New American Bible Revised Edition

* [1:2] In the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month: Jerusalem fell on the seventh day of the fifth month in 587 B.C.; cf. 2 Kgs 25:8; Jer 52:12. Either the text read originally “the fifth month,” or it refers to the observance of an anniversary of the fall of Jerusalem.

* [1:4] The river Sud: probably one of the Babylonian canals, not otherwise identified; or possibly a misreading of Ahava; cf. Ezr 8:21, 31.

* [1:8–9] He: apparently Baruch; less likely Jehoiakim the priest (v. 7). The silver vessels here described are distinct from the vessels referred to in 2 Kgs 25:14 and Ezr 1:7–9. The author of this note may have thought of the fifth year (v. 1) of Zedekiah, in view of Jer 28:1; 29:1–3. A “fifth year,” again with no month mentioned, is given in Ez 1:2 for the inaugural vision of Ezekiel’s prophetic career.

* [1:10] Offer these: since 2:26 suggests that the Temple is destroyed, the mention of sacrifices here may be an anachronism. Nevertheless, Jer 41:5 indicates that some people continued to worship at the Temple site after Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the Temple.

* [1:11] Nebuchadnezzar…Belshazzar, his son: Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, not of Nebuchadnezzar, the destroyer of Jerusalem. Belshazzar was co-regent for a few years while his father was away in Arabia. Later Jewish tradition seems to have simplified the end of the Babylonian empire (cf. Dn 5:1–2), for three kings came between Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus.

* [1:15–2:10] This confession of sin is similar to Dn 9:7–14, and echoes ideas from Deuteronomy and Jeremiah; cf. also Neh 9.

* [2:2] Law of Moses: cf. Dt 28:53–57.

* [2:3] We would each eat: such dreadful events were the result of the prolonged siege of Jerusalem; cf. Lam 2:20.

* [2:11–35] An earnest appeal for divine mercy, along with confession of sin; cf. Dn 9:15–19.

* [2:15] Israel: the Israelites claimed descent from the patriarch Jacob, who had received the name Israel in a mysterious encounter with God (Gn 32:29). Thus the Deity was sometimes referred to as “the God of Israel” (Gn 33:20; Ex 5:1).

* [2:17] Hades: this is the Greek translation of Hebrew sheol, the nether world.

* [2:22–24] These words are very similar to Jer 7:34; 27:9, 12.

* [2:25] They lie exposed: Jeremiah’s words threatened Jehoiakim with being left unburied (Jer 22:19; 36:30).

* [2:26] The house which bears your name: the Temple of Jerusalem; cf. Dt 12:11; Jer 7:11. What it is today: during the exile it lay in ruins.

* [2:28–35] These words do not actually quote anything Moses is recorded as having said, but they present the substance of a passage such as Dt 30:1–10, which envisions exile, repentance, and restoration.

* [3:9–4:4] This poem in praise of personified Wisdom utilizes the theme of Jb 28 (where is wisdom to be found?) and it identifies wisdom and law, as in Sir 24:22–23.

* [3:22–23] Despite the renown for wisdom of the peoples of Canaan and Phoenicia (Ez 28:3–4), of Teman (Jer 49:7), of the descendants of Hagar or the Arabians of Medan and Tema, they did not possess true wisdom, which is found only in the law of God (Bar 4:1).

* [3:24] The dwelling of God: here, the whole universe; cf. Is 66:1.

* [3:26] The giants: Gn 6:1–4 reflects a tradition about giants who existed before the flood; this was developed in the non-canonical Book of Enoch.

* [3:37–38] As in Sir 24:8, Wisdom is given to Israel but also is said to live with all human beings (Prv 8:31).

* [4:1–4] The poem ends with the identification of Wisdom and Torah, as in Sir 24:22–23; cf. also Dt 4:5–8.

* [4:5–5:9] The poet addresses the exiles (vv. 5–9a), and then Zion personified is introduced, speaking to the nations and mourning the loss of her children (vv. 9b–16). She then addresses the exiles (vv. 17–29). Finally (4:30–5:9) the poet issues three calls to Jerusalem (4:30, 36; 5:5): she will see her children returning (4:22, 36–37; 5:5).

* [4:25] Trample upon their necks: a sign of victory over the enemy (cf. Ps 44:6; Is 14:25). The Israelites considered their enemies to be God’s enemies as well.

* [4:35] Deserts and desolate places were looked upon as the habitation of demons; cf. Tb 8:3; Lk 11:24.

* [6:2] Seven generations: this number may be symbolic. If it is not, it may indicate the date of this composition by an author writing for his contemporaries for whom the conditions of the exile were still realities. He has multiplied the seventy years of Jer 29:10 by three or four.

* [6:4–72] This whole chapter is a sustained argument against the temptation to worship Babylonian gods. A pattern is repeated throughout the chapter: various reasons are set forth to prove that the idols in the Babylonian temples are not gods (e.g., they are weak, helpless, attended by unworthy ministers); each section is followed by an exhortation not to be deceived, not to worship them. Note the refrain at vv. 14, 22, 28, 39, 44, 51, 56, 64. Israelite religion was aniconic, i.e., it prohibited images; as elsewhere in the Old Testament (e.g., Is 42:17; 44:9–20), the polemic against idols here oversimplifies by identifying the god worshiped with the image that represents it.

* [6:6] My angel: the prophet assures the people that God’s watchful care is with them, just as he was with their ancestors during their journey to the promised land (Ex 23:20).

* [6:10] Harlots: cult prostitutes, common in some religions of the ancient Near East.

* [6:27–31] From the viewpoint of Jewish ritual law, the practices named here were grotesque and depraved; cf. Lv 12:2–8; 15:19–23.

* [6:33–39] All that the Babylonian gods cannot do, the true God does; they have neither power nor inclination to save those in need, unlike the God of Israel, who champions the cause of the weak over the strong, and who defends the widow and the orphan. Cf. 1 Sm 2:7; Ps 68:6; 146:7–9; Is 35:4–5.

* [6:40] Bel: cf. note on Jer 50:2.

* [6:42–43] Perhaps a reference to the Babylonian practice of cultic prostitution mentioned by Herodotus, the fifth-century Greek historian. The unbroken cord was a sign that this service had not yet been rendered.

* [6:52–53] Unlike the God of Israel, the Babylonian gods are unable to set up and depose kings, or to provide life-giving rain.

* [6:59–62] The elements of nature, obedient to God’s orders and accomplishing the divine purpose, are better than the Babylonian gods.

a. [1:1] Jer 32:12; 36:4; 45:1–5.

b. [1:2] 2 Kgs 25:8–10.

c. [1:3–4] 2 Kgs 23:1–2.

d. [1:3] 2 Kgs 24:8–17; Jer 22:24–30; 27:20; 51:59–64.

e. [1:6] Dt 16:17.

f. [1:9] Jer 24:1.

g. [1:10] Jer 17:26; 41:5.

h. [1:11] Dt 11:21; Ps 89:30; Jer 29:7; Dn 5:1–2; 1 Tm 2:1–2.

i. [1:14] Ex 23:14–17; Lv 23:35–36; Sir 50:6; Hos 9:5.

j. [1:15] Bar 2:6; 3:8; Ezr 9:6–15; Neh 9:6–37; Dn 9:4–19.

k. [1:20] Lv 26:14–39; Dt 28:15–68.

a. [2:2–3] Dt 28:52–57; 2 Kgs 6:28–29; Jer 19:9; Lam 2:20; 4:10; Ez 5:10; Dn 9:12.

b. [2:4] Jer 29:18; Dn 9:16.

c. [2:5] Dt 28:13, 43–44.

d. [2:6] Bar 1:15; Dn 9:7.

e. [2:9] Jer 1:12; 31:28; 44:27; Dn 9:14.

f. [2:11] Dt 6:21–22.

g. [2:12] Ps 106:6.

h. [2:15] Gn 33:20; Sir 36:11; Jer 14:9; 35:17.

i. [2:16] Dt 26:15.

j. [2:17] Ps 6:6; Is 38:18.

k. [2:18] Zep 2:3.

l. [2:21] Jer 27:12.

m. [2:23] Jer 7:34.

n. [2:24] Jer 8:1–2.

o. [2:25] Jer 7:34; 14:12; 31:30.

p. [2:26] Jer 7:10–15; 11:17.

q. [2:29] Lv 26:39.

r. [2:30] Dt 30:1–2; 31:27.

s. [2:31] Ps 40:7; Jer 24:7; Ez 36:26.

t. [2:32] Tb 13:6.

u. [2:33–35] Lv 26:42–45; Dt 30:1–10.

v. [2:35] Jer 31:31; Lam 4:22.

a. [3:3] Ps 29:10; 102:12–13.

b. [3:4] Jer 31:29.

c. [3:7] Jer 31:33.

d. [3:9] Dt 6:4–5; Prv 4:20–22.

e. [3:11] Ps 88:5.

f. [3:12] Jer 2:13; Jn 4:10, 14.

g. [3:13] Is 48:18.

h. [3:14] Prv 3:2; 8:14.

i. [3:15–37] Jb 28:1–28.

j. [3:16] Jer 27:6; 1 Cor 1:20.

k. [3:22] Jb 2:11; Jer 49:7; Ez 28:4–5; Zec 9:2.

l. [3:23] Gn 25:2, 15; Jb 6:19; Jer 25:23.

m. [3:26] Gn 6:4; Wis 14:6; Sir 16:7.

n. [3:27] 1 Sm 16:7–10.

o. [3:28] Sir 10:8.

p. [3:29] Dt 30:12–13; Sir 24:4; Rom 10:6–7.

q. [3:35] Jb 38:7; Ps 147:4; Is 40:26.

r. [3:37] Ps 147:19; Sir 24:8–12.

s. [3:38] Wis 9:18; Jn 1:14.

a. [4:1] Dt 4:6–8; Prv 8:35–36; Sir 24:22.

b. [4:2] Prv 4:13, 19.

c. [4:4] Dt 4:32–37; 33:29.

d. [4:6] Jgs 2:14; Is 50:1; 52:3.

e. [4:7–8] Dt 32:13–18; 1 Cor 10:20.

f. [4:12] Lam 1:1, 2, 7.

g. [4:15] Dt 28:49–50; Jer 5:15; 6:22–23.

h. [4:18] Jer 32:42.

i. [4:20] Jdt 9:1; Est 4:16.

j. [4:21] Jer 51:5.

k. [4:23] Jer 31:12–13.

l. [4:24] Is 60:1–7.

m. [4:25] Is 51:23.

n. [4:26] Lam 2:22.

o. [4:27] Is 40:1.

p. [4:29] Is 35:10.

q. [4:30] Ps 46:5; Is 60:14.

r. [4:32] Jer 51:43.

s. [4:33–34] Is 13:20–22; 47:1–11; Jer 50:13.

t. [4:35] Is 34:9–14.

u. [4:36] Is 60:4–5.

a. [5:1] Is 52:1.

b. [5:2] Ex 39:30; Wis 18:24; Is 61:10; 62:3.

c. [5:4] Is 1:26; 32:17; Jer 33:16.

d. [5:6] Is 49:22.

e. [5:7] Is 40:3–4.

f. [5:8] Is 41:19.

a. [6:1] Jer 29:1.

b. [6:3] Is 46:7; Jer 10:1–16.

c. [6:5] Dt 6:13; 10:20; Mt 4:10; Lk 4:8.

d. [6:6] Ex 23:20.

e. [6:7] Ps 135:16.

f. [6:15] Jer 22:28.

g. [6:25] Wis 13:16.

h. [6:26] Sir 30:18–19.

i. [6:27] Lv 12:4; 15:19–20; Dt 14:28–29.

j. [6:30] Lv 10:6; 21:5, 10.

k. [6:33] Dn 2:21.

l. [6:35] Ps 68:6; 146:7–9.

m. [6:42–43] Jer 3:2.

n. [6:58] Wis 13:10–15; 15:7–17.

o. [6:69] Jer 10:5.

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Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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