2 Esdras
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2 Esdras (also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra) is an apocalyptic book in some
2 Esdras forms a part of the canon of Scripture in the
Naming conventions
As with 1 Esdras, some confusion exists about the numbering of this book. The Vulgate of Jerome includes only a single book of Ezra, but in the Clementine Vulgate 1, 2, 3 and 4 Esdras are separate books. Protestant writers, after the Geneva Bible, called 1 and 2 Esdras of the Vulgate, Ezra and Nehemiah; and called 3 and 4 Esdras of the Vulgate, 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras respectively. These then became the common names for these books in English Bibles.[5]
Medieval Latin manuscripts denoted it 4 Esdras, which to this day is the name used for chapters 3–14 in modern critical editions,[6][7] which are typically in Latin, the language of its most complete exemplars.[8]
It appears in the Appendix to the Old Testament in the
Contents
5 Ezra
The first two chapters of 2 Esdras are found only in the Latin version of the book, and are called 5 Ezra by scholars.[10] They are considered by most scholars to be Christian in origin; they assert God's rejection of the Jews and describe a vision of the Son of God. These are generally considered to be late additions (possibly third century) to the work.
4 Ezra
Chapters 3–14, or the great bulk of 2 Esdras, is a
The
Among Greek Fathers of the Church, 4 Ezra is generally cited as Προφήτης Ἔσδρας Prophetes Esdras ("The Prophet Ezra") or Ἀποκάλυψις Ἔσδρα Apokalupsis Esdra ("Apocalypse of Ezra"). Most scholars agree that 4 Ezra was composed in Hebrew,[12] which was translated into Greek, and then to Latin, Armenian, Ethiopian, and Georgian, but the Hebrew and Greek editions have been lost.
Slightly differing Latin,
4 Ezra consists of seven visions of
The next three visions are more symbolic in nature. The fourth is of a woman mourning for her only son. She is transformed into a city when she hears of the desolation of Zion. Uriel says that the woman is a symbol of Zion. The fifth vision concerns an eagle with three heads and 20 wings (12 large wings and eight smaller wings "over against them"). The eagle is rebuked by a lion and then burned. The explanation of this vision is that the eagle refers to the fourth kingdom of the vision of Daniel, with the wings and heads as rulers. The final scene is the triumph of the Messiah over the empire. The sixth vision is of a man, representing the Messiah, who breathes fire on a crowd that is attacking him. This man then turns to another peaceful multitude, which accepts him.
Finally, a vision of the restoration of scripture is related. God appears to Ezra in a bush and commands him to restore the Law. Ezra gathers five scribes and begins to dictate. After 40 days, he has produced 204 books, including 70 works to be published last. 2 Esdras 14:44–48 KJV:
44 In forty days they wrote two hundred and four books.
45 And it came to pass, when the forty days were filled, that the Highest spake, saying, The first that thou hast written publish openly, that the worthy and unworthy may read it:
46 But keep the seventy last, that thou mayest deliver them only to such as be wise among the people:
47 For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge.
48 And I did so.
The "seventy" might refer to the Septuagint, most of the apocrypha, or the lost books that are described in the Bible. But it is more probable that the number is just symbolic.[14]
Almost all Latin editions of the text have a large lacuna
Second Esdras turns around a radical spiritual conversion of Ezra in a vision, where he stops to comfort a sobbing woman who turns instantly into a great city (2 Esd. 10:25–27). On this pivotal event, one scholar writes that Ezra:
is badly frightened, he loses consciousness and calls for his angelic guide. The experience described is unique, not just in 4 Ezra, but in the whole Jewish apocalyptic literature. Its intensity complements the pressure of unrelieved stress evident in the first part of the vision, and it resembles the major orientation of personality usually connected with
religious conversion.[3]: 31
The following verses (10:28–59) reveal that Ezra had a vision of the heavenly Jerusalem, the true city of Zion, which the angel of the Lord invites him to explore. As the angel tells Ezra at the end of Chapter 10 in the
And therefore fear not,
let not thine heart be affrighted,
but go thy way in,
and see the beauty and greatness of the building,
as much as thine eyes be able to see;
and then shalt thou hear as much as thine ears may comprehend.
For thou art blessed above many other
and art called with the Highest and so are but few.
But tomorrow at night thou shalt remain here and so shall the Highest show thee visions of the high things which the Most High will do unto them that dwell upon earth in the last days. So I slept that night and another like as he commanded me (2 Esd. 10:55–59).
6 Ezra
The last two chapters, also called 6 Ezra by scholars,[10] and found in the Latin, but not in the Eastern texts, predict wars and rebuke sinners. Many assume that they probably date from a much later period (perhaps late third century) and may be Christian in origin; though not certain, they possibly were added at the same time as the first two chapters of the Latin version. They likely are Jewish in origin, however; 15:57–59 have been found in Greek, which most scholars agree was translated from a Hebrew original.
Author and criticism
The main body of the book appears to be written for consolation in a period of great distress (one scholarly hypothesis is that it dates to
Critics question whether even the main body of the book, not counting the chapters that exist only in the Latin version and in Greek fragments, has a single author. Kalisch, De Faye, and Charles hold that no fewer than five people worked on the text. However, Gunkel points to the unity in character and holds that the book is written by a single author; the author of 2 Esdras has also been suggested to have written the
Critics [who?] have widely debated the origin of the book. Hidden under two layers of translation, determining whether the author was Roman, Alexandrian, or Palestinian is impossible.
The scholarly interpretation of the eagle being the Roman Empire (the eagle in the fifth vision, whose heads might be Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian if such is the case) and the destruction of the temple would indicate that the probable date of composition lies toward the end of the first century, perhaps 90–96, though some suggest a date as late as 218.[19]
Usage
The book is found in the Orthodox Slavonic Bible (
The introitus of the
The book is appointed as a scripture reading in the Ordinariate’s Evensong service for All Hallows' Eve.[24]
See also
References
Footnotes
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-385-09630-0.
- ^ NETBible, Apocalyptic Esdras Archived September 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8006-6026-0.
- Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion.
- ^ "Esdras." Catholic Encyclopedia.
- ^ Bensley, R. The Fourth Book of Ezra, the Latin Edition edited form the MSS Cambridge 1895
- ^ Metzger, B. M. "The Fourth Book of Ezra". In J. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. vol 1, p. 517ss.
- ^ See for example Souvay, C. (1909). Esdras. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved January 10, 2020 from New Advent.
- .
- ^ ISBN 978-0-385-09630-0
- ^ ISBN 9780195289619.
- ^ Wong, A. C. K.; Penner, K. M.; Miller, D. M. (2010). "4 Ezra". The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha. Atlanta: The Society of Biblical Literature. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
- ^ 2 Esd 7:102–104, GNB
- ISBN 9789004381612.
- ^ Article from Early Jewish Writings
- ^ The Missing Fragment of the Latin Translation of the Fourth Book of Ezra (Cambridge UP, 1875)
- ^ The Fourth Book of Ezra (Texts & Studies 3.2, ed by J.A. Robinson, Cambridge UP, 1895)
- ISBN 3-438-05303-9.
- ^ a b c d Jewish Encyclopedia article
- ^ Clementine Vulgate, Note to the Appendix
- ^ "St. Jerome, The Prologue on the Book of Ezra: English translation".
- ^ Actual Apocrypha in the Liturgy.
- ISBN 9781850757269.
- ^ Ordinariates Established by Anglicanorum Coetibus. "CTS Divine Worship Daily Office". Isuu. Catholic Truth Society. p. 66. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
External links
- Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims Version, O.T. Part 2 at Project Gutenberg. (See in the appendix: The Fovrth Booke of Esdras in a 1610 translation. Also included is Robert Lubbock Bensly's 1874 translation of a "rediscovered" 70-verse fragment (7:36–105) on a page that was omitted from the 1610 translation, though present in all earlier versions.)
- Revised Standard Version (includes the missing page with 7:36–105)
- 2 Esdras at earlyjewishwritings.com
- Latin text of 2 (4) Esdras
- World Wide Study Bible: 2 Esdras
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Esdras: The Books of Esdras: IV Esdras
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Esdras, Books of: II Esdras
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .
- 2 Esdras 1—NRSV
- King James version of 2 Esdras.
- Ezra/Esdras Chart Archived 2019-12-24 at the Wayback Machine
- 2 Ezra: 2012 Critical Translation with Audio Drama at biblicalaudio