2 Esdras chapter 5
[This chapter is in Orthodox Bibles] Signs of the End. Conclusion of the First Vision. Ezra fasts seven days. The second vision. Dispute. How and when the End will arrive.
Note. The Book of Second Esdras is recognized as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Orthodox Churches
SIGNS OF THE END
VERSE 1. “Nevertheless, concerning the signs, behold, the days will come when those who dwell on earth will be taken with great amazement, and the way of truth will be hidden, and the land will be barren of faith.
behold, the days. Some translations say Lo, the days.
with great amazement. So the Syriac text says.
VERSE 2. Iniquity will be increased above what now you see, and beyond what you have heard long ago.
Iniquity will be increased. Evil will keep increasing before the Messiah arrives.
VERSE 3. The land that you now see ruling will be a trackless waste, and men will see it desolate.
This alludes to the destruction of the Roman Empire.
VERSE 4. But if the Most High grants you to live, you will see what is after the third period will be troubled. The sun will suddenly shine in the night, and the moon in the day.
the third period. The meaning of this is uncertain.
VERSE 5. Blood will drop out of wood, and the stone will utter its voice. The peoples will be troubled, and the stars will fall.
Blood will drop out of wood. This is a paranormal phenomenon.
the stone will utter its voice. This too is a paranormal phenomenon.
VERSE 6. He will rule whom those who dwell on the earth don’t expect, and the birds will fly away together.
VERSE 7. The Sodomite sea will cast out fish, and make a noise in the night, which many have not known; but all will hear its voice.
VERSE 8. There will also be chaos in many places. Fires will break out often, and the wild animals will change their places, and women will bring forth monsters.
chaos. Or chasms.
VERSE 9. Salt waters will be found in the sweet, and all friends will destroy one another. Then reason will hide itself, and understanding withdraw itself into its chamber.
all friends will destroy one another. Conflict between friends or relatives is part of the Messianic woes.
VERSE 10. It will be sought by many, and won’t be found. Unrighteousness and lack of restraint will be multiplied on earth.
VERSE 11. One country will ask another, ‘Has righteousness, or a man that does righteousness, gone through you?’ And it will say, ‘No.’
VERSE 12. It will come to pass at that time that men will hope, but won’t obtain. They will labor, but their ways won’t prosper.
VERSE 13. I am permitted to show you such signs. If you will pray again, and weep as now, and fast seven days, you will hear yet greater things than these.”
fast seven days. Fasting or limited food precede the second, third, fourth, and fifth visions.
CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST VISION
VERSE 14. Then I woke up, and an extreme trembling went through my body, and my mind was so troubled that it fainted.
I woke up. That is, Ezra leaves the trance.
trembling went through my body. Ezra is frightened.
that it fainted. Ezra faints.
VERSE 15. So the angel who had come to talk with me held me, comforted me, and set me on my feet.
EZRA FASTS SEVEN DAYS
VERSE 16. In the second night, it came to pass that Phaltiel the captain of the people came to me, saying, “Where have you been? Why is your face sad?
Phaltiel. The Syriac text has Psaltiel.
VERSE 17. Or don’t you know that Israel is committed to you in the land of their captivity?
VERSE 18. Get up then, and eat some bread, and don’t forsake us, like a shepherd who leaves the flock in the power of cruel wolves.”
a shepherd who leaves the flock. The image of a shepherd is often used for the leaders of the people
VERSE 19. Then said I to him, “Go away from me and don’t come near me for seven days, and then you shall come to me.” He heard what I said and left me.
VERSE 20. So I fasted seven days, mourning and weeping, like Uriel the angel had commanded me.
VERSE 21. After seven days, the thoughts of my heart were very grievous to me again,
VERSE 22. and my soul recovered the spirit of understanding, and I began to speak words before the Most High again.
recovered. Or received.
This is the onset of Ezra’s inspiration.
THE SECOND VISION
VERSE 23. I said, “O sovereign Lord of all the woods of the earth, and of all the trees thereof, you have chosen one vine for yourself.
you have chosen one vine for yourself. Israel itself is chosen.
VERSE 24. Of all the lands of the world you have chosen one country for yourself. Of all the flowers of the world, you have chosen one lily for yourself.
you have chosen one country for yourself. The land itself is chosen.
VERSE 25. Of all the depths of the sea, you have filled one river for yourself. Of all built cities, you have consecrated Zion for yourself.
you have consecrated Zion for yourself. The location of the temple itself is chosen.
VERSE 26. Of all the birds that are created you have named for yourself one dove. Of all the livestock that have been made, you have provided for yourself one sheep.
livestock … sheep. This evokes Israel’s nomadic origins.
VERSE 27. Among all the multitudes of peoples you have gotten yourself one people. To this people, whom you loved, you gave a law that is approved by all.
VERSE 28. Now, O Lord, why have you given this one people over to many, and have dishonored the one root above others, and have scattered your only one among many?
have dishonored. The Latin text reads have prepared.
VERSE 29. Those who opposed your promises have trampled down those who believed your covenants.
promises. Or Torah.
VERSE 30. If you really do hate your people so much, they should be punished with your own hands.”
punished with your own hands. This an ancient idea.
DISPUTE
VERSE 31. Now when I had spoken these words, the angel that came to me the night before was sent to me,
VERSE 32. and said to me, “Hear me, and I will instruct you. Listen to me, and I will tell you more.”
Hear me, and I will instruct you. The LORD God says a similar thing to Job.
VERSE 33. I said, “Speak on, my Lord.” Then said he to me, “You are very troubled in mind for Israel’s sake. Do you love that people more than he who made them?”
Ezra cannot exceed God’s love.
VERSE 34. I said, “No, Lord; but I have spoken out of grief; for my heart is in agony every hour while I labor to comprehend the way of the Most High, and to seek out part of his judgment.”
I have spoken out of grief. Ezra mourns for Israel.
VERSE 35. He said to me, “You can’t.”And I said, “Why, Lord? Why was I born? Why wasn’t my mother’s womb my grave, that I might not have seen the travail of Jacob, and the wearisome toil of the people of Israel?”
VERSE 36. He said to me, “Count for me those who haven’t yet come. Gather together for me the drops that are scattered abroad, and make the withered flowers green again for me.
Gather together for me the drops that are scattered. Ezra is to gather the drops that were scattered.
VERSE 37. Open for me the chambers that are closed, and bring out the winds for me that are shut up in them. Or show me the image of a voice. Then I will declare to you the travail that you asked to see.”
Open for me the chambers that are closed. Ezra is to open the chambers that were closed.
the winds. Or spirits.
show me the image of a voice. Ezra is to show what a voice looks like.
VERSE 38. And I said, “O sovereign Lord, who may know these things except he who doesn’t have his dwelling with men?
VERSE 39. As for me, I lack wisdom. How can I then speak of these things you asked me about?”
As for me, I lack wisdom. This is like what Solomon said.
It is one of the most truthful things a human can say.
VERSE 40. Then said he to me, “Just as you can do none of these things that I have spoken of, even so you can’t find out my judgment, or the end of the love that I have promised to my people.”
HOW AND WHEN THE END WILL ARRIVE
VERSE 41. I said, “But, behold, O Lord, you have made the promise to those who are alive at the end. What should they do who have been before us, or we ourselves, or those who will come after us?”
the promise. Or have charge of.
VERSE 42. He said to me, “I will compare my judgment to a ring. Just as there is no slowness of those who are last, even so there is no swiftness of those who be first.”
a ring. Or circle. Or crown.
VERSE 43. So I answered, “Couldn’t you make them all at once that have been made, and that are now, and that are yet to come, that you might show your judgment sooner?”
VERSE 44. Then he answered me, “The creature may not move faster than the creator, nor can the world hold them at once who will be created in it.”
VERSE 45. And I said, “How have you said to your servant, that you will surely make alive at once the creature that you have created? If therefore they will be alive at once, and the creation will sustain them, even so it might now also support them to be present at once.”
you will surely make alive. This implies resurrection.
If therefore they will be alive at once. The Latin text omits this phrase.
VERSE 46. And he said to me, “Ask the womb of a woman, and say to her, ‘If you bear ten children, why do you it at different times? Ask her therefore to give birth to ten children at once.”
VERSE 47. I said, “She can’t, but must do it each in their own time.”
VERSE 48. Then said he to me, “Even so, I have given the womb of the earth to those who are sown in it in their own times.
the womb of the earth. The earth is both mother and womb.
VERSE 49. For just as a young child may not give birth, neither she who has grown old any more, even so have I organized the world which I created.”
VERSE 50. I asked, “Seeing that you have now shown me the way, I will speak before you. Is our mother, of whom you have told me, still young? Or does she now draw near to old age?”
our mother. This is still speaking of the earth as mother.
VERSE 51. He answered me, “Ask a woman who bears children, and she will tell you.
VERSE 52. Say to her, ‘Why aren’t they whom you have now brought forth like those who were before, but smaller in stature?’
VERSE 53. She also will answer you, ‘Those who are born in the strength of youth are different from those who are born in the time of old age, when the womb fails.’
VERSE 54. Consider therefore you also, how you are shorter than those who were before you.
VERSE 55. So are those who come after you smaller than you, as born of the creature which now begins to be old, and is past the strength of youth.”
VERSE 56. Then I said, “Lord, I implore you, if I have found favor in your sight, show your servant by whom you visit your creation.”
2 ESDRAS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, How Many People Will Be Saved
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