BIBLE PEOPLE | BARUCH

1. Bible People

a) The Bible is an historic record of real people and places. 

b) Here is a brief biography of such a person during Bible times.

2. Baruch

a) Baruch ("Blessed") was the son of Neriah and a member of a distinguished family in Judah. His brother Seraiah was a high-ranking officer in the court of King Zedekiah (Jeremiah 51:59). Baruch was confidant and secretary of the prophet Jeremiah.

b) When Jeremiah bought property in his hometown of Anathoth, he gave Baruch copies of the deed, and instructed him to put them in a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time (Jeremiah 32:12-14). In Jeremiah, chapter 36, Jeremiah dictated to Baruch all the words spoken to him by God, Baruch then read the scroll to the people of Judah. After King Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll, Jeremiah again dictated the same scroll to Baruch.

c) In Jeremiah, chapter 45, Jeremiah relates a message from God to Baruch: "I will destroy this nation that I have built---For though I will bring great evil upon all these people, I will protect you wherever you go, as your reward.".

d) After the murder of Gedaliah the governor of Judah, Baruch accompanied Jeremiah to Egypt.

e) Baruch wrote a six-chapter book that is found in Catholic Bibles. In many manuscripts of the Septuagint, the Greek Bible, his Book follows Jeremiah, and is sometimes cited as if it were part of the Book of Jeremiah, or an appendix thereto.

f) Note: There is a clay seal found in Israel (now in the Israel museum), with the impression of Baruch the son of Neriah the scribe.