Studies on Baruch by Sean A. Adams

Author:Sean A. Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Published: 2016-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

1.4Baruch 4:17–20

Formally, the closest parallels to the acclamation of Jerusalem are provided by two passages in the Book of Job—both readings are invented by the Septuagint’s translators rather than lifted from other versions of the text. In Job 4:20 mortal human nature is labelled as παρὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς ἑαυτοῖς βοηθῆσαι ἀπώλοντο; whereas in 20:14 the wicked are told they will perish, because they οὐ μὴ δυνηθῇ βοηθῆσαι ἑαυτῷ. The fact that the sin of the people, and the impossibility of any immanent help have been emphasised in the prophetic psalm, indicate that these passages might well influenced the psalm’s wording. On the other hand, a verse in Esther, which asks the help of God, shows also a striking parallel: ἡμᾶς δὲ ῥῦσαι ἐν χειρί σου καὶ βοήθησόν μοι τῇ μόνῃ καὶ μὴ ἐχούσῃ εἰ μὴ σέ κύριε (Esth 4:7 C 25). The broader context echoes three terms from this verse: βοάω occurs here, in 4:17; μόνη appears in 4:16; and χείρ (although in antithetical meaning) will appear in 4:18. The image of the lonely queen and the solitary Jerusalem nicely parallel each other, and the opening ἡμᾶς in Esther mirrors the community aspects in the need of divine help. Moreover, the rhetorical question of Jerusalem obtains an implicit answer from Esther: How can I help? The answer: God is the one who is able to help (this will explicitly be elaborated in the following verse 4:18).

The expression ἐπάγειν κακά denoting the divine punishment occurs in various biblical passages, and is used more intensively by Jeremiah and in some instances by the Deuteronomistic History.277 The idea of the liberation from the hands of the enemy (ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν) recurrent in Scripture is indicated mainly by verbs as ῥύομαι, σῴζω, λυτρόω. In a few cases, however, it is combined with ἐξαιρέω, as here, in Baruch—these instances come exclusively from 1 and 2 Kingdoms.278 Henderson argues that the closest parallel for the use of ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν is Zephaniah 3:15b,279 which is part of a passage that has most probably influenced the present author already in the first verse of the prophetic psalm. The broader context in Zephaniah makes this claim very probable.

There is no biblical antecedent of the joint occurrence of the two expressions ἐπάγειν κακά and ἐξαιρεῖν ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν, but—along with Burke and Henderson280—one can highlight a passage of Jeremiah, which uses the expression ἐπάγειν κακά, on the one hand, and envisages the liberation, on the other hand (Jer 39[MT 32]:42). Here the Lord asserts that,

καθὰ ἐπήγαγον ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον πάντα τὰ κακὰ τὰ μεγάλα ταῦτα

οὕτως ἐγὼ ἐπάξω ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς πάντα τὰ ἀγαθά ἃ ἐλάλησα ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς

The plural form of the imperative βαδίζετε occurs seven times in the Septuagint (of which two are provided by the present verse of Baruch), but these instances differ so much from this verse in meaning, that it seems to be certain that they have not influenced it. There is another occurrence, however, in singular form, which might be considered as a point of reference for this verse, viz.

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