A Word to Baruch: Encouragement and Warning
Jeremiah 45:1-5
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Jer.45.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הדבר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ירמיהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הנביא: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אל: NEG
- ברוך: ADJ,m,sg
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נריה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בכתבו: VERB,qal,ptcp,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- הדברים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- האלה: DEM,pl
- על: PREP
- ספר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מפי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ירמיהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בשנה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הרבעית: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- ליהויקים: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יאשיהו: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מלך: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- Jeremiah 36:4 (quotation): Explicit account of Baruch son of Neriah writing Jeremiah’s words on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation — same person and action described (same event narrated in more detail).
- Jeremiah 36:1–3 (structural): Same dateline and commission to record Jeremiah’s words “in a book” (’in the fourth year of Jehoiakim’ and the instruction to write), providing the immediate literary context for 45:1.
- Jeremiah 30:2 (verbal): God’s command to Jeremiah to “Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you” — parallels the motif and language of recording prophetic speech in writing.
- Habakkuk 2:2 (thematic): The prophet is instructed to write the vision plainly on tablets — a broader prophetic theme of making divine revelation permanent and public by writing, comparable to Jeremiah’s use of a scribe.
Alternative generated candidates
- The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a scroll from Jeremiah’s mouth, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying:
- The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, saying:
Jer.45.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כה: ADV
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עליך: PREP+2ms
- ברוך: ADJ,m,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 36:4 (structural): Same addressee and situation—Baruch son of Neriah is the scribe who wrote Jeremiah’s words (context for the address in Jer 45:2), linking the personal message to Baruch in both passages.
- Jeremiah 1:4-5 (structural): Uses the same prophetic formula ‘Thus says the LORD’ and involves a direct, personal prophetic address/commission to an individual (here Jeremiah), paralleling the formal address to Baruch in Jer 45:2.
- Numbers 6:24-26 (thematic): Priestly blessing language (‘The LORD bless you…’) echoes the theme and terminology of divine blessing implicit in the single-word address ברוך (blessed) in Jer 45:2.
- Genesis 12:2 (thematic): God’s promise ‘I will bless you’ to Abram parallels the motif of divine blessing invoked in Jer 45:2, situating the one-word benediction within the broader biblical theme of God’s blessing on individuals.
Alternative generated candidates
- Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning you, Baruch:
- Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning you, Baruch:
Jer.45.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- אמרת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- אוי: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נא: PART
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- כי: CONJ
- יסף: VERB,qal,juss,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- יגון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- מכאבי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,sg
- יגעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
- באנחתי: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss,1,sg
- ומנוחה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- מצאתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 20:14-18 (thematic): Jeremiah's own bitter lament ("Cursed be the day I was born", "woe is me") parallels Baruch's anguished cry about added sorrow and the prophet's suffering at God's hand.
- Job 7:3 (thematic): Job speaks of months of misery and wearisome nights—theme of prolonged distress, sighing and lack of rest mirrors the verse's complaint of no rest.
- Psalm 6:6 (verbal): "I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim" uses language of weariness and groaning comparable to "I am weary with my sighing" and finding no rest.
- Lamentations 3:17-18 (thematic): The poet's declaration that his soul is bereft of peace and he has forgotten happiness echoes the motif of no rest and compounded sorrow attributed to God's action.
- Psalm 38:8 (verbal): "I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart" parallels the verse's emphasis on groaning/sighing and the physical/psychological effects of suffering.
Alternative generated candidates
- “You said, ‘Alas for me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I fainted with groaning, and I find no rest.’ ”
- You said, "Alas for me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; with my sighing I have labored, and I find no rest."
Jer.45.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כה: ADV
- תאמר: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אליו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- כה: ADV
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- הנה: PART
- אשר: PRON,rel
- בניתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,com,sg
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- הרס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואת: CONJ
- אשר: PRON,rel
- נטעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- נתש: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- כל: DET
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- היא: PRON,dem,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 1:10 (verbal): God commissions Jeremiah to 'root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant'—the same vocabulary of building/planting and uprooting/destruction echoed in Jer 45:4.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 (thematic): The vineyard/song parable: God plants and tends Israel yet removes protection and allows judgment when it bears bad fruit—parallel theme of God unmaking what he once established.
- Ezekiel 17:8-9 (verbal): Describes a tree planted by abundant waters that is later plucked up and taken away—uses planting/uprooting imagery comparable to Jer 45:4’s language of what God has 'built' and 'planted' being destroyed.
- Psalm 80:8-9, 15-16 (thematic): God 'brought a vine out of Egypt' and planted it; later the vine is laid waste, its hedge removed and broken down—shared motif of divine planting followed by judgment and loss.
Alternative generated candidates
- Thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will uproot—yes, the whole land.’
- Thus you shall say to him: Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will uproot; and the whole land.
Jer.45.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואתה: CONJ+PRON,2,m,sg
- תבקש: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- גדלות: ADJ,f,pl,abs
- אל: NEG
- תבקש: VERB,qal,imperfect,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- הנני: PRT+PRON,1,sg
- מביא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- רעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- כל: DET
- בשר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ונתתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- נפשך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,2,m
- לשלל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- כל: DET
- המקמות: NOUN,m,pl,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- תלך: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- שם: ADV
Parallels
- Jeremiah 39:17-18 (thematic): Both passages record God's promise to preserve the life of an individual (Ebed‑Melech / Baruch) despite coming disaster on the nation—assurance of personal deliverance amid Jerusalem's fall.
- Ezekiel 7:15-16 (thematic): Ezekiel announces an imminent, widespread calamity on the land and its people. The motif of God bringing disaster upon 'all flesh' parallels Jeremiah's announcement of universal evil coming from the LORD.
- Psalm 91:3-4 (thematic): Psalmist imagery of God saving and protecting the individual in danger parallels Jeremiah's promise to give Baruch his life as spoil (i.e., to spare/rescue him) while judgment falls on others.
- Luke 14:11 (thematic): Jesus' teaching that 'whoever exalts himself will be humbled' parallels Jeremiah's imperative 'seek not great things for yourself'—a shared ethical admonition against pursuing personal greatness in God's economy.
Alternative generated candidates
- And you, seek no great things for yourself; seek them not. For behold, I am bringing evil upon all flesh, declares the LORD; but I will give your life as spoil in every place where you go.”
- And you, do not seek great things for yourself—do not seek them; for behold, I am bringing evil upon all flesh, declares the LORD. But I will give you your life as plunder in every place where you go.
The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a scroll at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning you, Baruch:
You said, “Alas, woe is me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I have wearied myself with my sighing, and I find no rest.” Thus you shall say to him: Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I have torn down; and what I have planted I have uprooted; and the whole land is laid waste. And you, seek not great things for yourself; do not seek them. For behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the LORD. Yet I will give your life as spoil wherever you go.