Jonathon Lookadoo offered the following translation of chapter 11 of The Epistle of Barnabas:
1. Now let us seek whether it was a
concern for the Lord to reveal anything beforehand about the water and about
the cross. Regarding the water, it is written about Israel how they will not
receive the baptism that carries forgiveness of sins but will construct
something for themselves.
2. For the prophet says, “Be amazed, heaven,
and let the earth shudder greatly over this, because this people has done two
evil things. They abandoned me, the fountain of life, and they dug a pit of
death for themselves.
3. My holy mountain Sinai is not a
deserted rock. For you will be like hatchling birds fluttering abut when taken
away from the nest.”
4. And again the prophet says, “I am
going before you, and I will level mountains and crush bronze gates and smash
iron bars. I will give to you dark, hidden, invisible treasures in order that
they may know that I am the Lord God.”
5. And, “you will dwell in a high cave
of solid rock, and its water will be trustworthy. You will see a king with
glory, and your soul will meditate on the fear of the Lord.”
6. And he says again in another
prophet, “And the one who does these things will be like a tree planted by
outlets of water that will bear its fruit in its season. Its leaves will not
fall away, and all that it does will prosper.”
7. Not so the ungodly. Not so. Rather,
they will be like chaff that the wind blows up from the face of the earth.
Because of this the ungodly will not be raised in judgment, nor the sinners in
the counsel of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and
the way of the ungodly will perish.”
8. Understand how he declares the water
and the cross is the same place. For he says this, “Blessed are those who hope
in the cross and descend into the water,” because h describes the wage “in its
season.” Then, he says, “I will repay.” But now he says, “the leaves will not
fall away.” This means that every word that comes out of you through your mouth
in faith and love will bring conversion and hope to many.
9. And again another prophet says, “And
the land of Jacob will be praised by the whole earth.” This means that he will
glorify the vessel of his spirit.
10. Then what does he says? “And there
was a river flowing from the right, and beautiful trees were growing up out of
it, and whoever eats from one of them will live forever.”
11. This means that we go down into
the water full of sins and filth, and we come up bearing fruit in our heart,
having fear and hope in Jesus in the Spirit. “And whoever eats from these will
live forever. This means: “Whoever,” he says, “hears these people speaking and
believes will live forever.” (Jonathon Lookadoo, The Epistle of Barnabas: A Commentary [Apostolic
Fathers Commentary Series; Eugene, Oreg.: Cascade Books, 2022], xlv-xlvii)
Commenting on this text’s theology of baptism, Lookadoo notes
that:
The imagery
that Barnabas utilizes is drawn directly from his prophetic citations and is
consistent with the figurative interpretation that he employs throughout the
latter. Some of the figures are given a single meaning throughout 11.1-11.
Water consistently represents baptism throughout the discussion (11.1, 2, 5, 6,
8, 11). The leaves drawn from Ps 1 likewise signify a single thing, namely, the
words that believers utter and which lead to the repentance and hope of those
who hear them (11.6, 8). However, Barnabas also attributes double meanings to
certain prophetic pictures. The most surprising instance of this phenomenon is related
to the tree (11.6-11). The tree in Ps 1 is identified as the cross and provides
the source of hope by which believers enter into baptism (11.6, 8). This
interpretation is consistent with the introductory question in 11.1 regarding
the significance of the water and the cross. Since the discussion in 12.1-11
will continue to reflect on Jesus and the cross, it is not surprising that the arboreal
metaphors in Ps 1 are interpreted with a view to the cross. What is more
startling is the way in which the tree is interpreted with reference to
believers in Barnabas’s interpretation of Ezekiel. The prophet refers to
beautiful trees rising out of a river (11.10). Instead of outlining the significance
of this image with a view to the cross. Barnabas interprets the imagery with an
eye to believers who have been baptized (11.11). Barnabas’s hermeneutic allows
him to portray aboral imagery in multiple ways to that trees can signify either
the cross of believers.
Barnabas’s
figurative interpretation of the prophets in 11.1 follows from his belief that
God has revealed all things before hand (11.1; see also 1.7; 3.6). Baptism is
closely associated with the removal of sins. It provides the means by which God
has opted to bring forgiveness of sins to God’s people (11.11). (Entrance into the
water is consistently described by Barnabas as a downward movement with the use
of the word καταβαινω in 11.8 and 11. This downward movement may stand in implicit opposition not
Israel’s choice to build something for themselves [11.1].) Hope is keenly
associated with baptism. Hope in the cross provides a prerequisite for
believers to enter the waters of baptism (11.8). The hope by which believers
enter the water enables them to live when they exist the water of baptism. Moreover,
baptism is a communicative event. It not only brings forgiveness to believers
but extends its influence to those whom believers meet. Those who have received
baptism speak in a way that are faithful and loving and which, in turn leads to
hope and a turn toward God in those who hear them (11.8). baptism thus enables
believers to live forever (11.10), and those who listen to the baptized will likewise
live eternally (11.11). Barnabas’s rich baptismal imagery and interpretations
contrast with the mistaken cultic actions on the part of his Jewish opponents.
Barnabas replaces what he sees as the deceit of physical circumcision and
kosher practices with an understanding of the prophets that focuses on baptism that
brings forgiveness of sins. (Ibid., 156-57)
