person · P0048
Baruch ben Neriah ברוך בן נריה
Scribe and disciple of Yirmiyahu, who wrote the prophet's scroll from his dictation and went with him into exile. In the rabbinic account he carried the tradition to Bavel, where Ezra studied under him — the hinge between the last prophets of the First Temple and the sages of the Second. Per the Rambam he received the Oral Torah from Yirmiyahu and transmitted it to Ezra and his court.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- ברוך בן נריה
- Also known as
- Baruch
- Era
- bible
- Received the mesorah from
- Yirmiyahu
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- Ezra, Chaggai, Zechariah (the prophet), Malachi, Nechemiah, Mordechai, Zerubavel
- Teachers
- Yirmiyahu
- Students
- Ezra
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3290–3390 AM
- Academic
- fl. late 7th–early 6th century BCE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈100 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Received the Oral Torah from Yirmiyahu and his court, and transmitted it to Ezra and his court — the twenty-first link in Rambam's forty-generation chain. The Gemara describes Ezra remaining in Bavel to learn Torah from Baruch ben Neriah.
Confidence is for the chain as stated by the Rambam and Gemara. |
rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Wrote all the words of God from Yirmiyahu's dictation onto the scroll that was read in the Temple and burned by king Yehoyakim, then written again.
Confidence is for what the biblical text states. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Clay bullae reading "belonging to Berekhyahu ben Neriyahu the scribe" surfaced on the antiquities market in the 1970s–90s and were widely publicized as Baruch's personal seal impressions; because they are unprovenanced, their authenticity is seriously questioned and many specialists now consider them likely forgeries.
Recorded because the identification is famous; the atlas does not treat these bullae as evidence.
|
archaeology reconstruction | ★☆☆☆☆ | |
| Baruch was the son of Neriah and grandson of Machseiah.
Both father and grandfather are explicitly named. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Baruch acted as a scribe and legal custodian during Yirmiyahu's purchase of a field at Anatot, receiving the sealed and open copies of the purchase deed for storage.
Direct evidence of his scribal and documentary role. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Seraiah is separately identified as son of Neriah son of Machseiah, making him Baruch's brother according to the two genealogical notices.
The sibling relationship is an immediate genealogical inference because both men are assigned the same father and grandfather.
|
biblical reconstruction | ★★★★☆ | |
| After Gedaliah's assassination, Baruch was taken to Egypt together with Yirmiyahu and the surviving Judean population led by Yochanan ben Kareach.
The text does not subsequently record Baruch's death. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Traditional placement c. 3290–3390 AM, from the scroll episode in Yehoyakim's reign into the Babylonian exile.
Schematic traditional dating. |
tradition reconstruction | ★☆☆☆☆ |