Baruch HaSofer
b. c. 630 BCE · Biblical era · Jerusalem
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Baruch son of Neriyah son of Machseyah was the scribe and companion of the prophet Yirmiyahu. During the Babylonian siege Yirmiyahu bought his cousin's field and gave the deed to Baruch to store in a clay jar, as a sign that houses and fields would again be bought in the land (Jeremiah 32:12-15). In the fourth year of King Yehoyakim, Baruch wrote down Yirmiyahu's prophecies at his dictation (36:1-4). He then read the scroll aloud to the people from a chamber in the Temple courtyard (36:9-10). The king burned the scroll and ordered both men arrested, but they were hidden. Baruch wrote the scroll out again, with additions (36:26-32). A short prophecy is addressed to Baruch personally: he should not seek great things for himself, but his life would be spared (ch. 45). After Gedaliah's murder, the leaders accused Baruch of turning Yirmiyahu against them, and both were taken to Tahpanhes in Egypt (43:3-7). His brother Serayah was a royal officer (51:59). The Talmud names Baruch among the priest-prophets descended from Rahab (Megillah 14b). It also says that Ezra studied under him in Babylonia (Megillah 16b).
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JerusalemירושליםJudea
What they did here
He wrote Yirmiyahu's scroll and read it publicly in the Temple during Yehoyakim's reign (Jeremiah 36:4, 9-10), and he received the deed of the Anatot field during the siege (32:12-14).
Jerusalem in this era
In the Hebrew Bible, David takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites and makes it his capital, Solomon builds the First Temple there, and Nehemiah rebuilds its walls after the return from Babylon; in 164 BCE Judah Maccabee rededicated the Temple, the origin of Hanukkah. Archaeologists debate how large the city was in the 10th century BCE; it is well attested as the capital of Judah by the 8th century BCE, and Babylon destroyed it in 586 BCE.
About Jerusalem
Jerusalem, in the Judean hills, is a sacred city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. In the Hebrew Bible it is King David's capital and the site of Solomon's Temple; the First Temple was destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE and the Second Temple, rebuilt from about 516 BCE, by Rome in 70 CE. Christians revere it as the place of Jesus's crucifixion and, in their faith, his resurrection; in Islamic tradition it is the destination of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and the first direction of prayer, marked by the Dome of the Rock (691-92) and al-Aqsa Mosque. It was ruled in turn by Rome and Byzantium, by Muslim dynasties from 638, by Crusaders (1099-1187), Ayyubids, Mamluks and Ottomans (1517-1917), and by Britain. Divided between Israel and Jordan from 1948 to 1967, it has since been under Israeli control. Israel regards the city as its capital; Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state; most countries do not recognize sovereignty over the whole city.
In Jerusalem at the same time
Chavakuk HaNavi, King of Judah, Ovadiah HaNavi, Gedaliah ben Achikam
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Baruch HaSofer’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
Chavakuk HaNavi, Yechezkel HaNavi, Daniel, King of Judah, Ovadiah HaNavi, Yehoshua the Kohen Gadol, Zerubavel, Governor of Judah, Gedaliah ben Achikam
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Baruch HaSofer’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn from recorded birth and death years (reign years for rulers whose lives are undated); where only one end of a life is known, a span of about 70 years is assumed.
Jewish world
Egyptian world
Graeco-Roman world
Hindu world
Rulers & leaders
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.