The Epistle of Jeremiah is an Old Testament biblical book in Orthodoxy , which is absent from the Jewish Bible ( Tanakh ) and is not included in the Old Testament in Protestantism , in Catholicism is the last sixth chapter of the book of Baruch [1] . In the Russian Orthodox Church it refers to non-canonical books, in Judaism and Protestantism - apocryphal . In Catholicism, it is recognized as a deuterocanonical (inspired), in Orthodoxy it is recognized as an uninspired, but useful and edifying book.
| Message of Jeremiah | |
|---|---|
| Επιστολή Ιερεμίου | |
 Baruch records the prophecies of Jeremiah. Engraving by Gustave Dore. | |
| Original language | ancient greek |
| Previous (Orthodoxy) | Lamentations |
| The next | The Book of Baruch |
Description
The text of the epistle is ancient Greek; it is absent in the Tanach , Peshitta , some Septuagint lists [2] . Opinions of 19th century Orthodox biblical scholars regarding the canonicity of the text were different - Metropolitan Macarius , V. A. Smaragdov , D. P. Afanasyev considered it canonical, while Metropolitan Moscow Philaret , Metropolitan Arseny of Kiev and many others held the opposite point of view. The Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia Nathanael (Lviv) (XX century) considered the text canonical.
Already in the 19th century, Professor Alexander Pavlovich Lopukhin [3] expressed reasonable doubts that the creator of the text was the prophet Jeremiah , believing that the message was written by an unknown Jew-Hellenist. The author was familiar with the Phrygian pagan cults , which he criticizes in his message. Researchers attribute the writing of the message to the period from 317 BC. er before 100 BC. er [4] [5]
Now the Epistle of Jeremiah is included in the canon of the Bible of such large Churches as the Ethiopian Orthodox Church [6] .
Contents
The text can be divided into four parts:
- inscription (verse 1)
- introduction (verses 2-6)
- the main part is the discourse on the worthlessness of idols and the meaninglessness of idolatry (verses 7-71)
- conclusion (verse 72)
The book ironically describes the creation of idols, their maintenance, including the removal of dust, priests who benefit from all this. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that decent people will not engage in such a vain business.
Notes
- ↑ D. G. Dobykin . Lectures on the introduction to the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. - St. Petersburg .: St. Petersburg Orthodox Theological Academy, 2012. - p. 23, 24
- ↑ Lopukhin A.P. Explanatory Bible. Message of Jeremiah
- ↑ Interpretation on the Epistle of Jeremiah - read, download - Professor Alexander Pavlovich Lopukhin . azbyka.ru. The appeal date is March 6, 2019.
- Og Coogan MD The New Oxford Annotated Bible. - Oxford, 2007. - P. 184.
- ↑ Larry R. Helyer. A Guide for New Testament Students. - InterVarsity Press, 2002. - p. 52
- ↑ The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Sources
- An intelligent Bible. Edition of the successors of A.P. Lopukhin, volume six, St. Petersburg, 1909, reprint Stockholm, 1990
- Alexander Men, Bibliological Dictionary, Volume 1, A. Men Foundation, Moscow, 2002, ISBN 5-89831-026-6