Baruch 3:35-37 KJV: This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him. He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men.
Some Trinitarians have argued that this passage is a prophetic statement about the coming of God to incarnate on the earth.
Introduction to Baruch
Baruch is an apocryphal book, part of the deuterocanon, not part of the main canon of scripture. Many Christians will write this off as simply secondary literature, extrabiblical, and unimportant, and feel no need to justify any claims regarding it. This seems to be a rather poor way to approach the text. Baruch was very early Jewish literature. A fragment of this text has been found in the dead sea scrolls, 7QLXXepJer (that is, cave 7 of the qumran texts, Greek Septuagint, Epistle of Jeremiah, or sometimes called 7Q2, the second manuscript found in cave 7 of qumran). This dates the book back to at least the 2nd century BCE, if not earlier.
Baruch is written as if it is written by the canonical Baruch, the scribe for the prophet Jeremiah. It is extremely unlikely that this is the case. It is pseudopigraphic. It is a literary work in the style of Baruch for events which had happened during the time of Baruch, 5 years after the destruction of Jerusalem (though there are some historical issues with this). This is a common style of writing. Many scholars believe Ecclesiastes to be written in a similar pseudopigraphic style. Not written by king Solomon, but from Solomon’s perspective. It is unlikely that this work is the result of one single person, but more likely a collection of various works.
Baruch is written much later on, and this book (1 Baruch) can be broken into 3 major parts. The first section (Baruch 1:1-14) is a simple narrative. This provides the (supposed) time frame of the work, the author, who he is writing to, some genealogical accounts, names, facts about the exile of the Israelites, the sacred vessels taken to the temple, and some other general information. The second section (Baruch 1:15-3:8) is usually considered the “prayer” section. However, it can also be broken into two sections of its own; there is a confession section which leads to a prayer section for the diaspora. Pseudo-Baruch is writing to state that much evil has come upon the nation of Israel due to their disobedience, even with statements that outright say that God promised this would happen if Israel did wrong, which is exactly what they did. This is far from a pity prayer. It is a very blunt statement about how Israel has gotten what they deserved for their wrongdoing. This becomes a hopeful prayer. They ask for God’s mercy and to deliver them, which will show the world that they are his people. The third and final section (Baruch 3:9-5:9) is generally regarded as the “wisdom” section of Baruch. However, this part can also be broken into two sections, the wisdom poem and the consolation section. This section parrots the sapiential literature quite heavily and sometimes quotes from it directly. Compare: “Who has gone up into heaven and taken her and brought her down from the clouds?” with: “Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand?” (Baruch 3:29 and Proverbs 30:4). Wisdom is personified and spoken of as an entity who is alive. This wisdom of God is found through his law, and this follows the section on how Israel ignored God’s laws and commands and have been led by folly into exile. The wisdom poem now suggests that Israel be delivered from their sorrows and follow God’s commandments to find wisdom, who is lost. This leads to their consolation.
Who Is This About?
It is the third section, the wisdom section, in which our text in question is derived. Looking at the context, we will see how wisdom is spoken of.
“Who has found her place, and who has entered her storehouses? Younger people have seen the light of day and have lived upon the earth, but they have not learned the way to knowledge, nor understood her paths, nor laid hold of her. The storytellers and the seekers for understanding have not learned the way to wisdom or given thought to her paths. Who has gone up into heaven and taken her? Who has gone over the sea and found her? No one knows the way to her or is concerned about the path to her. But the one who knows all things knows her; He found the whole way to knowledge and gave her to his servant Jacob and to Israel, whom he loved. Afterward, she appeared on earth and lived with humankind.” (Baruch 3:15, 20, 23, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 38)
This section of the poem is speaking about wisdom, where she is found, and how she has been given. The crescendo of this passage is in verse 32, which declares where wisdom is found and who knows her. “He who knows all knows her…. This is our God.” God knows wisdom, and we are told in verse 37 how God has given wisdom to the people. He gave it to Jacob, Israel, that is, through the law. This verse requires understanding of the sapiential literature as a prerequisite (just as this book requires some understanding of the book of Jeremiah as well to fully appreciate). It is wisdom who walks the earth and inhabits it. Wisdom lives with mankind through the law, which was given to the descendents of Israel.
Textual Problem
KJV: Baruch 3:37: “Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men.”
NRSV Baruch 3:38: “Afterward she appeared on earth and lived with humankind.”
The first thing we will note is that the same scripture is given two different verse numbers. In the KJV, it is verse 37, but in the some translations (DRC, NAB, NRSV), it is verse 38. This is a small difference that doesn’t really matter, but it is an indication to a different basis. The KJV version is based on the Latin text, which reads: “Post hæc in terris visus est, et cum hominibus conversatus est.” The Latin text uses the word “visus,” which is masculine (as opposed to visa which is feminine). As a result, the KJV translates this in the masculine as “he.” The NRSVUE is based on the Greek text, “μετὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὤφθη καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνανεστράφη.” In the Greek, the text is ambiguous and does not tell us whether it is “he” or “she.” So an argument can not be made grammatically for one reading or the other. To determine which way we should translate the pronoun (τοῦτο), we would need to look at the context, which scholars pretty well agree is clearly “wisdom” as the referent, not “God.”
“He (God) found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her (wisdom) to his servant Jacob and to Israel, whom he loved. Afterward τοῦτο appeared on earth and lived with humankind.” The preceding verse is about God, in heaven, giving wisdom to Jacob here on earth. “Afterward,” what would be on earth? Very obviously wisdom, who was just given. This passage is a play on Proverbs 8:22 ff, in which wisdom is beside God in heaven. But the text elaborates by saying that this wisdom was given to Israel, that is, through the law.
When translating the Latin text, it is grammatically correct to translate it as “he appeared,” even though this does not make sense contextually. The question becomes, “which is the correct version, the Greek or Latin?” It is quite obvious that the book was originally written in Greek, not Latin (though some argue for a Hebrew original, this does not seem to be the case, especially with this wisdom section which makes certain plays on the Greek that would not be possible if in Hebrew or Latin). It is more likely that the Latin text translated the ambiguous Greek pronoun as “he” than it is to assume that the Latin traces back to an original Greek text which said “he” but was later changed to being ambiguous. Our Greek manuscript attestation does not show any textual variants in the Greek on this passage. This is clearly a mistake in the Latin which has not been repeated even by other Latin based translations into English. Most apocryphal translations into English will use “she” (CEV, GNT, OSB, RSV, NRSVCE, NRSVUE, NCB) rather than “he” (KJV, WYC).
Summary
This scripture is about wisdom having made her appearance among men through the nation of Israel. This is to say that when Israel keeps God’s laws, they find wisdom and reveal her through the nation. Deliverance for Israel will show the wisdom of God through them to all the world.