Vtus

'es* Testamentum
BRILL Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 www.brill.nl/vt

Qoheleth and the Syriac Apocalypse ofBaruch*

Matthias Henze
Houston

Abstract
The roots of early Jewish apocalypticism are diverse. Within the realm of ancient Israel, one of
the main contributory streams is the wisdom tradition. The present essay examines the impact
of Israels sapiential tradition, and specifically of that of the book of Qoheleth, on the Syriac
Apocalypse of Baruch, a Jewish apocalypse of the late first century C.E. My thesis is that, while
both authors agree in their assessment of the present human condition, they draw dramatically
different conclusions. Qoheleth persistendy points to the limits and fallibility of this world and
advises his readers to enjoy life before they die, whereas the author of 2 Baruch looks to the world
to come and, in the meantime, calls on his readers to live their lives in compliance with the
Mosaic Torah.

Keywords
Qoheleth, Syriac, Apocalypse of Baruch (2 Baruch), wisdom, apocalyptic literature

Introduction
The origins of apocalyptic thought in ancient Israel have been the subject
of considerable debate. There is now wide agreement that the roots of early
Jewish apocalypticism as it emerged in the fourth and third centuries B.C.E.
are diverse and that apocalypticism is a synthesis of various traditions whose
origins reach well beyond the borders of ancient Israel.1 It is furthermore
agreed that within the realm of ancient Israel the two principal contribu-
tory streams to Jewish apocalypticism are prophecy and wisdom. There are
numerous direct lines of continuity from the biblical prophets into Jewish

*) Klaus Koch zum 80. Geburtstag.

1}
On Babylonian and Persian influences, see R. J. Clifford, "The Roots of Apocalypticism in
Near Eastern Myth," and A. Hultgaard, "Persian apocalypticism," in J. J. Collins, B. McGinn,
and S. Stein (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism (3 vols.; New York, 1998), vol. 1, pp. 3-38,
and 39-83, respectively.
Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2008 DOI: 10.1163/156853307X204600
 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 29

apocalypticism; the prophetic impact on apocalyptic books is particularly evi-

dent in the transition from prophetic to apocalyptic eschatology.2 The forma-
tive influence of the wisdom tradition is equally evident and is made explicit
in several apocalypses whose protagonists are, in fact, sages.3
While it is readily acknowledged that Jewish apocalypticism is an amalgam
of diverse components, attempts to disentangle these strands of origin and
to distinguish, for example, between prophetic and sapiential influences, have
proven to be difficult. There is a danger of overdrawing the distinctions
between genres and of exaggerating the delineations between the prophetic
and the sapiential material. Prophecy and wisdom are not mutually exclusive
categories, and the two are often blended in apocalyptic literature.4 The use of
the dialogue in 4 Ezra and the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (or 2 Baruch), for
example, is reminiscent of both the wisdom dialogue as in the book of Job and
of the disputations as found in the prophetic books.5
These difficulties notwithstanding, there are several examples in which we
can demonstrate the influence of a particular sapiential book or tradition on
an early Jewish apocalypse. This article is concerned with one such example,
the book of Qoheleth and its resonance in 2 Baruch. Like all early apocalyptic
writers, the author of 2 Baruch is intimately familiar with the Jewish Bible and
makes ample use of it, often speaking in the biblical idiom. The apocalypse is
saturated with allusions to, paraphrases of, and language taken from the Bible.
There are a few verbal echoes of Qoheleth in 2 Baruch, and I begin with them.
However, I am interested primarily in the congeniality of ideas expressed in
the two books and the transformation of these ideas in 2 Baruch that are not

2)
The literature is extensive. H. H. Rowley, The Relevance of Apocalyptic: A Study of Jewish and
Christian ApocalypsesfromDaniel to the Revektion (London, 1944 [3rd ed. 1964]); P. D. Hanson,
The Dawn ofApocalyptic: The Historical and Sociological Roots of Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology
(Philadelphia, 1975); and S. L. Cook, Prophecy and Apocalypticism: The Postexilic Social Setting
(Minneapolis, 1995).
3)
The two obvious examples are Daniel and Enoch and their Mesopotamian counterparts.
R. Argali, 1 Enoch and Sirach: A Comparative Literary and Conceptual Analysis of the Themes of
Revehtion, Creation, andJudgment (Atlanta, 1995).
4)
J. C. VanderKam, "The Prophetic-Sapiential Origins of Apocalyptic Thought", in J. D. Mar-
tin and P. R. Davies (eds.), A Word in Season: Essays in Honour of William McKane (JSOTSup 42;
Sheffield, 1986), pp. 163-176; M. J. Goff, "Discerning Trajectories: 4QInstruction and the Sapi-
ential Background of the Sayings Source ,JBL 124 (2005), pp. 657-673.
5)
C. A. Newsom, The Book of Job: A Contest of Moral Imaginations (New York, 2003), pp. 79-89;
E. Pfeiffer, "Die Disputationsworte im Buche Maleachi", Evangelische Theohgie 19 (1959),
pp. 546-568.
30 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43

limited to verbal parallels.6 It is not the number of direct quotes but the kin-
ship in thought, the similarities in the way in which questions are pressed and
critical arguments presented, that allow us to gauge Qoheleths influence on
2 Baruch.
The thesis of this essay is that the author of 2 Baruch agrees with Qoheleth
to a significant degree in his assessment of the res humana. Both conclude that
this world is ephemeral, that human understanding is severely limited, and
that God s plans remain inscrutable. However, they differ sharply in the con-
clusions they draw. For Qoheleth, the ultimate good in life is pleasure and the
pursuit of happiness in this world, whereas for the author of 2 Baruch, whose
primary concern is with things eschatological, all hope is directed towards
Gods imminent intervention and the advent of a new reality. Thus we find in
2 Baruch an eschatological transformation of certain wisdom motifs which in
Qoheleth describe the flaws of this world and in 2 Baruch serve to cast into
sharp relief the promises of the world to come.

Qoheleth's Voice in 2 Baruch: Some Verbal Echoes

The Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch is a pseudepigraphic work that purports to be
written by Baruch, supporter and scribe of the prophet Jeremiah, in which
Baruch relates the events surrounding the Babylonian destruction of Jerusa-
lem and tells of the revelations he received in the following days.7 The fictional
setting of the book is the year 587 B.C.E., though it is clear that it was in fact
composed towards the end of the first century C.E., that is, in the wake of the
Jewish War. 2 Baruch was written in response to the devastation of Judea
and the fall of the Jerusalem temple in the year 70 C.E. The recent trauma,
tangible in almost every line of the text, prompts Baruch to raise existential

6)
In his brief discussion of the possible influence of Hellenistic philosophy on Qoheleth, M. V.
Fox, A Time to Tear Down & A Time to Build Up: A Rereading of Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids,
1999), p. 8, writes: "The most significant parallels may well be the least provable: affinities in
attitude, epistemology,fieldsof inquiry, questions addressed, and the types of answers offered...".
The same could be said about the influence Qoheleth has had on his readers.
75
All translations of 2 Baruch are mine. . E J. Klijn, "2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch", OTP
1.615-52; P.-M. Bogaert, L'Apocalypse syriaque de Baruch: Introduction, traduction du syriaque et
commentaire (2 vols.; SC 144-45; Paris, 1969), the only complete commentary, is dated but
remains excellent. E J. Murphy, "Sapiental Elements in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch", JQR
76 (1986), pp. 311-27; G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the Mish-
nah (Minneapolis, 2005), pp. 277-285; L. DiTommaso, A Bibliography of Pseudepigrapha
Research 1850-1999 (JSPSup 39; Sheffield, 2001), pp. 259-282.
 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 31

questions about the reasons for the devastation, the morality and justice of
God, and the future of God s people.
The apocalypse begins with a narrative (chaps. 1-9), which provides an
account of the fall of Zion. God bids Baruch to leave Jerusalem along with
Jeremiah and their companions, since their presence would preserve the city
from being destroyed. Overcome with sadness and confusion, Baruch initially
protests vehemently but ultimately is forced to witness the devastation of the
temple and the onset of the Exile. After a seven-day fast Jeremiah leaves with
the exiles for Babylon, whereas Baruch returns to the ruins of the temple gates
and bewails the calamity that has befallen Jerusalem.8 His lament begins with
a peculiar beatitude that sets the tone for the entire poem.

Blessed is he who has not yet been born, or he, who, after he was born, has
[already] died. But as for us who are alive, woe unto us, for we have seen the
afflictions of Zion and what has befallen Jerusalem (2 Baruch 6-7)

Baruch begins his dirge on a gloomy note. His pain is so unbearable that
he considers being alive a greater evil than death itself, because being alive
inevitably forces him to witness the sacking of Jerusalem. For Baruch, death
becomes preferable to life, a sentiment he had expressed already earlier when
he asked for his own death at Gods hand (2 Baruch iii 2). The most enviable,
however, are those who have not yet been born, presumably because the
unborn have never had to encounter any devastation. Baruch repeats his
somber benediction over the dead toward the end of the lament, "Go and
announce to Sheol and say to the dead: 'Blessed are you more than we who
live' " (2 Baruch xi 6-7; cf. 14); it thus forms a kind of inclusio and completes
the literary frame of the lament.9
When we turn to the biblical canon in search of possible antecedents, the
two books that offer the closest analogies are Job and Qoheleth, the two "skep
tics" of Israels wisdom tradition. After his three friends have arrived and gath
ered about him in silence for seven days, Job begins by cursing the day of his
birth. "Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?"

8)
The narrative frame or prologue in chaps, i-ix is followed by Baruchs lament in chaps, x-xii;
B. Violet, Die Apokalypsen des Esra und des Baruch in Deutscher Gestalt (Leipzig, 1924), pp. 214-220.
9)
Bogaert, L'Apocalypse syriaque de Baruch, 1.130-31, calls 6-7 the "Leitmotiv" of the lament.
His assertion that the lament was originally part of a Jewish liturgy recited to commemorate the
destruction of the temple is speculative (pp. 156-157).
32 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43

(Job iii 11-12; cf. iii 16).10 The analogy with 2 Baruch is approximate but not
exact. Unlike Baruch, Job does not address God directly but expresses his
fantasy of death in a rhetorical question. A closer parallel is found in Qoheleth
in a passage in which Qoheleth reports about the injustice he observes in soci-
ety, a recurring theme in the book.

Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, tears of the
oppressedwith no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there
was powerwith no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead, who have
already died, more fortunate than the living, who are still alive; but better than
both is the one who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done
under the sun (Qoh iv 1-3; cf. vi 5)

Qoheleths language and thought are similar to the passage in 2 Baruch. Both
Qoheleth and Baruch consider the dead more fortunate than the living, and
both agree that those who have not yet been born are to be most envied.
But the contexts of the passages are rather different. Qoheleth is troubled by
the social injustice and widespread oppression of his time.11 The weak are
oppressed and, even worse, society ignores their fate altogether; there is no
one to console them. What troubles Qoheleth most is not the fate of the
downtrodden or the fact that they are ignored, however, but the pain of the
observerthat is, his own pain. It is notable that Qoheleth never entertains
the possibility that human behavior and social structures might be changed.
He is in despair over what he sees and agonizes above all over the pain he
himself feels while observing the injustice, but the thought never crosses his
mind that something could be done about it.12 After all, the crooked cannot
be straightened (Qoh i 15; vii 13).13
A little later, while still addressing God in prayer, Baruch makes the follow-
ing observation about human life.

10)
Newsom, The Book of Job, p. 95. Similar curses on ones birth appear in Jer xx 18 and Sir xxiii
14; in apocalyptic literature, see 1 Enoch xxxviii 2; 2 Enoch xli 2; Mark xiv 21.
n)
On social injustice in Qoheleth, see iii 16; iv 1-3; viii 9-10; ix 13-16; and 5-7. There is a
notable contrast between Qoheleths 'pessimism" and the prophetic protest against injustice and
oppression; T. Krger, Qoheleth: A Commentary (Hermeneia; Minneapolis, 2004), pp. 95-96.
12)
Fox, A Time to Tear Down, "Social justice is just one of the many warps and bends in his
unchanging and unchangeable world" (p. 218).
13)
G. Ogden, Qoheleth (Sheffield, 1987), pp. 66-67, comments that the dead in Qoh iv 2 are
the oppressed persons who have died.
 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 33

We have corne to resemble a breath. Just as the breath rises [within us] beyond our
control14 and again is exhaled, so it is with human nature. [Humans] depart not
according to their own will, and they are ignorant of what will befall them in the
end (2 Baruch xiv 10-11)

For Baruch, human breath (Syr. hebla) is a metaphor for human life.15 Life is
short and ephemeral, and its beginning and end lie beyond our control. "We
are born ephemerally, and in a litde while we return" (2 Baruch xlviii 12). We
do not ask to be born or to die, and our death comes as quickly as the breath
that is exhaled (cf. 2 Baruch xlviii 16). To make things worse, death is plagued
with uncertainty, Baruch declares, as we do not know what will happen to us
in the end.
This short excerpt is replete with themes that are prominent in Qoheleth.
That everything, including life itself, is a mere "vapor" or "breath" (Heb. hebel)
is the central theme of the sapiential book. The word occurs thirty-three times
in Qoheleth and is introduced as early as in the famous opening statement,
"Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All is vanity" (Qoh i 2;
cf. xii 8).16 Furthermore, Qoheleth is profoundly irritated by the reality of
death as it pervades all aspects of life.17 For Qoheleth death is a constant threat,
not least because it eliminates all social and moral distinctions, even between
humans and animals (Qoh iii 19-21; ix 1-3). In a telling passage in ii 14-17,
Qoheleth maintains that the wise are discerning ("the wise have eyes in their
head") and the fools grope in darkness, and yet in death the two become alike
and surfer the same fate. The problem here is, as Murphy has observed, that
death, the great equalizer, makes any desire to live a just life seem unwar-
ranted, if absurd, since at the moment of death wisdom fails to deliver (cf. also

14)
My translation "beyond our control (Syr. dk men ebba)," follows F. Schultess, "Recension
of R. H. Charles, The Apocalypse of Baruch," Theologische Literaturzeitung 22 (1897), p. 239;
contra Bogaert, L'Apocalypse syriaque de Baruch, 2.40-41.
15)
Cf. 2 Baruch lxxxii 3, where Israel's enemies are compared to a breath. "Now we witness the
abundant prosperity of the nations, while they act wickedly; and yet, they merely resemble a
breath (Syr. hebla).9
16
> M. V. Fox, "The Meaning of Hebel for QpheletM,/5Z 105 (1986), pp. 409-427; A Time to
Tear Down, pp. 27-42, where Fox provides a useful overview of the different scholarly renditions
of this term. D. B. Miller, SymbolandRhetoric in Ecclesiastes: The Pkce of Hebel in Qphelets Work
(AcadBib 2; Atlanta, 2002).
17)
J. L. Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction (Louisville, 1998), pp. 118-121;
S. Burkes, Death in Qoheleth and Egyptian Biographies of'the Late Period (Atlanta, 1999), pp. 35-80.
34 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43

ix 13-16). Any advantage wisdom might have over folly is cancelled by the
reality of death.18 The wise vanish and are soon forgotten along with the fools.19
Qoheleth's disdainful conclusion"So I hated life" (ii 17)is diametrically
opposed to wisdoms traditional claim to be a source of life (Qoh vii 12;
Prov iii 16; viii 35) and reflects the full degree of Qoheleths anger.
Qoheleth s complaint that wisdom s value in the end amounts to nothing is
similar to an argument Baruch made a few lines earlier in disputation with
God. There Baruch acknowledged that many in Israel were sinful and that the
recent destruction of Jerusalem might appear to have been justified as an act
of divine punishment. He then goes on to reason, however, that Zion should
not have been devastated but should have been spared on account of the wise,
whose righteous works surely outweigh the sins of Israel. Since this did not
happen and the city was destroyed, Baruch is left to wonder: "What advantage
have those who were wise before you, those who did not walk in vanity like
the rest of the nations?" (2 Baruch xiv 5; similarly in lxxxv 3). Neither Qohe-
leth nor Baruch calls into question the intrinsic benefit of wisdom, and both
uphold wisdom s value over folly. The problem both are faced with is the prac-
tical failure of wisdom to have any positive impact at the crucial time of death;
there is no advantage for the sages themselves or for the society that ought to
benefit from their wisdom. The obvious unfairness does not erase the qualita-
tive superiority of wisdom over folly. As both Qoheleth and Baruch maintain
wisdoms superiority, however, the unfairness is only exacerbated.20

The Inscrutability of Wisdom

Qoheleth and 2 Baruch are congenial in several ways. Both hold that life is
contradictory and ephemeral and that death annihilates any advantage that
might have accrued to the sage, who dies and passes on into oblivion. But an
important change occurred in 2 Baruch, The traumatic event that led to the

18)
R. E. Murphy, "Qohelet's 'Quarrel' with the Fathers", in: D. Y. Hadidian (ed.), From Faith to
Faith: Essays in Honor of Donald G Miller on his Seventieth Birthday (Pittsburgh, 1979), pp. 235-
245. Note the similar observation by P. Machinist, "Fate, miqre, and Reason: Some Reflections
on Qohelet and Biblical Thought", in Z. Zevit, S. Gitin, and M. Sokoloff(eds.), Solving Riddles
and Untying Knots: FSJ. C. Greenfield (Winona Lake, 1995), pp. 159-175, who remarks that
death "cuts across all moral categories" (p. 166).
19)
S. Burkes, God, Self and Death: The Shape of Religious Transformation in the Second Temple
Period (Leiden, 2003), pp. 70-76.
20)
Fox, A Time to Tear Down, p. 90.
 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 35

books composition, the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 CE., gave apocalypticism

a fresh impetus, as Jewish communities tried to make sense of the dramatic
loss of life and the abrupt cessation of temple worship. While not all Jews of
the first century felt the trauma in the same way, an air of crisis pervades the
apocalypse of 2 Baruch?1 For this author, the fall of the temple inaugurated
the eschaton. "Now is the consummation of time!" (2 Baruch xix 5). All of
his observations are therefore governed by an eschatological perspective. He
agrees with Qoheleth that life is but a breath and that an indiscriminate death
erases all moral distinctions, but for him this is not the last word. Since this
world has run its course, his hope is fueled by the belief in an imminent final
judgment that will bring salvation from an evil and threatening world and that
will usher in a new reality.
This eschatological transformation that puts the familiar sapiential observa-
tions in a new context can be found in several places in 2 Baruch. One is the
acknowledgement, shared by Qoheleth and the author of 2 Baruch, that God s
ways remain mysterious. In spite of the more optimistic claims in classical
wisdom that, underlying all the injustice in society and disorder of daily life,
an ordering pattern could be found by which all phenomena can be explained,
this pattern proves to be inscrutable and God's ordering hand elusive. Thus
Qoheleth exclaims: "Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the
bones in the mother s womb, so you do not know the work of God, who
makes everything" (Qoh xi 5; cf. vii 13-14; viii 17). As a consequence, Qohe-
leth never interacts with God in dialogue, either in prayer or in lament.22 His
carpe diem mentality and his recurring advice are well known: focus on the
remaining joyful sides of this life, pursue that which brings pleasure, and above
all eat, drink, and be merry.
The author of 2 Baruch, too, is aggravated by the inscrutability of the divine
willor, more specifically, by the discrepancies he observes between his own
theological reasoning and Gods actions. God has provided him with much
knowledge (xiv 1: "You have shown me...", "You told me..."; xiv 2: "Now I
know..."), but these insights turn out to be insufficient. He still cannot come
to terms with the empirical reality of death and loss. The theological reasoning

21)
M. E. Stone, "Reactions to Destructions of the Second Temple: Theology, Perception and
Conversion",/^ 12 (1981), pp. 195-204; see also the classic essay by S. J. D. Cohen, "The
Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism", HUCA 55
(1984), pp. 27-53, and the recent critique by D. Boyarn, Border Lines: The Partition ofjudaeo-
Christianity (Philadelphia, 2004), pp. 44-46.
22)
Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom, p. 124.
36 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43

of 'what ought to be' and the empirical reality of what is' remain incompati-
ble. And so in a cluster of rhetorical questions Baruch concedes the limitations
of his ability to understand the way of the Lord (2 Baruch xiv 8-9; cf. also
iiil-9;xxii2-8). 23

But who, O Lord, my Lord, comprehends your judgment?

Who will explore the profundity of your way?
Or who discerns the burden of your path?
Who is able to discern your incomprehensible counsel?
Or who of those who were born has ever found the beginning or end of your
wisdom?

Such open acknowledgment that God s involvement with humanity remains

inscrutable does not deter Baruch, however. Unlike Qoheleth, who never
addresses God in dialogue, Baruch constandy talks to God. In fact, the apoca-
lypse of 2 Baruch is cast in the form of a continuous dialogue between God and
Baruch. Baruchs hope is not in this world, let alone in the pleasures it offers,
but in the promise that awaits the faithful, a world now invisible, the expanses
of Paradise. "Prepare yourselves for that which is preserved for you; make your-
selves ready for the reward which is laid up for you" (2 Baruch lii 7).
Baruch makes a similar point in his second public address to the elders of
Israel, in which he describes the transitory nature of this world.

For everything that is corruptible passes away; everything that is mortal departs.
Everything that now exists will be forgotten, and there won't be any memory of
the present time that wallows in evil. He who runs now runs in vain, and he who
is prosperous will soon fall and be humiliated (2 Baruch xliv 9-10)

Qoheleth could have said much of the same thingabout oblivion as a prin-
cipal vice of society (Qoh i 11; ii 16; ix 5-6), about the runner who runs in
vain (Qoh ix 11), or the rich whose fate changes in an instant and whose
money will be taken from them (Qoh ii 18-26). For Qoheleth these are the
inevitable maladies of society. He recognizes them as such and bemoans them
repeatedly throughout his book, but, as we noted above, other than that he

23)
Similar clusters in cognate writings are found in 1 Enoch xciii 11-14; Wisdom of Solomon ix
13-18; Ben Sira xviii 4-5; and 4 Ezra iv 10-11. Rhetorical questions similarly serve as a literary
device in Qoh vi 12; vii 13; viii 7; and 14.
 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 37

remains entirely passive. He offers no advice on how to correct the social

wrongs he observes, nor does he show any hope for improvement. The author
of 2 Baruch, too, uncovers the fallible qualities of this world (which is all too
understandable, given that he wrote in the wake of the Jewish War).24 How-
ever, unlike Qoheleth he does not end in resignation, but contrasts the sorrow,
grief and death of this world with the promise of the world to come. The hope
for the faithful and the reward for the righteous lie in the promise that there
will be peace instead of persecution, that the corruptible will be replaced
by the incorruptible, and that devastation and death will give way to life
eternal. "Therefore, without fear [the righteous] leave this world. Trusting
and joyful they hope to receive the world that you have promised them"
(2 Baruch xiv 13).25 Similarly, Baruch continues his musings about the tran-
sience of this world quoted above on a hopeful note. "That which is yet to
be shall be the object of desire, and for that which comes afterwards we
hope" (2 Baruch xliv 11). Indeed, the hope in "the world that does not die"
(2 Baruch li 3) constitutes a focal point of the book. At a different place, and
in language strikingly similar to that of Paul (1 Cor xv 19), Baruch remarks,
"If there were for everybody this life only, nothing could be more bitter"
(2 Baruch xxi 13).

The Mystery of Time and the End of Life

In a number of passages the author of 2 Baruch explores the concept of time
as perceived by God and by humans, a subject of considerable interest for both
early sapiential and apocalyptic authors.26 Specifically, he comments on the

24)
Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature, p. 282.
25)
Baruch s promise of the imminent world to come, which is intended to "solve" the problem
of wisdom's failure to reward the righteous, is reminiscent of the Pseudo-Ezekiel text from
Qumran, composed in the late second century B.C.E. There the Vision of the Dry Bones (Eze-
kiel xxxvii) and the promise of resurrection serves as God's reply to the prophets insistent
probing how the righteous will be recompensed for their piety (4Q385 1). D. Dimant, "Pseudo-
Ezekiel", Qumran Cave 4.xxi: Parabiblical Texts, Part 4: Pseudo-Prophetic Texts (DJD 30; Oxford,
2000), pp. 14-16, 24. See also Dan xii 1-3; 1 Clem 14.
26)
K. Koch, "Das Geheimnis der Zeit in Weisheit und Apokalyptik um die Zeitenwende", in
F. Garca Martnez (ed.), Wisdom and Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea ScrolL and in the Biblical
Tradition (Leuven, 2003), pp. 35-68 (on Qoheleth, pp. 39-45). On Qoheleths poetic treatment
of time in iii 1-8, see C. L. Seow, Ecclesiastes (AB 18C; New York, 1997), pp. 169-170; and
O. Kaiser, Anweisungen zum gelingenden, gesegneten und ewigenteben:Eine Einfuhrung in die spt-
biblischen Weisheitsbcher (Theologische Literaturzeitung. Forum 9; Leipzig, 2003), pp. 47-52.
38 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43

length of the human life and raises the issue of what it is in our lives that deter-
mines how we are judged and how we will be remembered. Using the examples
of Adam and Moses he argues that, while their life-span had no bearing on
their memory, their deeds were decisive for how the tradition remembers them.
Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years but in the end was disobedient, so
that "the long time he lived did not profit him" (2 Baruch xvii 3). Moses, on
the other hand, even though he lived a much shorter life, will be remembered
for having given Israel the Torah.
Of particular importance for the author of 2 Baruch is how a person fares
in old age.

For if somebody prospers initially, yet in his old age is treated shamefully, he will
forget the prosperity he once enjoyed. And further, if somebody is treated shame-
fully initially, yet towards his end will be prosperous, he will no longer remember
his shame (2 Baruch xix 6-7)

Regardless of whether one was prosperous or poor, the life lived in old age
overrides all of life's memories, and previous pleasures and hardships are even-
tually forgotten. The issue comes up again later in the book, when Baruch
inquires about the fate of the apostates and proselytes in the final judgment.
God had just informed Baruch that at the coming of the messiah, all people
will be brought to trial (2 Baruch xl 1-3). Now Baruch wants to know whether
apostates and proselytes will be judged based on how they have lived the lon-
gest parts of their lives or whether their judgment is based on their more
recent decisions either to turn away from, or to convert to God. The answer is
unmistakable. Only the end of their lives matters, whereas "thefirstpart of the
time of their [lives] will be considered as nothing" (2 Baruch xlii 4 and 5).27
The author of 2 Baruch is persistent in emphasizing the importance of life's
end. It is the latter part of life that determines how a person is remembered
and how they will be judged. What exactly is at stake here? The function of
these passages, it is clear, is hortatory. These are parenetic texts whose aim is to
exhort an audience living in the end-time to repentance and faithfulness. The
author of 2 Baruch seeks to persuade his readers that this is the time to turn to
God and to observe the Mosaic Torah.
Even though Qoheleth shows no awareness of the concept of afinaljudg-
ment or of an after-life, he is greatly concerned about the reputation a

Violet, Die Apokalypsen, pp. 258-259; Bogaert, L'Apocalypse syriaque de Baruch, 1.489-90.
 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 39

person leaves behind. Here, too, he follows conventional wisdom (Prov 7;

Job xviii 17-21; Sir xi 25-28). Qoheleth addresses the issue in vii 1-4 in a
loosely knit collection of aphorisms about death, mourning and sorrow. The
first of the proverbs is framed in the conventional form of the "better... than"
saying. "A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death,
than the day of birth" (Qoh vii 1). The claim in vii lb, that the day of death is
better than the day of birth, at first hand seems absurd and could just be
another instance of Qoheleths preoccupation with death.28 Taken together
with the first half of the verse, however, its meaning becomes clear. Whereas
precious ointment has material value only and quickly spoils (the point is
made in Qoh 1), a good reputation is clearly superior. It cannot be bought
with money, it takes a long time to build, and it reflects a persons character
and integrity well beyond one s life-time. What is more, a persons reputation
is complete only at the moment of death when it becomes final and can no
longer be abolished (Sir xi 28; Aboth ii 4). Qoheleth does not praise death
itself, nor does he belittle the meaning of birth and life. He argues, instead,
that life and death are closely intertwined. A human life can only be judged for
what it was once it is completed at the moment of death. The anonymous
interpreter cited in the midrash illustrates the point by comparing the birth
and death of a person to two ocean-going ships, one leaving the harbor and
one entering it. A shrewd man observed the scene and told the bystanders not
to rejoice over the ship that was leaving the harbor, since nobody knows what
will be its plight, whereas one should rejoice over the ship that has come home
safely. "Similarly, when a person dies all should rejoice and offer thanks that he
departed from the world with a good name and in peace."29
The idea is picked up again and developed further a few verses later in
another "better... than" saying. "Better is the end of a thing than its begin
ning; the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit" (Qoh vii 8).
Beginnings, however favorable, can go terribly wrong, and what began with
great promise can end in failure. Once a thing has been completed, however,
it is unarguable. How it might turn out is a matter of expectations and hope;
how it did turn out is simply a fact.30 "And what is life but a series of processes
that are ever moving toward their conclusion, often ending in configurations

28)
J. L. Crenshaw, Ecclesiastes: A Commentary (OTL; London, 1988), p. 133.
29)
Midrash Rabbah: Ecclesiastes vii. 1.4.
30)
J. L. Kugel, "Introduction to Psalms and Wisdom", in J. L. Mays (ed.), Harpers Bible Com
mentary (San Francisco, 1988), pp. 396-406.
40 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43

that would surprise their beginnings? So, of course, 'Better is the end of a
thing than its beginning' because it is only the 'end of a thing' that counts."31
Qoheleth returns to the theme of old age and death in the book'sfinalcom-
position in xii 1-8, a poem both beautiful and enigmatic. Commentators have
often pointed out how Qoheleths closing poem picks up and further qualifies
certain elements introduced in the opening poem in Qoh i 2-8. In the begin-
ning Qoheleth describes the seemingly unending life cycles in the world of
nature, the sun rising and setting, generations of people coming and going.
The world of xii 1-8, by contrast, does not remain the same forever: sun and
moon are darkened, strong men are bent, mourners wander in the street. Cre-
ation and death, "the two extremities of existence," are brought together in
Qoheleths final comments.32 Even though the precise meaning of the meta-
phors is difficult to determine and has invited a wide array of interpretations,
the overall gist of the poem's message is clear.33 Qoheleth sums it up nicely
in the opening line. "Remember your creator in the days of your youth..."
(Qoh xii 1; cf. xi 9; Job xxxv 10; Ps cxlix 2). Aware that life will not continue
foreverthe life of his readers as well as his ownQoheleth exhorts his audi-
ence to be mindful of their creator before they will have reached old age and
die. The imperative to remember God is followed by the conjunction "before,"
which is repeated three times. The threefold repetition divides the composition
into three unequal parts (xii lb; xii 2-5; and xii 6-7), and it also reinforces the
urgency of the initial imperative clause: this is not the time to delay but to
remember one's creator! Unfortunately Qoheleth does not tell us which form
the act of remembering God should take. He is content merely to admonish his
audience to remember. Qoheleth concludes his poem poignandy (Qoh xii 8)
with the ^/-statement with which his opening musings began (Qoh i 2).
Several elements make this a particularly powerful poem. The first is a cer-
tain urgency in Qoheleths admonition. The command to remember the cre-
ator is the last in a series of imperatives which begins in xi 9. There Qoheleth
encourages his young audience to enjoy life to the fullest, but warns them to
be mindful "that for all these things God will bring you into judgment."34
Judgment, death, and the obligation to remember one's creator are the central

31)
Ibid., p. 399.
32)
Ogden, Qoheleth, p. 199.
33)
Fox, A Time to Tear Down, p. 320; Fox's excursus on Qoh xii 1-8 (pp. 333-349) is singularly
helpful in uncovering the multiple levels on which the poem can be read.
34)
Many scholars regard the reference to judgment as a later interpolation, calling it "a moralis-
tic gloss, inserted to counteract Qohelet s shocking advice. The entire tradition was on the side
of the glossator." Crenshaw, Ecclesiastes, p. 184. But see Krger, Qoheleth, pp. 196-197.
 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 41

themes of the book's final segment. Secondly, some of the images in the poem
appear to reach beyond the life of the individual to express a cosmic end-time
scenario. In xii 2 Qoheleth speaks of the sun, moon and stars whose light is
darkened and of the clouds that return after the rain. The universal darkening
of the luminaries is an eschatological catastrophe of cosmic proportions.35 The
motif originally derives from the prophets and is often employed in apocalyp-
tic literature.36 Similarly, the image of the clouds that return after the rain
remains unintelligible unless read in the context of prophetic passages that are
clearly eschatological (see especially Ezek xxxii 7-8).37 And thirdly, the third
and final section of the poem consists of a list of images of brokenness.
"... before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher
is broken at the fountain and the wheel is broken at the cistern" (xii 6). The
metaphors serve to express the disintegration of life and the definitiveness of
death. Just as the bowl is shattered beyond repair and has lost its usefulness, so
life has run its course and is finally completed. The dust of which we are made
returns to the earth and our breath to God (xii 7).
The author of 2 Baruch uses the end of his apocalypse to review some of his
most cherished thoughts and, not unlike Qoheleth, to leave his readers with
some clear instructions. The final section of the book takes the form of an
epistle sent by Baruch to the exiles in Assyria (2 Baruch lxxviii-lxxxvii). In it he
lays out in some detail how the present, corrupt world is quickly degenerating
and fading away. "All pleasure and present gladness turns into nothingness and
corruption. All present boasting turns into dust and silence. All present acqui-
sition of wealth turns into Sheol alone {2 Baruch lxxxiii 15-17)." For Baruch,
this is both a promise and a threat. It is a promise in that he eagerly awaits the
final judgment that will mark the end of this corrupt state and inaugurate a
new world. If only the exiles could see it this way, too, they would find com-
fort in their present sadness (lxxxii 1). It is a threat in that the situation

35)
In other passages Qoheleth mocks the hope for a continued existence of the individual after
death (Qoh iii 19-21; ix 4-6); cf. Krger, Qoheleth, pp. 25-27.
36)
In the prophets, disturbances of the natural order are generally associated with the Day of
the Lord; cf. Isa xiii 10; xxiv 23; Ezek xxxii 7; Joel iii 4 [Engl, ii 31, cited in Acts ii 20]; iv 15
[Engl iii 15]; Arnos viii 9; Zech xiv 7. The darkening of the sun and the moon is part of the mes-
sianic woes in apocalyptic literature, as in i Enoch lxxx 4-8; Sibylline Oracles 3.801-803; 4.56-57;
Ascension of Isaiah iv 5; Testament of Moses 5; Testament of Levi iv 1; Matt xxiv 29; Luke xxi 25;
and Rev vi 12-14.
37)
Fox, A Time to Tear Down, pp. 340-341, for analogies in the prophets. Similarly, the "terrors
in the road" (xii 5) refer to extreme fear; cf. R. N. Whybray, Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids, 1989),
p. 166.
42 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43

demands some action. Baruch admonishes his audience not to become forget-
ful. Most of all they should remember Moses (lxxxiv 2) and his Torah, as well
as keep the festivals and the Sabbaths (lxxiv 8). The ideal lifestyle for the escha-
ton is to live a life in accordance with the sacred traditions of Israel. The idea
is developed further in the next chapter in Baruchs farewell address. He ends
with a poem.

So, before judgment will claim its own and truth what is rightfully hers, let us
prepare ourselves that we may possess and not be possessed, hope and not be
ashamed, rest with our fathers and not be tormented by those who hate us. For the
youthfulness of [this] world has passed away, the vigor of creation has been con-
sumed for some time. Litde is missing until the Advent of the times, until they will
have passed by. The pitcher is near to the fountain, the ship to the harbor, the
course of the journey to the city, and life to [its] consummation. Once again pre-
pare yourselves, so that, after you have traveled and disembarked from the ship, you
willfindrest and not be consumed, once you have arrived (2 Baruch lxxxv 9-11)

In this poem Baruch speaks about old agenot the old age of the individual
but the weariness of the cosmos. "The vigor of creation has been consumed
for some time."38 In language immediately reminiscent of Qoheleths Baruch
advises the exiles to be mindful of the imminent end and to act now, "before
judgment will claim its own."39 Life is near its final consummation. The
impending eschaton demands that Israel prepare their hearts "to sow into them
the fruits of Torah" (2 Baruch xxxii 1), before it is too late. After all, the dead
can no longer fulfill the religious obligations, and Baruch is quite explicit that
there will not be a place for penitence or intercessory prayers in the world to
come (lxxxv 12). The passage is likely influenced by Deut xxx 19-20, where
Moses had presented Israel with the opportunity to choose one s own fate, life
or death.40 This opportunity is now about to expire. The choice made during
one s lifetime will determine whether the path will lead to Gehenna or to the
expanses of Paradise. "That is why there is one Torah through one [God], for
one world" (2 Baruch lxxxv 14).

38)
The idea that this age is growing old is also found in 4 Ezra 46-55; cf. . E. Stone, Fourth
Ezra: A Commentary on the Book of Fourth Ezra (Hermeneia; Minneapolis, 1990), pp. 152-153;
and 4 Ezra xiv 10: "For the age has lost its youth, and the times begin to grow old."
39)
M. E Whitters, The Epistle of SecondBaruch:A Study in Form and Message ( JSPSup 42; Sheffield,
2003), p. 100, who finds in 2 Baruch lxxxv 10-11 "a fairly definitive echo of Qoh. 12.2-7."
^ W. Harnisch, Verhngnis undVerheiungder Geschichte: Untersuchungen zumZeit- und Geschichts-
verstndnis im 4. BuchEsra und in dersyr. Baruchapokalypse (Gttingen, 1969), pp. 215-219.
 M. Henze I Vtus Testamentum 58 (2008) 28-43 43

Conclusion
That Qoheleths voice is heard in 2 Baruch is not altogether surprising. Both
Qoheleth and the author of 2 Baruch are learned individuals who experience
a "collapse of meaning."41 For 2 Baruch the crisis is induced by the tragic
events of the Jewish War and the devastation it has wrought, whereas for
Qoheleth the crisis is the result of his own empirical investigations.42 Their
responses could not be more differenta certain degree of resignation for one,
and a yearning for the world to come for the other.
In his classic essay "The Messianic Idea in Judaism," Gershom Scholem
speaks of the price which Messianism (and, by extension, Jewish eschatology
in general) has demanded of the Jewish people. "There is something grand
about living in hope," Scholem writes, "but at the same time there is some-
thing profoundly unreal about it." The problem is that the individual can
never find true fulfillment, precisely because that which constitutes the high-
est value will always be unattainable; what is hoped for will remain out of
reach. As a result, Judaism "has compelled a life lived in deferment, in which
nothing can be done definitively, nothing can be irrevocably accomplished."43
2 Baruch is not entirely free ofthat problem. The book is drenched in a sense
of anticipation, and the havoc caused by the Roman destruction will be fully
repaired only in the world to come. But the author of 2 Baruch does not
remain inert, nor does he advocate a life in deferment. 2 Baruch's most origi-
nal contribution to apocalypticism in ancient Israel is the attempt to integrate
strands of Jewish religion which elsewhere stand in sharp contrast: the apoca-
lyptic expectation of an imminent end, for example, and the view found in the
book of Deuteronomy that keeping the Torah ensures a long and prosperous
life. The author advises his readers to be expectant and prepared, while living
their lives in compliance with the Mosaic Torah.44

41)
Fox, A Time to Tear Down, p. 133.
42)
Instead of subscribing to the authority of the received wisdom tradition, Qoheleth chooses to
rely on his own observations, which often stand in conflict with the teachings of conventional
wisdom. O Loretz, "Zur Darbietungsform der Tch-Erzhlung' im Buche Qohelet", CBQ 25
(1963), pp. 46-59; J. L. Crenshaw, "Qoheleths Understanding of Intellectual Inquiry", in
A. Schoors (ed.), Qohelet in the Context of Wisdom (BETL 136; Leuven, 1998), pp. 205-224.
43)
The Messianic Idea in Judaism and other Essays on Jewish Spirituality (New York, 1995), p. 35.
445
The emphasis the author of 2 Baruch places on observing the Torah contrasts sharply with
Qoheleth's failure to find any solace or guidance in deuteronomic theology, let alone to endorse
the Torah; cf. T. Krger, "Die Rezeption der Tora im Buch Kohelet", in L. Schwienhorst-
Schnberger (ed.), Das Buch Kohelet: Studien zur Struktur, Geschichte, Rezeption und Theologie
(BZAW254; Berlin, 1997), pp. 303-325.
 ^ s
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