2 Esdras

The Second Book of Esdras (IV Esdras) is found in the books of the Septuagint, the Old Testament accepted as inspired and canonical by the Orthodox Church in the Greek Orthodox Bible, and found in the books of the Old Testament of the Vulgate. The core of the book, the "Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra", 2 Esdras 3–14, is canonical scripture in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It is not recognized as canonical by Jews, Catholics, Orthodox, or Protestants. It was not included in the canon of scripture by the Third Council of Carthage (397). Since the Council of Trent it is not accepted as inspired and canonical by the Catholic Church in the Catholic Bible—books of the Bible accepted as divinely inspired by the majority of Christian believers in the United States and throughout the world.

The apocryphal book of 2 Esdras is included in many English translations of the Bible. In printed Bibles of the 17th through 18th and 19th centuries, II Esdras (2 Esdras) was listed as IV Esdras (4 Esdras), the Book of Ezra was called I Esdras (1 Esdras), the Book of Nehemiah was called II Esdras (2 Esdras), and I Esdras (not Ezra) was called III Esdras (3 Esdras), hence this book was designated IV Esdras (4 Esdras). This has been a source of some confusion for many beginning students of the Bible.

While 1 Esdras (3 Esdras) is presented as an historical text, 2 Esdras (4 Esdras) is an example of a Jewish apocalypse, similar to parts of the Book of Daniel and the Book of Enoch, and to Christian works such as the Book of Revelation. It describes seven visions given to Ezra, three of which come in answer to his questions about human suffering as related to God's justice. Its outlook is profoundly pessimistic. The vast majority of humanity as well as many Jews will be eternally damned. God is unconcerned about the fate of those who do not obey him. Ezra himself is presented as a paragon of righteousness and asceticism, chosen by God to renew the divine word of the sacred scriptures to the chosen people.

II Esdras was first included in the Apocrypha by Martin Luther in the 16th century.

See Apocrypha.

Naming and numbering

The naming and numbering of this book is varied. In some early Latin manuscripts it is "3 Esdras". Jerome titled it 4 Esdras in the Vulgate. Books that Jerome called 1 and 2 Esdras were later called the Book of Ezra (1 Esdras) and the Book of Nehemiah (2 Esdras). The designation 2 Esdras (for 3 Esdras) became common in most English Bibles, but not all of them. It appears in the Appendix to the Old Testament in the Slavonic Bible as 3 Esdras. The Georgian Bible numbers it 3 Ezra, with the canonical Book of Ezra (Ezra-Nehemiah combined) being called 1 Esdras and the book known in most English editions as 1 Esdras labeled as "2 Esdras" (which makes 2 Esdras "3 Esdras"—"3 Ezra").

Contents

The extant text of 2 Esdras states it was written by "Ezra", the name of the great Jewish priest-scribe and leader who primarily established Second Temple Judaic tradition after the Babylonian exile. This same author Ezra is also called "Salathiel" in the book, which could make him the father of the exile leader Zerubbabel, rather than Ezra the Scribe, since Zerubbabel is of the line of David, and Ezra the priest-scribe is of the line of Aaron.

Christian interpolations

The Greek form of this book in the Septuagint does not have the first two chapters of 2 Esdras which appear in the Latin version of the book. For this reason most scholars hold them to be of Christian origin, because they speak of the the Messiah in Christian terms and assert God's rejection of the Jews in words resembling Christian theological language of the second and third centuries.

"I gathered you as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence." (1:30) —Compare Matthew 23:37; Luke13:34; Deuteronomy 32:10-18.

This section also contains a vision of the the Messiah as the Son of God who ministers to the martyred saints in heaven:

"Then I said to the angel, 'Who is that young man who places crowns on them and puts palms in their hands?' He answered and said to me, 'He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world.'" (2:46-47) —Compare Revelation 6:9-11; Daniel 7:13-14, 27.

Because of their apparently Christian character, many scholars and students of the Bible regard these chapters as late second or third century Christian additions to the work.

Ezra's three questions

Chapters 3–14, the main text of 2 Esdras, is presented as a Jewish apocalypse of seven revelations given to Ezra while he was in Babylon. Ezra "the Scribe," is here also a great prophet, a new Moses who fasts and prays in the wilderness as he is being prepared by God to renew God's Law to the people.

The archangel Uriel is Ezra's guide and teacher, sent from God.

In the first vision, Ezra asks God how Israel can be kept in such misery if God is just. Uriel is sent to answer him, responding that God's ways cannot be understood by the human mind. But the end of the current world will come soon, and God's justice will be manifest.

In the second vision, Ezra asks why Israel was delivered up to the Babylonians. He is told that man cannot understand God's ways, and that the end is near.

In the third vision, Ezra asks why Israel, as God's chosen people, does not possess the world. Uriel tells him the current state of the people is a period of transition. The fate of evil-doers, who are the vast majority of mankind, as well as many Jews, is described—compared to the fate of the few righteous ones who will be saved. As Ezra attempts to intercede for those who are so harshly condemned, he is told that no one can escape his destiny.

Ezra is deeply concerned with fairness, justice, and with theodicy, the problem of evil—why good people suffer, and why evil prospers, if God is both almighty and just—and the fact that, because the world is populated primarily by sinners, the vast majority of human souls will suffer eternal damnation. God answers that he cares only for the few truly good people like Ezra.

"I will rejoice over the few who shall be saved, because it is they who have made my glory to prevail now, and through them my name has now been honored. And I will not grieve over the multitude of those who perish; for it is they who are now like a mist, and are similar to a flame and smoke—they are set on fire and burn hotly, and are extinguished." (8:61-62)

Ezra is told that God has predestined from the beginning of creation those who are to be saved and those who are to be condemned, and it is not for Ezra, a mere human, to intervene on behalf of the damned, even when their fate seems cruel to him. No one can escape his fate, and even the prayers of parents begging for the lives of their children cannot influence the eternal decree of the sovereign and almighty God. This is the same doctrine of double predestination also found in Calvinism.

Four symbolic visions

The fourth vision is of a woman mourning for her only son, who is transformed into a city when she hears of the desolation of Jerusalem and its temple. Uriel explains that the woman is a symbol of the holy city.

The fifth vision shows Ezra an eagle with three heads and 20 wings (12 large wings and eight smaller ones), which is rebuked by a lion and then burned. Uriel interprets this as a symbol the fourth kingdom of the vision of Daniel, and the wings and heads as rulers. The vision presents the triumph of the Messiah over this empire.

The sixth vision is of a man, representing the Messiah, who breathes fire on the crowd attacking him. He then turns toward another peaceful multitude, which accepts him.

Ezra transcribes the scriptures

The seventh vision concerns the restoration of sacred scripture. 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 94 books: the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible and 70 secret works which he is not to reveal to the masses. This vision contained in the Greek text is omitted in the Latin translation of the text.

See The Qabbalah, the Secret Doctrine of Israel (sacred-texts.com)

Purpose

While for Job the question is why what appears to be clearly unfair suffering is imposed by God on a righteous man (Job), in 2 Esdras it is the question of why God allows so many people to be eternally damned, and why he has allowed his beloved people of Israel to suffer. The answer given to Ezra is like that given to Job: God is absolutely sovereign, and his ways are not to be questioned by mere humans.

Lost verses

Most Latin editions trace their common origin to one early manuscript, Codex Sangermanensis, which was missing an entire page, a large lacuna (a section of missing text) of about 70 verses between 7:36 and 7:37. An 1895 published critical edition restored the lost verses, numbered 7:36 to 7:106, with the verses formerly numbered 7:37–7:69 in the defective manuscripts renumbered to 7:107–7:137. The final two chapters of 2 Ezra found in the Latin version are not in the Eastern Greek texts. These chapters predict wars led by the Messiah (called "son of God") and harshly rebuke sinners. Many suggest that these chapters also date from a much later period (late third century?) and may be Christian in origin, possibly that they were added at the same time as the first two chapters of the Latin version. It is also possible that they are actually Jewish in origin, having been found in some Greek manuscripts which most scholars agree were translated from a Hebrew original.

Usage

The book is considered an outstanding and valuable example of Jewish apocalyptic literature. It was widely cited by early Church Fathers, especially Ambrose of Milan. The core of the book, the "Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra", 2 Esdras 3-14, is canonical scripture in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

The introitus of the traditional Requiem in the Catholic Church is drawn from 2 Esdras 2:34-35:

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them."

Several other liturgical prayers are taken from the book. Pope Clement VIII placed the book in an appendix after the New Testament with the rest of the Apocrypha, "lest they perish entirely" (the Clementine Vulgate).

Historical-critical textual analysis

Study of 2 Esdras is complicated by the probability that some chapters may have been added to the beginning of the book and that later chapters may also suffer from similar additions, though this is debatable. Despite these and other difficulties with the text, the bulk of the work is considered one of the gems of Jewish apocalypticism.

Critics have widely debated the origin of the book. Hidden under two layers of translation and probably the work of more than one writer, it is difficult to determine whether the primary Jewish author hailed from Alexandria, Jerusalem, Rome, or some other location. Although it claims to have been written by Ezra/Salathiel around 400 B.C., internal evidence suggests a much later date, probably late A.D. first century, with other sections possibly added even later.

Most scholars today suggest the most likely date for the composition of 2 Esdras is sometime after Titus' destruction of the Second Temple in A.D. 70. The scholarly interpretation of the eagle of 2 Esdras 5 being the Roman Empire (whose heads might be Vespasian, Titus and Domitian, if that is the case) indicate that the probable date of composition is toward the end of the first century, perhaps 90–96, though some suggest a date as late as 218.

It is an open question among critics whether even the main body of the book—apart from the chapters found only in the Latin version—has a single author. Some see evidence of no fewer than five hands at work on the text. Others argue that, except for the apparently late Christian (?) interpolations, the book is most certainly written by one author. Even the "Christian" chapters are defended by some commentators as representing a Jewish concept of the Messiah as a supernatural being, as occasionally appears in later Midrashim and in the Talmudic rabbinical tradition.

An answer in the February 1994 issue confused me. You stated that Church councils rejected 1 and 2 Esdras as non-canonical, yet my Douay-Rheims lists these two books. What's the story? Answer

The confusion is caused by the fact that some of the books of the Bible and the apocrypha (those which do not belong in the Catholic Bible) have changed names over the last few centuries. You have put your finger on the most confusing name change there has been. Read carefully, because this is tricky.

There have been four books associated with the prophet Ezra (also spelled Esdras). In some circles these became known as 1, 2, 3, and 4 Esdras. In other circles, the first two of these (1 and 2 Esdras) became known as Ezra and Nehemiah, while the second two (3 and 4 Esdras) became known as 1 and 2 Esdras.

The first two of the four books belong in the Bible and are accepted by both Catholics and Protestants as canonical. In older Catholic Bibles they were called 1 and 2 Esdras, but now they are more commonly called Ezra and Nehemiah. The second two of the four books (sometimes known as 3 and 4 Esdras, sometimes known as 1 and 2 Esdras) do not belong in the Bible at all and are not accepted by either Catholics or Protestants.

When we said that the Church councils did not accept 1 and 2 Esdras, we were using the modern system of book names and were referring to the two formerly known as 3 and 4 Esdras.

One final note to the confusion: While 3 and 4 Esdras are not accepted by Catholics or Protestants, some Eastern Orthodox accept one or the other of them.

Answered by: Catholic Answers Staff

II Esdras: Name and Versions. One of the most interesting and the profoundest of all Jewish and Christian apocalypses is known in the Latin Bible as "Esdræ Quartus." The number, which usually is a part of the name, depends upon the method of counting the canonical Ezra-Nehemiah and the Greek Ezra: the book is called "I Esdras" in the Ethiopic, "II Esdras" in late Latin manuscripts and in the English Bible, "III Esdras" in other Latin manuscripts. There is another division in Latin Bibles, separating II Esdras into three parts, each with a separate number, of which the main part is "Esdræ Quartus." Greek Fathers quote it as Ἔσδρας Προφήτης or Αποκάλυψις Ἔαδρα. The most common modern name is "IV Esdras." Only ch. iii.-xiv., the original apocalypse, will be discussed here. The original was written in Hebrew, and then translated into Greek, as has been proved by Wellhausen, Charles, and finally by Gunkel; but neither the Hebrew nor the Greek text is extant.

Contents. From the Greek were made the following versions: (1) Latin, which is the basis of the English version; (2) Syriac; (3) Ethiopic; (4) and (5) two independent Arabic versions; (6) Georgian. The Armenian version differs from the others; whether it was made from the Syriac or from a separate Greek version has not yet been decided. The book consists of seven sections, called "visions" since Volkmar (1863): 1-3 treat chiefly of religious problems; 4-6 consist mainly of eschatological visions; 7 tells of Ezra's literary activity and death.

First Vision (iii.-v. 19): "In the thirtieth year of the ruin of the city, I, Salathiel (the same is Esdras), was in Babylon, and lay troubled upon my bed." Esdras asks God how the misery of Israel can be in keeping with divine justice. The answer is given by Uriel: God's ways are unsearchable and the human mind can not grasp them; everything will be clear after the end of this world, which will soon come to pass. Then follows a description of the signs of the end. Second Vision (v. 20-vi. 34): Why is Israel delivered up to the heathen? The answer is similar to that of the first vision: Man can not solve the problem; the end is near. Its signs are again revealed. Third Vision (vi. 35-ix. 25): Why does Israel not yet possess the world? Answer: The present state is a necessary transition to the future. Then follows a detailed description of the fate of the wicked and the righteous: few will be saved; Esdras intercedes for the sinners, but he is told that nobody will escape his destiny. Fourth Vision (ix. 26-x. 59): Vision of a woman mourning for her only son. Esdras pictures to her the desolation of Zion.Suddenly instead of the woman appears a "builded city." Uriel explains that the woman represents Zion. Fifth Vision (xi., xii.): Vision of an eagle which has three heads, twelve wings, and eight smaller wings "over against them," and which is rebuked by a lion and then burned. The eagle is the fourth kingdom seen by Daniel; the lion is the Messiah. Sixth Vision (xiii.): Vision of a man who burns the multitude assaulting him, and then calls to himself another but peaceable multitude. The man is the Messiah; the first multitude are the sinners; the second are the Lost Tribes of Israel. Seventh Vision (xiv.): The restoration of the Scripture. Esdras, sitting under an oak, is addressed by God from a bush and told that he will soon be translated; he asks for the restoration of the Law; God commands him to procure many tablets and five scribes and to tell the people to stay away for forty days. Esdras does so, and, after having received a wondrous drink, begins to dictate. Within forty days are written ninety-four books, of which twenty-four, that is, the Hebrew canon, are to be published and seventy to be kept secret. Esdras' translation is found only in the Oriental versions; in the Latin it has been omitted, because ch. xv. and xvi. were added. Purpose and Origin. The author wishes to console himself and his people in a time of great distress. He struggles with the deepest religious problems: What is the origin of suffering and evil in the world? Why does the All-Righteous create men, who He knows will suffer, or will do wrong and therefore perish? Why does man possess the mind or reason which makes him conscious of these things? Throughout these struggles the writer strives for assurance of salvation. Since this is reserved for some future era, he lays much stress on eschatology. Confidence in God's justice underlies all his thoughts.

It has been questioned whether this apocalypse was written by one author. Kalisch ("Das 4te Buch Esra," Göttingen, 1889) tried to prove that it had five different sources; his views were largely adopted by De Faye and by Charles. But Gunkel rightly calls attention to the fact that the uniform character of the book forbids its reduction to several independent documents, and that its repetitions and slight discrepancies are a peculiarity of the author in dealing with his complicated problems. Closely akin to this book is the Apocalypse of Baruch; it has therefore been suggested that both might have been written by the same author. Although this can not be proved, it is at least certain that both books were composed at about the same time, and that one of them was the prototype of the other.

Date and Value. Since the eagle in the fifth vision undoubtedly represents the Roman empire, most critics agreeing that the three heads are Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, and since the destruction of Jerusalem so often referred to must be that by Titus in 70 C.E., the book must date from the last quarter of the first century—probably between 90 and 96.

II Esdras is a characteristic example of the growth of apocalyptic literature: the misery of the present world leads to the seeking of compensation in the happiness of the future. But besides its historical value, this book is an unusually important monument of religious literature for all times.

Additions: Ch. i. and ii. of the Latin and English versions are of Christian origin (probably second century), and describe the rejection of the Jews in favor of the Christians. Ch. xv. and xvi., which predict wars and rebuke sinners at length, may be Jewish; they date from the middle or the second half of the third century.

Bibliography: Schürer, Gesch. 3d ed., 1898, iii. 246-250 (contains a complete bibliography); Gunkel, in Kautzsch, Apokryphen, etc., ii. 331 et seq.; idem, Der Prophet Esra, Tübingen, 1900. The author of II Esdras, also called "the prophet Ezra," in all probability, as shown by Wellhausen ("Skizzen und Vorarbeiten," vi. 248 et seq.), had before him the Baruch Apocalypse, written under the impression of the destruction of the Temple by the Romans; he reasons more on the general problems of sin and death and on the design of God regarding the few that are saved than on the national problem of Israel's adversity and the prosperity of the heathen. In the controversy between the schools of Shammai and of Hillel as to whether, in view of the prevalence of sin and sorrow, "it is good for man to be born or not" (; 'Er. 13b), the author sides with the pessimistic view of the former: "It would be better if we were not born than to live in sin and suffer, not knowing why" (II Esd. iv. 12). In the same light he views the final judgment of man by God. "The germ of evil sown into man by the first sin of Adam" ( ; 'Ab. Zarah 22b) results in sin and damnation for the great majority of men—indeed, there is no man who sinneth not—and makes the human destiny far inferior to that of the animal, which needs not fear the great Judgment Day (II Esd. vii. 45 [R. V. 115] et seq.; viii. 35). The author recognizes God's love for all His creatures (viii. 47), in spite of the fact that greater is the number of those lost than of those that are saved (ix. 15), but for him the end must be unrelenting justice and no mercy nor any intercession of saints; truth and righteousness alone must prevail (vii. 32-38 [R. V. 102-115]). Here, too, the author differs from the Hillelites, who teach that those souls whose merits and demerits are equal are saved by the mercy of God (who inclines the scale toward mercy), and sides with the Shammaites, who claim that these souls must go through the purgatory of the Gehenna fire before they are admitted into paradise (Sanh. xiii. 4; R. H. 16b). In another respect II Esdras (see iii. 30, ix. 22 et seq., xii. 34, xiii. 37 et seq.) manifests the spirit of the Shammaites in finding Messianic salvation granted only to the remnant of Israel, for it is Eliezer the Shammaite who, in opposition to the school of Hillel, denies all Gentiles a share in the world to come (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 2).

In regard to the return of the Lost Ten Tribes, also, the author shares the view of Eliezer, in opposition to Akiba, that they will take part in the Messianic redemption, and the very name for the land of the exile of the Ten Tribes used by him, but obviously misunderstood by the translator, rests on the same Biblical words referred to by the two tannaim—"ereẓ aḥeret" (another land; Deut. xxix. 27; II Esd. xiii. 45, comp. 40; Sanh. x. 3; see Arzareth).

The length of the Messianic time is stated to be 400 years (II Esd. vii. 28: this is based upon Ps. xc. 15 and Gen. x. 13; comp. Sanh. 99a; Pesiḳ. R. 1). Especially significant is the apocalyptic sign for the Messianic era taken from Gen. xxv. 26, R. V. ("His [Jacob's] hand had hold on Esau's heel"), which is interpreted: "The end of Esau's [Edom's] reign, willform the beginning of Jacob's—that is, the Messiah's—kingdom" (II Esd. vi. 8, exactly as in Gen. R. lxiii.; comp. Yalḳ.). For other parallels to rabbinical sayings of the first century see Rosenthal, "Vier Apocryphische Bücher aus der Zeit und Schule R. Akiba's," 1885, pp. 39-71. Rosenthal also thinks (ib. p. 40) that the five sages who during forty days put into writing the twenty-four canonical and seventy hidden (apocryphal) books dictated by Ezra under inspiration (II Esd. xiv. 23-46) reflect the work of the five disciples of Johanan ben Zakkai.

References

• Coggins, R.J., and Michael A. Knibb. The First and Second Books of Esdras. The Cambridge Bible commentary, New English Bible. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. ISBN 9780521097574
• Myers, Jacob Martin. I and II Esdras. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1974. ISBN 9780385004268
• Taylor, Leslie, John. Extra-Biblicals: Forgotten Books of the Bibles. [S.l.]: 1st Books, 2003. ISBN 9781410735676

See also

Gnosticism

External links

The Old Testament Text. (wmcarey.edu/browning/Classes)

Early Jewish Writings: 2 Esdras

Catholic Answers. Quick Questions: Are 1 and 2 Esdras non-canonical books?

Apocrypha: 2 Esdras (text online) (sacred-texts.com)
2 Esdras (4 Esdras) Revised Standard Version (quod.lib.umich.edu)

Greek and English Septuagint
Latin and English Vulgate
Kings James Apocrypha Online