Difference between revisions of "Baruch"

<p> <strong> BARUCH </strong> (‘blessed’). <strong> 1 </strong> . Son of Neriah, the son of [[Mahseiah]] and brother of [[Seraiah]] (&nbsp; Jeremiah 51:59 ); known from &nbsp; Jeremiah 36:1-32; &nbsp; Jeremiah 45:1-5; &nbsp; Jeremiah 32:12-16; &nbsp; Jeremiah 43:3; &nbsp; Jeremiah 43:8; by Jeremiah’s side in the conflict with Jehoiakim (b.c. 604), again during the last siege of Jerusalem (587 6), and again amongst the Judæans left behind after the Second Captivity. ‘Baruch’ the scribe, named in &nbsp; Jeremiah 36:26 along with ‘Jeremiah the prophet,’ is already the recognized attendant and amanuensis of the latter; he seems to have rendered the prophet over twenty years of devoted service. He belonged to the order of ‘princes,’ among whom Jeremiah had influential friends (&nbsp; Jeremiah 26:16; &nbsp; Jeremiah 36:25 ); Baruch’s rank probably secured for Jeremiah’s objectionable ‘roll’ (ch. 36) the hearing that was refused to his spoken words. When he cast in his lot with Jeremiah, Baruch made a heavy sacrifice; he might have ‘sought great things’ for himself, and is warned against his natural ambition (&nbsp; Jeremiah 45:3-5 ). The promise that Baruch’s ‘life shall be given’ him ‘for a prey’ wherever he goes, placed where it is (&nbsp; Jeremiah 45:5 ), suggests that he survived his master, to act as his literary executor. The Book of Jeremiah (see art.) owes much to this loyal secretary, though the final arrangement of the materials is far from satisfactory. Tradition adds nothing of any certainty to the references of Scripture; see, however, Jos. [Note: Josephus.] <em> Ant </em> . X. ix. 1, 7. For the Apocryphal writings attached to his name, see [[Apocrypha]] and [[Apocalyptic]] Literature. <strong> 2 </strong> . One of the wall-builders (&nbsp; Nehemiah 3:20 ). <strong> 3 </strong> . A signatory to the covenant (&nbsp; Nehemiah 10:5 ). <strong> 4 </strong> . A Judahite (&nbsp; Nehemiah 11:5 ). </p> <p> [[G. G]]  Findlay. </p>

<p> 1. Son of Zabbai: he helped to build the wall of Jerusalem. &nbsp;Nehemiah 3:20 . </p> <p> 2. A priest who sealed the covenant. &nbsp;Nehemiah 10:6 . </p> <p> 3. Father of [[Maaseiah]] who returned from exile. &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:5 . </p> <p> 4. Son of Neriah, and faithful secretary to Jeremiah. He was eventually carried with Jeremiah into Egypt. &nbsp;Jeremiah 32:12-16; &nbsp;Jeremiah 36:4-32; &nbsp;Jeremiah 43:3,6; &nbsp;Jeremiah 45:1,2 . </p> <p> [[Baruch, Book Of]]  This forms part of the O.T. Apocrypha, though its professed author is Baruch, the friend and secretary of Jeremiah. It relates that the Jews in [[Babylon]] sent a deputation to Jerusalem with money for sacrifices, and requested that prayers might be offered for [[Nebuchadnezzar]] and his son Belshazzar. It confesses that their sufferings were in consequence of their sins. It points to the sin ofneglectingthe source of wisdom, and exhorts to a return. It laments over Jerusalem; but exults in its future blessing. It ends with an [[Epistle]] of Jeremiah to those who were to be led captive into Babylon, warning them against the idols they would find there. It is generally agreed that the book was not written by its assumed author, but there is great diversity of opinion as to its probable date: some placing it B.C. 160, and others not till B.C. 79-69. </p>

<p> [[Baruch]] ( ''Bâ'Rook'' ), ''Blessed.'' 1. The secretary of the prophet Jeremiah, and who was of a distinguished [[Jewish]] family. &nbsp;Jeremiah 32:12. His friendship for Jeremiah was strong and constant. At his dictation Baruch wrote Jeremiah's prophecies. These he read before the princes, who rehearsed them to Jehoiakim, the king, having previously placed the writing in one of the offices of the temple. The king ordered the writing to be read in his presence, and he became so angry that he destroyed the manuscripts and gave orders to arrest both the prophet and his secretary, but they had concealed themselves. Jehovah, however, repeated the prophecies to Jeremiah, with some additions, and Baruch wrote them a second time. Baruch was falsely accused of influencing Jeremiah in favor of the Chaldæans, and they were both imprisoned until the capture of Jerusalem, b.c. 586. They were afterward forced to go down to Egypt. &nbsp;Jeremiah 43:6; &nbsp;Jeremiah 7:2. The name of three other persons, otherwise unknown. &nbsp;Nehemiah 3:20; &nbsp;Nehemiah 10:6; &nbsp;Nehemiah 11:5. </p>

<p> 1. The son of Neriah, of a distinguished family in the tribe of Judah. He was the faithful friend of Jeremiah. About 605 [[B. C]]  he wrote down, from the lips of Jeremiah, all the divine messages to that prophet, and subsequently read them to the people, and again to certain princes. These last took the book, and soon made known its contents to king Jehoiakim, who impiously destroyed it. Baruch wrote it down a second time as before, with some additions, &nbsp;Jeremiah 36:1 - &nbsp;32 . </p> <p> He is supposed by some to have accompanied his brother Seraiah to Babylon, with the predictions of Jeremiah respecting that city, &nbsp;Jeremiah 51:59-64 . He afterwards shared the persecution of the prophet, was imprisoned with him, and forced to go to Egypt with the rebellious Jews, &nbsp;Jeremiah 43:1-13 . After the death of Jeremiah, the rabbins say, he returned to Babylon. An apocryphal book is ascribed to him. </p> <p> 2. Another Baruch is mentioned among the friends of Nehemiah, &nbsp;Nehemiah 3:20 &nbsp; 10:6 &nbsp; 11:5 . </p>

<li> &nbsp;Nehemiah 3:20; &nbsp;10:6; &nbsp;11:5 . <div> <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton [[M.A., DD]]  Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Baruch'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/b/baruch.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>

<p> (Heb. Baruk', '''''בָּרוּךְ''''' '', Blessed;'' Sept. '''''Βαρούχ''''' , [[Josephus]] '''''Βαροῦχος''''' ) '','' the name of three men. </p> <p> 1. The faithful friend of the prophet Jeremiah (&nbsp;Jeremiah 32:12; &nbsp;Jeremiah 36:4 sq.) was of a noble family of the tribe of Judah (&nbsp;Jeremiah 51:59; &nbsp;Baruch 1:1; Joseph. ''Ant.'' 10:6, 2; 9, 1), and generally considered to be the brother of the prophet Seraiah, both being represented as sons of Neriah; and to Baruch the prophet Jeremiah dictated all his oracles. (See Jeremiah). </p> <p> In the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiachim, king of Judah (B.C. 605), Baruch was directed to write all the prophecies delivered by Jeremiah up to that period, and to read them to the people, which he did from a window in the [[Temple]] upon two solemn occasions (Jeremiah 36). He afterward read them before the counsellors of the king at a private interview, when Baruch, being asked to give an account of the manner in which the prophecy had been composed, gave an exact description of the mode in which he had taken it down from the prophet's dictation. Upon this they ordered him to leave the roll, advising that he and Jeremiah should conceal themselves. They then informed the king of what had taken place, upon which he had the roll read to him; but, after hearing a part of it, he cut it with a penknife, and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his counsellors, threw it into the fire of his winter parlor, where he was sitting. He then ordered Jeremiah and Baruch to be seized, but they could not be found. The Jews to this day commemorate the burning of this roll by an annual fast. (See [[Calendar]] (Jewish).) </p> <p> Another roll was now written by Baruch from the prophet's dictation, containing all that was in the former, with some additions, the most remarkable of which is the prophecy respecting the ruin of Jehoiachim and his house as the punishment of his impious act. This roll is the prophecy of Jeremiah which we now possess. Baruch, being himself terrified at the threats contained in the prophetic roll, received the comforting assurance that he would himself be delivered from the calamities which should befall Judah and Jerusalem (Jeremiah 45). During the siege of Jerusalem Baruch was selected as the depositary of the deed of purchase which Jeremiah had made of the territory of Hanameel, to which deed he had been a witness (&nbsp;Jeremiah 32:12 sq.). B.C. 589. His enemies accused him of influencing Jeremiah in favor of the Chaldaeans (&nbsp;Jeremiah 43:3; comp. 37:13); and he was thrown into prison with that prophet, where he remained till the capture of Jerusalem, B.C. 588 </p> <p> (Joseph. Ant. 10:9, 1). By the permission of Nebuchadnezzar he remained with Jeremiah at Masphatha (Joseph. 1. c.); but in the fourth year of [[Zedekiah]] (B.C. 595) Baruch is supposed by some to have accompanied Seraiah to Babylon, when the latter attended Zedekiah with the prophecies contained in Jeremiah, ch. 1 and 51, which he was commanded by Jeremiah to read on the banks of the Euphrates, and then to cast the prophetic roll into the river, with a stone attached to it, to signify the everlasting ruin of. Babylon (&nbsp;Jeremiah 51:61). At least Baruch, in the book which bears his name (in the [[Apocrypha]] ) '','' is said to have read these prophecies at Babylon, in the hearing of King Jehoiachim and the captive Jews, in the fifth year of the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans (see below), which must have been the same taking of it in which Jehoiachim was made prisoner; for after the other taking of Jerusalem, in the eleventh year of the reign of King Zedekiah, when the Jews, after their return from Babylon, obstinately persisted in their determination to migrate to Egypt against the remonstrances of the prophet, both Baruch and Jeremiah accompanied them to that country (&nbsp;Jeremiah 43:6; Joseph. ''Ant.'' 10:9, 6), from whence there is no account in [[Scripture]] of Baruch's return. The rabbins, however, allege that he died in Babylon in the twelfth year of the exile (see Calmet's [[Preface]] ) ''.'' Jerome, on the other hand, states, "on the authority of the Jews" ( ''Hebraei Tradunt'' ) '','' that Jeremiah and Baruch died in Egypt "before the desolation of the country by Nabuchodonosor" ( ''Comm. In'' &nbsp;Isaiah 30:6-7, p. 405). Josephus asserts that he was well skilled in the [[Hebrew]] language; and that, after the taking of Jerusalem, [[Nebuzaradan]] treated Baruch with consideration from respect to Jeremiah, whose misfortunes he had shared, and whom he had accompanied to prison and exile ( ''Ant.'' 10:9, 1 and 2). </p>

<p> ''''' bā´ruk ''''' , ''''' bâr´uk ''''' ( בּרוּך , <i> ''''' bārūk ''''' </i> ; Βαρούχ , <i> ''''' Baroúch ''''' </i> , "blessed"): </p> <p> (1) Son of [[Neriah]] and brother of Seraiah, King Zedekiah's chamberlain (&nbsp;Jeremiah 51:59 ). He was the devoted friend (&nbsp;Jeremiah 32:12 ), the amanuensis (&nbsp;Jeremiah 36:4 , &nbsp;Jeremiah 36:32 ) and faithful attendant (&nbsp;Jeremiah 36:10; Josephus, <i> Ant </i> , X, vi, 2) of the prophet Jeremiah. He seems to have been of noble family (see <i> Ant </i> , X, ix, 1; compare &nbsp;Jeremiah 51:59; Baruch 1:1). He was also according to Josephus a man of unusual acquirements ( <i> Ant. </i> , X, ix, 1). He might have risen to a high position and seemed conscious of this, but under Jeremiah's influence (see &nbsp;Jeremiah 45:5 ) he repressed his ambition, being content to throw in his lot with the great prophet whose secretary and companion he became. Jeremiah dictated his prophecies to Baruch, who read them to the people (Jer 36). The king (Jehoiakim) was greatly angered at these prophecies and had Baruch arrested and the roll burnt. Baruch however rewrote the prophet's oracles. In the final siege of Jerusalem Baruch stood by his master, witnessing the purchase by the latter of his ancestral estate in [[Anathoth]] (Jer 32). According to Josephus ( <i> Ant. </i> , X, ix, 1) he continued to reside with Jeremiah at [[Mizpah]] after the fall of Jerusalem. Subsequent to the murder of Gedaliah, he was accused of having unduly influenced Jeremiah when the latter urged the people to remain in Judah - a fact which shows how great was the influence which Baruch was believed to have had over his master (&nbsp;Jeremiah 43:3 ). He was carried with Jeremiah to Egypt (&nbsp;Jeremiah 43:6; <i> Ant </i> , X, ix, 6), and thereafter our knowledge of him is merely legendary. According to a tradition preserved by Jerome (on &nbsp;Isaiah 30:6 f) he died in Egypt soon after reaching that country. Two other traditions say that he went, or by Nebuchadnezzar was carried, to Babylon after this king conquered Egypt. The high character of Baruch and the important part he played in the life and work of Jeremiah induced later generations still further to enhance his reputation, and a large number of spurious writings passed under his name, among them the following: ( <i> a </i> ) The [[Apocalypse Of Baruch]] (which see); ( <i> b </i> ) The Book of Baruch; ( <i> c </i> ) The Rest of the Words of Baruch; ( <i> d </i> ) The [[Gnostic]] Book of Baruch; ( <i> e </i> ) The Latin Book of Baruch, composed originally in Latin; ( <i> f </i> ) a Greek [[Apocalypse]] of Baruch belonging to the 2nd century of our era; ( <i> g </i> ) another Book of Baruch belonging to the 4th or 5th century. </p> <p> (2) A son of Zabbai who aided Nehemiah in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (&nbsp;Nehemiah 3:20 ). </p> <p> (3) One of the priests who signed the covenant with Nehemiah (&nbsp;Nehemiah 10:6 ). </p> <p> (4) The son of Colhozeh, a descendant of Perez, the son of Judah (&nbsp;Nehemiah 11:5 ). </p>