Chapter Eight

The purpose of the coming age for the few (1–3). Ezra’s perplexity about the harsh fate of man, who came from the hands of the Creator himself and is under the special protection of Providence (4–14), and in particular about the fate of the chosen people (15–19). Ezra’s prayer for mercy on his own people (20–36). The naturalness of the destruction of sinners, illustrated by the example from the life of a farmer (37–46). A promise to Ezra of blessedness in the coming age (47–55). The legitimacy of the punishment of sinners given the existence of free will (56–62). Ezra’s question about the time of the end (63).

2 Esdras 8:1. He answered me and said: This age the Most High created for many, but the coming age for few. 2 Esdras 8:2. I will tell you, Ezra, a comparison. As if you ask the earth, it will tell you that it gives very much material from which clay vessels are made, but not much dust from which gold is made, so it is with the affairs of the present age. 2 Esdras 8:3. Many are created, but few will be saved. 3. See Matt 22:14. Hilgenfeld and Hausrath bring together the expression from the prophetic book of Ezra: “many are created, but few will be saved” with the words of the Savior: “many are called, but few are chosen.” The first of them suggests that the evangelist drew this passage from the book of Ezra, the second allows for the opposite borrowing. However, despite the similarity of individual words, there is too great a difference in the thoughts put into these expressions by the two books. Pseudo-Ezra has in mind all mankind created by God, and is amazed at the small number of those being saved. The Gospel compares the fate of the chosen people, who were the object of God’s special favor, called into his Kingdom through the prophets, with the fate of the gentiles, who were in worse conditions. In spite of this, the gentiles became members of the church of Christ, while the people of God were rejected for their stubbornness.

2 Esdras 8:4. I answered and said: O soul! Devour understanding and swallow wisdom. 2 Esdras 8:5. For you promised to listen, and you wished to prophesy, but you were given time only in which to live. 5. The text of the Vulgate in this place is corrupted, so that its meaning is quite obscure. Most clearly the author’s thought is conveyed in the Syriac text: “You come not of your own wish and you leave when you do not wish. For you do not have power except for a short time of life.” The Latin manuscripts give this passage in such a form: “you came to listen (obaudire) and you left not of your own will, for you are given to live only during a short period.” Gunkel explains the origin of the word obaudire, which fits poorly with the course of thoughts, by the incorrect reading of the Greek word ‘άκουσα (against will, sine voluntate, Syr.), taken for the verb άκούσαι (to hear). 126.

2 Esdras 8:6. O Lord! Will you not allow your servant so that we may pray before you for the granting of a heart to our mind and understanding to cultivate, so that fruit may come forth, by which any corrupt person able to bear the name of man might live? 2 Esdras 8:7. You alone, and we are a single creation of your hands, as you said. 7. Isa 45:11.

2 Esdras 8:8. And how is the body formed in the womb of the mother now, and you give members, and how is your creation preserved in fire and water, and how does your creation endure for nine months the one who bears and the creation in him that was created by you? 8. See IV:10.

2 Esdras 8:9. And the one who keeps and the one who is kept, both are preserved, and the womb of the mother in its time gives forth the one kept in it that has grown. 2 Esdras 8:10. You commanded to give milk, the fruit of the breasts, from the members themselves, that is, from the nipples, 2 Esdras 8:11. so that the created may be nourished for a time, and then you will entrust it to your mercy. 2 Esdras 8:12. You nurtured it with your righteousness, taught it your law, instructed it in your wisdom, 2 Esdras 8:13. and will kill it, as your creation, and will make it live again, as your work. 2 Esdras 8:14. If you destroy the one created with such care, it is easy for your command to arrange that what was created should also be preserved. 14. A reading of the Latin manuscripts comes closer to the following words. “If, on the other hand, you easily destroy by your command the one who is created with such labors by your own command, why did he have to appear in the world?”

2 Esdras 8:15. And now, O Lord, I will say: about every man you know more; but I will speak about your people, for whom I grieve, 2 Esdras 8:16. about your inheritance, for which I shed tears, about Israel, for which I sorrow, about Jacob, for which I am troubled. 2 Esdras 8:17. I will begin to pray before you for myself and for them, for I see the transgressions of us who dwell on earth. 2 Esdras 8:18. But I heard that the Judge will come soon. 2 Esdras 8:19. Therefore hear my voice, pay attention to my words, and I will speak before you. [The beginning of the words of Ezra, before he was taken up.] 2 Esdras 8:20. I said: O Lord, living eternally, whose eyes are directed on high and in the heavens, 20. Ezra’s prayer for mercy on the people is placed among the hymns in the Vulgate and in the liturgical collections of the Catholic church. In view of this, there is a heading before it: “The beginning of the words of the prayer of Ezra, before he was taken up.” The text of it has been preserved in two recensions, brief and extended. Gunkel speaks in favor of the authenticity of the Spanish version (Codex Mazarinaeus). The others introduce additions taken from liturgical collections. The manuscripts give the beginning of the prayer in such a form: “O Lord, dwelling in the age (qui inhabitas seculum), whose eyes are on high, and whose chamber (superiora) is in the air.” The word “age” is used here in the sense of heaven (see III:18). Gunkel sees the source of the view that the Godhead dwells in heaven in Sabeism. In Judaism, it had a purely spiritual meaning, pointing to the transcendence of the Godhead and its inaccessibility to man. By the eyes of God are meant the stars. The word “superiora” is a translation of the Greek ύπερωα (Hilgenfeld, Gunkel). Such significance of it is supported by the Armenian translation (coenacula). The world according to the author’s conception is arranged like a dwelling. The earth with all its population constitutes its lower floor. The upper, most honorable floor, embraces the heavenly space where God dwells.

2 Esdras 8:21. whose throne is invaluable and whose glory is beyond comprehension, before whom the hosts of angels stand in fear, serving in wind and fire, whose word is true and whose utterances are immutable, 21. See Ezek 1; Ps 103:4 according to the LXX; Heb 1:7.

2 Esdras 8:22. whose command is mighty and whose dominion is fearful, whose gaze dries up the abysses, whose anger melts mountains, and truth abides forever! 2 Esdras 8:23. Hear the prayer of your servant, and pay attention to the petition of your creation. 2 Esdras 8:24. As long as I live, I will speak, and as long as I have understanding, I will answer. Do not look upon the sins of your people, but upon those who serve you in truth; 2 Esdras 8:25. do not pay attention to the wicked deeds of the gentiles, but to those who have kept your covenants in the midst of afflictions; 2 Esdras 8:26. do not think of those who acted falsely before you, but remember those who, by your will, have known fear; 2 Esdras 8:27. do not destroy those who lived like beasts, but look upon those who clearly taught your law; 2 Esdras 8:28. do not grow angry at those accounted as worse than beasts; 2 Esdras 8:29. but love those who have always hoped in your righteousness and glory. 2 Esdras 8:30. For we and our fathers suffer such illnesses; 30. “For we and our fathers lived in mortal ways.” See VII:119; Heb 6:1.

2 Esdras 8:31. but you, because of us sinners, will be called merciful. 2 Esdras 8:32. If you wish to have mercy upon us, you will be called merciful, because we do not have works of righteousness. 2 Esdras 8:33. But the righteous, who have acquired many works, will receive reward according to their own works. 2 Esdras 8:34. What is man that you are angry with him, or what is a corrupt generation that you are so grieved by it? 2 Esdras 8:35. Truly, there is no one born who has not acted lawlessly, and none among those who confess you who has not sinned. 2 Esdras 8:36. In this your righteousness and goodness will be revealed, O Lord, when you show mercy to those who have no abundance of good works. 32–36. The author here touches upon the teaching of the Apostle Paul (Rom 3:21-31), according to which salvation is obtained only through the work of justifying grace. The fundamental difference between them consists in the fact that Ezra allows for the possibility of righteousness that does not require God’s mercy for salvation. The righteous will be judged according to their own merits (v. 33). This testifies that righteousness is understood by the author in the sense of formal observance of the law.

2 Esdras 8:37. And he answered me and said: You have spoken well and truly, and according to your words it shall be. 37. Here the prayer of Ezra is meant, in which he asked God to focus his attention not on sinners, but on the righteous (vv. 24–29).

2 Esdras 8:38. For truly I do not consider the deeds of those creatures who have sinned, before death, before judgment, before destruction; 2 Esdras 8:39. but I delight in the efforts of the righteous, and I remember how they traveled, how they were saved and strove to earn their reward. 38–39. “For indeed I will not consider the things that sinners have created for themselves, over death, condemnation, or destruction, but will rejoice in what the righteous have acquired, their departure, salvation, and the obtaining of reward.” The departure of the righteous into another world is an object of cherished wishes for them (2 Cor 5:8), and therefore it is placed here first among the good things that await them in the future.

2 Esdras 8:40. As I have said, so it is. 2 Esdras 8:41. As a farmer sows many seeds in the ground and plants many plants, but not all that is sown will be preserved in time, and not all that is planted will take root, so those who are sown in this age will not all be saved. 2 Esdras 8:42. I answered and said: If I have found favor, I will speak. 2 Esdras 8:43. As the seed of the farmer, if it does not come up, or does not receive your rain in time, or is damaged by much rain, perishes: 2 Esdras 8:44. so also man, created by your hands, — and you are called his image, for you are like him, for whom you created all things and whom you made like the seed of a farmer. 44. “But man who is created by your hands and is called your image, for he is made like (you), for whom you created all things … and him you made like the seed of a farmer.” The author finds it too degrading to human dignity to compare him to a grain cast upon the field.

2 Esdras 8:45. Do not be angry with us, but spare your people and have mercy on your inheritance, — and you are compassionate to your creation. 2 Esdras 8:46. And he answered me and said: The present for the present and the future for the future. 2 Esdras 8:47. You lack much in order that you could love my creation more than me, although I have often drawn near to you yourself, but never to the unrighteous. 47. As time goes on, God emphasizes with greater insistence his love for mankind, which far exceeds ordinary human compassion. The thought of this should calm Ezra’s sorrow at the destruction of most people. Moreover, God reveals to Ezra that he himself belongs to the righteous, and therefore should forget sinners, who have deserved their fate, and think only of his own blessedness. “You have often compared yourself to the impious; may this never be” (Syr). In the printed text of the Vulgate the discourse concerns not Ezra, but God.

2 Esdras 8:48. But you are marvelous before the Most High, 2 Esdras 8:49. for you have humbled yourself as is fitting for you, and have not judged of yourself so as to boast much among the righteous. 2 Esdras 8:50. Many and grievous disasters will befall those who inhabit the age, at the last time, because they walked in great pride. 2 Esdras 8:51. And you, take care of yourself, and seek glory with those like you; 2 Esdras 8:52. for paradise is revealed to you, the tree of life is planted, the future age is prepared, abundance is made ready, a city is built, rest is prepared, perfect goodness and perfect wisdom. 52. Rest is an ordinary eschatological concept (Heb 3:18); further the discourse concerns not goodness, but good deeds (bonitas), preserved with the Most High, which will be shown to the righteous at the judgment (cf. Eph 2:10). Concerning the wisdom prepared from eternity for the glory of mankind (ante perfecta sapiential), the Apostle Paul speaks (1 Cor 2:7).

2 Esdras 8:53. The root of evil is sealed from you, weakness and decay are hidden from you, and decay flees into hell in forgetfulness. 53. Cf. Dan 9:24.

2 Esdras 8:54. Sorrows have passed, and at the end the treasure of immortality has appeared. 2 Esdras 8:55. Cease trying to inquire about the multitude of the perishing. 2 Esdras 8:56. For they, having received freedom, despised the Most High, disregarded his law, and abandoned his ways, 2 Esdras 8:57. and even trampled upon his righteous ones, 2 Esdras 8:58. and said in their heart: “There is no God,” although they knew that they were mortal. 58. Ps 13:1.

2 Esdras 8:59. As awaits you what was said before, so also them — thirst and torment, which are prepared. God did not desire to destroy man, 59. Luke 16:24.

2 Esdras 8:60. but the creatures themselves dishonored the name of the one who created them, and were ungrateful to the one who prepared life for them. 2 Esdras 8:61. Therefore my judgment now draws near, — 2 Esdras 8:62. about which I have not revealed to all, but only to you and a few like you. I answered and said: 2 Esdras 8:63. Behold now, O Lord, you have shown me many signs, which you will begin to perform at the end, but you have not shown me in what time.