HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  8.4–5 Sapiential apostrophe to the soul.

  8.5 Not of your own will…into the world. Cf. 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 48.15; Mishnah Avot 4.21.

  8.6 God is addressed. For the agricultural image, cf. 4.28–32.

  8.7 You alone exist, the uniqueness of God; cf. Deut 4.35; 6.4. Humans were created by God’s hands; see 3.5.

  8.8–11 Wonder at God’s creation; cf. Dead Sea Scrolls Thanksgiving Hymns (1QH) 9.29–31. Fire and water, unparalleled elsewhere.

  8.9 That which keeps…keeping, a striking use of repetition.

  8.11 God’s responsibility extends to education, perhaps reflecting one of the roles that wisdom plays in Jewish wisdom literature such as Proverbs and Sirach.

  8.12 Law, or Torah, is equated with wisdom; see Sir 24; Bar 4.1.

  8.13 God’s responsibility is reemphasized; cf. Deut 32.39; 1 Sam 2.6; 2 Kings 5.7.

  8.14 Cf. Greek Esdras Apocalypse 3.9; Apocalypse of Sedrach 3.7. Note the apparent contradiction in God’s action.

  8.15 See 3.1–2, 28–32; 4.23.

  8.16 Israel is God’s inheritance; see 5.27–28; Deut 32.9.

  8.19b–36 Ezra’s prayer (cf. Ezra 9; Neh 9; Dan 9), including doxology, confession, and petition.

  8.19b Ezra’s assumption; see 14.9, 49. This is a gloss.

  8.20 Eyes, alternately “heavens.” Ancient concepts of the deity’s heavenly palace are reflected here. Upper chambers. Cf. Ps 104.3; Am 9.6.

  8.21 God’s fiery throne surrounded by ministering hosts; cf. 1 Kings 22.19; Isa 6; Dan 7.

  8.22 Wind and fire. See Ps 104.4; cf. 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 21.6; 48.8; Genesis Rabbah 78.1.

  8.23 Dries up (cf. Ps 74.15; Isa 50.2; 51.10), melt (cf. Ps 97.5; Mic 1.4; 1 Enoch 1.6), theophanic language.

  8.25 Cf. Greek Esdras Apocalypse 2.7; 4.1, 4; 6.20. Ezra will speak whatever the consequences.

  8.26–31 Intercession commences. Ezra asks God to do the reverse of 7.131.

  8.27 On keeping of covenants, see 3.32, 35.

  8.29 Cattle. The contrast is between domestic and wild animals; see v. 30; cf. 7.65–66; Ps 73.22.

  8.31–36 Confession; cf. 7.119, 122; Dan 9.4–6.

  8.32 Cf. Rom 3.19–26.

  8.33 The sinners, not the righteous, need mercy; cf. Pr Man 8, 13–14.

  8.34 What are mortals? a common theme in prayers; cf. Job 7.17; Ps 8.4.

  8.35 Note the typical apparent contradiction with v. 33; cf. Rom 3.22–23.

  8.37–62 Disputatious and predictive discourse. Two angelic addresses (vv. 37–41, 46–62) are separated by Ezra’s response (vv. 42–45).

  8.37 Spoken, i.e., in the preceding.

  8.38 Death, judgment, destruction, eternal perdition.

  8.39 Pilgrimage, salvation, reward, terms parallel to those in v. 38. Pilgrimage indicates the soul’s ascent.

  8.40 Emphatic conclusion of the long discussion.

  8.41 A parable complete with interpretation; cf. Mk 4.1–9, 14–20.

  8.43 Your, i.e., God’s, stressing divine responsibility.

  8.44 God’s role in the creation of humans makes the last question more telling. Your own image. See Gen 1.26–27.

  8.45 An appeal for mercy like 7.132–139; 8.32–36.

  8.46 An antithesis resembling 4.21; 7.25. Mercy will be in the future world.

  8.47 You come far short…than I love it. Ezra, though righteous (cf. 7.76), cannot love Israel more than God.

  8.49 A common NT sentiment; cf. Mt 23.12; Lk 14.11.

  8.50 Miseries, the troubles preceding the Messiah’s advent.

  8.51 Your own case. Attention is focused on Ezra, a paradigmatic righteous man. Cf. 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 48.48.

  8.52 Features of the future world; cf. 7.117–25; Testament of Levi 18.9–10. Paradise, the place of eschatological reward. City, heavenly Jerusalem; cf. 7.26; 10.27, 44, 54. Wisdom. Cf. 1 Cor 2.7.

  8.53–54a Things removed from the future world; a reversal of the results of Adam’s sin. Root of evil, evil heart. For the other features, cf. Pr Man 3; 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 21.23; 73.2.

  8.54 Heavenly treasure of the righteous. See 7.13, 77.

  8.55 Cf. 6.10; 9.9–13.

  8.56–58 Cf. 5.29; 7.22–24, 37, 79, 81; 9.9–13.

  8.56 Opportunity to choose implies free will; cf. vv. 59–60; 9.11. Despised the Most High. See 7.23–24, 37, 81; 9.10–11.

  8.59 Thirst and torment…await them, eschatological recompense. People are responsible for their own fate; see note on 7.105.

  8.60 Defiled the name, publicly ignored or disgraced God.

  8.61 A transitional remark; judgment is close; cf. 14.18; 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 48.2.

  8.62 Revelation is for the few. Few like you, perhaps a reference to prophets or other apocalyptic seers such as Enoch.

  8.63–9.22 A prediction comparable to 5.1–13; 6.11–29. This one bears a distinct dialogic character.

  8.63 Signs, a technical term often used specifically to denote those terrible events that will presage the end of this world/age.

  2 ESDRAS 9

  More about the Signs of the End

  1He answered me and said, “Measure carefully in your mind, and when you see that some of the predicted signs have occurred, 2then you will know that it is the very time when the Most High is about to visit the world that he has made. 3So when there shall appear in the world earthquakes, tumult of peoples, intrigues of nations, wavering of leaders, confusion of princes, 4then you will know that it was of these that the Most High spoke from the days that were of old, from the beginning. 5For just as with everything that has occurred in the world, the beginning is evident,a and the end manifest; 6so also are the times of the Most High: the beginnings are manifest in wonders and mighty works, and the end in penaltiesb and in signs.

  7“It shall be that all who will be saved and will be able to escape on account of their works, or on account of the faith by which they have believed, 8will survive the dangers that have been predicted, and will see my salvation in my land and within my borders, which I have sanctified for myself from the beginning. 9Then those who have now abused my ways shall be amazed, and those who have rejected them with contempt shall live in torments. 10For as many as did not acknowledge me in their lifetime, though they received my benefits, 11and as many as scorned my law while they still had freedom, and did not understand but despised itc while an opportunity of repentance was still open to them, 12these must in torment acknowledge itd after death. 13Therefore, do not continue to be curious about how the ungodly will be punished; but inquire how the righteous will be saved, those to whom the age belongs and for whose sake the age was made.”e

  The Argument Recapitulated

  14I answered and said, 15“I said before, and I say now, and will say it again: there are more who perish than those who will be saved, 16as a wave is greater than a drop of water.”

  17He answered me and said, “As is the field, so is the seed; and as are the flowers, so are the colors; and as is the work, so is the product; and as is the farmer, so is the threshing floor. 18For there was a time in this age when I was preparing for those who now exist, before the world was made for them to live in, and no one opposed me then, for no one existed; 19but now those who have been created in this world, which is supplied both with an unfailing table and an inexhaustible pasture,f have become corrupt in their ways. 20So I considered my world, and saw that it was lost. I saw that my earth was in peril because of the devices of those whog had come into it. 21And I saw and spared someh with great difficulty, and saved for myself one grape out of a cluster, and one plant out of a great forest.i 22So let the multitude perish that has been born in vain, but let my grape and my plant be saved, because with much labor I have perfected them.

  23“Now, if you will let seven days more pass—do not, however, fast during them, 24but go into a field of flowers where no house has been built, and eat only of the flowers of the field, and taste no meat and drink no wine, but eat only flowers—25and pray to the Most High continually, th
en I will come and talk with you.”

  The Abiding Glory of the Mosaic Law

  26So I went, as he directed me, into the field that is called Ardat;j there I sat among the flowers and ate of the plants of the field, and the nourishment they afforded satisfied me. 27After seven days, while I lay on the grass, my heart was troubled again as it was before. 28Then my mouth was opened, and I began to speak before the Most High, and said, 29“O Lord, you showed yourself among us, to our ancestors in the wilderness when they came out from Egypt and when they came into the untrodden and unfruitful wilderness; 30and you said, ‘Hear me, O Israel, and give heed to my words, O descendants of Jacob. 31For I sow my law in you, and it shall bring forth fruit in you, and you shall be glorified through it forever.’ 32But though our ancestors received the law, they did not keep it and did not observe thek statutes; yet the fruit of the law did not perish—for it could not, because it was yours. 33Yet those who received it perished, because they did not keep what had been sown in them. 34Now this is the general rule that, when the ground has received seed, or the sea a ship, or any dish food or drink, and when it comes about that what was sown or what was launched or what was put in is destroyed, 35they are destroyed, but the things that held them remain; yet with us it has not been so. 36For we who have received the law and sinned will perish, as well as our hearts that received it; 37the law, however, does not perish but survives in its glory.”

  The Vision of a Weeping Woman

  38When I said these things in my heart, I looked around,l and on my right I saw a woman; she was mourning and weeping with a loud voice, and was deeply grieved at heart; her clothes were torn, and there were ashes on her head. 39Then I dismissed the thoughts with which I had been engaged, and turned to her 40and said to her, “Why are you weeping, and why are you grieved at heart?”

  41She said to me, “Let me alone, my lord, so that I may weep for myself and continue to mourn, for I am greatly embittered in spirit and deeply distressed.”

  42I said to her, “What has happened to you? Tell me.”

  43And she said to me, “Your servant was barren and had no child, though I lived with my husband for thirty years. 44Every hour and every day during those thirty years I prayed to the Most High, night and day. 45And after thirty years God heard your servant, and looked upon my low estate, and considered my distress, and gave me a son. I rejoiced greatly over him, I and my husband and all my neighbors;m and we gave great glory to the Mighty One. 46And I brought him up with much care. 47So when he grew up and I came to take a wife for him, I set a day for the marriage feast.

  next chapter

  * * *

  a Syr: Ethiop is in the word; Meaning of Lat uncertain

  b Syr: Lat Ethiop in effects

  c Or me

  d Or me

  e Syr: Lat saved, and whose is the age and for whose sake the age was made and when

  f Cn: Lat law

  g Cn: Lat devices that

  h Lat them

  i Syr Ethiop Arab 1: Lat tribe

  j Syr Ethiop Arpad; Arm Ardab

  k Lat my

  l Syr Arab Arm: Lat I looked about me with my eyes

  m Literally all my citizens

  9.1–2 This is the most explicit answer to the question “When?” (How long, 4.33). Predicted refers to 5.1–13; 6.18–28. These lists are a sort of diagnostic device. Visit, penal visitation.

  9.3 Earthquakes, a common sign of the end; see Mk 13.8; 2 Apocalypse of Baruch 27.7. Tumult of peoples…confusion of princes. Cf. 12.30; Ps 2.1–2.

  9.4 From the beginning, probably an addition to the text. Eschatological things were foreordained and revealed to Abraham and Moses (3.14; 14.5).

  9.5–6 The end is manifested in deeds and signs, the latter having just been mentioned. God’s power, visible in creation, will be manifested in the eschaton.

  9.8 For those who survive the messianic woes, particularly in the land of Israel, see 12.34; 13.26, 48–49.

  9.9–11 A list of sins; cf. 7.79; 8.56–58.

  9.10 Did not acknowledge me. Rejection of God is the chief sin; cf. 7.37, 81; 8.58–59.

  9.11 Repentance is only available in this world; see 7.33, 82, 113–15.

  9.12 Torment, eschatological punishment.

  9.13 How the ungodly will be punished. Cf. 8.51–55.

  9.15 Ezra has accepted that few will be saved and many will die.

  9.16 Cf. 4.50.

  9.17 Proverbs illustrating the relationship between action and result; cf. esp. Palestinian Talmud Sanhedrin 2 (20d). For seed imagery, see 4.28–30.

  9.18 Before the world, better “before they came into being, the world.” Only humans could oppose creation. Cf. Ps.-Philo, Biblical Antiquities 28.4.

  9.19 Table, pasture. See Ps 23.1, 5. Human ways are corrupt; see 8.31. By implication, God provides for the righteous and unrighteous. For a similar sentiment, see Sir 39.25.

  9.20 World…was lost. Does the world pass away because of its degeneration or because of human action? Cf. 5.50–55; 14.17; 7.11–12; 9.19–20; see also Gen 6.5–6, 12, where human corruption is the cause of the flood.

  9.21 Grape (or vine) and plant (or root) indicate Israel (see 5.23; Isa 60.21; 61.3) or perhaps allude to Noah (cf. 3.11).

  9.22 Grape and…plant be saved. The few righteous are significant for God.

  9.23–25 Concluding injunctions parallel to 5.14–20; 6.30–34. The mourning ends and the seer’s regimen is modified to a vegetarian diet; cf. v. 26; 12.51. A major change has taken place.

  9.26–10.59 Fourth vision.

  9.26–28 Introduction.

  9.26 Ardat. The field’s name is mysterious. It is the location of the fourth, fifth, and sixth visions. Satisfied me. Cf. Dan 1.8–15; Testament of Joseph 3.4.

  9.27 Cf. 3.1.

  9.28 My mouth was opened, the onset of inspiration; Ezra is passive.

  9.29–37 An address devoted to Torah and parallel to the addresses at the start of the first three visions. The rest of the fourth vision, however, does not respond to this address.

  9.29 In the wilderness, i.e., at Sinai; cf. Jer 2.6.

  9.30–31 Drawn from 3.19–20; cf. Deut 5.1; 6.4.

  9.31 Sow. For Torah as seed, see 3.20; its fruit is eternal glory.

  9.32 The Torah’s eternity and human disobedience are contrasted.

  9.36–37 Conclusions are drawn from the inverted analogy in vv. 34–35.

  9.38–10.4 Vision. The first-person narrative continues. The woman’s tale may be an earlier piece incorporated by the author. Folk motifs resemble those in Tobit and 1 Sam 1–2. Cf. Luke 1.5–25. In general, the parallels between the Ezra of the first three visions and the woman here are notable.

  9.38 On my right. Cf. 4.47. This is a waking vision; no trance or dream state is implied.

  9.39 An attempt to account for the discrepancy that the vision is not a response to the address. The verse is repeated in 10.5 and may further indicate the abandonment of the issues motivating the first three visions.

  9.41 Cf. 1 Sam 1.10.

  9.43 An imitation of biblical style; cf. 12.8; 13.14; esp. 1 Sam 1.16. Thirty may evoke the period from the exile to Ezra’s vision (3.1).

  9.44 Cf. the role of prayer in 1 Sam 1.9–11.

  9.45 Low estate, better “affliction.”

  9.47 The mother takes a wife for her son; cf. Gen 21.21; cf. Mishnah Kiddushin 2.1; 3.7–9. A feast celebrating a marriage was common in biblical times; cf. Mt 25.1–10.

  2 ESDRAS 10

  1“But it happened that when my son entered his wedding chamber, he fell down and died. 2So all of us put out our lamps, and all my neighborsa attempted to console me; I remained quiet until the evening of the second day. 3But when all of them had stopped consoling me, encouraging me to be quiet, I got up in the night and fled, and I came to this field, as you see. 4And now I intend not to return to the town, but to stay here; I will neither eat nor drink, but will mourn and fast continually until I die.”

  5Then I broke off the reflections w
ith which I was still engaged, and answered her in anger and said, 6“You most foolish of women, do you not see our mourning, and what has happened to us? 7For Zion, the mother of us all, is in deep grief and great distress. 8It is most appropriate to mourn now, because we are all mourning, and to be sorrowful, because we are all sorrowing; you are sorrowing for one son, but we, the whole world, for our mother.b 9Now ask the earth, and she will tell you that it is she who ought to mourn over so many who have come into being upon her. 10From the beginning all have been born of her, and others will come; and, lo, almost all goc to perdition, and a multitude of them will come to doom. 11Who then ought to mourn the more, she who lost so great a multitude, or you who are grieving for one alone? 12But if you say to me, ‘My lamentation is not like the earth’s, for I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I brought forth in pain and bore in sorrow; 13but it is with the earth according to the way of the earth—the multitude that is now in it goes as it came’ 14then I say to you, ‘Just as you brought forth in sorrow, so the earth also has from the beginning given her fruit, that is, humankind, to him who made her.’ 15Now, therefore, keep your sorrow to yourself, and bear bravely the troubles that have come upon you. 16For if you acknowledge the decree of God to be just, you will receive your son back in due time, and will be praised among women. 17Therefore go into the town to your husband.”

  18She said to me, “I will not do so; I will not go into the city, but I will die here.”

  19So I spoke again to her, and said, 20“Do not do that, but let yourself be persuaded—for how many are the adversities of Zion?—and be consoled because of the sorrow of Jerusalem. 21For you see how our sanctuary has been laid waste, our altar thrown down, our temple destroyed; 22our harp has been laid low, our song has been silenced, and our rejoicing has been ended; the light of our lampstand has been put out, the ark of our covenant has been plundered, our holy things have been polluted, and the name by which we are called has been almost profaned; our childrend have suffered abuse, our priests have been burned to death, our Levites have gone into exile, our virgins have been defiled, and our wives have been ravished; our righteous mene have been carried off, our little ones have been cast out, our young men have been enslaved and our strong men made powerless. 23And, worst of all, the seal of Zion has been deprived of its glory, and given over into the hands of those that hate us. 24Therefore shake off your great sadness and lay aside your many sorrows, so that the Mighty One may be merciful to you again, and the Most High may give you rest, a respite from your troubles.”