What is Baruch?
In the book of Jeremiah, we find that Jeremiah was assisted by a man named Baruch. This historical figure was eventually used as a mouthpiece for later Jewish writers in a book called Baruch and later in something called 2 Baruch (which is not included in the apocrypha).
Although Jeremiah concludes with Baruch in Egypt, this book has him writing from Babylon. It is likely that Baruch was written around 168-164 BC during the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Baruch’s setting at the time of the Babylonian invasion would have given words to the dark time in Jewish history during the mid-second century. While this book tells us nothing about the historical Baruch, it is helpful for understanding how some Jewish writers were dealing with the difficulties around the Maccabean revolt.
You can find the text for Baruch online but I’m using the one found in the The New Oxford Annotated Bible.
