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2 Baruch

Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

About this book
Chapter 15

1 And the Lord answered and said to me: ‘You are rightly astonished regarding the departure of man, but you have not judged well regarding the evils which befall those who sin. 2 And as regards what you have said, that the righteous are carried off and the impious are prospered, 3 And as regards what you have said ‘Man does not know Your judgement’ 4 On this account hear, and I will speak to you, and listen, and I will cause you to hear My words. 5 Man would not rightly have understood My judgement, unless he had accepted the law, and I had instructed him in understanding. 6 But now, because he transgressed knowingly, yes, just on this ground that he knew it, he shall be tormented. 7 And as regards what you did say about the righteous, that on account of them this world has come,⁠ so also again shall that, which is to come, come on their account. 8 For this world is to them a strife and a labor with much trouble; and that accordingly which is to come, a crown with great glory.’⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Baruch 15:7 and Gospel of Thomas 12 and Sifre Deuteronomy 47

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Nag Hammadi · Rabbinic

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Summary

In Second Baruch and Sifre Deuteronomy, the world exists for the righteous. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus gives that honor to James alone, explaining his choice as leader with a claim about the purpose of creation.

Passages

2 Baruch 15:7

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch
6 But now, because he transgressed knowingly, yes, just on this ground that he knew it, he shall be tormented. 7 And as regards what you did say about the righteous, that on account of them this world has come, so also again shall that, which is to come, come on their account. 8 For this world is to them a strife and a labor with much trouble; and that accordingly which is to come, a crown with great glory.’
70–135 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Baruch

Gospel of Thomas 12

Nag Hammadi
11 Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it alive; when you come into the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?” 12 The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that you will leave us. Who will be our leader?” Jesus said to them, “Wherever you are, you should go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.” 13 Jesus said to his disciples, “Compare me and tell me whom I am like.” Simon Peter said to him, “You are like a righteous messenger.” Matthew said to him, “You are like a wise philosopher.” Thomas said to him, “Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say whom you are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring I have measured out.” And he took him and withdrew and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell you even one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me, and fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.”
135–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Thomas

Sifre Deuteronomy 47

Rabbinic · Halakhic Midrash
Variantly: "as the days of the heavens upon the earth": They (the righteous) will live and endure for ever and ever. And thus is it written (Isaiah 66:22) "For as the new heavens and the new earth that I will make will remain before Me, says the L-rd, etc." Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If the heavens and the earth, which were created only for the honor of the righteous, will live and endure forever, how much more so, the righteous themselves, for whose sake the world was created!
200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Sifre Deuteronomy

References

“... Let us first approach saying 12 as an isolated text. The disciples ask Jesus who is going to be their leader after his departure [...] “Who will be the greatest over us?” Jesus seems to give a straightforward answer to this question by announcing the name of his successor: “wherever you come from” (i.e., regardless of your native land and the faith of you forefathers) it is James the Just [...] (the Greek Vorlage most certainly read Ἰάκωβος ὁ δίκαιος), to whom you should go. James’ epithet, ὁ δίκαιος (“the just/righteous one”), is well-attested in early Christian sources and is always used as an honorary epithet. It occurs already in Hegesippus, who claims that James has been called ὁ δίκαιος “since the time of the Lord” and that this epithet was given to him “because of his excessive righteousness” (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.23.4 and 2.23.7; trans. R.J. Deferrari). Jesus also says that James the Just is the one “for whose sake [...] heaven and earth came into being.” This expression certainly refers to the exalted status of James and has numerous parallels. According to various early Jewish and early Christian sources, the world was created for the sake of Israel (As. Mos. 1.12; 4 Ezra 6.55, 59; 7.11), for the sake of the righteous (2 Bar. 14.19; 15.7; 21.24), or for the sake of the church (Herm. Vis. 1.1.6 [1:6]; Herm. Vis. 2.4.1 [8:1]). To sum up, if we disregard the context of and read Gos. Thom. 12 as an isolated text, this saying appears to regard James in high esteem. [...] This motif is also attested in the rabbinic sources; see Ginzberg 1909–1928, 5:67–68. ...”
Ivan Miroshnikov, The Gospel of Thomas and Plato: A Study of the Impact of Platonism on the Fifth Gospel (Leiden: Brill, 2018), 32.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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2 Baruch 15:7 and Gospel of Thomas 12 and Sifre Deuteronomy 47

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