Christian
Use of 4 Ezra
The
text of 4 Ezra, like all Jewish apocalypses of Early Judaism, did not survive
within Jewish circles, but was transmitted within the Christian church, where
it played a part in nurturing the theological and liturgical life of various Christian
communities. A few examples might suffice to show the extent of its influence.
The
history of textual transmission itself demonstrates clearly the extent to which
4 Ezra circulated within early Christian circles. One textual critic has
recently argued that the original Semitic text of 4 Ezra was translated into Greek,
which itself spawned at least four other Greek versions (and no doubt more),
each of which lies behind further translations into Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic,
and Gregorian. Thijs proliferation of the text into Greek translations at a
very early stage, and later into various other languages, demonstrates the
manner in which 4 Ezra was appreciated within the Christian church not long
after its date of composition.
This
is supported by the fact that church leaders of the patristic period knew of it
and quoted it favourably. So, that for instance, Clement of Alexandria
(150-215) cites 4 Ezra 5.35 in Greek (Stromata 3.16). Cyprian (200-58) seems
to allude to 4 Ezra 5.54-55 (Treatise to Demetrianus). Ambrose (340-97) cites
4 Ezra on at least seven different occasions (de bono Mortis 10, 11, 12;
de spiritu Sancto 2.6; de excess Satyri 1.2; ad Horontianum,
Letter 34; Commentarius in Lucan 1.60).
4
Ezra has played a part in edifying early Christian piety and prayer. In 4 Ezra
8.20-36, Ezra gives a striking and heart-felt appeal to the eternal and
faithful God to show mercy to his people. This section the apocalypse, known as
the ‘Confession of Ezra’, shaped the liturgy of the worshipping church; the Apostolic
Constitutions, a liturgical collection from the fourth century which comprises
several established liturgical compositions, recites the second half of 4 Ezra
8.23 (Apost. Const. 8.7.6; cf. too 4 Ezra 7.103 with Apost. Const.
2.14), while the whole passage from 4 Ezra is cited in Latin liturgical
manuscripts dating form between the eighth and fifteenth centuries.
The
only unfavourable note in relation to 4 Ezra which remains among the literature
of early Christian history is a comment made by Jerome. In his defence of
prayers for the dead, Jerome argued against Vigilantius and others who found
support for their rejection of prayers for the dead in 4 Ezra 7.105-115. Jerome
writes defiantly against them: ‘You bring before me an apocryphal book which,
under the name of Esdras, is read by you and those of your ilk, and in this
book it is written that after death no one does pray for others. I have never
read the book’ (Contra Vigilantium 6). Despite Jerome’s own ignorance of
the text, his words reveal the way others Christians in his own day valued the
Jewish apocalypse in 4 Ezra. (Bruce W. Longenecker, 2 Esdras [Sheffield:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1995], 110-11)
