Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
This chapter is the letter of the Jews held captive in Babylon to their fellow tribesmen in Jerusalem, in which they declare that, having been moved to compunction upon reading the book of Baruch, they ask them to pray and sacrifice both for themselves and for Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, and at the same time they send them the very book written by Baruch in Babylon, that they may read it and likewise be moved to compunction. The book itself truly begins at verse 15.
Vulgate Text: Baruch 1:1-22
1. And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Zedekiah, the son of Sedei, the son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon, 2. in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned it with fire. 3. And Baruch read the words of this book in the hearing of Jeconiah the son of Joakim, king of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people who came to hear the book, 4. and in the hearing of the nobles, the sons of kings, and in the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing of the people, from the least to the greatest of all who dwelt in Babylon, by the river Sodi. 5. And upon hearing it they wept, and fasted, and prayed before the Lord, 6. and they collected money according to what each person's hand was able to give, 7. and they sent it to Jerusalem to Joakim the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shallum the priest, and to the priests, and to all the people who were found with him in Jerusalem: 8. when he received the vessels of the temple of the Lord which had been taken from the temple, to bring them back to the land of Judah, on the tenth day of the month of Sivan — the silver vessels which Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, had made, 9. after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jeconiah, and the princes, and all the mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and led them bound to Babylon. 10. And they said: Behold, we have sent you money, with which buy holocausts, and frankincense, and prepare offerings, and offer them for sin at the altar of the Lord our God: 11. and pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son, that their days may be as the days of heaven upon the earth: 12. and that the Lord may give us strength, and enlighten our eyes, that we may live under the protection of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and under the protection of Belshazzar his son, and may serve them for many days, and find grace in their sight. 13. And pray for us also to the Lord our God: because we have sinned against the Lord our God, and His fury has not turned away from us even to this day. 14. And read this book, which we have sent to you to be recited in the temple of the Lord, on the solemn day, and on the day of assembly. 15. And you shall say: To the Lord our God belongs justice, but to us belongs the confusion of our face; as it is this day for all Judah and for those dwelling in Jerusalem, 16. for our kings, and for our princes, and for our priests, and for our prophets, and for our fathers.
17. We have sinned before the Lord our God, and we have not believed, distrusting Him: 18. and we were not submissive to Him, and we did not hear the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His commandments which He gave us. 19. From the day when He brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, we were incredulous toward the Lord our God: and scattered, we withdrew, so as not to hear His voice. 20. And many evils and curses have clung to us, which the Lord appointed to Moses His servant: who brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this present day. 21. And we did not hear the voice of the Lord our God according to all the words of the prophets whom He sent to us: 22. and we went away each one into the inclination of our own evil heart, to serve strange gods, doing evil before the eyes of the Lord our God.
Verse 1: And These Are the Words
1. AND THESE ARE THE WORDS. — The particle "and" corresponds to the Hebrew vav, which is not always copulative, but sometimes inceptive: hence from vav, that is from "and," the book of Ezekiel begins, the book of 1 Maccabees, the books of 2 Esdras, and others: although Maldonatus thinks that the particle "and" joins the book with its title, which is "The Prophecy of Baruch."
Verse 2: In the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month (of the f...
2. In the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month (of the first month, Nisan), AT THE TIME (that is, from the time: for thus the Hebrew beth, meaning "in," is often taken for min, meaning "from") when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and BURNED IT. — For since this destruction was most famous, from it the Jews began to count their years, and in it they established a new chronological era, just as they now reckon their era from the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and from that point number their years. So Theodoret, Hugo, Lyranus, Torniellus, and others. Vatablus and a Castro connect and explain these words differently, thus: "On the seventh day of the month," namely of that month, "at the time," that is at which time "the Chaldeans took Jerusalem," that is in the time of the fifth month, as if to say: On the same day and month when Jerusalem was captured (but in a different year, namely 5 years later), Baruch wrote this book, so that by this remembrance and circumstance of the time, he might more powerfully move the people to compassion and lamentation. This sense is not incongruous; yet the former seems more solid, and it should not be excluded by the latter: for the phrase "in the fifth year" depends on "at the time when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem"; for from what other starting point would we begin and count this fifth year? Clearly, then, Baruch means to say that he wrote this book in the fifth year after Jerusalem was captured and burned.
Whence it is evident that he wrote these things not before, but after the overthrow of Jerusalem. Maldonatus denies this, understanding the phrase "at the time" generally, as if to say: In that season, in that age or period when Jerusalem was captured, so that the word kairos refers not to a precise moment, but to the whole time of the captivity, as if to say: In the fifth year of the captivity, counting and beginning it from the time when Jeconiah was taken to Babylon: for at that time the captivity began. And so in the fifth year after Jeconiah was captured, and six years before the city and temple were destroyed, Baruch wrote this book and read it to the captives in Babylon. Maldonatus proves this from the fact that the altar was still standing at that time, as is evident from chapter 1:10; therefore also the temple. Secondly, from the fact that this book was read to Jeconiah, not to Zedekiah, to whom it likewise should have been read, if these things had been written after the destruction of the city and the captivity of Zedekiah.
But the former opinion is clearer and truer, and Baruch sufficiently indicates it in what follows, as when he says in chapter 2:2-3: "There were done in Jerusalem evils such as have not been done under heaven, that a man should eat the flesh of his son and the flesh of his daughter." For this happened during the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, not before. Again in verse 26, he laments the destruction of the temple: but that was overthrown at the same time as the city. To the first objection I respond that after the destruction there was an altar, but not a temple, on which see more at verse 10. To the second: these things were read to Jeconiah, not to Zedekiah, because Zedekiah had rebelled against the Chaldeans, and therefore had been captured, blinded, and thrust into prison, without any hope of return or kingdom; but Jeconiah, because he had surrendered himself to the Chaldeans, was dear to them: whence Evilmerodach raised him to the throne. In Jeconiah, therefore, lay the hopes of the Jews, and not in vain: for Zerubbabel, the grandson of Jeconiah, led the Jews back from Babylon to Judea.
Verse 3: IN THE HEARING OF JECONIAH, etc
3. IN THE HEARING OF JECONIAH, etc., AND OF THE PEOPLE COMING TO HEAR THE BOOK — who flocked together to hear this book. Note: Although Jeconiah was a captive in Babylon, nevertheless because he had voluntarily surrendered himself to Nebuchadnezzar, the king allowed him to live in free custody, as is customary for captive princes, from which he could go out from time to time to certain limits, especially when accompanied by soldiers guarding him. For it was already the 16th year of the captivity; gradually therefore greater liberty was given to him, as also to the other Jews, who accordingly in verse 4 are said to have been dwelling in Babylon, by the river Sodi.
You will object: In 4 Kings 25:27, it is said that Jeconiah was in prison until the reign of Evilmerodach. I respond: Prison there means the free custody already described; so Paul was in prison at Rome, of whom nevertheless Luke says in Acts 28:16: "Paul was allowed to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him." And verse 30: "And he remained a whole two years in his own hired lodging; and he received all that came to him, preaching the kingdom of God" — "hired lodging," that is a hired dwelling, namely a rented house. This house still exists, and was shown to me at Rome; it was long ago converted into a church, and is called the Diaconia of Blessed Mary: it is situated on the Via Lata near our College. The place was very spacious and in a most renowned part of the city: for Paul sought such a place not for himself, but for Luke and his other companions (of whom he had many; for he alone was not sufficient to convert, or even to address, so many thousands of people), and for the Romans, so that he might more widely spread the faith of Christ among them and preach the Gospel to all, as St. Jerome teaches in his epistle to Philemon, verse 22.
Verse 4: Of the Sons of Kings
4. OF THE SONS OF KINGS. — So are called the princes of royal blood captured with Jeconiah, Daniel 1:3.
Verse 6: Each person's hand
6. Each person's hand — that is, according to each person's ability.
Verse 7: And They Sent to Jerusalem to Joakim
7. AND THEY SENT TO JERUSALEM TO JOAKIM. — Torniellus conjectures that this Joakim is the same as Eliakim, about whom Isaiah speaks in chapter 22:20ff. For both were sons of Hilkiah, and in Hebrew Joakim is the same as Eliakim, as is evident from Judith 4:5, compared with Judith 15:9, and because Isaiah mentions certain vessels that seem to be those which are here said to have been sent to Joakim. Torniellus adds that this Joakim was the father or uncle of Seraiah. For Hilkiah begat Azariah, Azariah begat Seraiah, who with his son Josedech was taken captive by the Chaldeans, 4 Kings, last chapter, verse 18. Since, then, the rest were being led away to Babylon, it seems that this Joakim, because of his old age, was left in Jerusalem with Gedaliah, and for the same reason, after the murder of Gedaliah, was unable to flee with the others to Egypt, but remained in Jerusalem with a few others. Be that as it may, it is sufficiently established that Joakim was the chief of the priests who remained in Jerusalem: for that is why the money is sent to him here. TO THE PRIESTS AND TO ALL THE PEOPLE — that is, to the few priests and laypeople who had remained in Jerusalem, or who had returned to Jerusalem from neighboring nations to which they had fled, or from Egypt (fearing its destruction as predicted by Jeremiah). So Lyranus.
Verse 8: When he received
8. When he received — namely Joakim the priest, says Maldonatus, who returning from Babylon with Zedekiah, received there the vessels that had been taken from the temple, to bring them back to Jerusalem: not indeed the same ones, nor the golden ones (for Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar had taken these and kept them for themselves, Daniel 5:2), but silver ones, which Zedekiah had arranged to be made in Babylon in place of them. But these vessels were sent to Joakim in Jerusalem, as is said here: therefore Joakim could not have received them in Babylon; I say therefore "when he received" means Baruch himself, about whom see verses 1 and 3. For Baruch directed all these things in the name of the people: hence he himself sent back to Jerusalem those temple vessels which the wealthier Jews had redeemed from the Chaldeans at a price. So Vatablus. TO BRING BACK — that is, to recall and restore them, or so that these vessels might be brought back and restored to Jerusalem.
ON THE TENTH DAY OF THE MONTH OF SIVAN. — Sivan corresponds to our month of May.
Verse 9: After he had taken
9. After he had taken. — Refer these words to the immediately preceding ones, "the silver vessels which Zedekiah made," as if to say: Baruch sent back to Jerusalem the silver vessels which Zedekiah made, in place of the golden ones which the Chaldeans had carried off: he made them, I say, at the beginning of his reign, namely when after the capture and removal of Jeconiah he was made king by Nebuchadnezzar.
Verse 10: And they said
10. And they said — namely Jeconiah, the princes, the elders, and the people of the Jews held captive in Babylon, "they said," that is, they wrote what follows to their fellow tribesmen in Jerusalem. The Greek has eipen, that is "he said," meaning he wrote, namely Baruch in the name of all the Jews captive in Babylon. PREPARE OFFERINGS. — Note that "manna" is not taken here for the manna that rained in the desert, nor for medicinal manna, but is a Hebrew and Chaldean word. For in Hebrew מן man, and in Chaldee מנו manna, means the same as portion, gift, offering. Secondly and more truly, manna is the same as מנחה mincha, that is, an offering properly so called. For the Septuagint, in place of mincha, sometimes translate and write manaa, or manna, as is evident from Jeremiah 17:26 and Daniel 2:46; see what was said there. Our Vulgate therefore, following the Septuagint, translated mincha as manna. So St. Jerome, or rather Rabanus on chapter 17 of Jeremiah, Vatablus, Maldonatus, and others. Now the sense is, as if to say: From the holocausts and frankincense already mentioned, make an offering to God. For the frankincense which they always placed upon the holocausts signifies that they are offered to God, who is in heaven above.
OFFER (victims) FOR SIN. — For these in Hebrew are called חטא chatta, in Greek hamartia, that is "sins," by metonymy, as I said on Leviticus 4.
AT THE ALTAR OF THE LORD OUR GOD. — For although the temple had already been burned and the altar overthrown by the Chaldeans, nevertheless the Jews erected an altar with simple construction in the ruins of the temple, so that they might have the public exercise of their religion, at which they sacrificed: just as they had an altar before the temple and tabernacle were built, at which they sacrificed, as is evident from Exodus 24:4. So Lyranus. That this was so is sufficiently gathered from Jeremiah 12:5, as I said there.
What is therefore said in Daniel 3:38: "There is not at this time, etc., holocaust, nor sacrifice, nor offering, nor incense, nor place of first-fruits" — understand this as meaning a public and solemn one, such as took place in the temple.
You will object: In 1 Esdras 3:3, it is said that Ezra, after his return from Babylon under Artaxerxes, built an altar at Jerusalem; therefore there was none before. I respond by denying the consequence: for there was previously an altar, but a poor, makeshift one of no value; but Ezra, having received authority from the king, after gathering Jews from everywhere, erected a large and splendid one with great solemnity.
Verse 11: Pray for the Life of Nebuchadnezzar
11. PRAY FOR THE LIFE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. — Note here the remarkable piety of the captive Jews, who order prayers to be offered to God for an impious tyrant and destroyer of the Jewish kingdom, and sacrifices to be offered for him. God had commanded them this in Jeremiah 29:7: "Seek," He says, "the peace of the city to which I have caused you to migrate: and pray for it to the Lord; because in its peace will be your peace." For God had determined to leave them in Babylon for 70 years for their expiation, so that they would be subject to and serve the Chaldeans. Hence St. Paul commands that prayers be offered for kings and rulers, who were then pagans, 1 Timothy 2:1-2; I reviewed the reasons there. The Christians of the first centuries of the Church did the same, as is evident from Tertullian in his Apologeticus.
And for the life of Belshazzar. — Belshazzar is mentioned here as the firstborn of Nebuchadnezzar and his successor in the kingdom. Therefore this Belshazzar was either the elder brother of Evilmerodach, who dying prematurely before his father, left his brother Evilmerodach as heir of the kingdom; or rather this Belshazzar was the same as Evilmerodach, who is known from 4 Kings, last chapter, verse 27, to have succeeded Nebuchadnezzar in the kingdom; so that he himself bore two names, and was called both Belshazzar and Evilmerodach, who was the last king of the Chaldeans, under whom Babylon was captured. See what was said on Daniel 5:1 and Jeremiah 27:7.
AS THE DAYS OF HEAVEN — that is, may their days be long-lasting and lengthy, that they may live as long as heaven endures. Secondly, may they be tranquil, constant, and most happy, just as the life of heaven's inhabitants is tranquil, constant, and most happy. It is a hyperbole. So Seneca says: "While the bright stars of the aged world run their course." So it is said of Solomon in Psalm 88:30: "And I will establish his seed forever: and his throne as the days of heaven," as if to say: May Solomon live and reign for the longest time, and indeed if it were possible, we would wish for him a kingdom always lasting and perpetual, just as the heavens endure perpetually, and that constantly in the same tenor, manner, and order; while the elements and things composed of elements change daily, are born, grow, grow old, rise, and set. So Seneca sings in his Hercules Oetaeus: No age shall snatch you from the earth: You shall go as companion to Phoebus, companion to the stars.
Verse 12: MAY THE LORD GIVE STRENGTH (in Greek ischyn, that is, fortitude, vigor) TO US
12. MAY THE LORD GIVE STRENGTH (in Greek ischyn, that is, fortitude, vigor) TO US — to endure the hardships of captivity. AND ENLIGHTEN OUR EYES — not for knowing our sins, as Theodoret holds, but that He may flood us with light, that is, with prosperity and joy. For light is the symbol and cause of prosperity and joy, just as darkness is of adversity and sorrow. So Job says in chapter 17, verse 12: "After darkness I hope for light." And Jeremiah, Lamentations 3:2: "He led me into darkness, and not into light." Secondly, "enlighten our eyes," that is, so that we may see what we ought to do, what to avoid, how to live cautiously and devoutly among barbarians, and how to deal prudently and becomingly with the Chaldeans.
UNDER THE SHADOW — under the protection and patronage, and the benevolence and favor of Nebuchadnezzar: for they desire the king's favor, that God may make him kindly disposed toward them: for all their happiness and prosperity depended on this. That we may serve them — rather than other more cruel and more impious kings: for otherwise they would absolutely wish to be freed from their servitude and rule, as well as from that of others.
Verse 14: On the day of assembly
14. On the day of assembly. — In Greek, kai en hemerais kairon, and on the days of the season, which the Hebrews call בימי מועד bime moed, that is, on solemn days, on which the people come together and assemble.
Verse 15: To the Lord our God belongs justice
15. To the Lord our God belongs justice. — Here begins the book, that is, the writing, of Jeremiah or Baruch; moreover it begins with a prayer, which lasts from this verse through the entire second chapter, up to verse 8 of chapter 3, in which first, he humbly confesses the sins of the people, and that they are justly punished with captivity. Then he entreats and with many reasons urges God to mercy. Daniel drew his prayer from this, chapter 9:19. TO OUR GOD BELONGS JUSTICE — that is, let it be ascribed and attributed to Him, as if to say: "All that You have done to us, You have done in true judgment," Daniel 3:31. Daniel says the same in chapter 9, verse 7: "To You, O Lord, belongs justice: but to us belongs confusion of face," as if to say: You, O Lord, are worthy of praise for Your justice and Your just punishment of crimes; we deserve shame: because we are justly punished by You as guilty.
AS IS THIS DAY — that is, up to this present day. OUR PROPHETS — not only the false ones, but also the true ones, namely Ezekiel, Daniel, and Baruch: to the just and innocent also came the confusion and reproach of captivity, not because of their own sins, but because of the common sins of the people, of which they were a part; and this happened for the good of the people, namely so that they might teach and console them in captivity. So Hugo and Lyranus.
Verse 17: We have sinned
17. We have sinned. — In Greek hemartomen, that is, of the things in which we have sinned, as if to say: The confusion of our sins (for to this these words pertain) covers and overwhelms our face, that is, we are punished with this shameful and ignominious captivity, so that we are a reproach to the whole world, and before all nations we are confounded and blush, because we have sinned against the Lord. So Vatablus, Maldonatus, and others. St. Augustine says beautifully in his Sentences, number 72: "He is upright," he says, "and rightly invokes God, who in all the evils he suffers, accuses himself, not God; and in the good things he does, praises not himself, but God. For just as God repels the one who defends his sins, so He receives the one who confesses them." And Sentence 83: "The true humility of the faithful is to be proud in nothing, to murmur at nothing, to be neither ungrateful nor complaining; but in all God's judgments to give thanks to God, and to praise God, whose works are all either just or kind." And Sentence 88: "One does not approach the height of God except through humility; the submissive draws near to Him, but the proud recedes far from Him." And Sentence 118: "Better is humble confession for evil deeds than proud boasting for good ones."
DISTRUSTING HIM — that He either would not or could not deliver us from the Chaldeans. Hence having abandoned God we fled to the help of the Egyptians, and therefore God abandoned us and handed us over to the Chaldeans.
Verse 18: And We Were not Submissive to Him
18. AND WE WERE NOT SUBMISSIVE TO HIM. — We were not subject to Him; or properly "submissive," that is, ready and willing to subject ourselves to Him in all things. See the rest in Daniel 9:10.
Verse 19: Incredulous
19. Incredulous. — apeithountes, that is, unbelieving, rebellious, stubborn. SCATTERED (dispersed through various idols and sins) WE WITHDREW, SO AS NOT TO HEAR HIS VOICE. — In Greek it is errhathymoumen, that is, we were frivolous, impulsive, reckless, we acted lightly like children, who at the flight of a fly change their heart with their head; so the slightest occasion distracted us, "so as not to hear the voice of the Lord." Theodotion translates it epenooumen, that is, we devised, namely one and another kind of sin.
Note the word "we withdrew." For, as St. Augustine says, Sentence 63: "It is a great misery for man not to be with Him without whom he cannot exist. For he in whom He dwells, without doubt is not without Him; and yet if he does not remember Him, nor understand Him, nor love Him, he is not with Him."
Verse 20: AND (that is, therefore; for it corresponds to the Hebrew va...
20. AND (that is, therefore; for it corresponds to the Hebrew vav, which is often not copulative but causal, meaning "therefore, for this reason") MANY EVILS HAVE CLUNG TO US. — Note the word "clung," as if to say: Our calamities cling to us so tenaciously like glue that we cannot free ourselves from them. See Jeremiah 42:16. WHICH THE LORD APPOINTED TO MOSES — which He threatened us with through Moses in Deuteronomy 27 and 28. AS AT THIS PRESENT DAY — supply: we see, or it is clearly evident. See what was said on verse 15.
Verse 21: AND (that is, because: see what was said on verse 20) WE DID...
21. AND (that is, because: see what was said on verse 20) WE DID NOT HEAR THE VOICE OF THE LORD.
Verse 22: And We Went Away Each One Into the Inclination of Our Own Heart
22. AND WE WENT AWAY EACH ONE INTO THE INCLINATION OF OUR OWN HEART — we followed our petty senses, our sensual desires. TO SERVE (that is, to sacrifice, or rather to serve) STRANGE GODS. — On which see more in the following chapter, verses 21 and 22.