Second Baruch: A Critical Edition of the Syriac Text: With Greek and Latin Fragments, English Translation, Introduction, and Con

Description

2 Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphon from the late first or early second century CE. It is comprised of an apocalypse (2 Baruch 1-77) and an epistle (2 Baruch 78-87). This ancient work addresses the important matter of theodicy in light of the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 CE. It depicts vivid and puzzling pictures of apocalyptic images in explaining the nature of the tragedy and exhorting its ancient community of readers. Gurtner provides the first publication of the Syriac of both the apocalypse and epistle with a fresh English translation on the opposite page. Also present in parallel form are the few places where Greek and Latin texts of the book. An introduction orients readers to interpretative and textual issues of the book. Indexes and Concordances of the Syriac, Greek, and Latin will allow users to analyze the language of the text more carefully than ever before.

Daniel M. Gurtner is Associate Professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary (St Paul, MN USA). Among his publications are The Torn Veil: Matthew's Exposition of the Death of Jesus (SNTSMS 139; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

Second Baruch is preserved in two sections, explains Gurtner, an apocalypse and an epistle, and is a thoroughly Jewish text written shortly after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE, that tries to make theological sense of the historical tragedy. He offers an accessible edition of the Syriac text of both parts, along with an English translation. The few surviving fragments in Greek or Latin are inserted at the proper location. His introduction pays close attention to the relationship between the book at 4 Ezra, which deals with the same issues in a slightly different manner. Other topics include the text, original language, provenance, genre, and structure and contents." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc. Students of post Second Temple destruction Judaism will be interested in the content of the apocalyptic work 2 Baruch. -- Hebrew Studies, Volume LII