Letter of Jeremiah facts for kids

The Letter of Jeremiah is a special book found in some versions of the Old Testament. It's also known as the Epistle of Jeremy. This letter is considered a deuterocanonical (or apocryphal) book. This means it's part of the Bible for some Christian groups, like Catholics and Orthodox Christians, but not for others, like most Protestants or Jewish people.

The letter is thought to have been written by the prophet Jeremiah to the Jewish people who were about to be taken as prisoners to Babylonia. In Catholic Bibles, it's usually the last part of the Book of Baruch. In Orthodox Bibles, it's often a separate book.

Who Wrote the Letter?

Most experts believe that the prophet Jeremiah himself did not write this letter. They think it was written by a Hellenistic Jew who lived in Alexandria, a city in ancient Egypt.

The main reason for writing this letter was to teach the Jewish people an important lesson: they should not worship the gods of the Babylonians. Instead, they should only worship the Lord, their own God. The letter warns them about the dangers of idol worship and explains why idols are not real gods.

Where It Fits in Religious Texts

The Letter of Jeremiah is part of the Septuagint, which is an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. There is no proof that this letter was ever considered a rule-bearing or official part of Jewish religious tradition.

In early Christian history, people started discussing whether this letter was truly part of the official Bible. Origen of Alexandria, an important early Christian writer, mentioned it. He listed it together with the Book of Lamentations and the Book of Jeremiah as one unit, saying they were "canonical books as the Hebrews have handed them down." This means he saw them as official.

Later, Jerome, who translated most of the Bible into popular Latin (this translation is called the Vulgate Bible), had some doubts. Since he couldn't find a Hebrew version of the letter, he didn't consider it an official part of the Bible, like other books he called apocryphal.

Even with Jerome's doubts, the letter is included as chapter 6 of the book of Baruch in the Old Testament of the Vulgate. The Authorized King James Version also places Baruch (and this letter) in its Apocrypha section. In the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, it's part of a larger collection called the "Rest of Jeremiah."

The Letter of Jeremiah is one of three deuterocanonical books found among the Dead Sea scrolls, which are very old Jewish texts. The part of the letter found at Qumran was written in Greek. This doesn't mean it wasn't based on an older Hebrew or Aramaic text, but the Greek version we have today has many features that are specific to the Greek language.