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By the rivers of Babylon, a scattered people turn grief into confession, prayer, and a search for wisdom.
The Book of Baruch opens with a reading among Jewish exiles after the fall of Jerusalem. Traditionally attributed to Baruch, son of Neriah and scribe to Jeremiah, it gives voice to captives who acknowledge their wrongs and ask God to hear their plea for mercy.
Prayer gives way to a poem praising wisdom, then to songs of consolation. Jerusalem speaks as a grieving mother whose children are in exile. Scholars see these parts as writings gathered over time. The book belongs to Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, though it is outside the Hebrew Bible and most Protestant Bibles.
What you’ll discover
- A gathering in Babylon Enter the opening scene, where Baruch reads words to a people living far from Jerusalem.
- Confession without excuses Hear a community name its failures in a shared prayer of sorrow and responsibility.
- A plea for mercy Follow the prayer as blame turns to an appeal for God to listen.
- A poem of wisdom Explore how the poem links wisdom with God and calls Israel to hear life's commandments.
- Jerusalem as a mother Meet a city given a grieving voice in poems that offer comfort amid loss.
Who will love it
For readers of the Bible who want to hear how exiles prayed, and students of Second Temple Judaism and early Christian worship. For anyone drawn to prayers for mercy, wisdom poetry and songs of consolation.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A scroll is read to the exiles
- The people confess the justice of God
- A prayer begs for mercy
- Wisdom is found only through God
- Jerusalem speaks as a grieving mother
- A composite book with a contested place
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The Book of Baruch
Among the exiles in Babylon, prayers seek mercy and Jerusalem's grieving voice offers hope to her scattered children.
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In short
The Book of Baruch is a short writing set among the Jewish exiles in Babylon after Jerusalem fell in 586 BC. It speaks in the name of Baruch, son of Neriah, the scribe who served the prophet Jeremiah.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A scroll is read to the exiles
The book opens with a date and a place. It says that Baruch wrote these words in Babylon, in the fifth year after the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned it. He reads the scroll aloud to King Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, and to all the people who gather to hear it. Among them are nobles, elders and ordinary families, and they weep, fast and pray.
The exiles then collect money, each according to what he can give. They send it to Jerusalem, to the high priest Joakim, son of Hilkiah, and to the priests and people who remain in the city. The money is meant to buy offerings so that sacrifice can go on at the altar of the Lord. This detail shows the exiles still looking to the ruined Temple as the centre of their faith.
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What is the Book of Baruch about?
It is set among Jewish exiles in Babylon. It contains a confession and prayer for mercy, a poem saying that true wisdom lies in God's law, and songs in which Jerusalem comforts her scattered children and promises their return.
Why is the Book of Baruch not in the Protestant Bible?
It was not part of the Hebrew Bible, and it survives in Greek. Protestant traditions follow the Hebrew list, so they place it among the apocrypha. Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include it as part of the Old Testament.
Who wrote the Book of Baruch and when?
It is attributed to Baruch, scribe of Jeremiah, in the sixth century BC. Scholars generally see it as a composite work from later authors, written between the second century BC and the first century AD, though they disagree on dates.
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