“Take Courage, O Jerusalem…”: Studies in the Psalms of Baruch 4–5 3110411253, 9783110411256

Table of contents :
Preface
Contents
Introduction
Recent Research
Basic Preliminary Remarks
The Text of Baruch 4:5–5:9
The Structure and Unity of Baruch 4:30–5:6
Introduction
The Structure of the First Stanza (4:30–35)
The Structure of the Second Stanza (4:36–37)
The Structure of the Third Stanza (5:1–4)
The Structure of the Fourth Stanza (5:5–6)
Connecting Features in the Text of the Psalm
The Structure and Unity of Baruch 5:7–9
Introduction
The Structure of Baruch 5:7–9
Relationship with Baruch 4:30–5:6
The Structure and Unity of Baruch 4:5–29
Introduction
The Structure of Strophe A.1. (4:5–9a)
The Structure of Strophe A.2. (4:9b–13)
The Structure of Strophe A.3. (4:14–16)
The Structure of the Strophe B (4:17–20)
The Structure of the Strophe C.1. (4:21–24)
The Structure of Strophe C.2. (4:25–26)
The Structure of Strophe D (4:27–29)
Connecting Features in the Text of the Psalm
The Relationship between the Two Psalms
The Biblical Background of the Psalms
Introduction
Baruch 4:5–9a
Baruch 4:9b–13
Baruch 4:14–16
Baruch 4:17–20
Baruch 4:21–24
Baruch 4:25–26
Baruch 4:27–29
Baruch 4:30–35
Baruch 4:36–37
Baruch 5:1–4
Baruch 5:5–6
Baruch 5:7–9
The Basic Biblical Passages
The Nature of the Biblical Background
Tradition Historical Background and Theology of the Psalms in Baruch
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy
Deuteronomic Worldview
Deuteronomistic View of History
Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic View in Early Jewish Literature
Isaiah, Especially Chapters 40–66
The Book of Isaiah
Isaiah 40–66 in Early Jewish Literature
The Book of the Twelve Prophets
Are Jeremiah and Lamentations Especially Important for Baruch 4:5–5:9?
Summary
Comments on Formative Issues
Relationship of the Main Parts
Language
Dating of Baruch 4:5–5:9
Bibliography
Index of Sources

Citation preview

Géza G. Xeravits "Take Courage, O Jerusalem…"

Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies

Edited by Friedrich V. Reiterer, Beate Ego and Tobias Nicklas

Volume 25

Géza G. Xeravits

"Take Courage, O Jerusalem…" Studies in the Psalms of Baruch 4–5

ISBN 978-3-11-041125-6 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-041182-9 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-041200-0 ISSN 1865-1666 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com



In memory of my father, Géza Xeravits (1946–2012)

Preface The Book of Baruch, this exciting composition of various early Jewish material, has not provoked as much interest among scholars as it deserves. The analysis below—which might compensate somewhat this neglect—concentrates on the two poetic passages that close the Book in its present form. My interest in these hymns began with a paper read at the 2008 International Conference on the Deuterocanonical Books, held at Pápa, Hungary. Immediately after, my other obligations prevented me from further work on the topic. Later on, however, the financial support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft that I had the privilege to enjoy made possible the writing of this small monograph. Prof. Tobias Nicklas from the University of Regensburg gave invaluable help in technical matters concerning the DFG scholarship, and, moreover, I several times enjoyed his hospitality and that of his lovely family when I was in Regensburg. Without Tobias this booklet would not have been written. I had various conversations with two Hungarian friends and colleagues, Dr. Balázs Tamási and Dr. Gábor Buzási. Their advice was always stimulating. During my work, some scholars have sent me a good amount of copies and pdf-s of their contributions, I thank them this without enumerating a long list of names. Another colleague and friend, Dr. Moyna McGlynn helped in converting my original Hunglish into an understandable English text. She is the reason why this book is readable at least from a grammatical viewpoint. Personally, the period of completing this manuscript proved to be a very hard time for me, which culminated in the untimely death of my dear father. Although his perspective was completely different from mine, he always followed my career and my writings with interest and appreciation. I dedicate this volume to his kind memory. Finally, I must say gratitude for Krisztina, who, with her constant tenderness, has always been able to shine from behind the clouds, and to create a milieu where even the hard work turns to delight.

Géza G. Xeravits

Contents Preface  vii Introduction  1 Recent Research  2 Basic Preliminary Remarks  3 The Text of Baruch 4:5–5:9  6 The Structure and Unity of Baruch 4:30–5:6  11 Introduction  11 The Structure of the First Stanza (4:30–35)  12 The Structure of the Second Stanza (4:36–37)  15 The Structure of the Third Stanza (5:1–4)  16 The Structure of the Fourth Stanza (5:5–6)  18 Connecting Features in the Text of the Psalm  20 The Structure and Unity of Baruch 5:7–9  22 Introduction  22 The Structure of Baruch 5:7–9  23 Relationship with Baruch 4:30–5:6  25 The Structure and Unity of Baruch 4:5–29  28 Introduction  28 The Structure of Strophe A.1. (4:5–9a)  30 The Structure of Strophe A.2. (4:9b–13)  33 The Structure of Strophe A.3. (4:14–16)  37 The Structure of the Strophe B (4:17–20)  39 The Structure of the Strophe C.1. (4:21–24)  41 The Structure of Strophe C.2. (4:25–26)  45 The Structure of Strophe D (4:27–29)  47 Connecting Features in the Text of the Psalm  49 The Relationship between the Two Psalms  50 The Biblical Background of the Psalms  52 Introduction  52 Baruch 4:5–9a  54 Baruch 4:9b–13  60

x  Contents Baruch 4:14–16  64 Baruch 4:17–20  66 Baruch 4:21–24  69 Baruch 4:25–26  73 Baruch 4:27–29  74 Baruch 4:30–35  76 Baruch 4:36–37  79 Baruch 5:1–4  81 Baruch 5:5–6  83 Baruch 5:7–9  84 The Basic Biblical Passages  87 The Nature of the Biblical Background  87 Tradition Historical Background and Theology of the Psalms in Baruch  90 Deuteronomy  90 The Book of Deuteronomy  90 Deuteronomic Worldview  94 Deuteronomistic View of History  96 Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic View in Early Jewish Literature  98 Isaiah, Especially Chapters 40–66  106 The Book of Isaiah  106 Isaiah 40–66 in Early Jewish Literature  110 The Book of the Twelve Prophets  116 Are Jeremiah and Lamentations Especially Important for Baruch 4:5–5:9?  118 Summary  120 Comments on Formative Issues  121 Relationship of the Main Parts  121 Language  123 Dating of Baruch 4:5–5:9  125 Bibliography  130 Index of Sources  142

Introduction The Book of Baruch is a pseudonymous collection of various materials in Greek. Although its implied author is the seventh/sixth century BC Baruch, scribe and companion of the prophet Jeremiah,1 it is clear that the book in its entirety has been written in the late Second Temple period.2 The book in its actual form consists of different successive parts, the unity of which is disputed: 1. a historical narrative introduction (1:1–14), which identifies the author as Baruch, and places the entire book into the Babylonian exile, in the year 581 BC; 2. a communal confession in prose form (1:15–3:8), written in a manner familiar within the literature of Second Temple Judaism, as testified by such pericopae as Nehemiah 9:6–37; Ezra 9:6–15; Daniel 9:4–19; Psalm 106; or, from the Qumran Library, 4Q393 and 4Q504 1–2 v 1–vii 2; 3. a sapiential poem (3:9–4:4), the main body of which praises wisdom, which has been given to Israel; 4. a complex of poetic material, which can at least be divided into two basic prophetic psalms (4:5–29 and 4:30–5:9). The successive parts of the book differ, at the very first, in their genres: the first two are in prose (a narrative and a confession), whereas the last two have poetic form (a sapiential part and a non-sapiential part). Furthermore, the Greek language of these successive parts shows also considerable differences.3 It is an opinio communis among scholars that section 1:15–3:8 had originally been composed in Hebrew, and was later on translated into Greek; nevertheless, serious efforts have been made in arguing for the Hebrew original of the passages 3:9– 5:9 as well.4 Anyway, it is not possible to consider the Greek of these two suc-

 1 On Baruch ben Neriah, the scribe from the Hebrew Bible, see, e.g. WRIGHT, Baruch: His Evolution, 264–289; IDEM, Baruch ben Neriah, 1–39; PERDUE, Baruch among the Sages, 260–290. 2 In earlier research, several conservative scholars held the Baruchian authorship of the book— or at least some of its parts—this aspect has rightly disappeared from recent scholarship. A convenient collection of earlier opinions is found, e.g., in BURKE, Poetry of Baruch, 18–19. 3 See, e.g., the comprehensive assessment of TOV, Septuagint Translation. 4 The first attempt for translating Baruch into Hebrew and constructing a hypothetic Urtext is made by KNEUCKER, Buch Baruch, 351–361. TOV, Book of Baruch, 13–27 translated into Hebrew

2  Introduction cessive parts as the work of one and a same author.5 Today, there is a certain scepticism on the possibility of a Hebrew Urtext of Baruch.6

Recent Research Baruch is one of those parts of the Greek Old Testament that has provoked until now relatively little scholarly interest. Below, I intend to briefly review the most important related publications of the last half a century.7 The second half of the twentieth century has produced only a handful of detailed critical commentaries or monographs on the book. The approach of Angelo Penna’s commentary for the Sacra Bibbia series (1953) is rather conservative or fundamentalist and is not very helpful for the contemporary critical research. Most useful is the commentary of Benjamin Wambacq for the Dutch series De Boeken van het Oude Testament (1957).8 The first monographic size contribution of the period is the unpublished PhD thesis of Joseph Battistone from 1968, which is an in-depth analysis of the sapiential poem of Baruch.9 In the seventies and eighties, four major contributions have appeared. Antonius H.J. Gunneweg edited Baruch for the Jüdische Schriften aus hellenistischrömischer Zeit (1975), which is followed by the first longer modern English language commentary on the book by Carey A. Moore for the Anchor Bible series (1977). Moore emphasises the contrasts and crucial differences between the main parts of the book, moreover, he suggests that the prose and poetic sections must have had different provenance.10 It was in 1982, when David Burke has published his volume The Poetry of Baruch, which—although his basic view concerning the original language of the poetic part is diametrically opposed to my own view—will be used with great profit throughout the present research.  chapters 1:1–3:8, and most recently BURKE, Poetry of Baruch, 65–75 and 135–150 provided a Hebrew translation of chapters 3:9–5:9. 5 On this, see esp. the arguments of TOV, Septuagint Translation. Earlier, HARWELL, Principal Versions, 59–60 believed that the entire book has just one translator. 6 See esp. DAVILA, (How) Can We Tell, 51–54, and WILSON, Paul, 456–458. HENDERSON, Second Temple Songs, recently supports, however, the conviction of an underlying Hebrew original for Baruch. 7 The earlier research is summarised in comprehensive details in the monograph of FEUERSTEIN, Buch Baruch, 95–367; see esp. 274–367 on pre-modern and early modern critical scholarship. 8 See, PENNA, Baruch; WAMBACQ, Jeremias, Klaagliederen, Baruch, 357–387. 9 BATTISTONE, Examination. This invaluable contribution, however, only incidentally touches the present investigation. 10 MOORE, Additions, 255–316; see, esp., his preliminary remarks in page 256.

Basic Preliminary Remarks  3

Finally, Josef Schreiner’s contribution for the Neue Echter Bibel series has been published in 1986.11 From the end of the nineties, a kind of renaissance has been generated in the study of Baruch. This renaissance was heralded by the publication of Odil Steck’s meticulous monograph Das apokryphe Baruchbuch in 1993, which was followed by his commentary in the Das Alte Testament Deutsch series in 1998. In the same decade, two other lengthy contributions have been published by Rüdiger Feuerstein (1997) and by André Kabasele Mukenge (1998).12 Steck and Kabasele Mukenge focused their respective researches on arguments about the basic literary unity of the work, while Rüdiger Feuerstein—after providing a comprehensive Forschungsgeshichte and reviewing the textual traditions of the book—asked several basic questions about critical scholarship on Baruch and where it tended, i.e. with emphasis on the unity of the text. He however— despite his scattered criticism on those viewing Baruch as a unity—failed to establish a particular position on the unity of the book as a whole. Finally, more recently, two other comprehensive treatments are being produced on Baruch or on its sections: a part of Ruth Henderson’s monograph entitled Second Temple Songs of Zion, and the commentary of Sean Adams for the Septuagint Commentary Series, both are forthcoming at the time of writing this present study.

Basic Preliminary Remarks Despite the various genres and diverse linguistic characteristics of the units collected into the Book of Baruch, the arguments of those scholars who assume the basic unity of the book are based mainly on the one hand, on macrostructural aspects, and on the other hand, on the use of previous biblical material in the various units. The main arguments of Steck come from his remark that the book displays a more-or-less coherent Deuteronomistic theological outlook, and refers to Jeremiah, especially chapter 29. The most important unifying factors of the book collected by Steck are the following. First, he finds common “thematic accents” throughout the book.13 Second, the sapiential  11 See GUNNEWEG, Buch Baruch, 165–181; BURKE, Poetry of Baruch; SCHREINER, Baruch, 43–84 (this has replaced the earlier volume of HAMP, Baruch, from 1950). 12 See, STECK, Apokyphe Baruchbuch; IDEM, Buch Baruch, 11–68; KABASELE MUKENGE, Unité littéraire; FEUERSTEIN, Buch Baruch. 13 E.g., “…der Abkehr vom Bösen (3,1–8) entspricht weiterführend die angemahnte Umkehr zum Gesetz (4,1–4), dem Aufweis des Grundes der Exilierung (3,10–13), und der Aussicht von

4  Introduction psalm is connected to the units around it by their “Gesamtthematik” Israel, and wisdom/Law; while the communal confession and the closing psalms are connected by the themes sin and judgement.14 Furthermore, the entire book has the same “theologisch-konzeptueller Sicht.”15 The vast monograph of André Kabasele Mukenge argues for the unity of the book also especially on the basis of the putative common indebtedness of the successive parts to some biblical core texts. He attributes especial importance to Deuteronomy 28–33 and Jeremiah 27–33.16 Others, however, rightly questions the possibility of maintaining such a view. Doron Mendels in his Anchor Bible Dictionary article calls the attention to differences in source material, themes and theology.17 Edward Wright in his monograph on the various images of Baruch even holds the view that the main parts of the book have “originally circulated independently” from each other. He therefore more emphatically contradicts the theory of the unity of Baruch.18 David deSilva also admits the original independence of the main parts of Baruch and labels the final author of the book as a redactor.19 A similar view is held also by George Nickelsburg,20 and was the basic conviction behind David Burke’s analysis.21 In the background of the present investigation lies the conviction that one cannot consider the Book of Baruch as a systematic work of an author or a school, working at the same time and with the same intention. It is, moreover, a collection of previously independent material, so the emergence of the book in its

 Weisheitsfindung (3,14) weiterführend die verheissene Rückkehr (4,5–5,9),” STECK, Apokryphe Baruchbuch, 255. 14 “B nimmt die Menschen Jerusalems, Judas, ja ganz Israel hinsichtlicht Schuld und Gericht in Blick, D nimmt wieder die Menschen Jerusalems und ganz Israels hinsichtlich der Aufhebung des Gerichts in Blick,” STECK, Apokryphe Baruchbuch, 256. 15 “Wegen der Schuld aus seiner gesamten Geschichte ist ganz Israel(!) von seinem Gott in Exil gestossen, kann da aber zu Gottes Gesetz umkehren und wird ins Verheissungsland zurückkehren, während das Gericht dann die Feindmacht treffen wird,” STECK, Apokryphe Baruchbuch, 256. 16 See esp. his closing remarks in KABASELE MUKENGE, Unité littéraire, 369–397. 17 MENDELS, Baruch, 619. 18 WRIGHT, Baruch ben Neriah, 46. 19 DESILVA, Introducing the Apocrypha, 198–210, passim. 20 NICKELSBURG, Jewish Literature, 94. 21 BURKE, Poetry of Baruch, 6: “the book gives every evidence of being an amalgam of originally independent works united by the (perhaps superimposed) overriding theme of the exilic dispersion of Israel.”

Basic Preliminary Remarks  5

present form can be regarded as a process of redaction rather than authorship. The present monograph intends to focus on the development of the closing, complex psalm of the Book (4:5–5:9)—a section considerably independent from the preceding material of the book as a whole. In the course of the present investigation, the following steps seem necessary. The first step is a structural analysis of the three different units 4:5–29; 4:30– 5:6; 5:7–9, during which the structure of the greater units (strophes, cantos) will be investigated, together with the structural relationship of these units with each other. After this, the biblical background of the passages is explored. The Scriptural passages that prove to be authoritative or influential for the author(s) of the Baruch passages give clues as to the particular interest and intention of the author(s). This step is supplemented by an inquiry into the tradition historical background of the prophetic psalms. Finally, I close this short monograph with some basic comments on several formative issues of Baruch 4:5–5:9.

The Text of Baruch 4:5–5:9 The basic text for the research of this book is that of Ziegler’s. Below, I will print this text with some textual remarks, together with the fresh translation of Tony Michael from NETS (930–931 with minor changes).

4:5 qarsei/te lao,j mou1 mnhmo,sunon Israhl 6 evpra,qhte toi/j e;qnesin ouvk eivj avpw,leian dia. de. to. parorgi,sai u`ma/j to.n qeo.n paredo,qhte toi/j u`penanti,oij 7 parwxu,nate ga.r to.n poih,santa u`ma/j qu,santej daimoni,oij kai. ouv qew/| 8 evpela,qesqe de.2 to.n trofeu,santa u`ma/j qeo.n aivw,nion evluph,sate de. kai. th.n evkqre,yasan u`ma/j Ierousalhm 9 ei=den ga.r th.n evpelqou/san u`mi/n ovrgh.n para. tou/ qeou/ kai. ei=pen avkou,sate ai` pa,roikoi Siwn evph,gage,n moi o` qeo.j pe,nqoj me,ga 10 ei=don ga.r th.n aivcmalwsi,an tw/n ui`w/n mou3 kai. tw/n qugate,rwn h]n evph,gagen auvtoi/j o` aivw,nioj 11 e;qreya ga.r auvtou.j metV euvfrosu,nhj evxape,steila de. meta. klauqmou/ kai. pe,nqouj 12 mhdei.j evpicaire,tw moi th/| ch,ra| kai. kataleifqei,sh| u`po. pollw/n hvrhmw,qhn dia. ta.j a`marti,aj tw/n te,knwn mou dio,ti evxe,klinan evk no,mou qeou/ 13 dikaiw,mata de. auvtou/ ouvk e;gnwsan ouvde. evporeu,qhsan o`doi/j evntolw/n qeou/ ouvde. tri,bouj

Take courage, my people, reminder of Israel! 6 You were sold to the nations not for destruction, but because you angered God you were delivered to your adversaries. 7 For you provoked the one who made you by sacrificing to demons and not to God. 8 And you forgot the one who nursed you, God everlasting, and you even grieved Ierousalem who reared you. 9 For she saw the anger that came upon you from God, and she said: Listen, you neighbors of Sion, God has brought great mourning upon me; 10 for they saw the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting brought upon them. 11 For I reared them with gladness, but I sent them away with weeping and grief. 12 Let no one rejoice against me, the widow and one forsaken by many; I was left desolate because of the sins of my children, because they turned away from God’s law. 13 And they did not recognize his statutes; neither did

 1 Instead of lao,j mou manuscripts following the Lucianic recension of the Septuagint read lao,j qeou/. This reading must not be preferred; the inner logic of the passage substantiates the majority reading. 2 Codex Vaticanus omits de, here. Several manuscripts read ga,r instead. 3 Codex Alexandrinus reads here tw/n ui`w/n tou/ laou/ mou.

The Text of Baruch 4:5–5:9  7

paidei,aj evn dikaiosu,nh| auvtou/ evpe,bhsan 14 evlqa,twsan ai` pa,roikoi Siwn kai. mnh,sqhte th.n aivcmalwsi,an tw/n ui`w/n mou kai. qugate,rwn h]n evph,gagen auvtoi/j o` aivw,nioj 15 evph,gagen ga.r evpV auvtou.j e;qnoj makro,qen e;qnoj avnaide.j kai. avllo,glwsson oi] ouvk hv|scu,nqhsan presbu,thn ouvde. paidi,on hvle,hsan 16 kai. avph,gagon tou.j avgaphtou.j th/j ch,raj kai. avpo. tw/n qugate,rwn th.n mo,nhn hvrh,mwsan 17 evgw. de. ti, dunath. bohqh/sai u`mi/n 18 o` ga.r evpagagw.n ta. kaka. u`mi/n evxelei/tai u`ma/j evk ceiro.j evcqrw/n u`mw/n 19 badi,zete te,kna badi,zete evgw. ga.r katelei,fqhn e;rhmoj 20 evxedusa,mhn th.n stolh.n th/j eivrh,nhj evnedusa,mhn de. sa,kkon th/j deh,sew,j mou kekra,xomai pro.j to.n aivw,nion evn tai/j h`me,raij mou 21 qarsei/te4 te,kna boh,sate pro.j to.n qeo,n kai. evxelei/tai u`ma/j evk dunastei,aj evk ceiro.j evcqrw/n 22 evgw. ga.r h;lpisa evpi. tw/| aivwni,w| th.n swthri,an u`mw/n kai. h=lqe,n moi cara. para. tou/ a`gi,ou evpi. th/| evlehmosu,nh| h] h[xei u`mi/n evn ta,cei para. tou/ aivwni,ou swth/roj u`mw/n 23 evxe,pemya ga.r u`ma/j meta. pe,nqouj kai. klauqmou/ avpodw,sei de, moi o` qeo.j u`ma/j meta. carmosu,nhj kai. euvfrosu,nhj eivj to.n aivw/na 24 w[sper ga.r nu/n e`wra,kasin ai` pa,roikoi Siwn th.n u`mete,ran aivcmalwsi,an

they walk in the ways of God’s commandments nor tread on the paths of instruction by his righteousness. 14 Let the neighbors of Sion come. And remember the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting brought upon them. 15 For he brought against them a far off nation, a shameless nation and one speaking an alien tongue, who did not respect an old man nor showed mercy to a child. 16 And they led away the beloved sons of the widow and isolated the lonely woman from her daughters. 17 But I, how am I able to help you? 18 For he who brought these bad things upon you will deliver you from the hand of your enemies. 19 Walk, children, walk, for I have been left desolate. 20 I have taken off the robe of peace and put on sackcloth for my petition; I will cry out to the Everlasting in all my days. 21 Take courage, O children; call out to God, and he will deliver you from domination, from the hand of enemies. 22 For I have hoped in the Everlasting for your salvation, and joy has come to me from the Holy One because of the mercy that will soon come to you from your everlasting savior. 23 For I dispatched out with mourning and weeping, but God will give you back to me with delight and merriment forever. 24 For as the neighbors of Sion have seen your

 4 This is the majority reading of the manuscripts. Codex Vaticanus reads qarrei/te here.

8  The Text of Baruch 4:5–5:9

ou[twj o;yontai evn ta,cei th.n para. tou/ qeou/ u`mw/n swthri,an h] evpeleu,setai u`mi/n meta. do,xhj mega,lhj kai. lampro,thtoj tou/ aivwni,ou 25 te,kna makroqumh,sate th.n para. tou/ qeou/ evpelqou/san u`mi/n ovrgh,n katedi,wxe,n se o` evcqro,j sou kai. o;yei auvtou/ th.n avpw,leian evn ta,cei kai. evpi. trach,louj auvtw/n evpibh,sh| 26 oi` truferoi, mou evporeu,qhsan o`dou.j tracei,aj h;rqhsan w`j poi,mnion h`rpasme,non u`po. evcqrw/n 27 qarsh,sate te,kna kai. boh,sate pro.j to.n qeo,n e;stai ga.r u`mw/n u`po. tou/ evpa,gontoj mnei,a 28 w[sper ga.r evge,neto h` dia,noia u`mw/n eivj to. planhqh/nai avpo. tou/ qeou/ dekaplasia,sate evpistrafe,ntej zhth/sai auvto,n 29 o` ga.r evpagagw.n u`mi/n ta. kaka. evpa,xei u`mi/n th.n aivw,nion euvfrosu,nhn meta. th/j swthri,aj u`mw/n 30 qa,rsei Ierousalhm parakale,sei se o` ovnoma,saj se 31 dei,laioi oi` se. kakw,santej kai. evpicare,ntej th/| sh/| ptw,sei 32 dei,laiai ai` po,leij ai-j evdou,leusan ta. te,kna sou deilai,a h` dexame,nh tou.j ui`ou,j sou 33 w[sper ga.r evca,rh evpi. th/| sh/| ptw,sei kai. euvfra,nqh evpi. tw/| ptw,mati, sou ou[twj luphqh,setai evpi. th/| e`auth/j evrhmi,a| 34 kai. perielw/5 auvth/j to. avgalli,ama th/j poluocli,aj kai. to. avgauri,ama auvth/j e;stai6 eivj pe,nqoj 35 pu/r ga.r evpeleu,setai auvth/| para. tou/ aivwni,ou eivj h`me,raj makra,j kai. katoikhqh,setai u`po. daimoni,wn to.n

captivity now, so they will quickly see your salvation from God, which will come to you with the great glory and splendor of the Everlasting. 25 O children, bear patiently the wrath that has come upon you from God. The enemy has pursued you, but you will quickly see their destruction and will tread upon their necks. 26 My pampered children have traveled rough roads; they were taken away like a flock carried off by enemies. 27 Take courage, O children, and call out to God, for there will be mention of you by the one who brought this. 28 For just as your intention became to go astray from God, multiply by ten when you return to seek him. 29 For the one who brought these bad things upon you will bring you everlasting merriment with your salvation. 30 Take courage, O Ierousalem; he who named you will comfort you. 31 Wretched will be those who have harmed you and who have rejoiced at your fall. 32 Wretched will be the cities that your children served as slaves; wretched will be the one that received your sons. 33 For just as she rejoiced at your fall and was glad for your ruin, so she will be grieved at her own desolation. 34 And I will take away her rejoicing of her great population, and her insolence will be turned to mourning. 35 For fire will come upon her from the Everlasting

 5 Minor witnesses read the verb in third person: perielei/. 6 This is the majority reading of the manuscripts. Codex Vaticanus omits e;stai here.

The Text of Baruch 4:5–5:9  9

plei,ona cro,non 36 peri,bleyai pro.j avnatola,j Ierousalhm kai. ivde. th.n euvfrosu,nhn th.n para. tou/ qeou/ soi evrcome,nhn 37 ivdou. e;rcontai oi` ui`oi, sou ou]j evxape,steilaj e;rcontai sunhgme,noi avpV avnatolw/n e[wj dusmw/n tw/| r`h,mati tou/ a`gi,ou cai,rontej th/| tou/ qeou/ do,xh| 5:1 e;kdusai Ierousalhm th.n stolh.n tou/ pe,nqouj kai. th/j kakw,sew,j sou kai. e;ndusai th.n euvpre,peian th/j para. tou/ qeou/ do,xhj eivj to.n aivw/na 2 peribalou/ th.n diploi