Unless otherwise noted, all citations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).
This book claims to be a sixth chapter of Baruch, but it was probably originally separate. Metzger writes, In Greek, Syriac, and Latin manuscripts, “It is attached to the Apocryphal book of Baruch, and consequently, most English translations of the Apocrypha print it as the final (sixth) chapter of that book.”[1]
Manuscripts
The book is primarily contained in the Septuagint: Alexandrinus and Vaticanus.[2] Although the book does not exist in Hebrew, it’s possible it was originally written in Hebrew. In fact, most scholars “have tended to favor a Hebrew original.”[3]
Authorship
The book was written by an “anonymous author.”[4]
Date
The translation must’ve been accomplished before the second century BC.[5]
Church father citations
Tertullian cites chapters 4-6 (Scorpiace, 8). DeSilva writes, “After the first century, one finds several instances of direct influence as the book came to be viewed as canonical in both East and West as part of the corpus pus of Jeremiah, not seriously questioned until Jerome (who labeled it a pseudepigraphon).”[6]
Important content in the book
The author was writing a short polemic (or rant) against idolatry.[7]
[1] Bruce M. Metzger, An Introduction to the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 95.
[2] David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 215.
[3] David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 215.
[4] David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 216.
[5] David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 216.
[6] David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 221.
[7] David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 217.