Chapter Three

The time and place of receiving the revelation (1). The author’s doubts at the sight of the sufferings of the chosen people and the prosperity of the nations (2–3). Ezra’s prayer to God for the resolution of these doubts. The significance of sin in the history of humanity in general and of the chosen people in particular (4–27). A comparative evaluation of the nations and the Jews from a moral standpoint (28–36).

2 Esdras 3:1. In the thirtieth year of the devastation of the city, I was in Babylon, and I was troubled, lying upon my bed, and anxious thoughts arose in my heart, 1. The thirtieth year of the Babylonian captivity (558 B.C.) falls a whole century earlier than the time when Ezra came forward as the leader of the chosen people. According to the canonical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, only in 458 B.C. did Ezra receive permission from the Persian king Artaxerxes to return to his native land together with the Jews who had not availed themselves of Cyrus’s edict. According to the author’s portrayal, Ezra takes no part whatever in the life of post-exilic Judaism. His activity is confined within the bounds of the Babylonian captivity. Ezra was a witness to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (III:29). Along with the other Jews, he was led into captivity. In captivity, by divine inspiration he restores the lost sacred books and soon thereafter leaves the land. Hilgenfeld (Die Judische Apokalyptik, 190, 191; Esra und Daniel, 10; Messias Judaeorum, 36, 37) and Ewald (65) recognize the anachronism as a product of the author’s and his circle’s weak historical knowledge. This deficiency is suffered by even the learned works of the rabbis that appeared during the post-exilic period of Judaism. Some passages in the canonical books could have given occasion to transfer Ezra’s activity a whole century earlier. In the canonical book bearing his name (VII:1–2) he is named the son of the high priest Seraiah, who was killed, according to the testimony of 4 Kings (XXV:18, 21), at the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Evidently, only the chief members of Ezra’s house were enumerated in the genealogy. Moreover, in the book of Nehemiah (XII:1) the name Ezra is found among the priests who returned with Zerubbabel. A later tradition united Ezra the Elder and Ezra the Younger, attributing to the latter extraordinary longevity. An echo of this was preserved by Epiphanius of Cyprus (Haereses, VIII, 8). According to his account, around the 30th year of the Babylonian captivity, a certain priest Ezra was sent from Babylon to Samaria, a teacher of the law (παιδευτήν του νόμου) to instruct in the law of Moses those Assyrians, Cuthites, and other peoples living there. Here to Ezra the Elder were transferred all the main traits of the creator of the Hebrew canon. Ewald suggests that the 30th year of captivity arose through the omission of the hundreds digit from 130; examples of similar abbreviations are encountered in the Talmud. However, the hopeless condition of the dispersed Israel portrayed by the author fits only to the time he indicates, and is completely inapplicable to the era of Persian rule, when there could scarcely be any question of slavery. He chooses the time when the Babylonian monarchy was at the height of its splendor, long before its conquest by the Persians, who considerably eased the lot of the Jews. It is possible that the reference to the 30th year of captivity is borrowed from the prophet Ezekiel, from the beginning of his book (Lucke, 195. Hilgenfeld. Messias Judaeorum, 36. Wieseler, 234. Gunkel, 352). Among the Jews, the age of thirty was considered a time of the full flowering of bodily and mental powers. The author uses this round figure to emphasize the idea that the pagan monarchy, under the oppression of which the Jewish people suffer, stands at the height of its might and has revealed in all its fullness its iniquities toward the scattered Jews. Volkmar (4, 363–370) and Wieseler (283) recognize the deviation from firmly established chronology as intentional. Through his anachronism, the author supposedly from the very first lines impressed upon the reader that his book deals not with a well-known historical figure of post-exilic Judaism but with contemporary Roman rule, depicted only under the transparent veil of Babylonian captivity. But in order to ensure the book’s success with readers, it was necessary to give it the appearance that it was the genuine work of Ezra. If the anachronism of its opening lines had struck readers in the eye, the book could not have had any attention paid to it. Therefore, it is more just to recognize it as unintentional. It could not undermine confidence in the book in the circle of its unsophisticated readers. The authority enjoyed by the priest Ezra among the Jews who returned with him from captivity testifies to his venerable age. This book takes an earlier period in his activity, not touched upon by the canonical books. Ezra plays the same role of a teacher of the people, taking measures to preserve the law, even in captivity (V:17–18; XIV:18–48).

2 Esdras 3:2. for I saw the desolation of Zion and the wealth of those dwelling in Babylon. 1–2. The author portrays the psychological state that conditions the reception of the revelation. Visions occur at night (III:1; XI:1; XIII:1), when Ezra sleeps in his dwelling (III:1) or waits for them in the open field in complete solitude (IX:26; XIV:1). He prepares for each vision several days in advance according to the direction of the Angel: for whole weeks he fasts (V:20; VI:35), nourishing himself only on vegetables (IX:26; XII:51). Only the last visions, because of their joyful character, are accompanied by shorter fasts.

2 Esdras 3:3. And my spirit was troubled, and I began to speak with fear to the Most High, 3. The name God Most High is characteristic of post-exilic Hebrew literature. It is used in the book 68 times and not once encountered in the two opening and two concluding chapters. The author uses it in preference to all other designations of God. God is called Strong far more rarely, and the Lord still less often. As a true Jew, the author carefully avoids the word “Jehovah” (Deus). In post-exilic Judaism, of all God’s attributes, His transcendence and inaccessibility to man stand foremost (Baldensperger, 45, 46, 57). Therefore, between Ezra and God there appears a mediator, the Angel Uriel.

2 Esdras 3:4. and said: O Lord, Sovereign! You said from the beginning, when You alone founded the earth, and commanded the dust, 2 Esdras 3:5. and gave Adam a mortal body, which was also the work of Your hands, and breathed into him the spirit of life, and he became living before You, 4–5. The author poses for himself a twofold question: one is purely abstract, where do evil and miseries in the world come from, and the other is concrete, why is the chosen people so sinful and unhappy. The latter question is merely a more particular subdivision of the former. To illuminate these questions, the author, like other apocalypses and New Testament books, unfolds the entire history of humanity from the appearance of the first people on earth. The tendency toward broad formulation of questions sharply distinguished post-exilic Judaism from the narrowly national tendencies that characterized earlier Hebrew literature. In the account of the creation of the world and man, the idea is emphasized that God alone participated in the act of creation. This lends still greater force to the question about the source of evil in the world. By divine command man is created from dust: his lifeless body is the work of God’s hands. Then God breathed into him the breath of life. The idea that the body of the first man was created by the hands of the Creator is based on Gen 2:7. It was already expressed by Philo (De nobilitate § 3, p. 440). In the Slavonic Bible, in accordance with the Vulgate, God’s command is directed not to dust but to people (et imperasti populo). The correct reading is given by the Syrian and Ethiopian texts (pulveri). The error arose because a command addressed to inanimate earth seemed somewhat strange to readers. It was understood as applying to a rational being, but in complete contradiction with the context.

2 Esdras 3:6. and led him into the paradise which Your right hand had planted, before the earth brought forth fruit; 6. The Russian and Slavonic translations incorrectly convey the meaning of the Latin text. There the idea is expressed that paradise was created “before the earth appeared (antequam Terra adventaret).” The opinion that the creation of paradise preceded the creation of the world rests on a misunderstanding of the account of the Chronicler (II:8). The word miqqedem can be understood in two ways: “in the east” (Gen 11:2) and “formerly” (Exod 9:11). Such a view is held by most Talmudists (Gfrorer II, 8, 30–31, 42–43. Hamburger. Real-Enciklopedie des Judenthums. B. II. Talmud und Midrasch, Leipzig, 1896. P. 893). According to the Jerusalem Targum, explaining Gen 3:24, “before the foundations of the world were laid, God created the law and prepared paradise for the righteous, that they might enjoy it there and eat from the fruit of the tree” (Gfrorer, 42). In another place this idea is expressed even more clearly: “The lower (earthly) paradise was created 1365 years before the creation of the lower (that is, earthly) world where we live” (Pirke Eliezer, c. 3). Paradise is not placed on earth, for it exceeds it in size many times over. The garden of Eden is 60 times larger than the world, and paradise itself (Eden) is 60 times greater than the garden of Eden (Corrodi. 188–189).

2 Esdras 3:7. And You commanded him to keep Your commandment, but he violated it, and You condemned him to death, and his race and the generations and tribes born from him and peoples and families, which have no number. 7. Death is a divine judgment as punishment for sin. But the descendants of Adam sin and die not as a result of inherited corruption of nature from the fall, but as a result of the same evil heart which was in Adam even before his violation of the commandment.

2 Esdras 3:8. Every nation began to walk according to its own will, and it performed deeds of foolishness before You and spurned Your commandments. 8. In the Eastern translations and Spanish version the idea of the full freedom of human will is emphasized. God did not prevent people from sinning (et tu non prohibnisti eos).

2 Esdras 3:9. In time You brought a flood upon the inhabitants of the earth and destroyed them, 9. The author calls the earth an age. In other places, to distinguish it from the future age, he uses a more precise designation: “this age,” “the present age.”

2 Esdras 3:10. and it was fulfilled on each of them—as death came upon Adam, so the flood came upon these. 10. The Latin manuscripts give this passage in a clearer form: “And immediately (in uno, cf. simul, Syr., Aesth.) destruction came upon them. As death came upon Adam, so the flood came upon them.”

2 Esdras 3:11. One of them You left—Noah, with his household, and from him all the righteous came. 11. The end of the verse, according to the Vulgate (ex eo justi omnes), is transmitted in the Syriac and Ethiopian text. Of the researchers, the majority (Volkmar, Hilgenfeld, Bensly, and Gunkel) accept the reading: “ех eo justos omnes,” seeing here an indication that from Noah’s descendants God spared only the righteous. But it is far more natural to recognize this reading as later, arising for the purpose of eliminating the puzzlement of readers, since Ham could hardly be called righteous.

2 Esdras 3:12. When the inhabitants of the earth began to multiply, and many sons and nations and generations came forth, and they began again to practice impiety, more than those before them, 2 Esdras 3:13. when they began to do iniquity before You: You chose for Yourself one man from among them, whose name was Abraham, 2 Esdras 3:14. and You loved him and revealed to him alone Your will, 14. In the Spanish version and in the Syrian and Ethiopian translations the content of the revelations given to Abraham and the time of their bestowal are more precisely indicated: “And You loved him, and to him alone You revealed the end of times secretly at night” (cf. Gen 15:9). Post-exilic Judaism was not satisfied with the information provided by the Chronicler that Abraham was foretold the fate of the Jews in Egyptian captivity, and extended the scope of the visions to all subsequent time, especially to the time immediately before the end of the world. In the setting in which Abraham learns about the ultimate fate of the world, it is not difficult to note a similarity with the visions of the author himself.

2 Esdras 3:15. and established with him an everlasting covenant, and said to him that You would never forsake his seed. And You gave to him Isaac, and to Isaac You gave Jacob and Esau; 15. Gen 17:7.

2 Esdras 3:16. You chose Jacob for Yourself, but Esau You rejected. And Jacob multiplied exceedingly. 16. Josh 24:3-4; Gen 32:11; Mal 1:2-3; Rom 9:13.

2 Esdras 3:17. When You brought his seed out of Egypt and led him to Mount Sinai, 2 Esdras 3:18. then You bent the heavens, established the earth, made the world tremble, brought the deeps into turmoil and shook all the age. 18. Exod 19:16; 2 Sam 22:8-16; 1 Kgs 19:11-12; Ps 17:8-16. The expression “established the earth” (statuisti terram) does not harmonize well with the setting of Sinai legislation. The Eastern translations give the correct reading: the Syriac, Ethiopian, and second Arabic: “shook the earth.” Volkmar (8) and Gunkel (353) suppose that the Latin translator incorrectly read the Greek word ‘ έσεισας, which could have been written in itacized form έσέησας: he took it for ‘ έτησοίς. Bissell (645) and Zöckler (449) admit that in the Greek text stood the expression έστης έις τήνγην (cf. 2 Sam 22:10). But the Eastern translations give no grounds for this. The conferring of Sinai legislation was accompanied by a whole series of signs to which all nature and the peoples of the whole universe paid attention. The end of the verse depicts echoes of them in the underworld and in heaven: “You brought the deeps into turmoil and shook the heavens (saeculum).” By the age, judging from the context, is undoubtedly meant the heaven (cf. VI:1; VIII:20; Ps 67:9). Such a substitution was made in one of the Latin manuscripts.

2 Esdras 3:19. And Your glory passed through four gates: in fire, in earthquake, in wind, and in frost, to give the law to the seed of Jacob and to impart Your commandments to the race of Israel, 19. In the original, as well as in the Slavonic translation, it is spoken of the passage of God’s glory through four gates (portas quattuor). These gates are fire, earthquake, wind, and hail. Gunkel (354) sees here traces of Hebrew teaching about seven heavens. This hypothesis was created by Babylonian astronomers to explain the movement of planets and underwent significant changes in Judaism. In the four lower heavens are placed the fire, earthquake, violent wind, and hail mentioned here. The first three of them are mentioned in the account of the manifestation of the Lord to the prophet Elijah (1 Kgs 19:11-12). In the Psalter, among other magnificent manifestations of nature that accompany heavenly intervention in earthly affairs, hail is also named (XVII:13–14).

2 Esdras 3:20. but You did not take away from them their evil heart, so that Your law might bear fruit in them. 2 Esdras 3:21. For with an evil heart the first Adam transgressed Your commandment and was overcome; and so all who were born from him. 2 Esdras 3:22. The weakness remained, and the law in the heart of the people along with the root of evil, and the good departed and the evil remained. 20–22. The cause of sin lies in the evil heart (cor malignum) of man (cf. Gen 6:5). The evil heart led to Adam’s violation of the commandment and continues to act so destructively upon all his offspring. It cannot be identified with the breath of life which God breathed into man: it belongs to that side of man which was created from dust. Because of blood kinship all offspring inherit from Adam the properties of his heart. This relationship does not extend to the spiritual side of man: the souls of all people were created from the beginning (IV:36). The concept of “first Adam” (adam gaqqademoni or garischon) in the post-exilic period is usually applied to the progenitor of mankind. The Apostle Paul uses it (1 Cor 15:45). Since the root of evil (cum malignitate radicis) continued to remain in man, the law itself could not attain its purpose. It is nothing surprising that evil has spread its dominion so widely in the world, while good has disappeared completely.

2 Esdras 3:23. The times passed and the years were completed—and You raised up for Yourself a servant, whose name was David; 2 Esdras 3:24. and You commanded him to build a city in Your name and in it to offer to You incense and sacrifices. 23–24. The author pauses on a few bright events of Jewish history which testified to the triumph of good. The reign of David, the founder of Jerusalem, seemed to promise an abrupt turn in the life of Israel toward good. But the hopes were not fulfilled. Jerusalem in the author’s eyes has special importance as the center of Israel’s religious life. On it is called the name of God (cf. Jer 25:29; Dan 9:18-19). In the Russian and Slavonic translations, in accordance with the Vulgate, there is mention of the burning of incense and the offering of sacrifices in Jerusalem (thus et oblationes). The reading de tuis oblationes (Sp. version; cf. Syr., Ar. 1, 2) is more correct, expressing the idea of offering in sacrifice that which constitutes God’s own property, as the Creator of all, or that which God has chosen for Himself as His portion (V:26).

2 Esdras 3:25. Many years this was done, and then the inhabitants of the city sinned, 2 Esdras 3:26. and did in all things as Adam and all his descendants had done; for they also had an evil heart. 2 Esdras 3:27. And You delivered Your city into the hands of Your enemies. 2 Esdras 3:28. Do not those who inhabit Babylon live better and therefore possess Zion? 28–31. Comparing Judaism with the pagan world, the author must give preference to his own people. The prosperity of the nations by no means testifies to their righteousness. The Jews have the law, the beneficial effect of which is felt in all aspects of public and private life. The nations have only blind hatred toward God, whom God employs no signs to turn them from the destructive path upon which they have embarked.

2 Esdras 3:29. When I came here, I saw countless impieties, and in this thirtieth year of captivity my soul saw many sinners—and my heart groaned, 29. The Latin text (hoc tricesimo anno) should be corrected according to the majority of Eastern translations (Ar. 1, Eth., and Arm.), where it is said that the author observed the life of the nations for whole thirty years. Such a prolonged period gave the opportunity to study it most thoroughly.

2 Esdras 3:30. for I saw that You uphold these sinners and spare the wicked, but You have destroyed Your people, and preserved Your enemies, and have not shown any sign of this to anyone. 2 Esdras 3:31. I do not understand how this course could be changed. Is it not true that Babylon acts better than Zion? 30–31. In the Vulgate there is incorrect punctuation. The author expresses the following thought: “And You have shown no sign (nemini) to anyone concerning how this course should be changed” (Sp. version, Eth., Ar. 1). The author realizes the abnormality of the present situation, intensified by complete ignorance of when it will be replaced by another, more worthy lot for Israel. In the Vulgate the word nemini was taken for memini, from which arose further changes with a view to greater intelligibility.

2 Esdras 3:32. Or has any other nation known You beside Israel? or what tribes believed Your covenants like Jacob? 2 Esdras 3:33. Yet their reward is not equal to their labor, nor their toil productive of fruit, for I have journeyed through the nations, and I have seen that they live in abundance, though mindful of Your commandments they are not. 32–33. The nations do not have proper knowledge of God and faith in Him and do not remember His commandments. The transgressions of the pagan world are not mitigated by its ignorance. According to the view of the Jews, which found its place in Philo (De sept. Ed. Mang. II, 295), when the law was given on Sinai, besides Israel seventy nations heard it. The last figure is used in the sense of a round number to designate all mankind. Very characteristic is the author’s view of the fulfillment of the law as a heavy burden or labor. According to the Psalmist, the law brings only a sense of joy. Post-exilic Judaism, feeling the impossibility of fulfilling the law, saw in it an insupportable burden for man. This view is shared by the Apostle Paul.

2 Esdras 3:34. Therefore, weigh in the balance our iniquities and the deeds of those inhabiting the earth, and nowhere will Your name be found except among Israel. 34. In the uncorrupted text (Lat. mss., Ar. 1, 2, Arm.) this verse is given in the following form: “Therefore, weigh on the balance our iniquities and the iniquities of those who dwell on the earth, and it will be revealed where the scale tips” (et invenietur momentum puncti ubi declinet). The word momentum was taken for nomen tuum, and the end of the verse was supplied according to the context.

2 Esdras 3:35. When have the inhabitants of the earth not sinned before You? or what nation has so kept Your commandments? 2 Esdras 3:36. You will find, it is true, among them those who keep Your commandments by name, but among the other nations you will not find them. 36. In the Vulgate the meaning of this passage suffered significant change because of an incorrectly read abbreviation. The author’s thought embraces all mankind (homines), while the Vulgate restricts it to the chosen people alone (hos). Ezra brings to God’s attention that no nation as a whole observed the commandments like Israel. “You will find, to be sure, men by name who have kept Your commandments, but nations you will not find.” The righteous in a pagan environment, like Job, are a rare exception: they can be counted by name. Only among the Jews did the fulfillment of the law capture the entire people. Gunkel (354), Volkmar (11), and Kabisch (26–28) also refer the first half of the verse to the righteous of the people of God like Abraham and Moses. Kabisch cites a whole series of excerpts from the Talmud where only the Jews are recognized as having the right to be called people, while the nations are considered swine. Even the souls of the nations are said to be a fruit of the mixture of the demon Sammael with Eve. But such an understanding fits poorly with the course of thought. The author tries to remove the objection that among the nations one can find examples of the fulfillment of commandments. There they have a singular character; meanwhile among Israel, with all its sinfulness, the commandments were kept by all with such zeal as could not be found among any other people in the masses.