Hello friends! Here we have a Bulla that belonged to Baruch, who was Jeremiah's scribe. There have been claims that this is a forgery, however, i don't believe it is.
I urge you to do research and come up with your own conclusion :) (Credit at the bottom of the article :D)
Jeremiah 36:4-14
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
7 It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the Lordhath pronounced against this people.
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.
9 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
10 Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house, in the ears of all the people.
11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord,
12 Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
13 Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
7 It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the Lordhath pronounced against this people.
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.
9 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
10 Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house, in the ears of all the people.
11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord,
12 Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
13 Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
Praise The Lord JESUS CHRIST!!!
The Seal of Baruch, Jeremiah’s Scribe
By Kyle Pope
The prophet Jeremiah was asked to carry out one of the most difficult tasks ever assigned to any servant of God. During the last years of the kingdom of Judah Jeremiah was to prophesy that because of their sin they must accept the yoke of Babylon and not resist. He was imprisoned, opposed by false prophets, threatened with death, and viewed as a traitor. Yet through him God prophesied the exile and return of the Jews and ultimately the coming of the new covenant (31:31-34).
Baruch, the Son of Neriah
Jeremiah, like all servants of God, had co-workers who contributed to his work and shared his hardship. Scripture tells of one companion named Baruch, the son of Neriah, his friend, co-worker and scribe in these difficult years.
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From the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign (605 BC), God assured Baruch that his life would be spared when Jerusalem fell (45:1-5). le>He was not to seek “great things” but was promised, “I will give your life to you as a prize in all places wherever you go” (45:5, NKJV).
The same year, when Jeremiah was prevented from going into the temple, he dictated a scroll to Baruch which he read in the temple (36:1-10). The scroll urged the people to accept the inevitability of Babylon’s control and repent. When Michaiah and some noblemen heard the words they took Baruch aside. Michaiah urged Baruch and Jeremiah to hide while they appealed to the king (36:11-19). As the scroll was read to Jehoiakim, he cut it in two and burned it. He then commanded his son Jerahmeel, and others to seize Baruch and Jeremiah (36:20-26). When Jeremiah learned of the king’s response he dictated another scroll to Baruch with the same words and a prophecy against Jehoiakim (36:27-32).
Seventeen years later (588 BC), when Jeremiah was imprisoned by Zedekiah during the Babylonian siege, Baruch was entrusted with the the purchase deeds of a field Jeremiah bought as a sign of the Jews return (32:1-16). Baruch was to put the deeds in an earthen vessel, “that they may last many days.” This demonstrated that, “houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land” (32:14,15).
When the city fell and captives were taken away Gedaliah was made the governor of Judah (ca. 587-6 BC.). After Gedaliah was murdered, some desired to flee to Egypt to escape the control of Babylon. When Jeremiah declared God’s opposition to this plan, some charged: “Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon (43:3). This suggests that Baruch was also falsely viewed as an ally of Babylon because he declared God’s punishment by their hand. Both Baruch and Jeremiah were taken by force to Egypt with others who had been spared captivity (43:1-7). Here they may have died.
Discovery of Baruch’s SealIn 1975 the first few pieces of 200 clay bullae were discovered in the shop of an antiquities dealer in East Jerusalem.1 Bullae are lumps of clay which were attached to documents and impressed with a seal. From the shape of its Hebrew characters (which vary throughout history) scholars date the collection to the 6th century BC, the time of Jeremiah. Within this collection are two bullae believed to have belonged to Baruch, and Jerahmeel (see above).
Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Kyle Pope
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The three lines on the Baruch bulla read: “(Belonging) to Berekhyahu, the son of Neriyahu, the scribe.” The suffix -yahu was a common epithet attached to names in Judah, meaning, “blessed of Jehovah.” While translations sometimes render it “-iah” (cf. Baruch’s father Ner-iah), some texts drop it altogether.2 The bulla is now displayed in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
The March/April 1996 issue of Biblical Archeology Review featured an article on another bulla belonging to a private collector from the same seal. What is unique about this is the clear impression of a fingerprint on the upper left of the bulla. The article suggested this was the “fingerprint of Jeremiah’s scribe.” 3 While it is presumptuous to assume this is Baruch’s fingerprint, at the very least discoveries such as this remind us that the people of the Bible were not imaginary figures from fairy tales, but real souls who served our God in the past.
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