Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word
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⚙ Annotations & References ▾
Manuscript witnesses 2 ▾
Codex Vaticanus B c. AD 300-325 Codex Alexandrinus A c. AD 400-440
What is Baruch 5 about?

Addressed again to Jerusalem, this brief oracle of comfort bids the city put off the garment of mourning and put on the beauty of the glory that comes from God. Zion is told to stand upon the height and look toward the east, to see her children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, brought home rejoicing as on royal thrones. God will bring the high mountains low and fill the valleys so that Israel may walk safely in the light of His glory, with His mercy and righteousness for their escort. Closing the words of consolation, the chapter holds out the hope of a restored and honored Jerusalem as the answer to the exiles' penitent prayer.

Historical backdrop

The book sets itself in Babylon among the exiles of Judah, in the years after Nebuchadnezzar broke Jerusalem and burned the temple. It speaks from beside the great rivers of Mesopotamia, in the shadow of a city whose gods rode in procession, idols of silver and gold that its people carried on their shoulders and could not carry themselves. The appended letter turns that idolatry to scorn, and the whole reaches back to the exile as the school where Israel learned again to hope in the God who has no image.

The Church Fathers on Baruch 5
Deuterocanon (Catholic & Orthodox) · Accepted as canonical Scripture by the Catholic and Orthodox traditions and included in the original 1611 KJV (between the Old and New Testaments). Not in the Protestant 66-book canon. Read with the same care you bring to other Scripture, conscious that Protestants and Catholics weigh its authority differently.

Baruch 5

Baruch Chapter 5
5
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What is Baruch 5 about?

Addressed again to Jerusalem, this brief oracle of comfort bids the city put off the garment of mourning and put on the beauty of the glory that comes from God. Zion is told to stand upon the height and look toward the east, to see her children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, brought home rejoicing as on royal thrones. God will bring the high mountains low and fill the valleys so that Israel may walk safely in the light of His glory, with His mercy and righteousness for their escort. Closing the words of consolation, the chapter holds out the hope of a restored and honored Jerusalem as the answer to the exiles' penitent prayer.