HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  48So I stood and looked, and lo, a flaming furnace passed by before me, and when the flame had gone by I looked, and lo, the smoke remained. 49And after this a cloud full of water passed before me and poured down a heavy and violent rain, and when the violent rainstorm had passed, drops still remained in the cloud.q

  50He said to me, “Consider it for yourself; for just as the rain is more than the drops, and the fire is greater than the smoke, so the quantity that passed was far greater; but drops and smoke remained.”

  51Then I prayed and said, “Do you think that I shall live until those days? Or who will be alive in those days?”

  52He answered me and said, “Concerning the signs about which you ask me, I can tell you in part; but I was not sent to tell you concerning your life, for I do not know.

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  a Syr Ethiop Arab 1 Arab 2 Georg a measure

  b Syr Compare Ethiop Arab 2 Arm: Lat lacks of Hades, or which are the entrances

  c Meaning of Lat uncertain

  d Syr Ethiop the way of the incorruptible?

  e Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  f Lat lacks was in vain

  g Or those who are

  h Syr Ethiop Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  i Syr Ethiop Arab Georg: Lat a trembling

  j Ethiop adds holy

  k Syr: Lat live

  l Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  m Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  n Syr Ethiop Arab Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  o Syr Ethiop Arab 2 Georg: Lat How long do I hope thus?

  p Syr Ethiop Arab 2: Lat number of seeds is completed for you

  q Lat in it

  4.1–25 The seer and the angel argue.

  4.1 Uriel appears without introduction. He often reveals secrets; cf. 1 Enoch 19.1.

  4.2 Utterly failed, better “quite confounded.”

  4.3 Uriel poses three riddles to Ezra, oddly called ways.

  4.5–8 These questions and those in 5.36–37 imply a rejection of subjects commonly encountered in apocalypses; cf. 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 59.5–11.

  4.7–8 The angel shows Ezra the limitations of his knowledge. The questions are patterned on Job 38.16–17. Streams…above the firmament, the orbits of the luminaries.

  4.9 The angel’s point resembles that in Job 37.14–39.30.

  4.11 Instead of one who is already worn out, read “your vessel,” i.e., your body; cf. 7.88; Apocalypse of Moses 31.4.

  4.12 Understanding is stressed. Suffer and not understand why. See Job 6.24; 10.2.

  4.13–18 A nature parable; other such nature parables are in 4.48–49; 7.3–9, 51–56; 8.41–43; 10.9–13.

  4.13 I went into a forest of trees of the plain. The best text reads: “Once upon a time the forests of trees of the plain set forth.”

  4.15 The conflict between land and sea may have mythical roots.

  4.17 For sand as a barrier, see Jer 5.22.

  4.21 The moral of the parable emphasizes Ezra’s constitutional inability to understand the way of the Most High and his place in the cosmos relative to God.

  4.22–25 A rephrasing of the question of understanding; Ezra has not been convinced by the angel’s argument. He is asking about an earthly matter that he should be able to understand. Israel’s fate is incomprehensible in light of God’s love for Israel.

  4.23 The destruction of all of scripture is meant; cf. 14.21.

  4.25 Cf. 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 21.21.

  4.26–32 A transitional oracle. The author shifts from disputatious to predictive dialogue.

  4.26 This verse implies the dominant idea of the imminence of the end and refers to the author’s own time. Marvel (like wonders, 7.27; 13.14, 50, 56; 14.5), used almost exclusively of eschatological events.

  4.27 Appointed times implies predestinarian ideas.

  4.28 Harvest, the fruit of action, i.e., recompense. On the connection between harvesting and judgment, see Jer 51.33; Hos 6.11; Joel 3.13; 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 70.2.

  4.29 The harvest is both in the human heart and this world. There will be a new heart and a new world.

  4.30 Threshing, a metaphor for eschatological separation and judgment.

  4.33–52 Ezra continues to elicit information about the end by posing questions.

  4.33 Why are our years few and evil, preferably “for our years are few and evil,” expresses Ezra’s sense of urgency.

  4.34 Do not…Most High. Cf. 5.33, 44; 8.47.

  4.35–36a Possibly from another source.

  4.35 Chambers, where souls repose after death; cf. v. 41; 7.32, 80.

  4.36–37 Cf. Wis 11.20. The idea of foreordination of the times is prominent.

  4.36 Jeremiel, i.e., Jerachmeel, appears also in the Coptic Apocalypses of Zephaniah and the Coptic Jeremiah Apocalypse. Number…is completed. The predestined number of the created occurs in 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 23.4–5; cf. 48.46.

  4.38 Sovereign Lord. As often, the angel is addressed as if he were God.

  4.40 The simile of the pregnant woman also occurs elsewhere; cf. 5.46, 48.

  4.41 In Hades the chambers, better “the underworld and its treasuries.”

  4.42 Committed. Cf. 1 Tim 6.20; 2 Tim 1.12, 14; Ps. Philo, Biblical Antiquities 3.10. Souls are something entrusted to humans. On the impending eschaton compared to a woman in labor, see note on 16.38.

  4.44–52 A double parable seen as a vision; cf. vv. 13–18; 7.3–9; Jer 1.11–14.

  4.51 Who will be alive, better “what will take place.” The two questions derive from v. 26.

  4.52 Signs, those terrible events that will take place before the end; cf. 5.1, 13. In part. The description continues in 6.11–28.

  2 ESDRAS 5

  Signs of the End

  1“Now concerning the signs: lo, the days are coming when those who inhabit the earth shall be seized with great terror,a and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land shall be barren of faith. 2Unrighteousness shall be increased beyond what you yourself see, and beyond what you heard of formerly. 3And the land that you now see ruling shall be a trackless waste, and people shall see it desolate. 4But if the Most High grants that you live, you shall see it thrown into confusion after the third period;b

  and the sun shall suddenly begin to shine at night,

  and the moon during the day.

  5Blood shall drip from wood,

  and the stone shall utter its voice;

  the peoples shall be troubled,

  and the stars shall fall.c

  6And one shall reign whom those who inhabit the earth do not expect, and the birds shall fly away together; 7and the Dead Sead shall cast up fish; and one whom the many do not know shall make his voice heard by night, and all shall hear his voice.e 8There shall be chaos also in many places, fire shall often break out, the wild animals shall roam beyond their haunts, and menstruous women shall bring forth monsters. 9Salt waters shall be found in the sweet, and all friends shall conquer one another; then shall reason hide itself, and wisdom shall withdraw into its chamber, 10and it shall be sought by many but shall not be found, and unrighteousness and unrestraint shall increase on earth. 11One country shall ask its neighbor, ‘Has righteousness, or anyone who does right, passed through you?’ And it will answer, ‘No.’ 12At that time people shall hope but not obtain; they shall labor, but their ways shall not prosper. 13These are the signs that I am permitted to tell you, and if you pray again, and weep as you do now, and fast for seven days, you shall hear yet greater things than these.”

  Conclusion of the Vision

  14Then I woke up, and my body shuddered violently, and my soul was so troubled that it fainted. 15But the angel who had come and talked with me held me and strengthened me and set me on my feet.

  16Now on the second night Phaltiel, a chief of the people, came to me and said, “Where have you been? And why is your face sad? 17Or do you not know that Israel has been entrusted to you in the land of their exile? 18Rise therefore
and eat some bread, and do not forsake us, like a shepherd who leaves the flock in the power of savage wolves.”

  19Then I said to him, “Go away from me and do not come near me for seven days; then you may come to me.”

  He heard what I said and left me. 20So I fasted seven days, mourning and weeping, as the angel Uriel had commanded me.

  Ezra’s Second Prayer of Complaint

  21After seven days the thoughts of my heart were very grievous to me again. 22Then my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and I began once more to speak words in the presence of the Most High. 23I said, “O sovereign Lord, from every forest of the earth and from all its trees you have chosen one vine, 24and from all the lands of the world you have chosen for yourself one region,f and from all the flowers of the world you have chosen for yourself one lily, 25and from all the depths of the sea you have filled for yourself one river, and from all the cities that have been built you have consecrated Zion for yourself, 26and from all the birds that have been created you have named for yourself one dove, and from all the flocks that have been made you have provided for yourself one sheep, 27and from all the multitude of peoples you have gotten for yourself one people; and to this people, whom you have loved, you have given the law that is approved by all. 28And now, O Lord, why have you handed the one over to the many, and dishonoredg the one root beyond the others, and scattered your only one among the many? 29And those who opposed your promises have trampled on those who believed your covenants. 30If you really hate your people, they should be punished at your own hands.”

  Response to Ezra’s Complaints

  31When I had spoken these words, the angel who had come to me on a previous night was sent to me. 32He said to me, “Listen to me, and I will instruct you; pay attention to me, and I will tell you more.”

  33Then I said, “Speak, my lord.” And he said to me, “Are you greatly disturbed in mind over Israel? Or do you love him more than his Maker does?”

  34I said, “No, my lord, but because of my grief I have spoken; for every hour I suffer agonies of heart, while I strive to understand the way of the Most High and to search out some part of his judgment.”

  35He said to me, “You cannot.” And I said, “Why not, my lord? Why then was I born? Or why did not my mother’s womb become my grave, so that I would not see the travail of Jacob and the exhaustion of the people of Israel?”

  36He said to me, “Count up for me those who have not yet come, and gather for me the scattered raindrops, and make the withered flowers bloom again for me; 37open for me the closed chambers, and bring out for me the winds shut up in them, or show me the picture of a voice; and then I will explain to you the travail that you ask to understand.”h

  38I said, “O sovereign Lord, who is able to know these things except him whose dwelling is not with mortals? 39As for me, I am without wisdom, and how can I speak concerning the things that you have asked me?”

  40He said to me, “Just as you cannot do one of the things that were mentioned, so you cannot discover my judgment, or the goal of the love that I have promised to my people.”

  Why Successive Generations Have Been Created

  41I said, “Yet, O Lord, you have charge of those who are alive at the end, but what will those do who lived before me, or we, ourselves, or those who come after us?”

  42He said to me, “I shall liken my judgment to a circle;i just as for those who are last there is no slowness, so for those who are first there is no haste.”

  43Then I answered and said, “Could you not have created at one time those who have been and those who are and those who will be, so that you might show your judgment the sooner?”

  44He replied to me and said, “The creation cannot move faster than the Creator, nor can the world hold at one time those who have been created in it.”

  45I said, “How have you said to your servant that youj will certainly give life at one time to your creation? If therefore all creatures will live at one timek and the creation will sustain them, it might even now be able to support all of them present at one time.”

  46He said to me, “Ask a woman’s womb, and say to it, ‘If you bear tenl children, why one after another?’ Request it therefore to produce ten at one time.”

  47I said, “Of course it cannot, but only each in its own time.”

  48He said to me, “Even so I have given the womb of the earth to those who from time to time are sown in it. 49For as an infant does not bring forth, and a woman who has become old does not bring forth any longer, so I have made the same rule for the world that I created.”

  When and How Will the End Come?

  50Then I inquired and said, “Since you have now given me the opportunity, let me speak before you. Is our mother, of whom you have told me, still young? Or is she now approaching old age?”

  51He replied to me, “Ask a woman who bears children, and she will tell you. 52Say to her, ‘Why are those whom you have borne recently not like those whom you bore before, but smaller in stature?’ 53And she herself will answer you, ‘Those born in the strength of youth are different from those born during the time of old age, when the womb is failing.’ 54Therefore you also should consider that you and your contemporaries are smaller in stature than those who were before you, 55and those who come after you will be smaller than you, as born of a creation that already is aging and passing the strength of youth.”

  56I said, “I implore you, O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, show your servant through whom you will visit your creation.”

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  a Syr Ethiop: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  b Literally after the third; Ethiop after three months; Arm after the third vision; Georg after the third day

  c Ethiop Compare Syr and Arab: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  d Lat Sea of Sodom

  e Cn: Lat fish; and it shall make its voice heard by night, which the many have not known, but all shall hear its voice.

  f Ethiop: Lat pit

  g Syr Ethiop Arab: Lat prepared

  h Lat see

  i Or crown

  j Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  k Lat lacks If…one time

  l Syr Ethiop Arab 2 Arm: Meaning of Lat uncertain

  5.1–13 Prediction of the woes that will precede the eschaton, i.e., the end of this world/age. The passage has poetic form and traditional content.

  5.1 Lo, the days gives a prophetic flavor; cf. 6.18; 7.26; Isa 39.6. Way, better “portion” or “lot.”

  5.2 Evil is to peak before the Messiah comes; cf. Mt 24.12.

  5.3 The destruction of Rome.

  5.4 Period. This word is quite uncertain. The confusion of the natural order is part of the eschatological woes.

  5.5 Blood…wood. Cf. Letter of Barnabas 12.1.

  5.6 One shall reign, not a specific ruler, but the expected wicked future king; cf. 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 40.1.

  5.8 Chaos, better “chasms” cf. Zech 14.4; Sibylline Oracles 3.341.

  5.9 Friends…conquer one another. Conflict between friends or relatives is part of the messianic woes; cf. Isa 19.2; Mt 24.7; Mk 13.8; 1 Enoch 56.7. On wisdom’s withdrawal, cf. 1 Enoch 42.

  5.13 End of the vision. Fasts or limited food precede the second, third, fourth, and fifth visions.

  5.14–15 Conclusion of the vision.

  5.14 Woke up describes Ezra’s leaving the trance; he is frightened and faints; cf. Zech 4.1; Dan 7.15. The angel functions similarly in Dan 8.18; 10.10–11.

  5.16–22 Narrative transition to the second vision. The only similar narrative is 12.40–50. Vv. 20–22 resemble the other transitions; see 3.1–3.

  5.16 Phaltiel, no known person; for the name, cf. Num 34.26; 2 Sam 3.15.

  5.18 Shepherds, an image often used for the leaders of the people; see Acts 20.29; 1 Enoch 89.

  5.19 Add at the end of the verse “and I will tell you the matter.”

  5.22 Recovered, better “received.” This is the onset of the see
r’s inspiration.

  5.23–6.34 Second vision.

  5.23–30 Ezra’s address functions just like 3.4–36 in the first vision. Vv. 23–27 have a common rhetorical structure, from all…you have chosen, highlighting the election of Israel.

  5.23 Cf. Apocalypse of Sedrach 8.2. Israel is a vine; see 9.21; Isa 5.7; Jer 2.21.

  5.24 From all the lands…one region, the election of the land; see, e.g., Gen 12.1; 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 40.2. Lily. See Hos 14.6; Song 2.1–2.

  5.25 River, the Jordan. Zion, the site of the temple, is consecrated as a sacred place where sacrifices are offered.

  5.26 From all the birds…one dove, based on an allegorical interpretation of Song 2.14; 5.2. Sheep and flocks evoke Israel’s nomadic origins.

  5.28 These questions focus the address on the problems arising from Israel’s election and fate.

  5.29 Promises, better “Torah.”

  5.30 Punishment should come from God, an old idea; see 2 Sam 24.14; Sir 2.18.

  5.31–40 Dispute.

  5.32 Similar invocations are found in Job 33.1; Prov 4.1. Cf. 2 Esd 7.49.

  5.33 Cf. 4.34; 5.47. Ezra can no more exceed God’s love than he can know God’s way.

  5.34 Ezra’s mourning for Israel.

  5.35 This sentiment is found elsewhere; cf. 1 Macc 2.7; 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 3.1–2; 10.6–7.

  5.36–37 These seven riddles (see note on 5.37) complement those in 4.5–8 and are drawn from the same list. Cf. Sir 1.2; 2 Enoch 47.5.

  5.37 Winds could also be translated “spirits.” The better texts also have “or show me the appearance of him whom you have never seen” following shut up in them.

  5.38 Cf. 4.6, 13–19, 21.