apocrypha-agnostica

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Huh. Well, it seems I probably won't be back. I can't say precisely why I lost interest. Perhaps I learned everything I wanted to from this project? (I did learn a very great deal.) I'll leave it up in case the urge to continue strikes again. You never know. :) Thank you for reading!

With love, Misha

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Brief update

I'm not dead yet! Sorry for the delay; I moved in the middle of the summer and life has been a little chaotic since then. Hopefully I shall be able to update again soon.

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2 Esdras Chapter 4

Esdras has asked his questions, and now an angel named Uriel[^1] appears to him to help him out. Uriel asks Esdras if he wants to "comprehend the way of the most High." Esdras says of course he does, so the angel hits him with some similitudes.[^2] He challenges Esdras to "weigh me the weight of fire, or measure me the blast of the wind, or call me again the day that is past." Esdras points at that he can't do that sort of thing - no man can. Uriel responds by explaining that if Esdras doesn't even know how to do these things - things that relate to the physical, normal world - how can he expect to understand the matters of heaven? Esdras isn't going to be able to see the world the way God sees the world. Esdras replies (in a pretty bold way) by saying that it would have been better for his people to never have been born than for them to suffer without knowing why. Uriel comes back with another similitude. He tells a story about how the forest and the sea wanted to go to war with each other. The trees wanted to push back the sea's water so there would be more room for forest, and the sea wanted to flood the forest so that there would be more sea. But then neither of them were able to make good on their plans, because a fire came and burned down the forest, and the earth rose and filled up the sea. Uriel ends the story by asking Esdras which side was justified in going to war with the other. Esdras says that both sides were foolish - the ground is mean to be for the forest and the sea is meant to be for the water, and neither of them were ever meant to go beyond their place. The angel points out that this story is a direct parallel to Esdras and his people. The people on the Earth are only mean to understand things of the Earth. But God is a being of heaven, and so he alone is meant to understand the heavenly sphere. Esdras comes back and says that he's not trying to understand the heavens. He's trying to understand real life events, and he says this in a really heart-felt, heart-breaking way (verses 23-24):

It was not my mind to be curious of the high things, but of such as pass by us daily, namely, wherefore Israel is given up as a reproach to the heathen, and for what cause the people whom thou has loved is given over unto ungodly nations, and why the law of our forefathers is brought to nought, and the written covenants come to none effect,

And we pass away out of the world as grasshoppers, and our life is astonishment and fear, and we are not worthy to obtain mercy.

[^3] Uriel doesn't respond directly to Esdras's question, but he explains that the world is so full and populated with evil, like a field that has been sown with bad seeds, that it will soon be destroyed. At first there was only the one seed of evil, sown in the heart of Adam, but over thousands of years it has spread. The angel explains that when the amount of evil in the world gets to a certain level, the field will be culled - the world will end, and be re-sown, and the righteous will live in paradise. The angel says that this will happen soon, that there are more days past than there are to come. The chapter ends with Esdras asking another question: will he live until the end of the world? Uriel answers that he can't tell Esdras anything about the fate of his own life, because Uriel was not given to know. ===================================== Phew, this is a pretty heavy chapter, and I think it's because it touches on a lot of things that are still very relevant to us. Everyone who believes in God has asked the question, "Why does God let bad things happen?" and that's basically what Esdras wants to know. I think the response "no one can understand the ways of God" is a decent one, actually. It makes sense that the actions (or inactions) of a being on a higher plane of existence is going to seem incomprehensible. Unfortunately, it's not a very satisfying response, because it doesn't _really_ answer anything. For this to be a comforting response, one has to be able to trust God, and trust that he knows what's best for everyone. That's something that's even difficult for Esdras, who's a prophet. To a non-believer like me, it's.. unimaginable. But _if_ God is real, and if you _are_ able to trust that he can see the beginning and the end, and you are able to submit to his plan, even if you don't know what it is.. I can see how that could bring a lot of peace. I hope Esdras gets to find that peace, but if so, he's got several chapters to go first... ===================================== [^1]: This is probably pretty standard for angels, but throughout 2 Esdras, Uriel will alternate between speaking as himself as the angel, and speaking of himself as God. Something I find interesting is that although he is meant to be God's spokesperson, he is enough of an individual to get a name. Again - I know that's standard for angels, but it also seems like endowing holy beings with an identity is like a branch of polytheism, which God spent the entire Old Testament trying to eliminate among his people. What _are_ angels, exactly, in Judaism and Christianity? I only know the Mormon version of what angels are: people who have previously lived. For example, I believe it's taught that the archangel Michael is actually Adam from the Garden of Eden. (I believe there's also some old Mormon theology that suggests that Michael, Adam, and God are all the same person? I don't think that's regarded as canon, though.) [^2]: Similitudes are basically analogies or parables that the angel uses to try to explain difficult concepts. He uses them frequently throughout 2 Esdras. [^3]: Man, usually scriptures are pretty dry and distant, but that verse about the grasshoppers struck me. It truly feels like the author was mourning a people and a culture that was dying and would soon vanish. I have no doubt these questions would be on the lips of anyone who believed in God and had witnessed that kind of destruction.

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The chapter begins by (of course) detailing Esdras’s lineage, and then moves right into Esdras getting revelation from God, who sounds upset and exasperated. God says that the Israelites keep sinning and indulging in wickedness - even after God destroyed their enemies, brought them out of Egypt…

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2 Esdras Chapter 3

This chapter begins with a timeline reference point (I'm not sure when the previous two chapter were supposed to have taken place). It is thirty years after the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews. Esdras lives in Babylon, and he is laying in bed thinking. Esdras thinks about the destruction of Sion, and how desolate the city is, and how its people have been scattered. He thinks about how wealthy and successful the Babylonians are in comparison, and it makes him upset, so he starts to pray. The first thing he does is completely re-tell the story of the Bible, from Adam to the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Israelites were so wicked that God allowed Jerusalem's enemies to conquer it. Esdras says that he has seen a great amount of sin and evil in the city of Babylon, and has seen how the wicked people prosper while the chosen people have been destroyed. Then Esdras gets a little petulant here: he asks God if the Babylonians are more righteous than the Israelites, or if any people have been more faithful to God than the Israelites have been. The Jewish people have passed God's covenants from generation to generation, and yet they get no reward for it - instead their city gets destroyed and the people are scattered. Esdras tries to explain further to God that the Israelites are the only people who worship God's name, and the only ones who even respect God's commandments, much less follow them. It's true that the Israelites have sinned, but so has every man that has walked on earth. He asks God to consider these things when he's judging the wickedness of his people. The chapter ends here, before we get any answers from God, and I like that. In this chapter, Esdras is very human - he is a scribe and a prophet, but even he suffers from doubt, anger, and pain. Further, he openly questions God's ways. And, I think his argument is pretty reasonable - after all, his people _have_ struggled to be righteous for hundreds of years. They have been faithful and tried (and sometimes failed) to obey God's commandments. But even in their faltering, they were still more righteous than anybody else in the world, and Esdras recognizes that. It seems unjust to him that his people should be punished while wicked people prosper, so he questions God's interpretation of justice. The thing I like most about Esdras's questioning is that, as we will see in further chapters, he doesn't get punished for it. His demand for explanation is never seen as sinful: it is treated more as a problem to be solved. I think that's a healthy way to treat curiosity - especially when it comes to questions about God and the nature of our existence. These chapters illustrate through Esdras's example that questions are not to be feared: instead they are a means to eventually achieve understanding.

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2 Esdras Chapter 2

God complains further about the wickedness of his people. He compares himself to an old widow whose children have forsaken her, and threatens these children with sterility and a scattered lineage. He also threatens them with destruction of the same kind Sodom and Gomorrah saw. But then God suddenly changes his mind. He tells Esdras that his people will receive the kingdom of Jerusalem. They will receive glory, resurrection, and immortality - so even though the "day of trouble and heaviness" is coming, and the heathens of the world will weep and suffer, the chosen people should not be afraid. Then God seems to change his mind again. He tells Esdras to go to Israel and preach, but when the Israelites reject him, Esdras turns to the heathen population. He asks them to be righteous, and tells them to look for their Shepherd and Savior, who will come at the end of the world, which is nigh. Esdras has a vision of a huge group of people collected together on Mount Sion[^1]. In the middle of them is a man taller than everyone else, who is resting crowns on the heads of the people. Esdras has an angel as a companion, who he asks about what is going on. The angel responds that the people on the mountain or people who have become immortal and have "confessed the name of God."[^2] Esdras inqures further, and asks who the young man is who is crowning them. The angel tells Esdras that he is the son of God, and concludes the chapter by saying that Esdras should go and tell his people about the vision he'd seen. ===================================== The parellels to Christianity here are obvious, and they get only more so as the book goes on. There are some differences in theology, of course - it is clearly stated that the son of God will arrive at the end of the world, on or at least near the day of judgement. And it's still a little shaky about whether non-Jews are included in the multitude on the mountain. So far, it seems the author has played with the idea of gentile salvation, but hasn't committed to anything yet. ===================================== [^1]: Sion (or Zion) is referenced frequently in the book of 2 Esdras, but in multiple contexts. This particular mention seems to refer to Mount Sion, which is a mountain near the city of Jerusalem. In other places, the word Sion refers to the Israelite people, to the city of Jerusalem, or to the site of the temple in Jerusalem. [^2]: I wasn't really sure what this phrase meant, so I looked it up. In this context, to "confess" something means to own, acknowledge or avow it. So, confessing the name of God means that one promises and devotes themselves (probably publicly) to God.

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2 Esdras Chapter 1

The chapter begins by (of course) detailing Esdras’s lineage, and then moves right into Esdras getting revelation from God, who sounds upset and exasperated. God says that the Israelites keep sinning and indulging in wickedness - even after God destroyed their enemies, brought them out of Egypt through the desert, fed them manna, brought them to the Promised Land, etc. Even through God’s grace and miracles, his people were always complaining and straying from God’s path.

In fact, God is so fed up with the Israelites that he threatens to turn to other nations, looking for the faithful among the gentiles instead. When the Israelites try to look for God, he threatens to ignore them in favor of his new people.

"Your houses will I give to a people that shall come; which not having heard of me yet shall believe me; to whom I have shewed no signs, yet they shall do that I have commanded them."

He ends the chapter by declaring that the old Jewish leaders - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and several other prophets (and even an angel) - will be guides for these righteous gentiles instead.

This chapter is very interesting, because it seems be a direct link to Christian theology. In Christian belief, Jews are not the one Chosen People anymore - salvation is available to all nations and creeds, as long as they accept and obey God. In a historical context, it makes a lot of sense that this sentiment was part of the reason that Christianity eventually overwhelmed the world. In its inherent multi-ethnic acceptance, it was much more flexible and available to a worldwide population than Judaism was.

I’ve never thought about it before, but Mormonism handles this rift between Judaism and Christianity in an interesting way - righteous members of the church get sort of spiritually adopted into one of the 12 tribes of Israel, and even receive their spiritual Jewish name in a temple ritual. I didn’t understand the significance of that back when I was religious, but it makes a lot more sense now.

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The Second Book of Esdras

This next book is about Esdras's prophetic visions. Instead of telling a largely straightforward story like 1 Esdras, this one has visions of the apocalypse, conversations with an angel, and very interesting ideas about salvation and humanity's purpose. This book is going to be a bit heavier than the last one. I'm probably going to spend a little more time talking about the theological aspects of what I'm reading - there are some interesting existential implications in here, as well as some interesting comparisons to Christian theology.

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Esdras gathers together the rulers of the land, and all the men who have heathen wives. The priests who have taken heathen wives are listed by name, and there are a lot of them. At this point, I’m not entirely clear on what happens. My book says that they “put away " their heathen wives and…

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Esdras gathers together the rulers of the land, and all the men who have heathen wives. The priests who have taken heathen wives are listed by name, and there are a lot of them. At this point, I'm not entirely clear on what happens. My book says that they "put away " their heathen wives and children, but it does not get any more specific than that. Did they cast them out like in the Biblical account? Did they divorce them? I doubt every man gave up his family so easily; I sense there is a lot that is unspoken here. Whatever the case: six months later, everyone in Jerusalem gathers together. Esdras spends all day teaching the multitude about God's laws. The day (the first day of the seventh month) is declared a holy day, so after Esdras's teachings, everyone goes home to celebrate their understanding of God's word. And that (rather anticlimactic ending) finishes up the book of Esdras, and the story of the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

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1 Esdras Chapter 8

This chapter takes place during the _real_ reign of Artexerxes, grandson of King Darius. Finally making an appearance for the first time is the titular Esdras! He is a scribe who lives in Babylon, and an expert in Mosaic law. King Artexerxes commissions him to go to Jerusalem, with any Jews who want to accompany him, and set up a judicial system there. Again, we go through another several verses recording the number and lineage of all the Jews who leave for Jerusalem. This is an interesting bit: Before they go, Esdras tells his men to fast, so that God might grant them safety on their journey. Esdras does this because he is "ashamed" to ask the king for any troops or guards, because he'd already told the king that God would protect any who sought Him.[^1] Luckily, they get to Jerusalem safely, and deliver treasure and sacrificial offerings to the temple. But after they arrive, the rulers of the city come to Esdras, and say that the Israelites have not "_put away the pollutions of the Gentiles_." In fact, they've gone so far as to intermarry and have children with Canaanites, Hittites, Egyptians, etc.[^2] Esdras gets very upset. He rends his clothes, and pulls out hair from his head and beard. He starts praying to God, mourning the sinfulness of the Israelites and how polluted the Promised Land is, and exclaiming that God would be justified in destroying all the Israelites. As he's praying (and making quite the scene), people start gathering around him and weeping with him. One man in the crowd speaks up and declares that they have sinned and that they should all "put away" their heathen wives and heathen children. Esdras stands up and makes the people promise that they will do so, and they all swear to obey. ===================================== [^1]: These words get rather thrown back in his face in the second book of Esdras; I hope I remember to edit this footnote to link to that chapter when I get to it. [^2]: This is a pretty big sin for the Israelites. Intermingling with foreigners has brought down many a great man - King David and King Solomon, for example - and it is a pretty big threat to everything that the Israelites stand for. They have always been obsessed with their lineage, and it's because they are _the chosen people_. With their bloodlines mixed and their people scattered, they wouldn't be Jews anymore, and their birthright would disappear.

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1 Esdras Chapter 6 - 7

It is the second year of King Darius's reign. Zacharias and Aggeus are the current prophets of Israel. Zorobabel (remember him? I think he's in charge of the city or something, but it doesn't really say) and his people start to rebuild the temple after returning to Jerusalem. The governor of Syria and Phenice (neighboring countries) comes to Jerusalem and demands to know, "Who said you could build this temple here? Who are you working for?" The Jews reply that they are serving God, and that King Cyrus decreed that they would be allowed to rebuild Jerusalem. The governor is not convinced, so he sends a letter to King Darius, requesting that they dig into their records and find King Cyrus's decree about the Jews. King Darius finds the decree, and continues to uphold it. The governor helps oversee and assist the construction of the temple. The temple is finally completed in the 6th year of Darius's reign. Woo!

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That's what I thought was going on at first too, but then Zorobabel uses female pronouns when talking about truth:

38 As for the truth, it endureth, and is always strong; it liveth and conquereth for evermore. 39 With her there is no accepting of persons or rewards, but she doeth the things that are just, and refraineth from all unjust and wicked things; and all men do well like of her works. 40 Neither in her judgment is any unrighteousness; and she is the strength, kingdom, power, and majesty, of all ages. Blessed be the God of truth.

It really seems to me like he's talking about Truth and God as being two separate things (or even entities). Or that he sees God as female. Either way, I think we can conclude that this version of Zorobabel really loves the ladies.

I really like the story in these chapters. It’s about as feminist and rationalist as the scriptures ever get.

Darius is the king of Persia. Three young men, who are his guards, decide to have a contest. They each decide to write one sentence on a slip of paper, and they predict that Darius will…

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1 Esdras Chapter 5

Darius sends troops to protect the Jews who return to Jerusalem. In fact, in this chapter, there is a precise count of how many people from which lineage return to the Promised Land. There are verses and verses of this: >15 The sons of Aterezias, ninety and two: the sons of Ceilan and Azetas threescore ands even: the sons of Azuran, four hundred thirty and two: >16 The sons of Ananias, an hundred and one: the sons of Arom, thirty two: andthe sons of Bassa, three hundred twenty and three: the sons of Azephurith, an hundred and two: And so on. It all comes to a total of 40,000 Jews who return to Jerusalem and the surrounding country. This is where the chapter starts to get a little befuddling. Even though King Darius was named as having sent the troops with the Jews, we are suddenly sent a few years back in time, and King Cyrus is on the throne again. The Jews start to rebuild the destroyed Temple. All of Jerusalem is overjoyed at this, so much so that their celebrations are heard by their foreign neighbors. These foreigners come to Jerusalem and offer to build the temple and worship together with the Jews. But they refuse, and say, "No, we will do this ourselves, as Cyrus has commanded us." So these foreign enemies use "_secret plots, popular persuasions and commotions_"[^1] to hinder the temple construction for years until Darius comes to power. I don't know what to make of the timeline shenanigans here. Maybe it was these inconsistencies that kept this particular book out of the Biblical canon. --- [^1]: I believe these secret plots include the letter written to King Artexerxes (another monarch out of time) from [chapter 2](http://apocrypha-agnostica.tumblr.com/post/55761736507/1-esdras-chapter-2).

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1 Esdras Chapters 3-4

I really like the story in these chapters. It's about as feminist and rationalist as the scriptures ever get. Darius is the king of Persia. Three young men, who are his guards, decide to have a contest. They each decide to write one sentence on a slip of paper, and they predict that Darius will reward the one who has the wisest sentence. The first guard writes, *"Wine is the strongest."* The second guard writes, "_The king is the strongest._" The third guard writes, "_Women are strongest, but above all things Truth beareth away the victory._" After Darius reads these things, he summons a bunch of princes, governors, and military officers to his castle, sits them all down, and has the three guards trotted in. He has each of the guards justify what he'd written. The first guard, who had claimed wine to be the strongest, explains how it doesn't matter whether someone is a king, a child, a slave, poor, or rich - wine turns everyone equally stupid. So of course wine is the most powerful force in the world. The second guard explains his position: The human race dominates the world - men are the strongest of creatures and rule over all the land and sea. But the king is in control of men - he can command them to go to war, pay tribute, build cities, destroy cities, and he is always protected by guards. The king is clearly the most powerful force in the world. The third guard, whose name is Zorobabel (he's the only one named - guess who wins the contest?), argues his position. He says that women are the ones who tend the vineyards the produce wine, and that all the rulers and powerful men of the world were all conceived and raised by women. "_Without women cannot men be."_ Zorobabel goes on to say: No matter how prosperous, rich, or powerful men are, they are always weakened by women - they stare at women's beauty, they favor the love of a woman over family and country, and become servants of women. Zorobabel even (boldly, I'd say) brings up the fact that he saw the king, just the other day, flirting with one of his concubines, and he even allowed the concubine to take the crown off the king's head, and put it on her head instead - and the king was delighted by her. Clearly, women are the most powerful. But he continues: Women are still nothing compared to the greatness of the earth, the height of the heavens, and the course of the sun. Wine, kings, women, and all men are wicked, but in Truth there is only goodness. Truth is the strength, kingdom, power, and majesty, of all ages. And then he concludes with, "_Blessed be the God of Truth_." The crowd clearly agrees, because they erupt into shouting, praising the greatness of Truth. King Darius declares Zorobabel the wisest of the three, and tells Zorobabel to ask anything he wants of the king. Zorobabel replies that he wants the king to allow Jerusalem and its temple to be rebuilt. Darius immediately makes it so - he makes a decree that the Israelites are free to build Jerusalem again, with the financial assistance of the empire, and all the Jews celebrate and thank God. This story is interesting because it's so out of character for a Biblical story. The whole set up for the debate, the argumentative rhetoric, plus the praising of Truth instead of God (which is very unusual) reminds me much more of Ancient Greece than Ancient Hebrews. Zorobabel is a character in the book of Ezra, and he does gain favor with the king, but this story isn't described at all.

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Great commentary so far! I look forward to reading the rest of your updates. I haven't read all the "standard" Apocrypha, and it has been over a decade since I last read any of it, so it will be fun to go back over it again. Are you reading an online version? I working on reading through the entire Bible this year, and I think it would be fun to try to keep up with you on reading these texts too.

Thank you! I look forward to any additional insight you have. :)The [free version online](http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/apo/index.htm) of these books seems good to me too - but I bought a kindle version so that I didn't have to be on a computer to read it.The version I'm reading is one I picked up from Amazon [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001U0Q17K/), but now that I'm looking, I can't figure out what translation this is. I hope it's reliable!

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My favorite part about the interchange mentioned in 1 Esdras Chapter 2 between the Persian King Cyrus and the Israelites is their use of scripture to show him that it was prophesied that he would let them go home. Regardless of Cyrus' motivation to let them go home, I thought the attempt was rather clever on their part.