Orientation to 1 Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, and Prayer of Manasseh
(avg. read time: 4–8 mins.)
For the first time in this series since my initial post on Maccabean literature, I am treating multiple books in one entry. One of them is added here simply because of how short it is, but the common denominator is how all these works ostensibly relate to a certain era in Judah’s history after the Northern Kingdom of Israel had fallen. All of them are extant in Greek, although each one could possibly have been originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. And all of them reflect theology in a state of exile. The first two works are often linked, given the connections of both to Jeremiah: 1 Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah (the latter is sometimes presented as the last chapter of the former). The third, the Prayer of Manasseh, has been found in various places, but it is inspired by the reference to King Manasseh’s prayer in 2 Chr 33:11–19.
Overview of 1 Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, and Prayer of Manasseh
The Book of Baruch, also known as 1 Baruch to distinguish it from a few other books with Baruch in the title that were written later, is linked to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe of Jeremiah (Jer 32; 36; 43; 45). It was said to be what he read to Jeconiah and others while in exile in Babylon (Bar 1:3–4). Its explicit setting is one of that exile, but it also implicitly attests to what we have noted elsewhere of the sense of the ongoing state of exile (see esp. 3:1–10). The exiles then send money and a letter to Jerusalem to supply offerings for themselves while also asking for prayer and confession on their behalf (1:10–2:10). This prayer acknowledges God’s graciousness to the people of Israel and their sinfulness in spite of it. And now that the decreed punishments have come upon them and they acknowledge that they ought to have received them, they now pray to God to deliver them as he did in the exodus and to fulfill promises to his people established since that time (2:11–35). As such, appeals to God’s mercy appear in prominent places at multiple points in this text (2:19; 3:2; 4:22; 5:9).
After a closing petition in 3:1–8, there is then an extended section on personified Wisdom (3:9–4:4). As we saw previously with Sirach, Wisdom is again identified here with the Torah that Israel had forsaken (see esp. 3:37–4:4). The rest of the book is then occupied with consolation for the exiles and calls for renewed faithfulness.
As I mentioned previously, the Letter of Jeremiah is sometimes appended to 1 Baruch, and thus it is sometimes treated as ch. 6 of that book. In some of the cases when these books are included in the OT, this letter is featured after Lamentations. In any case, it is said to be the letter Jeremiah sent to those who were to be taken to Babylon as exiles. He explains why they are going into exile and warns them that they will be there for up to seven generations (3). He also warns them against the dangers of pressures to assimilate to the environment where they are going to live (4–6). Still, the Lord assures them that his angel is with them and watching over them (7). The rest of the letter is notable for being an exemplar of Israelite/Jewish critique of idolatry as it features motifs one can find in the many similar texts (8–73).
Finally, the Prayer of Manasseh, aiming to provide the content of the prayer mentioned in the aforementioned 2 Chronicles reference, supplies a prayer awash with repentance and appealing for God’s forgiveness. God is acknowledged as the God of the ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (1), as well as being the Creator (2–3), and the basis for the appeal for forgiveness is God’s mercy (6–7, 13–14). With the expectation of God’s favorable mercy comes the promise of worshiping him all the rest of his days (15).
Resonances with the OT and NT
Obviously, the first two texts quite directly link themselves with Jeremiah, and they have also historically been linked with Lamentations, particularly as parts of 1 Baruch resemble Lamentations. There have also been several links that scholars have suggested with Deuteronomy as a book that was especially formative for 1 Baruch. And the Prayer of Manasseh is designed to fill out the detail of what was presented in 2 Chronicles.
Each of these books, and especially 1 Baruch, fit with larger themes we have observed in the OT, NT, and Second Temple literature concerning the sense of ongoing exile, the hope of return (see esp. 4:36–37; 5:5–9), and even an element of new exodus, as indicated by the reference to the event in 2:11. The story of the exodus is also referenced in 1:19–20, in line with how it is often referenced in the OT and beyond, particularly as the paradigmatic event of deliverance. Some other familiar elements invoked in such texts are the covenantal formula that Israel will be God’s people and God will be their God (2:35), a promise often invoked and which has its roots in the text of Exodus (Exod 6:7; 29:45–46; Lev 26:12; Deut 26:18–19; Jer 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 31:1, 33; 32:38; Ezek 11:20; 14:11; 34:30; 36:28; 37:23, 27; Hos 1:9; 2:23, 25; Zech 8:8; 13:9; cf. Rev 21:3, 7), as well as the promise that God will have mercy on those he has afflicted with the punishment of exile (4:21–23, 27). The added element here of the need to seek personified Wisdom fits with the OT’s directing Israel to the Torah as well as the broader themes about wisdom theology (see here, here, and here).
1 Baruch also has many other connections with the OT that can be commented on more briefly. The instruction to live peaceably in 1:11–12 is similar to Jeremiah in his letter to the exiles in Babylon to seek the welfare of the city where they are exiled (29:4–7). The national confession, especially in 1:15–2:19 is similar at many points to the prayer in Dan 9:1–19. The text speaks of the exile making good on warnings written in the law of Moses (2:2), which probably has Deut 28 particularly in mind, as well as those spoken by the prophets (2:24), which probably has Jeremiah especially in mind. The comment about the dead in Hades in 2:17 is similar to what we have observed elsewhere about Sheol belief in the OT (cf. 3:11). The aforementioned covenantal formula is part of a much larger text presented as a quote in 2:29–35. It has no direct correspondence with a single text, but it appears to be a composite of various texts from Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and other texts like Lev 26:12 and 1 Kgs 8:47. The consolatory language of 1 Bar 4:36–5:9 is reminiscent of texts like Isa 40.
The critique of idolatry in the Letter of Jeremiah is a more elaborate form of something we see in both Testaments. After all, this critique has its foundation in a theology shaped by the OT (cf. Ps 135; Isa 44:9–20; Jer 10). While idolatry, as such, is not as prominent in the NT, we see the critiques being carried over there as well (Acts 17:23–31; Rom 1:18–32; Rev 9:20–21). It is also a theme that we will see in many other Second Temple texts, as we have already seen in texts like Wisdom of Solomon. The reference to God’s angel being with them not only fits with angelology in the OT and NT, but it may more specifically invoke the angel of the Lord who instantiates God’s own presence, as with the pillar of cloud and fire the accompanied Israel out of Egypt and in the wilderness.
The Prayer of Manasseh obviously resonates with many, many texts in the OT and NT on forgiveness and repentance, as we have observed here, here, here, here, here, and here (and many other places besides). The reference to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is itself an inherent link with the OT, and that designation of God appears multiple times in the OT itself (Exod 3:6, 15–16; 4:5; 6:3; 1 Kgs 18:36; 1 Chr 29:18; 30:6; cf. Gen 50:24; Exod 2:24; 6:8; 33:1; Lev 26:42; Num 32:11; Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4; 2 Kgs 13:23). It also appears in the NT (Matt 22:32 // Mark 12:26 // Luke 20:37; Acts 3:13; 7:32). And, of course, God has been described as Creator in many places and many ways elsewhere (some of which are noted here). But a more specific similarity appears in v. 8, which refers to repentance being appointed for sinners and not the righteous. This is incidentally similar to Jesus’s declaration that he came not to call the righteous but sinners (Matt 9:13 // Mark 2:17 // Luke 5:32; cf. 1 Tim 1:9).