Ezra and the Law in History and Tradition

273 Pages·2014·4.03 MB·English

by  Lisbeth S. Fried

Ezra and thE Law
in History and Tradition
StudiES on PErSonaLitiES of thE oLd tEStamEnt
James L. Crenshaw, Series Editor
E z r a

and thE Law
in History and Tradition
LiSbEth S. friEd
The University of South Carolina Press
© 2014 University of South Carolina
Published by the University of South Carolina Press
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
www.sc.edu/uscpress
23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fried, Lisbeth S.
Ezra and the law in history and tradition / Lisbeth S. Fried.
pages cm. — (Studies on personalities of the Old Testament)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61117-313-0 (hardbound : alk. paper) 1. Ezra (Biblical figure) I. Title.
BS580.E9F75 2014
222'.7092—dc23
2013024196
To my students in the Emeritus Program at
Washtenaw Community College
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ContEntS
Illustrations viii
Series Editor’s Preface ix
Preface xi
1 Introduction to the Continuing Story of
Ezra, Scribe and Priest 1
2 The Historical Ezra 8
3 Ezra in the Hebrew Bible 28
4 First, or Greek, Esdras—The Law Triumphant 54
5 Fourth Ezra—The Ezra Apocalypse 65
6 The Christian Additions to the Ezra Apocalypse 89
7 Ezra Ascends to Heaven and Goes to Hell 100
8 Ezra among Christians, Samaritans, Muslims,
and Jews of Late Antiquity 118
9 Ezra in Modern Scholarship 148
Postscript: Reflections on Ezra and the Law 171
Appendix 1: Chronology 173
Appendix 2: Versions and Translations of 4 Ezra 175
Notes 193
Bibliography 215
Index of Ancient Sources 235
Index of Modern Authors 245
Subject Index 247
iLLuStrationS
Ezra Scribe and Priest 2
Persian Nobles and Officials 9
Ezra Preaches to the People 29
“When the sacred books had been consumed in the fires of war,
Ezra repaired the damage” 67
Map of the Sassanid Empire under King Shapur I 96
Hell in the Garden of Delights 101
Ezra Reads the Law 119
Ezra’s tomb 136
SEriES Editor’S PrEfaCE
Critical study of the Bible in its ancient Near Eastern setting has stimulated
interest in the individuals who shaped the course of history and whom events
singled out as tragic or heroic figures. Rolf Rendtorff’s Men of the Old Testament
(1968) focuses on the lives of important biblical figures as a means of illuminat-
ing history, particularly the sacred dimension that permeates Israel’s convictions
about its God. Fleming James’s Personalities of the Old Testament (1939) addresses
another issue, that of individuals who function as inspiration for their religious
successors in the twentieth century. Studies restricting themselves to a single
individual—for example, Moses, Abraham, Samson, Elijah, David, Saul, Ruth, Jo-
nah, Job, Jeremiah—enable scholars to deal with a host of questions: psychological,
literary, theological, sociological, and historical. Some, like Gerhard von Rad’s Mo-
ses (1960), introduce a specific approach to interpreting the Bible, hence provide
valuable pedagogic tools.
As a rule these treatments of isolated figures have not reached the general
public. Some were written by outsiders who lacked a knowledge of biblical criti-
cism (Freud on Moses, Jung on Job) and whose conclusions, however provocative,
remain problematic. Others were targeted for the guild of professional biblical
critics (David Gunn on David and Saul, Phyllis Trible on Ruth, Terence Fretheim
and Jonathan Magonet on Jonah). None has succeeded in capturing the imagina-
tion of the reading public in the way fictional works like Archibald MacLeish’s
J. B. and Joseph Heller’s God Knows have done.
It could be argued that the general public would derive little benefit from
learning more about the personalities of the Bible. Their conduct, often less then
exemplary, reveals a flawed character, and their everyday concerns have nothing
to do with our preoccupations from dawn to dusk. To be sure, some individuals
transcend their own age, entering the gallery of classical literary figures from time
immemorial. But only these rare achievers can justify specific treatments of them.
Then why publish additional studies on biblical personalities?
The answer cannot be that we read about biblical figures to learn ancient his-
tory, even of the sacred kind, or to discover models for ethical action. But what
remains? Perhaps the primary significance of biblical personages is the light they