Baruch: Writer, Secretary – or More?

Baruch’s Role in the Book of Jeremiah and in Stefan Zweig’s Drama Jeremias

Abstract

In his drama Jeremias which was published in 1917, Stefan Zweig discusses the catastrophic escape of the Jewish population from Judah/Jerusalem into Babylonian exile in the year 587 BCE. In the middle of the First World War Zweig has not only created a drama against war, but has also transposed a serious experience of the People of God to the present day, and interpreted the destiny of the people from the point of view of the current situation. The article focuses on the relationship between the biblical writer Baruch and Jeremiah in comparison to Zweig’s intimate of the prophet. Similarities and differences in defining the roles and interactions of the two characters are described.