2:7. “Tree of Life in the Paradise of God”

2 Esdras 2:12: the Tree of Life is to be given to the chosen people who replace the wicked of Israel. (OAA, p. 25).

 

2 Esdras 8:51-2: “But think of your own case, and inquire concerning the glory of those who are like yourself, because it is for you that paradise is opened, the tree of life is planted, the age to come is prepared, plenty is provided, a city is built, rest is appointed, goodness is established and wisdom perfected beforehand.  The root of evil is sealed up from you, illness is banished from you, and death is hidden; hell has fled and corruption has been forgotten; sorrows have passed away, and in the end the treasure of immortality is made manifest.”

 

2:9. “… who say they are Jews and are not….”  (Old Israel Replaced)

2 Esdras 2:10-11: “…Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I was going to give to Israel.  Moreover, I will take back to myself their glory, and will give to these others the everlasting habitations.”

 

   “Who Is a Jew” – The Genealogies

The lists of the priests given by Ezra differs from that in the Book of 1 Esdras, although the totals are the same in both books as well as in Nehemiah which indicates that the genealogies of the priests and Levites were more carefully preserved than other genealogies.  (See OAA, p. 9-10, footnote.)

 

                Metzger states that racial integrity was probably much higher in the exile than in those who were left behind in Judea and the ban on mixed marriages was more carefully observed there.  Metzger interprets Ezra 9:1-10:44 as saying that it was the people who had remained in Judea who had corrupted the community with mixed marriages.  However, the Biblical text shows that it was the “people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites,” Ezra 9:1.  Ezra gathered them together “because of the transgression of those that had been carried away,” (9:4).  The phrase “carried away” is the one used to indicate those who had been taken to Babylon. 

 

                In the Biblical account, in Ezra 10:5, it was the “chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel,”  and in 10:7, the message was to “all the children of the captivity.”  The decree to assemble for judgment against mixed marriages contained the threat that those who would not come up in three days “his substance should be forfeited and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away” 10:8.  The list in 10:18-44 is that of the sons of the priests who had committed this offense. 

 

                It seems, therefore, that the Biblical account indicates that the mixed marriages were principally among those who had returned from the captivity, and not merely those who had remained in Judea.  1 Esdras, (OAA, p. 18, note on 8:68-9:36).

 

(“Forced to be ‘Jews’“)  Note on 2 Maccabees 10:15:  “Idumeans, or Edomites…; John Hyrcanus later forced them to adopt Judaism….”  (OAA p. 282).

 

2:9. “Blasphemy”

                The writer of 2 Esdras mentions a ‘blotting out’ of the desolate house of Israel that has been rejected by God Almighty.  He says: “Let them be scattered among the nations, let their names be blotted out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant.”  2 Esdras 2:7.

 

2 Esdras 2:33: “I, Ezra, received a command from the Lord on Mount Horeb to go to Israel.  When I came to them they rejected me and refused the Lord’s commandment.”  This passage continues by telling the Church of the glories of their future in Christ.

 

(‘Judaism’ – the religion).  2 Maccabees 2:21: “…and the appearances which came from heaven to those who strove zealously on behalf of Judaism….”  Note on this verse: “…. Judaism, first known use of this term for the religion, in contrast to Hellenism….”  (OAA, p. 266).

 

2 Maccabees 6:6: [Under Antiochus Epiphanes]  “A man could neither keep the sabbath, nor observe the feasts of his fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew.”

 

2:10. “A crown of life”

Baruch 5:2: “Put on the robe of righteousness from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting.  For God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven.”

 

2:17. “Name…which no man knoweth…”

2 Esdras 10:57: “For you are more blessed than many, and you have been called before the Most High, as but few have been.”  Note on 57: “….Arabic 1, ‘your name is known (or recognized) before the Most High,’ i.e. God has singled you out for honor (Is. 45:3-4).'”  (OAA, p. 50).

 

Baruch 4:30: “Take courage, O Jerusalem, for he who named you will comfort you.”

 

Baruch 5:4: “For your name will for ever be called by God, ‘Peace of righteousness and glory of godliness.”

 

2:26. “Power over the nations”

1 Maccabees 10:21: “So Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, at the feast of tabernacles, and he recruited troops and equipped them with arms in abundance.”  Note on 10:21:  “…. Tabernacles, a seven day festival held in September … had come to be associated with the hope of victory over the Gentiles (Zech.14.16-19).”  (OAA p. 245).