Skip to Content
intertextual.bible
Go to Related Reading
About this book

2 Baruch

Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch

About this book
Chapter 29

1 And He answered and said to me: ‘Whatever will then happen will happen to the whole earth; therefore all who live will experience them. 2 For at that time I will protect only those who are found in those self-same days in this land.

The Messiah and the Resurrection

3 And it shall come to pass when all is accomplished that was to come to pass in those parts, that the Messiah shall then begin to be revealed.⁠ 4 And Behemoth shall be revealed from his place and Leviathan shall ascend from the sea, those two great monsters which I created on the fifth day of creation, and have kept until that time; and then they shall be for food for all that are left.⁠ 5 The earth also shall yield its fruit ten thousandfold and on each vine there shall be a thousand branches, and each branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and each cluster produce a thousand grapes, and each grape produce a cor of wine.⁠ 6 And those who have hungered shall rejoice: moreover, also, they shall behold marvels every day.⁠ 7 For winds shall go forth from before Me to bring every morning the fragrance of aromatic fruits, and at the close of the day clouds distilling the dew of health. 8 And it shall come to pass at that same time that the treasury of manna shall again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years, because these are they who have come to the consummation of time.

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Baruch 29:4 and Bava Batra 75a

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Rabbinic

Share:

Summary

In 2 Baruch, God promises that Behemoth and Leviathan, created on the fifth day and held back ever since, will become food for all who are left. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Bava Batra also describes these monsters as a feast for the righteous.

Passages

2 Baruch 29:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch
2 For at that time I will protect only those who are found in those self-same days in this land. 3 And it shall come to pass when all is accomplished that was to come to pass in those parts, that the Messiah shall then begin to be revealed. 4 And Behemoth shall be revealed from his place and Leviathan shall ascend from the sea, those two great monsters which I created on the fifth day of creation, and have kept until that time; and then they shall be for food for all that are left. 5 The earth also shall yield its fruit ten thousandfold and on each vine there shall be a thousand branches, and each branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and each cluster produce a thousand grapes, and each grape produce a cor of wine. 6 And those who have hungered shall rejoice: moreover, also, they shall behold marvels every day.
70–135 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Baruch

Bava Batra 75a

Rabbinic · Babylonian Talmud
And when he is thirsty, he makes many furrows in the sea, as it is stated: “He makes a path to shine after him” (Job 41:24). Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov says: After the leviathan drinks from the sea, the depth of the sea does not return to its normal condition until seventy years have passed, as it is stated: “One would think the deep to be hoary” (Job 41:24), and hoary indicates a person who is no less than seventy years old. Rabba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will make a feast for the righteous from the flesh of the leviathan, as it is stated: “The ḥabbarim will make a feast [yikhru] of him” (Job 40:30). And kera means nothing other than a feast, as it is stated: “And he prepared [va’yikhreh] for them a great feast [kera]; and they ate and drank” (II Kings 6:23). And ḥabbarim means nothing other than Torah scholars, as it is stated: “You that dwell in the gardens, the companions [ḥaverim] hearken for your voice: Cause me to hear it” (Song of Songs 8:13). This verse is interpreted as referring to Torah scholars, who listen to God’s voice. And with regard to the remainder of the leviathan, they will divide it and use it for commerce in the markets of Jerusalem, as it is stated: “They will part him among the kena’anim” (Job 40:30). And kena’anim means nothing other than merchants, as it is stated: “As for the merchant [kena’an], the balances of deceit are in his hand. He loves to oppress” (Hosea 12:8). And if you wish, say that the proof is from here: “Whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers [kinaneha] are the honorable of the earth” (Isaiah 23:8).
450–550 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Bava Batra

References

“... However, 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, and 1 Enoch, as well as two rabbinic texts b. Baba Batra 74b–75a and Midrash Alpha Bethoth [...] preserve additional material about the eschatological purpose of Leviathan and Behemoth. Leviathan and Behemoth in the Eschaton and More Eschatological Battles. There are several texts that discuss the role of Leviathan and Behemoth in the eschaton: 2 Baruch 29:4, 1 Enoch 60:7–25, 4 Ezra 6:47–52, b. Baba Batra 74b–75a, and Midrash Alpha Bethoth [...]. These texts utilize the conflict motif to promote Yahweh/Theos by asserting that Leviathan and Behemoth never posed a threat to Yahweh/Theos. Rather, he created them and has preserved them for a specific purpose in the eschaton: an eschatological banquet. These narrative details contribute to the texts’ shared claim that Yahweh/Theos has universal dominion by implying the following: first, he is not threatened by any rival divine beings because he created everything, including Leviathan and Behemoth; and second, Yahweh/Theos has made preparations for the eschaton ...”
Debra Scoggins Ballentine, The Conflict Myth and the Biblical Tradition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 150.

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

Your feedback

2 Baruch 29:4 and Bava Batra 75a

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library