Synopses & Reviews
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.
About the Author
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).
Table of Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
§1: Introduction
§2: The Text of Second Baruch
§3: Original Language
§4: Provenance
§5: Relation to 4 Ezra
§6: Date
§7: Genre
§8: The Epistle of 2 Baruch
§9: Structure and Contents
§10: Translation(s)
2 Baruch: Text and Translation
Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch
Epistle of Second Baruch
Indices:
Subject Index
Index of Ancient Texts
Concordances:
Concordance to the Syriac of 2 Baruch
Concordance to the Greek of 2 Baruch
Concordance to the Latin of 2 Baruch
Bibliography