2 Esdras

This is the second book of the prophet Esdras. He was the son of Saraias, who was the son of Azarias, the son of Helchias, the son of Sadamias, the son of Sadoc, the son of Achitob.

1The second book of the prophet Esdras, the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of Helchias, the son of Sadamias, the son of Sadoc, the son of Achitob,

NoteEsdras is the Greek and Latin form of the Hebrew name Ezra. Two books in the King James Apocrypha carry that name, and this is the second of them; it is a different work from the Ezra of the Hebrew Bible. The list of names runs backward, each man named as the father of the one before him, so the chain moves from Esdras up through his ancestors.

2Achitob was the son of Achias, the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the son of Amarias, the son of Aziei. Aziei was the son of Marimoth, the son of Arna, the son of Ozias, the son of Borith, the son of Abisei, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar.

2The son of Achias, the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the son of Amarias, the son of Aziei, the son of Marimoth, the son of Arna, the son of Ozias, the son of Borith, the son of Abisei, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar,

3Eleazar was the son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi. Esdras was a captive in the land of the Medes, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of the Persians.

3The son of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi; which was captive in the land of the Medes, in the reign of Artexerxes king of the Persians.

NoteThe tribe of Levi was the one tribe set apart for service at the sanctuary, and within it the descendants of Aaron were the priests, so this family list is a claim to priestly descent. The Medes were the people of Media, in what is now northwestern Iran, absorbed into the Persian empire; Artaxerxes was a Persian king of the fifth century BC. Readers have long noticed that this opening places Esdras among the Medes, while the Ezra of the Hebrew Bible comes up from Babylon.

4And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

4And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

NoteFrom here the book switches from a third-person introduction about Esdras to Esdras speaking in his own voice, with God addressing him directly.

5Go, and show my people their sinful deeds, and show their children the wicked things they have done against me, so that they may tell their children's children.

5Go thy way, and shew my people their sinful deeds, and their children their wickedness which they have done against me; that they may tell their children’s children:

6Do this because the sins of their fathers have grown in them. They have forgotten me, and they have offered sacrifices to foreign gods.

6Because the sins of their fathers are increased in them: for they have forgotten me, and have offered unto strange gods.

Note"Strange gods" in 1611 English means foreign gods, the gods of other peoples, not gods that are odd. To "offer" to them is to make sacrifices to them.

7Am I not the very one who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery? Yet they have stirred me up to anger, and they have despised my advice.

7Am not I even he that brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage? but they have provoked me unto wrath, and despised my counsels.

Note"The house of bondage" is the standard older English phrase for Egypt, where the Israelites were held as slaves. The whole speech that follows works through the events of the exodus and the wilderness years.

8So pull out the hair of your head, and cast all evils upon them, because they have not obeyed my law. They are a rebellious people.

8Pull thou off then the hair of thy head, and cast all evil upon them, for they have not been obedient unto my law, but it is a rebellious people.

NoteTearing or pulling out the hair was a public gesture of grief and outrage in the ancient world, and a prophet performing it turned his own body into part of the message. "Cast all evil upon them" means announce the disasters that are coming, not inflict them personally.

9How long shall I put up with them, when I have done so much good for them?

9How long shall I forbear them, into whom I have done so much good?

10I have destroyed many kings for their sake. I struck down Pharaoh with his servants and all his power.

10Many kings have I destroyed for their sakes; Pharaoh with his servants and all his power have I smitten down.

11I destroyed all the nations ahead of them. In the east I scattered the people of two provinces, Tyre and Sidon, and I killed all their enemies.

11All the nations have I destroyed before them, and in the east I have scattered the people of two provinces, even of Tyrus and Sidon, and have slain all their enemies.

NoteTyre and Sidon were wealthy Phoenician port cities on the Mediterranean coast, in what is now Lebanon. Calling them eastern provinces is unexpected, since they lie to the north and west of Israel, and the phrase has puzzled readers of this book for centuries.

12So speak to them and say, This is what the Lord says:

12Speak thou therefore unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord,

13I led you through the sea, and where there was no path I gave you a wide and safe way through. I gave you Moses as a leader, and Aaron as a priest.

13I led you through the sea and in the beginning gave you a large and safe passage; I gave you Moses for a leader, and Aaron for a priest.

NoteThe sea is the Red Sea, crossed on dry ground as the Israelites escaped from Egypt. Aaron was Moses' brother and the first priest.

14I gave you light in a pillar of fire, and I have done great wonders among you. Yet you have forgotten me, says the Lord.

14I gave you light in a pillar of fire, and great wonders have I done among you; yet have ye forgotten me, saith the Lord.

NoteIn the exodus story a pillar of cloud went ahead of the people by day and a pillar of fire by night, giving both light and a visible sign of God's presence.

15This is what the Almighty Lord says: The quails were a sign to you. I gave you tents to keep you safe. Even so, you complained there,

15Thus saith the Almighty Lord, The quails were as a token to you; I gave you tents for your safeguard: nevertheless ye murmured there,

NoteQuails are small migratory game birds; flocks of them settled on the camp in the wilderness and were eaten when the people complained about having no meat. "Token" means sign. The "tents" are the camp the people lived in during the wilderness years; some copies of this book read "a camp for your protection" rather than tents.

16and you did not celebrate in my name when your enemies were destroyed. To this very day you still complain.

16And triumphed not in my name for the destruction of your enemies, but ever to this day do ye yet murmur.

17Where are the good things I did for you? When you were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, did you not cry out to me,

17Where are the benefits that I have done for you? when ye were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness, did ye not cry unto me,

18saying, Why have you brought us into this wilderness to kill us? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in this wilderness.

18Saying, Why hast thou brought us into this wilderness to kill us? it had been better for us to have served the Egyptians, than to die in this wilderness.

19Then I felt pity for your mourning, and I gave you manna to eat. So you ate the bread of angels.

19Then had I pity upon your mournings, and gave you manna to eat; so ye did eat angels’ bread.

NoteManna was the flaky food that appeared on the ground each morning during the wilderness years. "Angels' bread" comes from a line in the Psalms describing manna as food from heaven's own household.

20When you were thirsty, did I not split the rock, so that water flowed out until you had your fill? Because of the heat, I covered you with the leaves of the trees.

20When ye were thirsty, did I not cleave the rock, and waters flowed out to your fill? for the heat I covered you with the leaves of the trees.

NoteIn the wilderness stories Moses strikes a rock and water pours out for the thirsty people. The shade of leaves here stands in for the sheltering cloud of the exodus accounts.

21I divided a fruitful land among you. I drove out the Canaanites, the Pherezites, and the Philistines ahead of you. What more shall I do for you? says the Lord.

21I divided among you a fruitful land, I cast out the Canaanites, the Pherezites, and the Philistines, before you: what shall I yet do more for you? saith the Lord.

NoteCanaanites and Pherezites (usually spelled Perizzites) were peoples living in the land before Israel settled there. The Philistines were a separate people of the southern coastal plain, known from the stories of Samson, Samuel and David; they are not normally counted among the peoples driven out at the settlement, and their appearance in this list is loose.

22This is what the Almighty Lord says: When you were in the wilderness, at the river of the Amorites, thirsty and speaking against my name,

22Thus saith the Almighty Lord, When ye were in the wilderness, in the river of the Amorites, being athirst, and blaspheming my name,

NoteThe King James "river of the Amorites" renders a phrase that elsewhere reads "the bitter stream." The reference is to Marah in the exodus story, where the water was too bitter to drink. "Blaspheming my name" means speaking against God, insulting him openly.

23I did not send you fire for your insults. Instead I threw a tree into the water and made the river sweet.

23I gave you not fire for your blasphemies, but cast a tree in the water, and made the river sweet.

NoteIn the exodus account Moses throws a piece of wood into the bitter water at Marah and the water becomes drinkable. "Fire" is a standard image for punishment falling from heaven.

24What shall I do with you, Jacob? You, Judah, would not obey me. I will turn to other nations, and I will give my name to them, so that they may keep my laws.

24What shall I do unto thee, O Jacob? thou, Juda, wouldest not obey me: I will turn me to other nations, and unto those will I give my name, that they may keep my statutes.

NoteJacob and Judah are both used here as names for the whole people: Jacob was the ancestor whose twelve sons gave their names to the tribes, and Judah was the southern kingdom and the tribe that survived to give the word "Jew" its name.

25Since you have left me, I will leave you also. When you ask me to be kind to you, I will show you no mercy.

25Seeing ye have forsaken me, I will forsake you also; when ye desire me to be gracious unto you, I shall have no mercy upon you.

26Whenever you call on me, I will not listen to you, because you have stained your hands with blood, and your feet run quickly to kill.

26Whensoever ye shall call upon me, I will not hear you: for ye have defiled your hands with blood, and your feet are swift to commit manslaughter.

Note"Manslaughter" in 1611 English simply means the killing of a person, with no suggestion of the lesser modern legal charge. The picture of bloodstained hands and feet that run to kill is borrowed from the prophets and from Proverbs.

27It is not really me you have left, but your own selves, says the Lord.

27Ye have not as it were forsaken me, but your own selves, saith the Lord.

28This is what the Almighty Lord says: Did I not plead with you, as a father pleads with his sons, and a mother with her daughters, and a nurse with her little babies,

28Thus saith the Almighty Lord, Have I not prayed you as a father his sons, as a mother her daughters, and a nurse her young babes,

29asking that you would be my people and I would be your God, and that you would be my children and I would be your father?

29That ye would be my people, and I should be your God; that ye would be my children, and I should be your father?

30I gathered you together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now, what shall I do with you? I will throw you out of my presence.

30I gathered you together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings: but now, what shall I do unto you? I will cast you out from my face.

Note"Chickens" in 1611 English means chicks, the young birds themselves. The same image of a hen sheltering her brood appears in the Gospels.

31When you bring me offerings, I will turn my face away from you, because I have given up your holy feast days, your new moons, and your circumcisions.

31When ye offer unto me, I will turn my face from you: for your solemn feastdays, your new moons, and your circumcisions, have I forsaken.

NoteThe solemn feast days are the fixed annual festivals; the new moons were monthly observances beginning when the new moon was first sighted, marked with sacrifices; circumcision was the physical mark, cut on every male infant, that identified a person as belonging to the covenant people. To reject all three is to reject the entire visible apparatus of worship.

32I sent my servants the prophets to you, and you seized them and killed them and tore their bodies to pieces. I will require their blood from your hands, says the Lord.

32I sent unto you my servants the prophets, whom ye have taken and slain, and torn their bodies in pieces, whose blood I will require of your hands, saith the Lord.

NoteThe charge that Israel killed the prophets sent to it is a stock accusation in later Jewish and Christian writing, drawing on stories such as the murder of Zechariah and the traditions about Jeremiah and Isaiah. "Require their blood from your hands" is legal language: to demand payment for a death from those responsible.

33This is what the Almighty Lord says: Your house is left empty. I will throw you out the way the wind blows away dry straw.

33Thus saith the Almighty Lord, Your house is desolate, I will cast you out as the wind doth stubble.

NoteStubble is the short dry stalk left standing in a field after the grain is cut, light enough for a gust of wind to carry off. "Your house is desolate" carries both senses of house at once, the building left empty and the family line left with no one in it.

34And your children will not have children of their own, because they have despised my command and done what is evil in my sight.

34And your children shall not be fruitful; for they have despised my commandment, and done the thing that is an evil before me.

35I will give your houses to a people who are to come. They have not heard of me, yet they will believe me. I have shown them no signs, yet they will do what I have commanded.

35Your 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.

NoteThe King James "shewed" is simply the older spelling of showed. "Signs" here means the miracles and wonders of the exodus and wilderness stories, the public proofs given to Israel and not given to this coming people.

36They have seen no prophets, yet they will call their sins to mind and admit them.

36They have seen no prophets, yet they shall call their sins to remembrance, and acknowledge them.

NoteSome copies of this book read that the coming people will remember their former condition rather than call their sins to mind; the two readings pull the line in noticeably different directions.

37I call as my witness the thankfulness of the people who are to come, whose little ones are full of joy. Though they have not seen me with the eyes of their bodies, in spirit they believe what I say.

37I take to witness the grace of the people to come, whose little ones rejoice in gladness: and though they have not seen me with bodily eyes, yet in spirit they believe the thing that I say.

Note"Grace" here translates a Latin word that means gratitude or thankfulness, not divine favor. God is calling the thankfulness of a future people as a witness in the case against the present one.

38And now, brother, look at this glory, and see the people who are coming from the east.

38And now, brother, behold what glory; and see the people that come from the east:

NoteThe King James reads "brother" here, but other copies read "father," which is how Esdras is addressed elsewhere in the book. The speaker is God, addressing Esdras.

39To them I will give as leaders Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Oseas, Amos, and Micheas, Joel, Abdias, and Jonas,

39Unto whom I will give for leaders, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Oseas, Amos, and Micheas, Joel, Abdias, and Jonas,

NoteAbraham, Isaac and Jacob are the three ancestors of the nation, in order. The names that follow are the Greek and Latin spellings of Hebrew prophets: Oseas is Hosea, Micheas is Micah, Abdias is Obadiah, Jonas is Jonah.

40Nahum, and Abacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zachary, and Malachy, who is also called a messenger of the Lord.

40Nahum, and Abacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zachary, and Malachy, which is called also an angel of the Lord.

NoteAbacuc is Habakkuk, Sophonias is Zephaniah, Aggeus is Haggai, Zachary is Zechariah, Malachy is Malachi. With the names in the previous verse these are the twelve shorter prophetic books, listed in their traditional order. The name Malachi means "my messenger" in Hebrew, which is why he is said to be called a messenger of the Lord; the Greek word behind "angel" simply means messenger, so the King James "an angel of the Lord" and the plainer "a messenger of the Lord" are the same phrase.