Texts in Conversation
Baruch 4:7 recalls Israel’s abandonment of God by using language that echoes Deuteronomy 32:17, where the nation is described as sacrificing to other divine beings. This emphasizes Baruch’s own critique of idolatry and connects it to the traditions rooted in Deuteronomy.
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Deuteronomy 32:17
Hebrew Bible
15 But Jeshurun became fat and kicked; you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt. 16 They made him jealous with other gods, they enraged him with abhorrent idols. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known; to new gods who had recently come along, gods your ancestors had not known about. 18 You forgot the Rock who fathered you, and put out of mind the God who gave you birth. 19 But the Lord took note and despised them because his sons and daughters enraged him.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Baruch 4:7
Deuterocanon
5 Take courage, my people, who perpetuate Israel's name! 6 It was not for destruction that you were sold to the nations, but you were handed over to your enemies because you angered God. 7 For you provoked the one who made you by sacrificing to demons and not to God. 8 You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up, and you grieved Jerusalem, who reared you. 9 For she saw the wrath that came upon you from God, and she said: Listen, you neighbors of Zion, God has brought great sorrow upon me;
Date: 150-100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The fact that magical means are necessary to deal with Asmodeus makes it clear that he is a supernatural figure. The demon draws interest from scholars because the story of Tobit attributes a range of tragedies, including death, to demons. Some scholars view this as a theological innovation ... it is not clear why this would be viewed as an innovation. Other Second Temple literature clearly has divine beings choosing to rebel against God. The content of the two references in Baruch will sound familiar ... The language and theology of Baruch 4:7 echoes Deuteronomy 32:17, a passage on which we spent considerable time. The reference is to Israel’s apostasy, rejecting its status as Yahweh’s portion and people (Deuteronomy 32:8–9) in sacrificing to the gods allotted to other nations. The result of this apostasy is described later in the chapter ..."
Heiser, Michael S.
Demons: What the Bible Really Says about the Powers of Darkness
(p. 582) Lexham Press, 2020
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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