Although the canonical Book of Jeremiah portrays Baruch as Jeremiah's scribe, 2 Baruch portrays him as a prophet in his own right, and superior to Jeremiah. It has a similar style to the writings attributed to Jeremiah – a mix of prayer, lamentation, and visions. Although Baruch writes of Nebuchadnezzar's sac of Jerusalem in 586 BC, it is generally believed as having been written in reaction to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. According to the text, the Temple's sacred objects were rescued from destruction under the protection angels to be returned during the restoration prophesied in the Book of Jeremiah.
The first part of the text is structured in triplets – three fasts each followed by three visions and three addresses to the people. The visions are notable for their discussion of theodicy, the problem of evil, and an emphasis on predestination. The second part of the text is a long letter, which many scholars believe was originally a separate document, which discusses the importance and primacy of Jewish law.
The complete exists in Syriac and Arabic; there are also fragments in Greek of chapters 12 through 14 and in Latin of chapter 48. Quotations are also found in Cyprian.
