[JSP 12.

2 (2001) 149-163]
ISSN 0951-8207

TESTAMENT AND CANON IN THE LETTER OF SECOND BARUCH

(2 Baruch 7887)

M.F. Whitters
4229 Commonwealth, Detroit, MI 48208-2910, USA
MarkWhitters@yahoo.com

Abstract
The Letter of Second Baruch (2 Baruch 7887 [here called Ep2B]) dened
the apocalyptic views and religious teachings of its author and later was
received into the canon of the Syriac Bible. This article shows that Ep2B is
an example of a Second Temple period testament, showing aspects of early
and late testament forms. Like other testaments of the period, the letter gave
expression to the beliefs and boundaries of religious groups and even ac-
quired inspired status.

1. Introduction
In this article I will take up one example of a testament document, the
Epistle of Baruch, which was incorporated into the canonical tradition of
the Syriac Church. First, I will give some background information about
the Epistle and its relation to the genre of testament. Second, I will show
that this composition displays elements of both early and late Jewish tes-
tament forms. Third, I will illustrate how the letter in its capacity as a
testament projects for itself a religious status, which later generations
recognized by including it in the Syriac Bible. Finally, I will discuss how
the letter allows the biblical hero in his last words to address the internal
and external affairs of the particular group for whom it is written.

2. Introduction to the Epistle

Farewell speeches of biblical heroes who were in the process of leaving
earthly life became a popular genre of writing in the late Second Temple
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150 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12.2 (2001)

period.1 This type of literature is called testament, and apparently this

Jewish genre borrowed from the surrounding Greco-Roman world.2 Earlier
testaments in the Jewish biblical tradition emphasized the continuity of
covenant and cultural order in times of new leadership.3 Later testaments
laid claim to heroes of biblical antiquity and often expressed the apoca-
lyptic yearnings of an eponymous individual or religious group behind the
composition.4 Several treatments seem to offer the last words of the bib-
lical hero as a dening statement of the beliefs and boundaries for the
community that subscribed to the testament.5 Sometimes these later Jewish

1. For a bibliography of older scholarship on the genre, see A.B. Kolenkow and
J.J. Collins, Testaments, in R.A. Kraft and G.W.E. Nickelsburg (eds.), Early Judaism
and Its Modern Interpreters (Philadelphia: Fortress Press; Atlanta: Scholars Press,
1986), pp. 259-85. Other references relevant for this paper are: P. Bogaert, Apocalypse
de Baruch, introduction, traduction du syriaque et commentaire (2 vols.; SC, 144-45;
Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1969), I, p. 122; J.H. Charlesworth, TestamentsOften with
Apocalyptic Sections: Introduction, OTP, I, p. 773; J.J. Collins, The Apocalyptic
Imagination (2nd edn; Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, MA: Eerdmans, 1998), pp.
127-44. There does not seem to be any recent survey of the testament genre, especially
in light of DSS sources.
2. R.P. Spittler, Testament of Job, OTP, I, pp. 831-32; M. Kchler, Frhjdische
Weisheitstraditionen (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979), pp. 415-19. J.
Munck, Discours dadieu dans le Nouveau Testament et dans la littrature biblique,
in O. Cullman and P. Menoud (eds.), Aux sources de la tradition chrtienne (Fest-
schrift M. Goguel; Neuchtel: Delachaux & Niestl, 1950), pp. 155-70; A.B. Kolen-
kow, The Genre Testament and Forecasts of the Future in the Hellenistic Jewish
Milieu, JSJ 6 (1975), pp. 57-71; E. Stauffer, Abschiedsreden, RAC, I, pp. 29-35; T.F.
Glasson, Greek Inuence in Jewish Eschatology (London: SPCK, 1961). More recent
literature on the subject does not contest or comment on the Greco-Roman and Jewish
connection.
3. K. Baltzer, The Covenant Formulary (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971), esp.
pp. 81-82.
4. E.g. 1 En. 91104 (the Letter of Enoch); 4 Ezra; 2 Baruch; the Testament of
Levi (25; 1418); the Testament of Moses.
5. Some examples include 1 Enoch (esp. the Letter of Enoch, chs. 91104), the
Testament of Moses, probably the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and possibly
4 Ezra. In general see J.J. Collins, Pseudepigraphy and Group Formation in Second
Temple Judaism, in E.G. Chazon and M. Stone (eds.), Pseudepigraphic Perspectives:
The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Leiden: E.J.
Brill, 1999), pp. 43-58. Disputing the view that 1 En. 91105 is sectarian is R.A.
Horsley, Social Relations and Social Conict in the Epistle of Enoch, in R.A. Argall,
B.A. Bow and R.A. Werline (eds.), For a Later Generation (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity
Press International, 2000), pp. 100-15 (115).

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 WHITTERS Testament and Canon 151

testaments were so central to the community that they acquired special

inspired status. New Testament and early Church sources testify to the
prestige of these writings, and testaments eventually found their way into
the canonical lists of several churches.6
The Epistle of Baruch is part of a larger book rediscovered in the late
nineteenth century, called the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (here called
2B). The Epistle of Baruch is, more or less, the same as the last ten chap-
ters of 2B (chs. 7887), often called the Epistle of 2 Baruch, which became
detached from the main manuscript in its transmission.7 The detached ten
chapters were preserved in the later MSS of the Syriac Bible, while the
rest of the book, 77 chapters of 2B including apocalyptic visions, pareneti-
cal speeches, and prayers, were lost. For the remainder of this study I will
use the chapter and verse references of the letter at the end of 2B. I will
use the abbreviation Ep2B in order to emphasize that the Epistle originally
was a part of a larger literary composition.
The book of Deuteronomy is an appropriate analogy for 2B because it
consists roughly of a farewell song and blessing (the testament) preceded
by a long recitation of laws and exhortations (the covenant). 2B might
also be viewed as a long discourse (the rst 77 chapters) followed by a
farewell letter (Ep2B). M. Weinfeld believes that the earliest installment
of Deuteronomy was simply the song (Deut. 32.1-43) or the blessing
(Deut. 33). The tradents, however, were not satised with the composition
and added in stages the long speech of law and history (Deut. 131).8 The

6. The Ethiopian Church adopted the book of Enoch; the Syrian Orthodox Church
adopted the Epistle of Baruch; the Latin Church adopted Fourth Ezra as an appendix to
the Vulgate, while other churches give it quasi-canonical status. The book of Enoch
seemed to have pride of place for religious groups in the Hellenistic period. See G.W.E.
Nickelsburg, The Nature and Function of Revelation in 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and Some
Qumranic Documents, in Chazon and Stone (eds.), Pseudepigraphic Perspectives, pp.
91-119 (98-99); Collins, Group Formation, p. 44. The Qumran sect may have received
other testaments into their canon. See M.O. Wise, The First Messiah (New York:
HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), pp. 46-60, 110-15.
7. Bogaert, Apocalypse, I, pp. 67-72; F.J. Murphy, The Structure and Meaning of
Second Baruch (SBLDS, 78; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985); M.F. Whitters, The
Epistle of Second Baruch: A Study in Form and Message (JSPSup, 42; Shefeld Aca-
demic Press, [forthcoming] 2003); cf. G.B. Sayler, Have the Promises Failed? A Liter-
ary Analysis of 2 Baruch (SBLDS, 72; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1984).
8. M. Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1972), p. 11.

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152 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12.2 (2001)

reader could now prot not only from Moses stirring nal song and bless-
ing but also from the national history, moral parenesis, and legal teaching
present throughout the book. Weinfeld proposes the same literary con-
struction for Davids lifenamely, a separate song and blessing (2 Sam.
22; 23.1-7) joined to a longer collection of moral stories. In both of these
biblical scenarios, the testament-like documents were placed at the end of
the respective books, though they preceded and possibly gave inspiration
to the composition of the book itself.
Unlike the aforementioned biblical analogies, 2B and the Epistle show
elements of another literary genre, apocalypse. The dying hero, Baruch,
does not simply rely on his own authority and urge faithfulness to the Law,
but he relies on his unique status as a seer into heavenly realities and/or
mysteries of history. In this respect the testament of 2B and its letter are
similar to later apocalypse-laden testaments, the Testament of Levi, the
Testament of Moses, and 1 En. 91104 (the Letter of Enoch).

3. Formal Analysis
In the following discussion I will show Ep2B is a testament. Both the early
and the late forms found in biblical literary traditions make up Ep2B.

a. Early Testament Form

A discussion of the role of the testament in Ep2B can start with ch. 84.9
This is a succinct account of a testament consistent with earlier biblical
types.
1
I have therefore instructed you while I am still alive, for I have ordered that
you should especially learn the commandments of the Almighty10 who has
admonished you. I will briey set before you some of the commandments of
his judgment before I die. 2Keep in mind that once Moses solemnly invoked
heaven and earth as witnesses against you, and said, If you transgress the
Law, you will be scattered. But if you keep it, you will be planted. 3Also he
said other things to you when you were together, the twelve tribes in the
desert. 4After his death you cast them away from you, and because of this,

9. The translation follows the c MS of Ceriani.

10. )NtlY8X (plural) has been emended to )NtlYX (singular). Otherwise, the
translation of the phrase would be, that youlearn the mighty commandments that he
has taught you. Bogaert (Apocalypse, II, p. 154) suggests the emendation on grounds
that the rarity of construct phrases brings on errors of punctuation. All other versions
read as above.

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 WHITTERS Testament and Canon 153

there came against you what had been predicted. 5And now, Moses spoke to
you beforehand so that it might not happen to you; and look, it has hap-
pened to you. For you abandoned the Law. 6Look, I also say to you that after
you have suffered, if you obey those things that were said to you, you will
receive from the Almighty everything ordained and reserved for you. 7Let
this letter be a witness between you and me that you may remember the
commandments of the Almighty, and that also it may be for me my defense
before the One who sent me. 8Be mindful of Zion and the Law, as well as of
the Holy Land, your kinfolk, and the covenant of your ancestors.11 Do not
forget the feasts and the Sabbaths. 9Pass on this letter and its traditions of
the Law to your children after you, just as your ancestors passed them on to
you. 10Intercede at all times and pray earnestly with all your soul that the
Almighty may be reconciled to you and that he might not take into account
the multitude of your sinners, but that he might remember the integrity of
your ancestors. 11For if he does not judge us according to the abundance of
his mercy, woe to all of us who are born!

The letter as a whole, and ch. 84 in particular, are drawn up as Baruchs

nal statement in life. Throughout the book the reader has been informed
many times that Baruchs earthly existence is about to come to an end (2B
13.3; 25.1; 43.2; 44.2; 46.7; 48.30; 76.2). His followers and loved ones sur-
round him and mourn for him (32.8; 46.1-3; 77.11-14) as he gives to them
his knowledge and wisdom. The story presented in 2B projects Baruch as
a seer facing his own mortality and early departure from life. Baruchs
divinely ordained destiny explains why the aura of testament hangs like a
pall over the three key public speeches of 2B (chs. 3134; 4446; 77).
Ep2B arises in this same context, that is, the people beseech Baruch to
write a letter of doctrine and a scroll of good news before he leaves (2B
77.12). Baruch himself understands the letter as his nal statement, saying,
It has been increasingly a concern of mine to leave you the words of this
letter before I die (78.5).
Within ch. 84 there are three references to the testament motif: (1)
Baruch twice mentions his own upcoming death (v. 1); (2) Baruch cites
Moses own nal testament in the book of Deuteronomy (v. 2) and refers
to Moses death (v. 4); (3) Baruch says that the letter is his )Xwr qPM
(defense), before God who gave him his lifes work (v. 7).12 This is a

11. Literally, the MS reads, the covenant and your ancestors.

12. The Syriac phrase is frequently used in the Peshi
ta New Testament for ones
defense before a tribunal (Acts 22.1; 1 Cor. 9.3; 2 Cor. 7.11; Phil. 1.7, 16; 2 Tim. 4.16).
In this passage of Ep2B, Baruch presumes he is soon to give an account of his life to
God the judge.

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154 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12.2 (2001)

traditional testament, for the most part, emphasizing the necessity of

remembering and keeping the Law. In its quotation of Moses and in some
of its expressions, the testament sounds very much like Baruchs summary
of the book of Deuteronomy.

b. Late Testament Form

In addition to the elements of the early testament form, there is in Ep2B
the heros reference to special revelations. Though the actual accounts of
apocalyptic visions are never mentioned in Ep2B, they signicantly inu-
ence the nature of the letter.13 For a number of reasons to be discussed
below, it is fair to say that Ep2B is written in the spirit of the genre of
apocalypse.14 Organizationally, Ep2B represents the main address of Ba-
ruch to his people after his third extensive vision (chs. 5376). The other-
worldly intermediary and interpreter is the angel Ramael, last reported in
2B 76, who directs Baruch to instruct the people. Baruch responds to the
angelic command by writing two letters, one of which is Ep2B. Therefore,
Ep2B assumes that Baruch has had an otherworldly encounter and repre-
sents Baruchs teaching resulting from his apocalyptic vision. The narra-
tive assumes that the people (and the reader) are familiar with the
heavenly disclosures that Baruch has been privileged to behold, though
Baruch does not mention them in his speeches. Even so, Baruch briey
alludes to his revelations in Ep2B (2B 81.4):
he [the Lord] revealed to me, that he might console me. He pointed out to
me visions so that I might not again be discouraged. He informed me about
the mysteries of the times, and he pointed out to me the advent of the
seasons.15

The passage employs apocalyptic terminology (visions, mysteries, sea-

sons) and points the reader to earlier revelations in 2B. For example, the
reference to seasons here and elsewhere in 2B (83.1, 6-7) may point to
the revelation of the periodization found in the earlier apocalyptic revela-
tions of Ep2B (chs. 27; 5674).

13. In this sense, Ep2B resembles the Epistle of Enoch, which depends on the
apocalyptic revelations recorded earlier in 1 Enoch. See Nickelsburg, Nature, p. 92.
14. For a denition of the genre and its narrative framework, see J.J. Collins, Intro-
duction: Towards the Morphology of a Genre, in idem, Apocalypse: The Morphology
of a Genre (Semeia, 14; Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1979), p. 9.
15. This is my translation based upon c.

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 WHITTERS Testament and Canon 155

4. Religious Status of the Testament of Ep2B

a. Early Testament Form
The testament of ch. 84 noted above makes several statements about its
importance as a religious writing. For example, 2B 84.7 makes a strong
claim for itself as an authoritative document: Let this letter be a witness
between you and me that you may remember the commandments of the
Almighty, and that also it may be for me my defense before the One who
sent me. Baruch says that the letter itself is a witness to the covenant that
the people are called to and to Baruchs fulllment of his mission. The
letter itself is a concrete sign of the agreement originally between God and
the people at the time of Moses (cf. Deut. 31.19, 21, 26; 32.46). The letter
is not only an exhortation to reect on the old days but a contemporary
and fresh invitation to live up to covenant ideals. The author of 2B intends
that the audience associate Baruch and Moses togetherand perhaps
Ep2B and the Law.16 The author may be claiming that Baruch and his
letter have the same legal status as Moses and the Pentateuch, and this is
lofty analogy.
The claim that Baruch makes for his letter is continued in 84.9: Pass on
this letter and its traditions of the Law to your children after you, just as
your ancestors passed them on to you. Baruch commands the audience to
transmit the letter and its interpretation about how to live in the Diaspora
lands. Ep2B is not only an exhortation to obey the Law, but now it has its
own life and authority as a part of the deposit of the truth to be passed
down to later generations. This seems like a remarkable claim, but it is not
without precedent among the sects that grew up out of the Jewish faith of
the Second Temple period, many of which canonized (to some degree) the
words of their masters in writing.17
The call to preserve Ep2B as a transmitted document pays heed to
biblical sensibilities regarding the last words of biblical heroes. On the
very day Moses is called to ascend Mount Nebo in order to die, the cove-
nant described over the course of the entire book culminates in the Song
of Moses and these words spoken by Moses: Take to heart all the words

16. For example, note the similarity of language between 2B 84.2, 7 and Deut.
31.19, 21, 26, 28; 32.1).
17. W.O. McCready, A Second Torah at Qumran?, SR 14 (1985), pp. 5-15; J.
Corbett, The Pharisaic Revolution and Jesus as Embodied Torah, SR 15 (1986), pp.
375-91; J. Kampen, The Sectarian Form of the Antitheses within the Social World of
the Matthean Community, Dead Sea Discoveries 1 (1994), pp. 338-63.

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156 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12.2 (2001)

that I am giving in witness against you today; give them as a command to

your children, so that they may diligently observe all the words of this
law (Deut. 32.46).
At a maximum, these testament statements in Ep2B may approximate
the claims of Jesus in the Gospels (e.g. Mt. 24.35; 28.18-20) or the Teacher
of Righteousness in the DSS (e.g. 4Q427.7), namely, that the masters last
words ought to be heeded as a divinely sanctioned new formulation of the
Mosaic covenant. At a minimum, the letter simply urges the audience to
observe the Mosaic covenant as reported in the Pentateuch.18

b. Later Testament Form

As mentioned above, later Jewish testaments lay claim to biblical heroes
and often reveal apocalypses. For this reason, Ep2B is especially appeal-
ing as religious document. First, I will consider how Baruch as the epony-
mous author would have been regarded and how this persona relates to
canon. Second, I will give specic references from Ep2B that address the
letters religious use within the group that adopted it.
Baruch is a dynamic gure in the imagination of the rst-century Jewish
world.19 Writings associated with his name would naturally gain prestige
as the reputation of Baruch grew. His master is the great prophet Jeremiah,
and Baruchs speeches in 2B presume a connection to the world of bib-
lical prophecy. Baruchs discourses derive authority from Jeremiahs
words.20 In fact, the author of 2B portrays Baruch as overshadowing his
master Jeremiah, dispatching him abroad, remaining in the land to console
the faithful remnant (see esp. 2B 10.1-5). Baruch dominates the rest of the
book with his visions, prayers, and instructions. The focus of Baruchs
ministry in Jerusalem is the training of the remaining Jewish elders, but he
increasingly addresses larger audiencesrst, the remaining residents of

18. A comparable example of the latter case comes from a testament most likely
written in the same era as Ep2B: I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to arouse
you by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as
our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. And I will see to it that after my departure you may
be able at any time to recall these things (2 Pet. 1.13-15 RSV).
19. In general, see J.E. Wright, Baruch, in M.E. Stone and T.A. Bergren (eds.),
Biblical Figures Outside the Bible (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1998).
20. P.R. Davies (Scribes and Schools: The Canonization of the Hebrew Scriptures
[Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1998], pp. 119-20) contends that long
before the rst century biblical scribes had exalted the stature of Jeremiah to a prophet
like Moses and his collection of prophecies to the status of the Torah.

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 WHITTERS Testament and Canon 157

the city, and then the people scattered in the Diaspora (78.1). The latter
group he reaches through a letter that concludes the book. This is the dra-
matic background for 2B and its readers.
Baruch was also known as a scribe.21 He recorded Jeremiahs words on
a scroll (Jer. 36). The fact that he was a scribe, that he writes Ep2B as a
scroll (77.12) easily slips past the modern reader. Writings, especially the
writings of famous people, are frequently valuable and sacrosanct among
ancient peoples. An aura of sanctity often accompanies, for example, even
the mere mention of scroll in the Bible (e.g. Ezek. 2.93.3; Ps. 40.8;
Rev. 5.1, 5; 10.2, 8-10; cf. Zech. 5.1-4).
In addition to his prophetic and scribal identity, Baruch is portrayed in
2B as an apocalyptic seer. Apocalypses, at least on the narrative level,
differ from prophecies because they are written and transmitted (e.g. 2B
77.12-17; 4 Ezra 12.36-38; 14.4-5; 44-48; Rev. 22.18-19), while prophe-
cies are heard, transmitted, and then written (e.g. Isa. 8.16-17; 30.8-11;
Jer. 30.2-3; Hab. 2.2-3).22 The writing of Ep2Bdependent upon the
revelations of 2Bconstitutes yet another asset for asserting its apoca-
lyptic urgency upon the reader. In summary, the momentum toward its
acceptance as an authoritative document was quickened by the way Ep2B
cloaked itself in its eponymous author and in its exibility of genre. The
last words of Baruchprophet, scribe, and seerwould be remembered
in religious circles.
The sense of its appeal for canonical status came to the surface in the
passage quoted earlier: Pass on this letter and its traditions of the Law to
your children after you, just as your ancestors passed them on to you
(84.9). Because Baruch is portrayed in the Hebrew Bible as a scribe, his
writings now take the place of religious guidance given by prophetic

21. An imprint of a seal, discovered in 1975 and dated to the time of the Babylo-
nian invasion, reads, Belonging to Berekhyahu, son of Neriyahu, the scribe. The
names and the dating all t the biblical portrayal of Baruch the scribe, son of Neriah.
See H. Shanks, Fingerprint of Jeremiahs Scribe, BARev 12 (1996), pp. 36-38.
22. W. Adler, Introduction, in J.C. Vanderkam and W. Adler (eds.), The Jewish
Apocalyptic Heritage in Early Christianity (CRINT, 3/4; Jewish Traditions in Early
Christian Literature; Assen: Van Gorcum; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), pp. 1-31
(13); D.S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic 200 BCAD 100
(London: SCM Press; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1964), pp. 118-19. Russell
believes that the necessity of writing apocalypses down reects a widespread suspicion
of oral revelations and coincides with the increasing codication and canonization of
the Law and prophets in the Roman period.

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158 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12.2 (2001)

speech or priestly intercession. The authoritative claim for Ep2B is well

suited for the harsh realities of the rst-century Jewish world, when the
era of the priest was over and the departure of the prophet was near. This
realization is implicit in the words that follow the testament of ch. 84:
1
Now then, know that in earlier times and generations from of old, our fore-
bears had righteous helpers, prophets, and holy ones. 2But then we were in
the land [of Israel]. They helped us when we sinned, and they interceded on
our behalf before the One who made us, because you put condence in their
deeds. And the Almighty heard them and made atonement for us. 3But now
the righteous have been gathered, and the prophets are sleeping. We also
have left the land, and Zion has been taken from us. We do not have any-
thing now except the Almighty and his Law. (2B 85.1-3)

This passage reects back on the golden age of the religion when the
prophets still spoke. The destruction of the city and the temple put the
Jews in a situation that required a new perspective on their religion. In-
stead of righteous helpers, prophets and holy ones, now there is only the
Law and its interpreters. In an irony of the genre, the testament domesti-
cated the prophet and the apocalyptic seer. The scribe and sage consolidate
the power once claimed by priest and prophet. Baruch and his letter sum
up this process nicely. The religion espoused by Ep2B is on its way to
becoming scribalized religion represented by the Mishnah and rabbinic
halakha.
There are several other indications that Ep2B was intended to become a
venerated book for its readers. First, Ep2B was designed to t a religious
and formal context. It is no accident that the narrative audience urges
Baruch to write his last words as a letter of doctrine and a scroll of
good news (77.12). How exactly the reader in the rst century is to inter-
pret these words is not clear, but the terminology here is intriguingly
reminiscent of New Testament language.23
Second, after Baruch determines that he will comply with the wishes of
his audience, he sends his testament, in a supernatural way, on the wings
of an eagle. This conveys a clear signal about its importance. Baruch says
that the eagle is the highest of all birds (77.21), which probably means
that the eagle soars highest. Thus, Baruchs source of inspiration has the
highest divine sanction. Lest the audience fail to perceive the divine provi-
dence of the letters delivery, the author calls to mind that biblical heroes

23. In the Pastoral Letters of the New Testament, for example, doctrine (didas-
kali/a) and gospel (eu0aggeli/on) are used almost synonymously (e.g. 1 Tim. 1.10).

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 WHITTERS Testament and Canon 159

like Noah, Elijah, and Solomon also had divine dealings with (lesser)
birds.24
Third, Ep2B is a liturgical document, read in the formal assemblies of
its audience. Baruch says just before closing, When therefore you receive
this letter, carefully read it in your gatherings, ponder over it increasingly
then in the days of your fasting (2B 86.1). This direction implies that
Ep2B has religious signicance, connected with worship, calendar, fast-
ing, and assembly.
Finally, the closing of the letter is as follows: Be mindful of me through
this letter just as I am mindful of you always by means of it (86.1). These
words merit some attention. At rst glance the statement sounds innocu-
ous, the request of a dying man to be remembered by those he himself
loves and remembers. But if we see a testament coming to the surface here,
the words are somewhat audacious: Baruch is saying that his audience
will remember him and that he will remember his audience through the
letter, that is, through its reading. Perhaps in the background is a Jewish
understanding of corporate remembrance as found in the annual Seder
liturgy. This line of thought is consistent with the suggestion that Ep2B is
a festal letter, read as part of a liturgy.25
Baruch is explicitly recommending his written words as a guide for reli-
gious life. He is suggesting that he will thereby be present, at least in the
life of his audienceand somehow they will be present unto him. There is
only one rather surprising parallel to 2B 86.1 in the Jewish and Christian
world of the rst centurythe closing words of Jesus in Mt. 28.21 (NRSV):
Remember, I will be with you always, unto the end of time. These words
come just after Jesus has said, All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations
(28.18-19). Here in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus takes on a high mantel
of religious authority. This testament of Jesus spoken from a mountain
(28.16) is consonant with the Gospel of Matthews depiction of Jesus as a
new Moses teaching a new Torah upon a new Sinai. Jesus urges that his

24. Other explanations for the eagle as Baruchs courier have been proposed by C.
Wolff, Irdisches und himmlisches Jerusalem: Die Heilshoffung in den Paralipomena
Jeremiae, ZNW 82 (1991), pp. 147-58; and J. Herzer, Die Paralipomena Jeremiae:
Studien zu Tradition und Redaktion einer Haggada des frher Judentums (TSAJ, 43;
Tbingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1994), pp. 69-71, 122 n. 419.
25. M.F. Whitters, Some New Observations about Jewish Festal Letters, JSJ 32
(2001), pp. 272-88 (285-88).

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160 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12.2 (2001)

message reach the wider world, and the scene harks back to the farewell
speech of Moses on a mountain urging his people enter the Promised Land.
I suggest that the Gospel of Matthew gives a clue as to how Ep2B was
revered.

5. Ep2B: Insiders and Outsiders

Later Jewish testaments dene community boundaries, and such bounda-
ries imply the existence of insiders and outsiders. What does Ep2B say
about people on the inside of the community? We know that this group
meets regularly, fasts regularly (86.1), and perceives itself as a disenfran-
chised and even destitute group (e.g. 82.1-9). It sees the need for some
kind of deliverance and revenge in the near future. The great assembly of
people who beg Baruch to write his letter refer to the document as a letter
of doctrine26 and a scroll of good news [a gospel] (2B 77.12).27 This
terminology in itself suggests a confessional purpose for the letter.
The main message of Ep2B must be understood in the context of 2B.
The Law takes priority over everything else as the sine qua non of Jewish
faith, according to 2B. To make the message utterly clear, Ep2B concludes
with an afrmation about the Law (85.14). This is a very difcult passage,
possibly Baruchs rule of faith near the end of the letter, which I trans-
late: That is why there is one Law through the One [God] for the one
world, and for those in it, [the Law] is the limit for all of them.28 My
translation underlines the universality (for the one world) of the Jewish
faith (one God) and Law (one Law) as the arbiter (limit) for all
peoples. This statement appears to be Baruchs last effort to synthesize a

26. This is the OTP translation; Gressman calls this a Lehrbrief (see B. Violet, Die
Apokalypsen des Esra und des Baruch in deutscher Gestalt, mit Textvoschlgen fr
Esra und Baruch von H. Gressman [Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1924], p. 350).
27. Gressman calls this der Regel in book format or bibli/on eu0aggelli/kon (Violet,
Apokalypsen, p. 350).
28. )KS hB tY)d nYLY)Lw .)MLO dX )SwMN dX dYB dX )Nh l+M
nwhlKl. While most translators interpret the last clause as a reference to the escha-
ton, I view )KS as a reference to the Law, and thus full of creedal meaning. J. Payne
Smiths A Compendious Syriac Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994 [1st edn,
1904]), p. 376, gives end, bound, limit, extreme as the denition of the word. In
support of my interpretation is another similar passage in the heart of the main text of
2B (2B 48.24): For all of us are one people of the Name because we received one Law
from the One [God]. And that Law among us is going to help us.

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 WHITTERS Testament and Canon 161

message that will unite his audience and present something that they can
take from his letter.29
As for outsiders, there is no direct address to the Gentiles in Ep2B or in
any part of 2B. The letter appears to be written to insiders already con-
vinced of the signicance of Baruchs revelations. Thus, strictly speaking,
Ep2B is not an apologia to the Gentiles. Nonetheless, the context for Ep2B
gives a clue about the letters outward focus. With the city in ruins and the
land occupied, Baruchs ultimate gaze is directed to Diaspora Jews and all
the challenges and opportunities that they face among the Gentiles. Baruch
has been moving farther away from Jerusalem as he gives speeches to
increasingly larger crowds. His last speech is given in Hebron, and his
nal words go out as a letter to the Diaspora world. The sphere of inu-
ence projected for Ep2B is of the same scope envisioned at the end of the
Gospel of Matthew.
The reader can sense in Ep2B that the Gentile world is not a hospitable
place for the Jewish faith (e.g. 2B 82.3-9; 83.10-22). No doubt many Jews
have been induced to give up their faith (e.g. 2B 41.3). On the other hand,
the broader literary context of 2B suggests that Diaspora Judaism has an
important role in bringing the Jewish religious message to the world. For
example, the scattered Jews are to promote good among the nations
(1.4). Already new converts are evident (41.4; 48.19). In the eschatologi-
cal theology of 2B, even Gentile nations can avert the fate meant for the
nations who opposed the Jews:
2
then he will summon all the nations. Some he will save, and some he
will put to death. 3So these things [the bright waters of the vision] are
coming upon the nations that are going to be saved by him. 4Every nation
that did not know Israel and did not trample down the seed of Jacob will
live. 5This is because some from among all the nations submitted to your
people. 6Now all those who ruled over you or that knew you, all of these
will be handed over to the sword. (2B 72.2-6)

29. Note the repetition of one (dX) and compare the line with the Jewish Shema
prayer. H.J. Schoeps (Theologie und Geschichte des Judenchristentums [Tbingen:
J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1949], p. 290 n. 3) sees this as a creedal statement, though
Bogaert (Apocalypse, II, p. 162) is not as inclined to accept it as such, because there is
no mention of the Jewish people per se. He concedes, however, that the line is a
summary of the books universalism. On the other hand, Charles sees this passage as a
polemical attack against Christians. He takes Moses as the One who provided the
Law. See R.H. Charles, The Apocalypse of Baruch Translated from the Syriac: Edited
with Introduction, Notes and Indices (London: A. & C. Black, 1896), p. 164.

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162 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12.2 (2001)

2B indicts all the nations that subjugated Israel and vindicates the nations
that Israel subjugated or the nations that did not perceive or have contact
with Israel. Apparently the nations who are spared also will enter into the
salvation intended for Jews, as the universalistic message of the nal vi-
sion continues:
1
And it will happen after he has humbled everyone in the world and sits in
eternal peace upon the throne of his kingdom, that he will be revealed in joy
at that time. Rest will come. 2And healing will descend in the dew at that
time; sickness will be far away; anxiety, grief, and groaning will pass away
from human beings, and joy will pervade the whole earth. (2B 73.1-2)

The structure of the narrative as well as the presentation of the letter to the
Diaspora may suggest that the author means to present the Jewish reli-
gious message to the world, based on Law and apocalyptic urgency instead
of the land, city, or temple.30
Furthermore, Baruchs group does not seem to have wisdom of an ex-
clusive nature that often typies other apocalyptic literature (Dan. 8.26;
12.4, 9; Rev. 10.4, 8-10; 4 Ezra 14.45-47; cf. 1 En. 104.12-13). Instead,
Ep2B testies that the message is available for all to read and consider.
Though Baruch says that the letter is to be read periodically in the formal
assemblies of Baruchs co-religionists (2B 86.1), there is no restriction of
its message to this venue.
I do not mean to imply, however, that the teaching of 2B is the same as,
say, Pauls teaching and missionary activities promoting the gospel. I am
only suggesting that 2B encourages Jews to regard their Diaspora status as
an opportunity for advancing the divine plan and for welcoming Gentiles
into their religion.31

30. R.A. Horsley (The Kingdom of God and the Renewal of Israel: Synoptic
Gospels, Jesus Movements, and Apocalypticism, in J.J. Collins [ed.], The Encyclope-
dia of Apocalypticism. I. The Origins of Apocalypticism in Judaism and Christianity [3
vols.; New York: Continuum, 1998], pp. 303-44 [336]) believes that the Gospel of
Matthew illustrates how the destruction of Jerusalem made a JewishChristian com-
munity more extroverted and universal in its outlook and mission. The same principle
may be at work in 2B.
31. For a general discussion of Jewish proselytism, see M. Goodman, Mission and
Conversion: Proselytizing in the Religious History of the Roman Empire (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1994); L.H. Feldman, Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World (Prince-
ton: Princeton University Press, 1993); M. Hirshman, Rabbinic Universalism in the
Second and Third Centuries, HTR 93 (2000), pp. 101-15. A dated but still useful study
on the subject is G.F. Moores Judaism in the First Centuries of the Common Era (3
vols.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 192730), I, pp. 323-53.

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 WHITTERS Testament and Canon 163

6. Conclusion
In the context of testament I have made a number of observations about
Ep2B:
1. It stands as a literary bridge between the early testaments of the
Jewish Bible and the purported last words of Baruch.
2. It shows signs of later Jewish testaments by relying on the apoca-
lyptic visions of the well-known biblical gure, Baruch.
3. It aspires to a level of religious authority that approximates what
modern people would regard as authoritative or canonical.
4. It is a document that is inwardly and outwardly focused and even
interested in persuading Gentiles about the veracity of the Jew-
ish revelation.
Baruch is at the end of his life and at the end of the physical journey
away from Jerusalem and the spiritual journey away from the conven-
tional religious practices associated with the temple. He writes a letter to a
new generation of Jewish believers throughout the world to summarize
what God has revealed to him about the importance of the Law and the
imminence of the endtime. Like Moses in his testament, Baruch delivers
his own interpretation of the covenant formulary at the end of his own
life. Just as the book of Deuteronomy narrates Moses demise and the per-
durance of the Law, so the author of 2B describes Baruchs leave-taking
so that the Law emerges. The letter now replaces Baruch as a confessional
declaration for Jews and sympathizers of how to face the future.

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