Baruch - UPDV Updated Bible Version

The name Baruch belongs to three men in the canonical books read by UPDV: the scribe Baruch son of Neriah who wrote at Jeremiah's mouth and shared his fate into Egypt; a wall-repairing son of Zabbai under Nehemiah who also sealed the covenant; and a Judahite of Pharez's line whose son Maaseiah lived in Jerusalem after the return.

Baruch Son of Neriah, the Scribe

Baruch first appears in the deed-of-purchase scene during the Babylonian siege. Jeremiah hands him the sealed and open copies of the Anathoth field deed before the witnesses in the court of the guard: "and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard" (Jer 32:12). Jeremiah then charges him before them (Jer 32:13), with the order to put the deeds in an earthen vessel "that they may continue many days" (Jer 32:14) — the documentary sign that "Houses and fields and vineyards will yet again be bought in this land" (Jer 32:15). The transfer is named again in the prayer that follows (Jer 32:16).

The First and Second Rolls

The role of amanuensis is set out in Jeremiah 36. "Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh, which he had spoken to him, on a roll of a book" (Jer 36:4). Because Jeremiah was "shut up" and could not enter the temple (Jer 36:5), Baruch was sent to read the roll publicly on the fast-day, in the hope "they will present their supplication before Yahweh, and will return every one from his evil way" (Jer 36:7; see Jer 36:6). He carried it out: "Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Yahweh in Yahweh's house" (Jer 36:8), in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, ninth month, on a proclaimed fast (Jer 36:9). The reading took place "in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Yahweh's house, in the ears of all the people" (Jer 36:10).

Micaiah son of Gemariah heard him and reported the words to the princes (Jer 36:11-13). The princes summoned Baruch through Jehudi, and he came with the roll (Jer 36:14); they had him sit and read it again in their hearing (Jer 36:15). Their reaction frames Baruch's danger: "they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words" (Jer 36:16). They probed his method, and he answered plainly, "He pronounced all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book" (Jer 36:17-18). Their counsel followed: "Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah; and let no man know where you⁺ are" (Jer 36:19).

The roll was then read to King Jehoiakim, who cut it with a penknife and burned it column by column in the brazier (Jer 36:20-23). No one tore his garments (Jer 36:24); Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah's plea against the burning went unheard (Jer 36:25). The king ordered the arrest of "Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Yahweh hid them" (Jer 36:26). The word came again to Jeremiah after the burning, identifying the destroyed text precisely as "the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah" (Jer 36:27), with the command to "Take again another roll for yourself, and write in it all the former words" (Jer 36:28). The oracle then renewed judgment on Jehoiakim and his line (Jer 36:29-31). Baruch produced the second roll: "Then Jeremiah took another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote in it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides to them many like words" (Jer 36:32).

Accused, and Carried to Egypt

After Gedaliah's murder, the captains who refused to remain in Judah laid the blame for Jeremiah's "stay" oracle on Baruch: "but Baruch the son of Neriah sets you on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon" (Jer 43:3). Johanan and the captains "didn't obey [the Speech of] Yahweh, to dwell in the land of Judah" (Jer 43:4) and instead took the whole remnant (Jer 43:5), including "Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah" (Jer 43:6), down into Egypt.

The Personal Oracle to Baruch

Jeremiah 45 preserves a separate word addressed to Baruch personally, dated to "the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah," when "he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah" (Jer 45:1; Jer 45:2). It answers a complaint Baruch had spoken: "Woe is me now! For Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest" (Jer 45:3). The reply concedes the magnitude of the coming undoing — "that which I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this in the whole land" (Jer 45:4) — and refuses Baruch any private ambition in such a time: "And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for, look, I will bring evil on all flesh, says Yahweh; but your soul I will give to you for a prey in all places where you go" (Jer 45:5).

Baruch the Wall-Builder and Covenant-Sealer

A second Baruch, son of Zabbai, worked on the rebuilt wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah: "After him Baruch the son of Zabbai earnestly repaired another portion, from the turning [of the wall] to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest" (Neh 3:20). A Baruch is also listed among those who sealed the covenant in Nehemiah 10, in the brief sequence "Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch," (Neh 10:6).

Baruch in the Pharez Genealogy