ESDRAS, THE SECOND BOOK OF, i.e., the second in the order of the apocryphal nooks, as given in the English translations of the Bible, which follow the Zurich Bible.
The Title arid Position of the Book.—The original title of this book by which it is appropri ately called in the Greek Church, is 'AroicdXvifris TaSpa, or rpoeknrcia the Revelation or pro phecy of Ezra (comp. Nicephorus ap. Fabric. Cod. Pseud. V. T., ii. p. 176; Cod. Apocr. N. T., i. p. 951, syy. ; Montfaucon, Biblioth. Coislin, p. 194). The designation, Ezra, which it has in the Arabic and Ethiopic versions, arises from the fact that it was placed before the canonical Ezra, because it begins a little earlier (i.e., with 558 B. C. ) than the Hebrew Ezra. It is also called z Ezra in the Latin version, because it follows the canonical books Ezra and Nehemiah, which were together styled the first Ezra, and it is still more generally denominated 4 Ezra, a name given to it by St. Jerome (comp. Prat in Esdr. et Mechem.), because it is in most of the Latin MSS. the fourth of the books which go by the name of Ezra, and which are placed in the following order; x Ezra, i.e., the canonical Ezra; 2 Ezra, e., Nehemiah; 3 Ezra, i.e., I apocryphal Ezra ; and 4 Ezra, i.e., this book. The name 4 Ezra is retained by Luther, the Zurich Bible, Coverdale, Matthew's Bible, Cranmer's Bible, the Bishops' Bible, and in the sixth article of the Church of England (1571.). The name 2 Esdras, given to it in the A. V., is taken from the Geneva Bible. This book, like the former one, is placed at the end of the Vulgate in the Sixtine and Clementine editions, because it has been excluded from the canon by the Council of Trent.
2. The Deszgn and Plan of the Book.—The design of this book is to comfort the chosen people of God who were suffering under the grinding oppression of the heathen, by assuring them that the Lord has appointed a time of deliverance when the oppressors shall be judged, and the ten tribes of Israel, in union with their brethren, shall return to the Holy Land to enjoy a glorious kingdom which shall be established in the days of Messiah. This is gradually developed in an introduction, and seven angelic revelations, or visions, in which Ezra is instructed in the mysteries of the moral world, as follows.
Introduction (iii. 1-36 Huth. Version ; or i. 1-36 Ethiopic Version). When on his couch in Babylon, in the 3oth year after the destruction of Jerusalem (558 B. C. ), mourning over the deplorable fate of his brethren (1-3), and recounting the deal ings of God with mankind generally (442), and with his chosen people in particular, in consequence of their sinful nature inherited from Adam (13.22),
for which the temple was destroyed and the city delivered into the hands of Gentiles (23-27), Ezra asked God why the heathen sinners of Babylon are spared, whilst the people of his covenant are so unsparingly punished (28-36) ? First Revelation (iv. i-v. 15 A. V.; ii.
I iii. 23 Eth.) In answer to this, the angel Uriel is sent, who, after censuring the presumptuousness of a short-sighted man in trying to fathom the unsearchable dealings of the Most High, when he cannot understand the things below (1-21), and after Ezra's earnest reiteration of the question (22-25), says that sin has not yet reached its climax (26-31), enumerates the signs whereby the fulness of that time wine distinguished, and pro mises to reveal to him still greater things if he will continue to pray and fast seven days (32-v. 15).
Second Revelation (v. 16-vi. 34 A. V.; iii.
37 Eth.) Having fasted seven days according to the command of the angel, and against the ad vice of the prince of the Jews (16.21), Ezra again appeals to God, asking why he does not punish his sinful people himself, rather than give them over to the heathen (22-30)? Uriel, who appears a second time, after referring again to the inscrutable judgments of God (31-56), reveals to Ezra, according to promise, more distinctly what shall be the signs of the latter days, saying that with Esau [Idumeans] the present world will terminate, and the world to come begin with Jacob (vi. I-10), whereupon the day of judgment will follow, and be announced by the blast of a trumpet (x1.25); Enoch and Elias, the forerunners of Messiah, shall appear (26), and sin and cor ruption be destroyed (27-28); tells him to be com forted, patient, and resigned, and that he shall hear something more if he will fast again seven days Third Revelation (vi. 35-ix. 25 .4. V.; iv. 38 ix. 27 Eth.) The fasting being over, Ezra again appeals to God, to know how it is that his chosen people, for whom this wonderful world was created, are deprived of their inheritance (35-59) ? Where upon Uriel appears a third time, tells him that it is because of their sin (vii. 1-25), describes the death of Messiah, the resurrection, the judgment, and the things which will conic to pass, conclud ing with an admonition to Ezra to fast and pray again (26-ix. 25).