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Some Remarks on the Textual Criticism of IV Ezra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2011

Michael Stone
Michael Stone
Affiliation:
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
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Extract

The student of IV Ezra is in the happy position of having a variety of versions at his disposal. The book exists in Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, a number of complete and some fragmentary Arabic versions, Armenian, Georgian and even a fragmentary Coptic text. Yet, in spite of the number of versions, or perhaps because of it, the text of the book has remained the subject of considerable scholarly discussion. A critical review of the most recent theories has become necessary and in particular of observations made about the Armenian version.

Type
Research Article
Information
Harvard Theological Review , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , January 1967 , pp. 107 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1967

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References

1 Bloch, Joshua, Was there a Greek Version of the Apocalypse of Ezra? Jewish Quarterly Review, N.S. 46 (1956), 309–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Wellhausen, J., Skizzen und Vorarbeiten (Berlin: Reimer, 1899), VI, 240Google Scholar; Violet, Bruno, Die Ezra-Apokalypse, I: Die Ueberlieferungen (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1910), xiiif.Google Scholar, Die Apokalypsen des Esra und des Baruch in deutscher Gestalt (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1924), xxix-xxxi; Box, G. H., The Ezra-Apocalypse (London: Pitman, 1912), xi–xiii, etc.Google Scholar

3 Jewish Quarterly Review (1956), 311–12.

4 See the materials cited by Violet, Ezra-Apocalypse, xiiif., Esra und Baruch, xxix–xxxi, Box, Ezra-Apocalypse, xi–xiii, Gry, Leon, Les dires prophétiques d'Esdras (Paris: Geuthner, 1938), IGoogle Scholar, xviiif. The following should also be noted: 7:29 (παῖς), 8:31 (τόπος — τρόπος; cf. 7:124) and many others. Compare Box and Violet on 13:26, both building on a suggestion by Wellhausen in Skizzen, VI, 236, n.1.

5 Vol. I, xxiii.

6 See Section IV, below, on the Armenian version.

7 See Gry, I, lix and n. on 13:32.

7a Gry's reference, which he does not make explicit, may be to the use of the word ʼrmy and derivatives in various late Aramaic dialects with the meaning of “pagan” in general. See the Lexica of Schulthess, Brockelmann and Levy, s.v. The hypothetical situation here, however, should be compared with that in the text discussed by S. Pines, The Jewish Christians of the Early Centuries of Christianity according to a New Source, Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Vol. II, No. 13 (1966), 9, n.24, where the Arabic reproduces the Armāʼī of the presumed Syriac original, even though this word is not found in Arabic. This is, in any case, a late usage. The earliest attested occurrence is late second century, Mish. Sanh. 9:6. Further, it is by no means the only, or even the most probable Aramaic retroversion for Armenian hetcanosacc.

8 I, lxxvi f.

9 I, lxxvi, 2.

10 For further considerations for a Hebrew original see A. Kaminka, Beitraege zur Erklaerung der Esra Apokalypse und zur Rekonstruktion ihres hebraeisches Urtextes (Breslau: Marcus, 1934). He goes too far, perhaps, but taken in conjunction with the considerations urged by other scholars, his work adds further weight to the theory of a Hebrew original.

11 Gunkel, Hermann, “Das vierte Buck Esra” in Die Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des alten Testaments, Kautzsch, E. ed. (Tuebingen: Mohr, 1900), IIGoogle Scholar, 333 points to 14:3, where all versions read “thornbush” except Arabic2, which has “Mt. Sinai,” perhaps reflecting הנס and ניםי. Likewise he observes that in 8:23 all versions read “for ever” except Arabic2, which has “witness,” perhaps Hebrew lāʻad and lēʻēd.

12 Violet, Esra und Baruch, commentary to 12:47 notes what may be a double translation of חצנל.

13 Berliner Philologischer Wochenschrift 18(1913), 547–51.

14 Personal communication to Violet quoted in Esra und Baruch, xxivf.

15 Gry, I, lxxxvi–xciii.

16 Treatment of some other features of this text are to be found in the writer's Some Features of the Armenian Version of IV Ezra, to appear shortly in Le Muséon.

17 Similar problems arise in connection with the Armenian versions of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and Song of Songs. They have not yet been subjected to adequate study.

18 Gershom Scholem observes: The biblical word pardes was, in fact, used as a technical term for the heavenly paradise in the oldest Jewish esoteric writings …, Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism and Talmudic Tradition (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 5720–1960), 16. The expression occurs in the fragments published by J. Milik in Revue Biblique 65 (1958), 71, 76. See further Scholem's note 10 on page 17.

19 7:28 “anointed of God,” 7:29 omits, 13:32 “of the Most High,” 13:37 omits, 13:52 “the thought of the Most High,” 14:9 “with me.”

20 Much use is made in this article of materials drawn from the author's doctoral dissertation in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures of Harvard University, April, 1965.