in the hearing of the nobles and the sons of the kings, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of all the people, from the least to the greatest, all those who lived in Babylon by the river Sud. |
| 5 καὶ ἔκλαιον καὶ ἐνήστευον καὶ ηὔχοντο ἐναντίον κυρίου 6 καὶ συνήγαγον ἀργύριον, καθὰ ἑκάστου ἠδύνατο ἡ χείρ, 7 καὶ ἀπέστειλαν εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ πρὸς Ἰωακὶμ υἱὸν Χελκίου υἱοῦ Σαλὼμ τὸν ἱερέα καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἱερεῖς καὶ πρὸς πάντα τὸν λαὸν τοὺς εὑρεθέντας μετ' αὐτοῦ ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ 8 ἐν τῷ λαβεῖν αὐτὸν τὰ σκεύη οἴκου κυρίου τὰ ἐξενεχθέντα ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ ἀποστρέψαι εἰς γῆν Ἰούδα τῇ δεκάτῃ τοῦ Σιουὰν, σκεύη ἀργυρᾶ, ἃ ἐποίησεν Σεδεκίας υἱὸς Ἰωσία βασιλεὺς Ἰούδα 9 μετὰ τὸ ἀποικίσαι Ναβουχοδονόσορ βασιλέα Βαβυλῶνος τὸν Ἰεχονίαν καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ τοὺς δεσμώτας καὶ τοὺς δυνατοὺς καὶ τὸν λαὸν τῆς γῆς ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ ἤγαγεν αὐτὸν εἰς Βαβυλῶνα. | 5 And they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord. 6 They also collected money, according as each person’s hand was able, 7 and sent it to Jerusalem to Jehoiakim the priest, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum, and to the priests and to all the people who were found with him in Jerusalem. 8 This was at the time when he received the vessels of the house of the Lord, which had been carried out of the temple, to return them to the land of Judah—on the tenth day of Sivan—namely, silver vessels which Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, had made, 9 after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had deported Jeconiah, the rulers, the prisoners, the nobles, and the people of the land from Jerusalem, and brought him to Babylon. |
| 10 καὶ εἶπαν ἰδοὺ ἀπεστείλαμεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀργύριον, καὶ ἀγοράσατε τοῦ ἀργυρίου ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ λίβανον καὶ ποιήσατε μάννα καὶ ἀνοίσατε ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον κυρίου θεοῦ ἡμῶν 11 καὶ προσεύξασθε περὶ τῆς ζωῆς Ναβουχοδονόσορ βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος καὶ εἰς ζωὴν Βαλτασὰρ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὦσιν αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν ὡς αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 12 καὶ δώσει κύριος ἰσχὺν ἡμῖν καὶ φωτίσει τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἡμῶν, καὶ ζησόμεθα ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν Ναβουχοδονόσορ βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος καὶ ὑπὸ τὴν σκιὰν Βαλτασὰρ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ δουλεύσομεν αὐτοῖς ἡμέρας πολλὰς καὶ εὑρήσομεν χάριν ἐναντίον αὐτῶν. 13 καὶ προσεύξασθε περὶ ἡμῶν πρὸς κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν, ὅτι ἡμάρτομεν τῷ κυρίῳ θεῷ ἡμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἀπέστρεψεν ὁ θυμὸς κυρίου καὶ ἡ ὀργὴ αὐτοῦ ἀφ' ἡμῶν ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης. 14 καὶ ἀναγνώσεσθε τὸ βιβλίον τοῦτο ὃ ἀπεστείλαμεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξαγορεῦσαι ἐν οἴκῳ κυρίου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἑορτῆς καὶ ἐν ἡμέραις καιροῦ, | 10 And they said: “Behold, we have sent money to you; so buy burnt offerings, sin offerings, and frankincense with the money, and prepare a cereal offering (manna), and offer them upon the altar of the Lord our God. 11 And pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son, so that their days may be as the days of heaven upon the earth. 12 And the Lord will give us strength and will enlighten our eyes, and we shall live under the shadow of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Belshazzar his son, and we shall serve them for many days and find favor in their sight. 13 Pray also for us to the Lord our God, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, and the wrath of the Lord and his anger have not turned away from us unto this day. 14 And you shall read this book which we have sent to you, to make a public confession in the house of the Lord on the day of the festival and on days of appointed seasons. |
| 15 καὶ ἐρεῖτε τῷ κυρίῳ θεῷ ἡμῶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη, ἡμῖν δὲ αἰσχύνη τῶν προσώπων ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη, ἀνθρώπῳ Ἰούδα καὶ τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν Ἱερουσαλὴμ 16 καὶ τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν ἡμῶν καὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἡμῶν καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἡμῶν καὶ τοῖς προφήταις ἡμῶν καὶ τοῖς πατράσιν ἡμῶν, 17 ὧν ἡμάρτομεν ἔναντι κυρίου 18 καὶ ἠπειθήσαμεν αὐτῷ καὶ οὐκ ἠκούσαμεν τῆς φωνῆς κυρίου θεοῦ ἡμῶν πορεύεσθαι τοῖς προστάγμασιν κυρίου, οἷς ἔδωκεν κατὰ πρόσωπον ἡμῶν. 19 ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας, ἧς ἐξήγαγεν κύριος τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης ἤμεθα ἀπειθοῦντες πρὸς κύριον θεὸν ἡμῶν καὶ ἐσχεδιάζομεν πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀκούειν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ. 20 καὶ ἐκολλήθη εἰς ἡμᾶς τὰ κακὰ καὶ ἡ ἀρά ἣν συνέταξεν κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, ᾗ ἐξήγαγεν τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου δοῦναι ἡμῖν γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη. 21 καὶ οὐκ ἠκούσαμεν τῆς φωνῆς κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν κατὰ πάντας τοὺς λόγους τῶν προφητῶν, ὧν ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς, 22 καὶ ᾠχόμεθα ἕκαστος ἐν διανοίᾳ καρδίας αὐτοῦ τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐργάζεσθαι θεοῖς ἑτέροις ποιῆσαι τὰ κακὰ κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς κυρίου θεοῦ ἡμῶν. | 15 “And you shall say: ‘To the Lord our God belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day—to the people of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 16 to our kings, to our rulers, to our priests, to our prophets, and to our fathers. 17 For we have sinned before the Lord 18 and disobeyed him, and we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord which he set before our face. 19 From the day the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt unto this day, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we acted recklessly by not listening to his voice. 20 So the evils and the curse have cleaved to us, which the Lord commanded Moses his servant in the day that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. 21 Yet we did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God according to all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, 22 but we departed, each one in the inclination of his evil heart, to serve other gods and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our God.’ |
1. Geographical and Structural Displacement: Liturgical Readjustment
The opening of Baruch sets up a sharp paradox regarding how sacred space and authority function during exile.
Baruch mimics the structural hierarchy of a temple assembly (v. 3–4), gathering the full social fabric of Judah—kings, nobles, elders, and the common populace ("from the least to the greatest").
However, this assembly occurs not on Mount Zion, but epi potamou Soud (by the river Sud, v. 4). This shifts the geographical locus of authoritative proclamation to the waters of Babylon. The ritual actions that follow—weeping, fasting, collecting money, and sending scrolls back to the remnant in Jerusalem (v. 5–7)—demonstrate an exile community that is reconstituting its identity through textuality and financial solidarity rather than localized temple sacrifice.
2. The Manna Paradox and Ritual Substitutions (v. 10)
In verse 10, the Greek text contains an intriguing rendering: poiēsate manna ("prepare manna").
In the context of sacrificial terminology, this is a clear translation or scribal corruption of the Hebrew word minḥah (grain/cereal offering).
By rendering minḥah as manna, the text creates a multi-layered theological echo. The exiles are instructing those left in Jerusalem to prepare a grain offering, yet the Greek terminology heavily recalls the wilderness bread provided by God during the Exodus. It links the current Babylonian displacement back to the primordial period of wandering, hinting that even in a barren wilderness or an exile environment, a distinct form of divine sustenance remains accessible.
3. Imperial Coexistence: The "Shadow" of Babylon (v. 11–12)
The text contains a highly pragmatic, tactical theology of survival under an occupying superpower:
The exiles are told to pray for the longevity of Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar, using the cosmic hyperbole hōs hai hēmerai tou ouranou epi tēs gēs ("as the days of heaven upon the earth", v. 11).
This imagery is combined with the desire to live hypo tēn skian ("under the shadow", v. 12) of the foreign kings. In Hebrew poetry, sitting "under the shadow" is a privilege reserved for the wings of the Almighty or the protection of God's covenant king (cf. Psalm 91:1, Lamentations 4:20). By transferring this safety-oriented terminology to the Chaldean throne, Baruch presents a theology of accommodation: recognizing the foreign empire as the current historical tool of Divine Providence, under which the community must survive while waiting for restoration.
4. Textual Reciprocity: The Interactive Scroll (v. 14)
Verse 14 introduces a sophisticated understanding of liturgical communication between separate pockets of the diaspora:
“And you shall read this book which we have sent to you, to make a public confession...”
The book itself is explicitly weaponized as a ritual artifact. It is written in Babylon (v. 1), transported across the desert, and injected into the remaining liturgical framework of Jerusalem to be read aloud en hēmerā heortēs (on feast days). The text acts as a unifying thread, bridging the physical distance between the exiles by the river Sud and the remnant at the ruined altar on Zion. It allows them to speak the exact same vocabulary of repentance simultaneously.
5. Historical Continuity of Defiance: The Exodus Pivot (v. 19–20)
When the text shifts into its formal exagoreusis (public confession of sin), it constructs a continuous line of cultural rebellion:
The confession traces their current spiritual state back to the very day of liberation: “From the day the Lord brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt...” (v. 19).
This reframes the Babylonian exile. It is not presented as an unexpected geopolitical catastrophe or a sudden lapse in divine protection. Instead, the exile is shown to be a long-festering historical debt. The loss of the land flowing with milk and honey is described as a direct activation of the ancient ara (curse, v. 20) woven into the Mosaic covenant. The ultimate exile is thus understood as a long-delayed, logical consequence of a multi-generational pattern of behavior.