Read & explore together
The idol-free just person outshines decaying images
Baruch 6:70–73 closes with strong comparisons that strip away the glamour of idols. Gold, silver and purple may look impressive, yet these verses present such images as useless, decaying and shameful, then set the just person above them.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
In this part of the Catholic additional book of Baruch, idols of wood covered with costly materials are described through a series of comparisons. The passage points to what can be seen about them: they keep nothing, birds sit on them, purple rots on them, they are consumed, and they end in reproach.
Baruch 6:70–73Main takeaway
These verses teach that decorated idols still prove useless and passing, while the just person who has no idols stands far from reproach.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A scarecrow that keeps nothingThe first picture is plain: a scarecrow in a cucumber garden “keeps nothing”. The comparison highlights uselessness.
Explanation
The first picture is plain: a scarecrow in a cucumber garden “keeps nothing”. The comparison highlights uselessness. The idols are made of wood and overlaid with gold and silver, yet the verse treats those costly coverings as no answer to the problem. However adorned they are, they are compared to something that keeps nothing.
02A lowly thorn and a lifeless bodyThe next verse adds two more comparisons. The idols are like a white thorn in an orchard, with every bird sitting on it.
Explanation
The next verse adds two more comparisons. The idols are like a white thorn in an orchard, with every bird sitting on it. This is not an honoured or powerful image, but another lowly comparison. Then they are likened to a dead body thrown into the dark, which underlines lifelessness and disgrace.
03Rotting purple reveals their endVerse 72 points to visible decay. The bright purple on the idols rots upon them, and this is given as a way to know they are no gods.
Explanation
Verse 72 points to visible decay. The bright purple on the idols rots upon them, and this is given as a way to know they are no gods. Their impressive appearance does not last. The verse continues by saying they themselves will be consumed afterwards and become a reproach in the country.
04The just person is betterThe passage ends with a direct conclusion. Better than these idols is “the just man who has no idols”.
Explanation
The passage ends with a direct conclusion. Better than these idols is “the just man who has no idols”. The word “therefore” links this verdict to all the earlier comparisons. What rots, is consumed and becomes a reproach is set against a just person who is far from reproach.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What does the image of a scarecrow that “keeps nothing” add to the passage’s view of idols?
Focus on the exact words in Baruch 6:70 and how that comparison shows uselessness even when the idols are overlaid with gold and silver.
02Why might the verse compare the idols to a white thorn with birds sitting on it?
Use Baruch 6:71 to notice that this is a lowly picture, where birds freely sit without treating the object as important or powerful.
03How does the final verse answer all the earlier comparisons?
Read Baruch 6:72–73 together and trace the contrast between what becomes a reproach and the just person who is far from reproach.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Baruch 6:70–73
70For as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers that keeps nothing, so are their gods of wood overlaid with gold and silver.
71Likewise also their gods of wood overlaid with gold and with silver are like a white thorn in an orchard that every bird sits upon. They are also like a dead body that is thrown out into the dark.
72You will know them to be no gods by the bright purple that rots upon them. They themselves will be consumed afterwards, and will be a reproach in the country.
73Better therefore is the just man who has no idols; for he will be far from reproach.