Box. The Apocalypse of Ezra : (II Esdras III-XIV)[S.P.C.K. Edition]. 1917

8/12/2019 Box. The Apocalypse of Ezra : (II Esdras III-XIV)[S.P.C.K. Edition]. 1917.

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TRANSLATIONS OF EARLY DOCUMENTSSERIES IPALESTINIAN JEWISH TEXTS

(PRE-RABBINIC)

THE APOCALYPSE OF EZRA


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_ APOCALYPSEOF EZRA 1,1

(II ESDRAS III-XIV)

TRANSLATED FROM THE SYRIAC TEXT,WITH BRIEF ANNOTATIONSBY

G. H. BOX, M.A.LECTURER IN RABBINICAL HEBREW, KING S COLLEGE, LONDONHON. CANON OF ST. ALBANS

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTINGCHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGELONDON : 68, HAYMARKET, S.W.


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EDITORS PREFACETHE object of this series of translations is primarily

to furnish students with short, cheap, and handytext-books, which, it is hoped, will facilitate thestudy of the particular texts in class under competent teachers. But it is also hoped that thevolumes will be acceptable to the general readerwho may be interested in the subjects with whichthey deal. It has been thought advisable, as ageneral rule, to restrict the notes and comments toa small compass ; more especially as, in most cases,excellent works of a more elaborate character areavailable. Indeed, it is much to be desired thatthese translations may have the effect of inducingreaders to study the larger works.Our principal aim, in a word, is to make somedifficult texts, important for the study of Christianorigins, more generally accessible in faithful andscholarly translations.In most cases these texts are not available in acheap and handy form. In one or two cases textshave been included of books which are availablein the official Apocrypha; but in every such casereasons exist for putting forth these texts in a newtranslation, with an Introduction, in this series.

W. O. E. OESTERLEY.G. H. Box.


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INTRODUCTIONSHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BOOK

THE Fourth Book of Ezra or, as it appears inour official Apocrypha, 2 Esdras is, in the form inwhich it appears in our Bibles, an enlarged book.The original work, which forms the Apocalypse proper,consists of chapters iii.-xiv. of 2 Esdras, and inthe Oriental Versions these chapters form the complete Book. That is to say, chapters i.-ii. and xv.-xvi. of our 2 Esdras do not appear in the OrientalVersions of the Book at all; they are, in fact, lateradditions (probably Christian ones) to the Latintranslation of the Apocalypse.The Apocalypse of Ezra (= 2 Esdras iii.-xiv.) isextant in a Latin and several Oriental translationswhich are all based upon a lost Greek Version, andthis latter, again, upon an original Hebrew text (alsocompletely lost).The Apocalypse itself appears to be a compositework which was redacted in its present form by anEditor about the year A.D. 120. The material used byhim and embodied in the Book consists of a SalathielApocalypse (cf. iii. i) which is contained mainly inchapters iii.-x. of 2 Esdras. This work, originallywritten in the name of Salathiel (= Shealtiel), thefather of Zerubbabel, who lived through the Exile,is embodied in practically a complete form in ourApocalypse. It seems to have been written andpublished in Hebrew about the year A.D. 100. Toit the final Editor appended three pieces derived fromother sources, viz. (i) the famous Eagle-Vision (chs.xi.-xii.) and (2) the Son of Man Vision (ch. xiii.)both extracted apparently from a Book of Dream-Visions and (3) the Ezra-Legend (ch. xiv. mainly).


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viii INTRODUCTIONThere are, naturally, traces of the final Editor s handthroughout in redactional links and adjustments,and also possibly some extracts from an eschatologicalsource detailing the signs which are to precede theEnd of the World (iv. 52 v. 130, vi. 11-29). Thewhole compilation is parallel with the twin (Syriac)Apocalypse of Baruch, which may have been editedin its final form somewhat later. The importanceof both Apocalypses for the study of Jewish andChristian theology is very great, and will be referredto more fully below.

TITLEIt is interesting to note that in the Latin MSS.the additional chapters (i.-ii. xv.-xvi.) are dis

tinguished, as a rule, by a separate enumeration.Different arrangements prevail, but the following isa widely accepted one1 Esdras = the Canonical Ezra-Nehemiah.2 Esdras = 2 Esdras i.-ii. of our Apocrypha.3 Esdras = I Esdras of our Apocrypha.4 Esdras = 2 Esdras iii.-xiv. of our Apocrypha

(i. e. = our Apocalypse).5 Esdras = 2 Esdras xv.-xvi. of our Apocrypha.The Oriental Versions also vary in the titles givento our Book. In the Ethiopic and Arabic it is calledThe First Book of Ezra (cf. also colophon at end of

Syriac translation, following xiv. 50) ; the title givenat the head of the Syriac translation is : The Bookof Ezra the Scribe, who is called Salathiel. Clementof Alexandria quotes from the lost Greek Version asEo-Spas 6 7rpo

Documents

Box. The Apocalypse of Ezra : (II Esdras III-XIV)[S.P.C.K. Edition]. 1917