Guide
What Is the Fourth Book of Baruch?
1st or 2nd Century
Restricted
The fourth book of Baruch was composed in the first or second century CE and was likely
originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. The text survives in Greek, Ethiopic, and several other
languages. It narrates events following the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE and likely reflects
a Jewish response to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The work is attributed to
Baruch, the scribe of the biblical prophet Jeremiah, in the Ethiopic version and to Jeremiah himself
in the Greek. It was redacted several times and contains at least one Christian interpolation.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
The Temple Vessels Are Buried
4 Baruch 3:8–11, 17–20; 4:4
And Jeremiah said, “Behold, Lord, we know now that you are delivering the city into the hands of its enemies, and they will carry the people off into Babylon. What do you want me to do with…
Related Guide
What Are the Pseudepigrapha?
ca. 200 BCE–200 CE