2 Esdras is a Jewish-Christian apocalypse written toward the end of the first century AD. It is not accepted as scriptural by any major sect, being counted among the apocrypha. Nonetheless, it was often cited by the Fathers of the Church.

Naming, numbering, and language

As with 1 Esdras, there is some confusion about the numbering of this book. Some early Latin manuscripts call it 3 Esdras, and Jerome denoted it 4 Esdras. Once Jerome's 1 and 2 Esdras were denoted Ezra and Nehemiah in more recent times, the designation 2 Esdras became the most common.

Among Greek Fathers of the Church, the book is generally cited as Ἔσδρας Προφήτης ("The Prophet Esdras") or Αποκάλυψις Ἔσδρα ("Apocalypse of Ezra"). Wellhausen, Charles, and Gunkel have shown that the original composition was in Hebrew, which was translated into Greek, and then to Latin, but the Hebrew and Greek editions have been lost. Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopian, Georgian, and Armenian translations (all from the Greek) have also survived; the Greek version can be reconstructed (without absolute certainty, of course) from these different translations, while the Hebrew text remains a bit more elusive.

Contents

The first two chapters of the Latin version of the book are definitely Christian in origin, and treat of God's rejection of the Jews in favor of the Christians. These are generally considered to be late additions (possibly third century) to the work, and they are not found in the Eastern translations.

The rest of the book comprises seven visions of Ezra the scribe. The first vision takes place as Ezra is still in Babylon. He asks God how Israel can be kept in misery if God is just. The archangel Uriel is sent to answer the question, responding that God's ways cannot be understood by the human mind. Soon, however, the end would come, and God's justice would be made manifest. Similarly, in the second vision, Ezra asks why Israel was delivered up to the Babylonians, and is again told that man cannot understand this and that the end is near. The third vision asks why Israel does not possess the world. Uriel responds that the current state is a period of transition. Here follows a description of the fate of evil-doers and the righteous. Ezra attempts to intercede for the condemned, but is told that no one can escape his destiny.

The next three visions are more symbolic in nature. The fourth is a woman mourning for her only son, who is transformed into a city when she hears of the desolation of Zion. Uriel says that the woman is a symbol of Zion. The fifth vision concerns an eagle with three heads and twenty wings (twelve large, and eight smaller wings "over against them"). The eagle is rebuked by a lion and then burned. The explanation of this vision is that the eagle refers to the Roman Empire, the fourth kingdom of the vision of Daniel, with the wings and heads as rulers. The final scene is the triumph of the Messiah over the empire. The sixth vision is a man who burns a crowd that is attacking him. This man then turns to another peaceful multitude, which accepts him. The man represents the Messiah, who is attacked by sinners but accepted by the tribes of Israel.

Finally, there is a vision of the restoration of scripture. God appears to Ezra in a bush and commands him to restore the Law. Ezra gathers five scribes and begins to dictate. After forty days, he has produced ninety-four books: the twenty-four books of the Tanakh and seventy secret works. (This vision is omitted in the Latin translation of the text.)

The last two chapters, which are found in the Latin, but not in the Eastern texts, predict wars and rebuke sinners. They probably date from a much later period (perhaps late third century) and may be Christian or Jewish in origin.

Author and criticism

The main body of the book appears to be written for consolation in a period of great distress (most likely Titus' destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70). The author seeks answers, similar to Job's quest for understanding the meaning of suffering.

Critics question whether even the main body of the book, not counting the chapters that exist only in the Latin version, has a single author. Kalisch, De Faye, and Charles hold that no less than five people worked on the text. However, Gunkel points to the unity in character and holds that the book is written by a single author. It has also been suggested that the same author wrote the Apocalype of Baruch . In any case, the two works date from about the same time, and one almost certainly depends on the other.

Critics have widely debated the origin of the book. Hidden under two layers of translation it is impossible to determine if the author was Roman, Alexandrian, or Palestinian.

The references to the Roman empire (the eagle in the fifth vision, whose heads are most likely Vespasian, Titus and Domitian) and the destruction of the temple indicate that the probable date of compostion lies toward the end of the first century, perhaps 90-96, though some suggest a date as late as 218.

Usage

The book is considered one of the gems of Jewish apocalyptic literature. While it was not received into the Christian canons, it was widely cited by the Fathers of the Church, particularly Ambrose of Milan. The introitus of the traditional Requiem in the Catholic Church is taken from chapter 2: "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them." Several other liturgical prayers are taken from the book. Jerome placed the book in the appendix of the New Testament in the Vulgate, "lest it perish entirely".