Tuesday, August 11, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

Epistle of Jeremy

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translated by C. J. Ball, in R. H. Charles's Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (1913)

The Epistle of Jeremy is a short, sharply satirical letter attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, addressed to the Judean exiles about to be carried off to Babylon. Rather than telling a story, it mounts one relentless argument: idols made by human hands cannot see, hear, speak, move, protect themselves, or help anyone who worships them, and the more finely they are dressed in gold and purple the more absurd their helplessness becomes. The same refrain — "whereby ye may know that they are no gods: therefore fear them not" — returns again and again, driving the point home through repeated, almost sermon-like waves of ridicule. Ancient tradition attached the letter to the Book of Baruch, where it is often printed as chapter six, or else to the Book of Jeremiah itself, though it stands as an independent composition. It survives complete only in Greek, but its style strongly suggests an underlying Hebrew original.

Introductory Note (1913, C. J. Ball)

Probably most readers approach these relics of the past with a controlling opinion or prejudice in their minds, whether they are conscious of the fact or not. If, however, we wish to form a just appreciation of the significance of an ancient document, we must clear our minds of prepossessions and let it speak to us. We must be careful neither to overlook things which are there, nor to read into it things which are not there. It may have been mere chance which caused it to survive the wreck of much else that we could wish had been saved; but it is more likely that it was preserved because of some intrinsic merit, or because of something in it which specially appealed to the sympathies of its earliest readers.

1. Nature and Scope of the Work

The so-called Epistle of Jeremy reads more like a sermon or hortatory address than a letter; a fact which may account for its characteristic repetitions. The author is very much in earnest, as becomes a preacher. The idolatry he denounces is no imaginary picture, but the reality of his own environment. And it is not the idolatry of Canaan, so strongly condemned by the prophets of Yahweh, nor that of Egypt, which Jeremiah might have denounced had he long survived his forced migration to that uncongenial region. It is the idolatry of Babylon. For "Babylon", in the author's use, is evidently not a mask for some other land or city. Not only is he aware of a very peculiar custom there prevalent, which Herodotus has also noted (see verse 43 below; cf. Herodotus i. 199); but many incidental allusions and individual touches agree with other known features of Babylonian religion, as the notes on verses 4, 11, 15, 30–32, 41, and 43 of the fuller edition show in detail. Had "Babylon" meant Egypt, the degrading animal-worship, of which the author of the Wisdom of Solomon makes so much, would hardly have escaped the shafts of his eager though not very profound satire.

2. Probable Date

But what Babylon was it? Was it the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, whose magnificent temples were enriched with the plunder of nations and maintained by the tribute of a subject world? Was it Babylon in its imperial splendour, as Jechonias and the men of the First Captivity saw it — Babylon as it was when the susceptible heart of the poet-priest Ezekiel was so powerfully impressed by the carven and painted symbols of its immemorial faith? Not Babylon in its glory, but Babylon in its decay, as Herodotus saw it more than a century afterwards; or rather as Alexander saw it, crumbling slowly away, yet still, in its ruined majesty, preserving enough of its ancient splendour to induce the conqueror of the world to choose it for his future capital and seat of empire.

When our author makes Jeremiah predict a sojourn of the Jews in Babylon for "seven generations", he does it deliberately. He can hardly have been ignorant of the famous prophecy of the seventy years, or of the less-heeded estimate of three generations involved in the statement that the exiles were to serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son and his son's son (Jeremiah xxv. 12; xxvii. 7). He seems, in fact, to be giving us a clue to his own period. Seven generations, allowing forty years to the generation according to Old Testament reckoning, would cover 280 years. If we count from the exile of Jechonias (597 B.C.), this brings us to the year 317 B.C.; or counting, as the author may have done, from 586 B.C., the year of the final Captivity, we arrive at 306 B.C., some thirty years after the arrival of Alexander in Babylon.

It must not be forgotten that the Jews who returned to Palestine in consequence of the Edict of Cyrus were only a small part of the Jewish population of Babylonia. Great numbers of them were perfectly satisfied with their adopted country, and no more desired to return to Judaea than our own colonists in Australia or New Zealand desire to return to the narrower conditions of English life. What is more, they not only went beyond the advice of Jeremiah (xxix. 4–7) in the matter of regarding the land of their exile as their permanent home — many of them assumed Babylonian names, implying at least an identification of the God of Israel with Bel-Merodach or Nebo; and there must always have been a strong temptation to assimilate themselves entirely to their neighbours in the customs and manners of life. Doubtless there was considerable leakage from the synagogue to the indigenous worships. Some might sincerely believe that the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the overthrow of their national independence were proof enough of the superiority of the Babylonian gods. Others would surrender themselves to the influence of more sordid considerations (cf. Jeremiah xliv. 17 f.). The zeal of loyal spirits would naturally be roused by this state of things; and pieces like the one before us might have been circulated among the weak believers and waverers as dissuasives from the folly of exchanging the religion of the prophets for any lower form of faith and life.

3. Original Language

If the author belongs to anything like so early a date, he probably wrote in Hebrew, not Greek. But this probability is greatly strengthened by a careful study of the phenomena of the Greek text. It is incredible that a piece so formless, so confused, so utterly destitute of the graces of style, as this "Epistle" now is, should have been thought worthy of preservation in the Alexandrian Canon of Scripture, had such been its original condition. Our translators and their Revisers have done their best; but what a poor halting semblance of sense, not to say manifest nonsense, the result too often is. Harmony with context and logical connexion of thought are often untraceable. We are presented with a voluble but ill-connected succession of propositions, bearing little visible relation to each other beyond a general animus against idolatry. But almost every verse exhibits peculiarities which suggest translation, and that from a Hebrew original. It is, of course, often easier to see that the Greek is more or less suspicious than to divine the true reading of the lost Hebrew archetype. A suggestion may seem plausible, even probable, without being right. But a possible sense is better than nonsense, and may be accepted provisionally, in preference to the assumption that we have before us nothing better than the crude effusion of an illiterate fanatic.

Amid all such uncertainties one thing appears to be certain: that in this Epistle of Jeremy there are places where the strange phraseology of the Greek can only be accounted for by assuming that the translator supplied the wrong vowels to some Hebrew word he was rendering, or mistook one Hebrew consonant for another resembling it, or could only guess at the meaning of a corrupted text. His manuscript may have been badly written, or have become illegible in places through time and use. Perhaps also, like some of his modern commentators, he was not himself a very expert Hebraist, though capable enough of a certain careless and misleading fluency in Greek, which enabled him to conceal his lack of knowledge under a surface of smoothly-expressed inaccuracies. It may suffice to examine a few of the more striking instances here:

  1. In verse 12, the true sense is "from rust and moths"; but the Greek has "from rust and foods". The translator supplied the wrong vowels to an unpointed Hebrew word, reading "food" where the sense required "a devourer" — that is, a moth or grub.

  2. In verse 20, "They are as one of the beams of the temple; and men say their hearts are eaten out" makes no clear sense in the Greek as it stands. But the phrase almost certainly conceals the common Hebrew idiom "to say in one's heart", meaning simply "to think". The original sense was probably: the idol is like a mere log inside the temple, yet they think that he eats — that is, that he consumes the offerings made to him, eating being elsewhere treated as proof of a "living god" (cf. Bel and the Dragon, verse 6). The translator appears to have misread one Hebrew root for another closely resembling it.

  3. In verse 31, the Greek literally says the priests "drive chariots" in mourning before their gods — an image no Jewish satirist of this period would plausibly have drawn, priests careering about in chariots inside their own temples with shaven heads and rent garments. Read "they weep" instead of "they drive chariots" — a matter of two Hebrew words nearly identical in written form — and the context becomes coherent. The reference is to the well-attested Babylonian rites of mourning for a dying god, especially Dumuzi, or Tammuz.

  4. In verse 35, "They can neither give riches nor money" sets up a false antithesis, incongruous with its context. What the sense actually requires is "nor poverty" — the translator seems to have mistaken one Hebrew word for another of similar appearance, and then guessed that the resulting form meant "money" or "copper".

  5. In verse 54, "for they are as crows between heaven and earth" is obscure: crows in flight hardly suggest powerlessness, and a verb of motion seems to be missing. It is more likely that the underlying Hebrew spoke of the idols hanging suspended — like the clouds — between heaven and earth, the reference being to plated wooden images hung against temple walls; the translator appears to have confused the Hebrew words for "clouds" and "ravens", which are nearly identical in appearance.

  6. In verse 59, "it is better to be a king that showeth his manhood ... than such false gods" reads, on its own, as a feeble truism. But the other comparisons in the same verse are a vessel, a door, and a wooden pillar — all inanimate objects. Emending to "better is a stick in the hand of a mighty man ... than the false gods" restores both sense and harmony to the whole verse.

  7. In verse 68, "the beasts are better than they: for they can get under a covert, and help themselves" misses the obvious point, which is that creatures who take cover do so in order to hide, not to profit themselves. The translator seems to have vocalized the underlying Hebrew word wrongly, reading "to profit them" where the true sense was "to hide".

  8. In verse 72, "the bright purple that rotteth upon them" corresponds to a Greek text that literally reads "the purple and the marble that rotteth upon them". As the present editor has pointed out elsewhere, this is a case of confusion between the Hebrew word for byssus, or fine linen, and its homophone meaning alabaster or marble. Marble does not rot; fine linen does — and "purple and fine linen" are elsewhere paired in Scripture as a matter of course.

For a considerable body of further evidence of the same kind, the fuller critical notes of the original edition may be consulted. Altogether it would seem difficult to avoid the conclusion that our Epistle is a free translation of a lost Hebrew original. In that case, the Greek version may very well be considerably later in date than the Hebrew, and may even belong to the age of the Maccabees.

The Epistle

A copy of an epistle, which Jeremy sent unto them which were to be led captives into Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to certify them, as it was commanded him of God.

1 A copy of an epistle, which Jeremy sent unto them which were to be led captives into Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to certify them, as it was commanded him of God. 2 Because of the sins which ye have committed before God, ye shall be led away captives into Babylon by Nabuchodonosor king of the Babylonians. 3 So when ye be come unto Babylon, ye shall remain there many years, and for a long season, even for seven generations: and after that I will bring you out peaceably from thence. 4 But now shall ye see in Babylon gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood, borne upon shoulders, which cause the nations to fear. 5 Beware therefore that ye in no wise become like unto the strangers, neither let fear take hold upon you because of them, when ye see the multitude before them and behind them, worshipping them. 6 But say ye in your hearts, O Lord, we must worship thee. 7 For mine angel is with you, and myself do care for your souls.

8 For their tongue is polished by the workman, and they themselves are overlaid with gold and with silver; yet are they but false, and cannot speak. 9 And taking gold, as it were for a virgin that loveth to go gay, they make crowns for the heads of their gods. 10 And sometimes also the priests convey from their gods gold and silver, and bestow it upon themselves; 11 and will even give thereof to the common harlots: and they deck them as men with garments, even the gods of silver, and gods of gold, and of wood. 12 Yet cannot these gods save themselves from rust and moths, though they be covered with purple raiment. 13 They wipe their faces because of the dust of the temple, which is thick upon them. 14 And he that cannot put to death one that offendeth against him holdeth a sceptre, as though he were judge of a country. 15 He hath also a dagger in his right hand, and an axe: but cannot deliver himself from war and robbers. 16 Whereby they are known not to be gods: therefore fear them not.

17 For like as a vessel that a man useth is nothing worth when it is broken; even so it is with their gods: when they be set up in the temples their eyes be full of dust through the feet of them that come in. 18 And as the courts are made sure on every side upon him that offendeth the king, as being committed to suffer death; even so the priests make fast their temples with doors, with locks, and bars, lest they be carried off by robbers. 19 They light them candles, yea, more than for themselves, whereof they cannot see one. 20 They are as one of the beams of the temple; and men say their hearts are eaten out, when things creeping out of the earth devour both them and their raiment, and they feel it not. 21 When their faces are blacked through the smoke that cometh out of the temple. 22 Upon their bodies and heads alight bats, swallows, and birds; and in like manner the cats also. 23 Whereby ye may know that they are no gods: therefore fear them not. 24 Notwithstanding the gold wherewith they are beset to make them beautiful, except one wipe off the rust, they will not shine: for not even when they were molten did they feel it. 25 Things wherein there is no breath are bought at any cost.

26 Having no feet, they are borne upon shoulders, whereby they declare unto men that they be nothing worth. 27 They also that serve them are ashamed: for if they fall to the ground at any time, they cannot rise up again of themselves: neither, if one set them aright, can they move of themselves: neither, if they be set awry, can they make themselves straight: but the offerings are set before them, as if they were dead men. 28 And the things that are sacrificed unto them, their priests sell and spend; and in like manner their wives also lay up part thereof in salt; but unto the poor and to the impotent will they give nothing thereof. 29 The menstruous woman and the woman in childbed touch their sacrifices: knowing therefore by these things that they are no gods, fear them not. 30 For how can they be called gods? because women set meat before the gods of silver, gold, and wood. 31 And in their temples the priests sit on seats, having their clothes rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads. 32 They roar and cry before their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead.

33 The priests also take off garments from them, and clothe their wives and children withal. 34 Whether it be evil that one doeth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it: they can neither set up a king nor put him down. 35 In like manner, they can neither give riches nor money: though a man make a vow unto them, and keep it not, they will never exact it. 36 They can save no man from death, neither deliver the weak from the mighty. 37 They cannot restore a blind man to his sight, nor deliver any that is in distress. 38 They can show no mercy to the widow, nor do good to the fatherless. 39 They are like the stones that be hewn out of the mountain, these gods of wood, and that are overlaid with gold and with silver: they that minister unto them shall be confounded. 40 How should a man then think or say that they are gods, when even the Chaldeans themselves dishonour them?

41 Who if they shall see one dumb that cannot speak, they bring him, and intreat him to call upon Bel, as though he were able to understand. 42 Yet they cannot perceive this themselves, and forsake them: for they have no understanding. 43 The women also with cords about them sit in the ways, burning bran for incense: but if any of them, drawn by some that passeth by, lie with him, she reproacheth her fellow, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken. 44 Whatsoever is done among them is false: how should a man then think or say that they are gods? 45 They are fashioned by carpenters and goldsmiths: they can be nothing else than the workmen will have them to be. 46 And they themselves that fashioned them can never continue long; how then should the things that are fashioned by them? 47 For they have left lies and reproaches to them that come after. 48 For when there cometh any war or plague upon them, the priests consult with themselves, where there may be hidden with them. 49 How then cannot men understand that they be no gods, which can neither save themselves from war, nor from plague?

50 For seeing they be but of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver, it shall be known hereafter that they are false: 51 and it shall be manifest to all nations and kings that they are no gods, but the works of men's hands, and that there is no work of God in them. 52 Who then may not know that they are no gods? 53 For neither can they set up a king in a land, nor give rain unto men. 54 Neither can they judge their own cause, nor redress a wrong, being unable: for they are as crows between heaven and earth. 55 For even when fire falleth upon the house of gods of wood, or overlaid with gold or with silver, their priests will flee away, and escape: but they themselves shall be burnt asunder like beams. 56 Moreover they cannot withstand any king or enemies: how should a man then allow or think that they be gods? 57 Neither are those gods of wood, and overlaid with silver or with gold, able to escape either from thieves or robbers. 58 Whose gold, and silver, and garments wherewith they are clothed, they that are strong will take from them, and go away withal: neither shall they be able to help themselves. 59 Therefore it is better to be a king that showeth his manhood, or else a vessel in a house profitable for that whereof the owner shall have need, than such false gods; or even a door in a house, to keep the things safe that be therein, than such false gods; or a pillar of wood in a palace, than such false gods.

60 For sun, and moon, and stars, being bright and sent to do their offices, are obedient. 61 Likewise also the lightning when it glittereth is fair to see; and after the same manner the wind also bloweth in every country. 62 And when God commandeth the clouds to go over the whole world, they do as they are bidden. 63 And the fire sent from above to consume mountains and woods doeth as it is commanded: but these are to be likened unto them neither in show nor power. 64 Wherefore a man should neither think nor say that they are gods, seeing they are able neither to judge causes, nor to do good unto men. 65 Knowing therefore that they are no gods, fear them not. 66 For they can neither curse nor bless kings: 67 neither can they show signs in the heavens among the nations, nor shine as the sun, nor give light as the moon.

68 The beasts are better than they: for they can get under a covert, and help themselves. 69 In no wise then is it manifest unto you that they are gods: therefore fear them not. 70 For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers that keepeth nothing, so are their gods of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver. 71 Likewise also their gods of wood, and overlaid with gold and with silver, are like to a white thorn in an orchard, that every bird sitteth upon; as also to a dead body, that is cast forth into the dark. 72 And ye shall know them to be no gods by the bright purple that rotteth upon them: and they themselves afterward shall be consumed, and shall be a reproach in the country. 73 Better therefore is the just man that hath none idols: for he shall be far from reproach.

Colophon

Prepared from R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, Vol. 1: Apocrypha (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), translation and introduction by C. J. Ball. Source: archive.org item apocryphapseudep01charuoft (University of Toronto copy).

This edition's dense per-verse textual-critical apparatus — the running commentary on Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac readings, manuscript variants, and cross-references to Herodotus and cuneiform sources that Ball supplies after each block of translation — is omitted here, save for the eight numbered examples of retroverted Hebrew misreadings that Ball presents in his own introduction (§3), which are argument, not apparatus, and are kept complete. The full apparatus survives in the 1913 printed edition and in the cited scan. No standalone bibliography section was found in Ball's introduction to omit; his text runs continuously from § 1 through § 3 and directly into the translation.

Ball's own apparatus numbers the opening superscription itself as verse 1, matching the versification used in other modern English editions of this text (e.g. the RSV/NRSV, where it likewise appears as Baruch 6:1); verse 2 accordingly begins at "Because of the sins." This transcription follows that numbering. Throughout both the introduction and the verse notes, Ball's edition intersperses Hebrew and Greek type reproduced only faintly by the scan and rendered as unreadable strings by OCR; where these were essential to a substantive textual argument (the eight numbered examples in §3), the argument is preserved in English paraphrase rather than by reproducing the garbled characters. No word or phrase of the translation text itself was illegible in the scan.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted transcription and editorial work.

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