Who was Baruch in the Bible?

Son of Neriah, and faithful secretary to Jeremiah. He was eventually carried with Jeremiah into Egypt. Jer. 32:12-16; Jer. 36:4-32; Jer. 43:3, 6; Jer. 45:1-2.

BARUCH, BOOK OF. This forms part of the O.T. Apocrypha, though its professed author is Baruch, the friend and secretary of Jeremiah. It relates that the Jews in Babylon sent a deputation to Jerusalem with money for sacrifices, and requested that prayers might be offered for Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar. It confesses that their sufferings were in consequence of their sins. It points to the sin of neglecting the source of wisdom, and exhorts to a return. It laments over Jerusalem; but exults in its future blessing. It ends with an Epistle of Jeremiah to those who were to be led captive into Babylon, warning them against the idols they would find there. It is generally agreed that the book was not written by its assumed author, but there is great diversity of opinion as to its probable date: some placing it B.C. 160, and others not till B.C. 79-69.

In the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the state of things in Judah and Jerusalem was rapidly deteriorating. Jeremiah was the prophet, raised up of God and commissioned to proclaim the word of the Lord, and courageously expose the state of things that was leading to the final disaster. Baruch was the scribe that was employed to write in a book the solemn words that Jeremiah had to utter. This we learn when Jeremiah 45 is read.

The masses of the people were indifferent, if not hostile, to all that Jeremiah had to say: but not so Baruch. He not only wrote down the prophecies of judgment, but he felt the weight and sorrow of them, as we see in verse 3 of that short chapter. Woe had been pronounced upon the people, but he felt it for himself, saying, "Woe is me now!" Moreover he accepted it from God. He might well have spoken of Nebuchadnezzar, the great Babylonian monarch, as bringing the misery upon them; but no, for what he cried was, "The Lord has added grief to my sorrow." He at least believed the things he had written, and he knew that the final crash was still to come, and near at hand.

Let us each challenge our hearts as to how we should have reacted to such a situation. If endowed with some energy and initiative, would not our tendency haste been to say that times of national disaster present great opportunities to the courageous individual for advancement and great profit? It would seem that the temptation to think in this way was present with Baruch, and hence the word to him, "Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not." Self-aggrandisement was definitely to be ruled out. He was simply told that his life would be given to him as a "prey" or "spoil" wherever he might be carried. God would preserve his life and that was the only profit he was to expect.

Jeremiah, the prophet, was in prison. God told him to write a roll containing God’s warnings against the people for their wicked ways. A friend of Jeremiah, Baruch, wrote the words as Jeremiah spoke them. When all was written down, Baruch took them to the people, and read the words in their hearing. When the king heard of it he sent for the roll.

So the prophet dictated all the words of the Lord to Baruch his friend, who wrote them down on a scroll. This work evidently took a long time, since the book was not read publicly to the people before the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim (v.9). One can well visualize the two men in the house where Jeremiah lived. Under the guidance of the Spirit of God, the prophet carefully dictates the words of the Lord while Baruch applies himself to the task of writing on the scroll. All the while the two men are fully aware that they are transmitting the very words of God to those who would read the message.

On account of the seriousness of the prevailing circumstances, a fast before the Lord is proclaimed in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim’s reign. All the people of Judah who come to Jerusalem will be present. Baruch seizes the opportunity and reads the words of Jeremiah “in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the house of the Lord, in the ears of all the people” (v.10). Shaphan, along with Hilkijah, had found the book of the law at the time when repairs were made in the temple. Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, seems to have followed in the steps of his pious father (v.26). His own son, Micah, hears “out of the book all the words of the Lord” as they are read aloud by Baruch. He is so impressed by them that he goes down into the scribe’s chamber where all the princes had gathered, and declares to them all the words that he has heard (v.13). (In the same way, young people who are able to attend meetings might have a desire to convey what has been read, or said to ailing or aged persons who are confined to their homes. Such secret service is so useful and greatly appreciated by those to whom it is rendered!) The princes send for Baruch himself, asking him to bring along the roll, so that they might hear from his own mouth the text read to the people.

Baruch took deeply to heart what he was writing. Oppressed by fear, he could not sleep and grew weary with his sorrow and grief (Jer. 45:3). One day while he is writing, Jeremiah interrupts his dictation and tells his friend that the Lord, the God of Israel, has a special message for him; everything will be overthrown in the entire land; evil will come upon all flesh, “But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go” (v.5). Thus Baruch obtained the assurance that his life would be spared. On the basis of this promise, he could take to heart the exhortation given him, “And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them.”

We, too, know that frightful judgments will come upon this world. However, we live in the hope that before they break loose, the Lord will return to take away His own. This is an even greater consolation than the one given to Baruch.

Baruch, meaning “Blessed,” cleaves to the prophet of the Lord, and labours along with him among God’s people. He receives a similar promise (Jer. 45). But he is not to seek exaltation for himself. It is the exaltation of the Lord which must be put first.

Seraiah, if not the same personage under another or secondary name, was, at any rate, brother to Baruch, as Jeremiah 32:12 clearly indicates (“Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah”).

And then according to the word of the Lord, Jeremiah committed the evidence of purchase to Baruch to preserve as a witness that property would be again possessed in the land. "And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land" (verses 13-15).

In the first place, Baruch and Berachiah are not the same name. Both are used; and neither in Hebrew nor in the Septuagint are they confounded.

Verses 1-4. Once more we are taken back to the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jeremiah is now commanded to commit all the words Jehovah had spoken to him to writing. It was for the purpose that the people might hear of all the evil and that they might yet consider it and turn to the Lord to be forgiven. How gracious and merciful He is! He then dictated all the words to Baruch, who wrote them down. But, asks a critic, how could he remember all he had spoken? The same Spirit who communicated the messages to him, re-communicated them to the prophet.

Verses 4-20. Jeremiah was "shut in," which, however, does not mean that he was a prisoner (see verse 19); it probably means that he was not permitted to enter the LORD's house on account of some ceremonial impurity. So he sent Baruch, his amanuensis, to read the scroll to the people on the fasting day, and when all the people had come together, Baruch read the roll at the entry of the new gate. Michaiah, one of the sons of Gemariah, was deeply moved by what he had heard, went to the place where the princes sat in counsel and told them what he had heard from Baruch's lips. Baruch was then commanded to appear before the princes to read the roll to them. What they heard frightened them. They declared they would tell the king.

Verses 21-16. The king sent for the roll. The king listened to but a few of the leaves. Then, energized by the devil, he pulled out his penknife, cut the roll, and, to make sure that the roll would be destroyed, he cast it into the open fire, and with keen satisfaction he watched till the roll was consumed. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah tried to keep him from doing this evil deed, but he refused to listen to them. These three had at least some reverence for the Word of God, and therefore the Holy Spirit records their names. The king was not satisfied with this. His satanic anger was so aroused that he wanted to have Baruch and Jeremiah apprehended. Like the mad king Saul, he probably thought of killing them both. But the Lord hid them.