2 Baruch

2 Baruch is a Jewish pseudepigraphical text thought to have been written in the late 1st century AD or early 2nd century AD, after the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. It is attributed to the biblical Baruch and so is associated with the Old Testament, but not regarded as scripture by Jews or by most Christian groups. It is included in some editions of the Peshitta, and is part of the Bible in the Syriac Orthodox tradition. It has 87 sections.

2 Baruch is also known as the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch. The Apocalypse proper occupies the first 77 chapters of the book. Chapters 78–87 are usually referred to as the Letter of Baruch to the Nine and a Half Tribes.

Manuscript tradition

The Letter of Baruch had a separate and wider circulation than the rest of the book, and is attested in thirty-six Syriac manuscripts.

The Apocalypse proper has been less widely available. One Latin excerpt was known from a quotation in Cyprian. A 4th–5th century AD Greek fragment was found among the Oxyrhynchus manuscripts. Two excerpts were known from 13th century lectionaries of the Syriac Orthodox Church.