Esdras, The Second (Fourth) Book Of; Apocalyptic Esdras – Esrom

Esdras, The Second (Fourth) Book Of; Apocalyptic Esdras

Or The Apocalyptic Esdras:

Contents

1. Name 2. Contents 3. Language 4. Versions 5. Origin of the Book 6. Date

LITERATURE

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This book was not received by the Council of Trent as canonical, nor has it ever been acknowledged as such by the Anglican church.

1. Name:

The book is not found in the Septuagint and no complete copy of the Greek text is known, though at one time it did exist. The oldest extant name is "The Prophet Ezra" (Esdras ho prophetes; see Clement of Alexandria, Strom., iii.16): It has been often called the Latin Esdras because it exists more completely in that language; compare the name Greek Esdras for 1 Esdras.

3 Esdras is the designation in old editions of the Vulgate, 1 Esdras being Ezr and Neh, 2 Esdras denoting what in English is called 1 Esdras. But in editions of the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 AD.) later than the Council of Trent, and also in Walton's Polyglot, Ezra is called 1 Esdras, Nehemiah, 2 Esdras, 1 Esdras = 3 Esdras, the present book (the Latin Esdras) being known as 4 Esdras. In authorized copies of the Vulgate, i.e. in those commonly used, this book is lacking. On account of its contents, Westcott, following the example of Anastasius Sinaita (bishop of Antioch from 559 AD), called the book the "Apocalypse of Esdras." But as Tischendorf in 1866 edited a later and inferior work with this title the present writer suggests the name "The Apocalyptic Esdras." Of all the Jewish apocalypses this is the sublimest and most pleading.

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, sec. II, 1, 5.

2. Contents:

The original work consists of 2 Esdras 3-14, chapters 1 f and 15 f being late additions. The entire book of 16 chapters exists in the Latin version only, the other versions containing chapters 3-14 only. The real 2nd (apocalyptic) Esdras, consisting of chapters 3-14, is made up of 7 visions given to Ezra in exile 30 years after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The drift of these visions is, How can a just and loving God allow His own people to suffer so much? The problem thus raised is fully and beautifully dealt with. For lack of space the present writer must refer for a fuller analysis to the article APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, sec. I, 5, and the literature there cited. For 2 Esdras 1 ff and 15 ff see under ESDRAS 5 AND 6.

3. Language:

Though no complete text even of 2 Esdras 3-14 has survived, a careful examination of the Latin shows that it has been made from a Greek original.

(1) Some fragments of the Greek can be traced, as 5:35 in Clement of Alexandria and 8:23 in the Apostolical Constitutions.

(2) The order of the twelve prophets in 1:39 f follows that in the Septuagint.

(3) The Latin version bears throughout clear traces of Greek idiom.

Thus the gen. is used with the comparative (5:3; 11:29); we have the genitive (not ablative) absolute in 10:9, the double negative and the use of de (Greek apo) and ex (Greek ek) with the genitive in various parts. But there are cogent reasons for concluding that the Greek version implied in the Latin itself implies a Hebrew original, and the proof is similar to that of a Greek version as the basis of the Latin In the Greek there are idioms which are Hebrew, not Greek, not even in their frequency Hellenistic Greek. The participle used to strengthen the finite verb is the regular Hebrew idiom of the absolute with the finite verb: see 4:2 (excedens excessit); 5:30 (odiens odisti). For other examples see Gunkel (in Kautzsch, Die Apokryphen u. Pseud. des Altes Testament, 332 f); R. H. Charles (Enc Brit, X, 106). Ewald was the first to defend a Hebrew original, but in 1866 he was followed by his distinguished pupil Wellhausen and also by R. H. Charles (Apoc Bar, lxxii).

4. Versions:

(1) Latin.

The Latin version is far the most important and on it the English Versions of the Bible depends. But all published editions of the Latin text (those of Fabricius, Hilgenfeld, Fritzsche, etc.) go back to one and the same MS, the so-called Codex Sangermanensis (date 822), which omits a large part of the text between 2 Esdras 7:36 and 7:37 Any reader of the English text can see the lack of continuity between these verses. In 1875 Bensly published the missing fragment with an Introduction and critical notes. In 1895 Bensly and James published a critical edition of The Fourth Book of Ezra in Latin, restoring the missing fragment and correcting with the aid of the best-known manuscripts.

(2) Other Versions.

There are Syriac (Peshitta), Ethiopic, Arabic, Armenian and yet other VSS, but all depend on the lost Greek except one of the two extant Arabic translations. The number and variety of versions show that 2 Esdras was widely circulated. By the Greek and Latin Fathers it was quoted as a genuine prophetical work. Its importance in the estimation of the medieval Roman church is vouched for by the fact that it has reached us in a number of wellknown manuscripts of the Scriptures, and that it was added to the authorized Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 AD.) as an appendix.

5. Origin of the Book:

Two main views may briefly be noted:

(1) That of Kabisch (Das vierte Buch Esra, 1889) who holds that the editor of the book freely used a goodly number of sources, subtracting, adding and altering to suit his purpose. He gives a list of probable sources. R. H. Charles (Enc Brit, X, 107) is inclined to adopt this analysis.

(2) Gunkel (loc. cit.) maintains and tries to prove that the book is the production of a single writer. Yet he admits that the book contains a large number of inconsistencies which he explains by assuming that the editor made free use of oral and written traditions. The two views do not therefore stand very far apart, for both take for granted that several sources have been used. It is simply a question of more or less.

Wellhausen is probably right in saying that the author of 2 (4) Esdras had before him the Apocrypha of Baruch, written under the impression awakened by the destruction of Jerusalem in 71 AD.

6. Date:

The opinion of the best modern scholars is that the book was written somewhere in the East in the last decade of the 1st century of our era. This conclusion rests mainly on the most likely interpretation of the vision of the Eagle and the Lion in 2 Esdras 11:1-12:51; but also on the fact that Clement of Alexandria (died 217 AD) quotes the Greek of 5:35.

LITERATURE.

Besides the literature referred to above see Schurer, A Hist of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, II, iii, 93 ff (Ger. edition 4, III, 315 ff); the articles in HDB (Thackeray) and Encyclopedia Biblica (James); the New Sch-Herz under the word "Pseudepigrapha, Old Testament" (G. Beer), and in the present work under APOCRYPHA and APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE.

T. Witton Davies

Esdris

ez'-dris, es'-dris (Esdris):

A leader mentioned in /APC 2Macc 12:36 in best texts and adopted in the Revised Version (British and American) for Gorgias of the King James Version. Grotius conjectured "men of Ephron" from 12:27.

Esebon

es'-e-bon ( /APC Judith 5:15) = HESHBON (Revised Version (British and American)), the chief city of the Ammonites.

Esebrias

es-e-bri'-as, e-se'-bri-as.

See ESEREBIAS; SHEREBIAH.

Esek

e'-sek (eseq; Septuagint Adikia):

The name given by Isaac to a well dug by his servants, for the use of which the herdsmen of Gerar strove with them-- "contention" (Genesis 26:20). It lay in the neighborhood of Rehoboth and Gerar: but the site is not identified.

Eserebias

es-er-e-bi'-as (Eserebias):

One of the chiefs of the priests ( /APC 1Esdras 8:54).

Eshan

e'-shan ('esh`an; Esan; the King James Version Eshean):

A town of Judah in the uplands of Hebron (Joshua 15:52). No satisfactory identification has yet been suggested. Some think the name may be a corruption of Beersheba (Encyclopaedia Biblica, which see).

Eshbaal

esh'-ba-al.

See ISH-BOSHETH.

Eshban

esh'-ban ('eshban; perhaps "thoughtful," "intelligent"; Asban):

Name of a chief of the Horites (Genesis 36:26; 1 Chronicles 1:41).

Eshcol (1)

esh'-kol ('eshkol, "cluster"; Eschol):

The brother of Mamre and Aner, the Amorite allies of Abraham who took part with him in the pursuit and defeat of Chedorlaomer's forces (Genesis 14:13,Genesis 14:14). He lived in the neighborhood of Hebron (Genesis 13:18), and may have given his name to the valley of Eshcol, which lay a little North of Hebron (Numbers 13:23).

Eshcol (2)

esh'-kol ('eshkol; Pharagx botruos), "a cluster of grapes":

The spies came to Hebron "and they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes" (Numbers 13:23,Numbers 13:14; Numbers 32:9; Deuteronomy 1:24). It was a valley near Hebron rich in vineyards. Fruitful vineyards are still the most characteristic feature of the environs of Hebron, especially on the North. No particular valley can be identified, though popular tradition favors the wide and fertile valley, near the traditional site of "Abraham's oak," a little to the West of the carriage road just before it enters the outskirts of Hebron.

E. W. G. Masterman

Eshean

esh'-e-an, e'-she-an.

See ESHAN.

Eshek

e'-shek (`esheq, "oppressor"):

A descendant of Jonathan, son of Saul, first king of Israel (1 Chronicles 8:39).

Eshkalonite

esh'-ka-lon-it.

See ASHKELONITES.

Eshtaol

esh'-ta-ol ('eshta'ol; Astaol):

A town in the Shephelah of Judah named next to Zorah (Joshua 15:33; Joshua 19:41). Between these two cities lay Mahaneh-dan (the camp of Dan) where the Spirit of the Lord began to move Samson (Judges 13:25), and where he was buried (Judges 16:31). A contingent from Eshtaol formed part of the 600 Danites who captured Laish (Judges 18:2,Revelation 17:11).

It is probably represented by the modern Ashu`a, about a mile and a half East of Zorah, the modern Car`ah.

Eshtaolites; Eshtaulites

esh'-ta-ol-its, eshta-u'-lits (ha'eshta'uli, literally, "the Eshtaolite"; the King James Version):

Inhabitants of Eshtaol, named among the descendants of Shobal, the son of Caleb (1 Chronicles 2:53).

Eshtemoa

esh-te-mo'-a, esh'-te-mo-a ('eshtemoa`):

A Levitical city in the hill country of Judah (Joshua 21:14; 1 Chronicles 6:57); Eshtemoh ('eshtemoh, Joshua 15:50). In 1 Chronicles 4:17,1 Chronicles 4:19, Eshtemoa is said to be a Maacathite and "son" of Ishbah. David after routing the Amalekites sent a present to his friends in (among other places) Eshtemoa (1 Samuel 30:28).

It is now es-Semu`a, a considerable village of evident antiquity some 8 miles South of Hebron.

Eshtemoh

esh'-te-mo.

See ESHTEMOA.

Eshton

esh'-ton ('eshton, "uxorious"):

A name found in the genealogical table of Judah (1 Chronicles 4:12).

Esli

es'-li (Eslei, Esli; probably for Hebrew 'atsalyahu):

An ancestor of Jesus in Luke's genealogy, the 10th before Joseph, the husband of Mary (Luke 3:25).

Esora

e-so'-ra.

See AESORA.

Espousal; Espouse

es-pouz'-al, es-pouz':

In the King James Version these words, following English usage of an earlier day, are used to signify either marriage or betrothal, while the American Standard Revised Version discriminates, and uses them only for marriage. For example, in 2 Samuel 3:14, "I espoused to me" (Hebrew 'erasti li) becomes "I betrothed to me." So also, in Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:27; Luke 2:5 which refer to the relation between Joseph and Mary before the birth of Jesus, "espoused" (mnesteuo) becomes "betrothed." On the other hand, "espoused" is retained in Song of Songs 3:11 ("the day of his espousals"--that is, day of marriage); in Jeremiah 2:2 ("the love of thine espousals"--that is, the love of married state); and in 2 Corinthians 11:2 ("I espoused (hermosamen) you to one husband").

E. J. Forrester

Espy

es-pi':

"Espy" in modern English means "to catch sight of," rather than "to explore secretly." the Revised Version (British and American) therefore retains it in Genesis 42:27, "He espied his money" (Hebrew ra'ah, "see"), while in Joshua 14:7 "espy out the land" (the King James Version) becomes "spy out the land." the Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "watch" for "espy" in Jeremiah 48:19, and "searched out" for "espied" in Ezekiel 20:6, with a gain in accuracy of rendering

(compare the context).

Esril

es'-ril, ez'-ril:

the Revised Version (British and American) EZRIL (which see).

Esrom

es'-rom, ez'-rom (Esrom):

the King James Version, the Greek form of Hezron (thus the Revised Version (British and American)) (Matthew 1:3; Luke 3:33).