Baruch ben Neriah

Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah was the scribe and faithful companion of the prophet Jeremiah. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, −605, Jeremiah dictated to him all his prophecies since the days of Josiah, and Baruch read the scroll aloud in the Temple. The officials took it to the king, who cut it up column by column with a scribe's knife and burned it in his brazier; Jeremiah and Baruch went into hiding and wrote a new, longer scroll (Jeremiah 36). During the siege he stored the deed of Jeremiah's field at Anathoth in an earthen jar (Jeremiah 32). After Jerusalem fell he was accused of turning Jeremiah against going to Egypt, and both were taken there by force (Jeremiah 43). Jeremiah 45 is a short prophecy for Baruch himself: "Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not."

Jewish tradition counts him among the prophets (Megillah 14b) and says Ezra studied Torah with him in Babylon and did not go up to the Land of Israel while Baruch was alive (Megillah 16b). Later books, such as the Book of Baruch, were written in his name.