Baruch, Book of (Apocrypha), follows next after the book of Jeremiah in the Septuagint Version. Several learned writers strongly contend for its canonicity; but the weight of evidence is generally believed to preponderate against it.
The subject of the book is (1) an exhortation to wisdom and a due observance of the law. (2) It then introduces Jerusalem as a widow, comforting her children with the hope of a return. (3) An answer follows in confirmation of this hope. A prologue is prefixed, stating that Baruch had read his book to Jeremiah and the people in Babylon by the river Sud (Euphrates), by which the people were brought to repentance, and sent the book with a letter and presents to Jerusalem.