A Note on 5 Ezra 1:11 and 2:8-9

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) 5 Ezra (2 Esdras 1-2) is a short, early Christian supersessionist tract that probably dates from the late second or third century. Pseudepigraphically ascribed to "Ezra the son of Chusi" (1:4), it depicts "Ezra" as a prophet who denounces Israel for its sins during the exodus, predicts the advent of a new, more righteous people of God, and describes the eschatological delights to be enjoyed by this new people. The book closes with Ezra's vision on Mount Zion of the "son of God" handing out crowns and palms to a surrounding multitude. The text of 5 Ezra survives only in Latin, probably the book's original language. It is possible, however, that the Latin text depends on a Greek Vorlage. The Latin text manifests two distinct recensions, traditionally labeled the "Spanish" and the "French." Although most modern translations (including the NRSV) are based on the "French" recension, the "Spanish" text is clearly superior (i.e., the more original), and it is this latter text that is used in this study.1 A close reading of 5 Ezra suggests that the author was an accomplished litterateur. One of his main concerns is to lay out in narrative form a clear contrast between the "old" (Jewish) and "new" (Christian) covenants with God. This manifests itself in 5 Ezra as a distinction between the "old" people and "new" people of God (see esp. ch. 1); the "old" Scripture (Jewish Scriptures) and "new" Scripture (New Testament) (passim; see esp. 1:25-34); the "mother" of the old people (Jerusalem) and the "mother" of the new people (the Christian church) (see 2:1- 32); and the mountain of the "old" covenant (Sinai) and the mountain of the "new" covenant (Zion) (see 2:33-48).2 Besides displaying literary acumen, the author of 5 Ezra exhibits a certain literary inventiveness or agility, almost a literary "sense of humor." This quality is often manifested most strongly in pericopae that seem at first sight to be especially difficult to interpret. One such pericope lies in the first verse of 5 Ezra, 1:4, which labels Ezra as "son of Chusi." Anyone familiar with biblical genealogy, as the author of 5 Ezra almost certainly was, knows that the Ezra famous in the Jewish Scriptures was the "son of Seraiah" (Ezra 7:1; 1 Esdr 8:1). "Chusi" is the father of the biblical prophet Zephaniah (Zeph 1:1). However, the author of 5 Ezra, apparently aware that the biblical Ezra lacked any credentials for the prophetic role in which he was about to be cast in 5 Ezra, supplied these credentials by whimsically providing Ezra with the paternity of a "genuine" biblical prophet. This move may have been intended also to alert the reader that not everything in this book was to be taken entirely seriously (compare Jdt 1:1!). For indeed, as 5 Ezra progresses, its eponymous hero is cast in the equally unlikely roles of "mother Jerusalem" (1:38; cf. Bar 4:36-37; 5:5), Moses (2:33), and an inspired apocalyptic seer (2:42-48). The most dramatic examples of the author's literary inventiveness, however, come in 5 Ezra 1:11 and 2:8-9, two of the most intractable passages in the book. 5 Ezra 1:11 reads as follows: Didn't I [God] overthrow [everti] the town of Bethsaida because of you [the Israelites], and to the south burn two cities, Tyre and Sidon, with fire, and kill those who hated you?3 This verse clearly alludes to the passage Matt 11:21-24//Luke 10:12-15. The problem for the interpreter of 5 Ezra, however, is that 5 Ezra 1:11 is placed squarely in the context of mighty acts performed by God for the Israelites during the exodus! Our initial reaction is to read 1:11 as a whimsical attempt by 5 Ezra's author to introduce a passage from the "new Scriptures" into an "old scriptural" context. However, closer inspection reveals the situation to be more complex. The NT passages in question read not "overthrow Bethsaida" but "Woe to you, Bethsaida," and the threatened punishment (applied in NT to Capernaum) is not "to the south burn . …