VI-Enoch Seminar Gazzada – Milan 2011 The “meaning of history” in the 5th vision of the Book of 4Ezra. [Our paper will be about the subject that the author of IV Ezra reflected in the fifth vision (4Ez 11,1-12,51) about the destruction of the Second Temple and how it is related to Daniel 7 and certain pesharim in the Dead Sea Scrolls. As a historian I will analyze the apocalyptic problem from a historic-exegetic point of view, with the intention of finding the link and the background between these two texts. We are interested in discovering whether there was a unique meaning of history in the Jewish Apocalypticism or whether this was heterogeneous: varying, filling with new contents and adjusting to the necessities that each apocalyptic circle had to face and lived in the analyzed periods to which we will refer to.] Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. Lic. Laura Bizzarro. Laura Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina 01/01/2001 2 The “meaning of history” in the 5th vision of the Book of 4Ezra. Our work will only take into account the fifth vision “the Eagle and the Lion” (11,1-12, 51) in the book 4Ezra. We are especially interested in the global vision and the interpretation the author offered about the meaning of history, and how it is related to Daniel 7 and some pesharim in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The apocalyptic circle this book comes from was closely related to the tradition of Wisdom that was being developed and filled with contents during the time of the Second Temple (centuries IV BC.-I AD.). From our analysis we intend to find out whether the question of the eschaton in the Wisdom was important, because, according to Gerhad Von Rad´s analysis [only from its consideration, the specific element of the apocalyptic vision of history can appear: the idea of the unity of history.]1 By means of the hermeneutic method, our analysis of the vision of “the Eagle and the Lion”, will follow this scheme: a) The Eagle: Who was it? Whom did it represent? What did it symbolize? What relation did it have with the Kittim in the Dead Sea Scrolls? And the wings: historically speaking, whom did they make reference to? And what did they symbolize? b) The Lion: Whom did it represent? Whom could we identify it with? What was its specific function? Did its appearance have, as an aim in itself, to fulfill with the eschaton that will put an end to history? c) Interpretations, teachings and meaning of history derived from the vision of “the Eagle and the Lion”. A) The Eagle and the Wings: From the reading and analysis of the 5th vision, we are interested in deepening the interpretations about the “Eagle”, in order to establish its parallels, similarities and differences with previous studies, aiming specifically at finding out whether from such interpretations we can establish what the meaning of history was for the apocalyptic circle in which this passage of 4 Ezra was elaborated. 1 VON RAD, GERHARD. Teología del Antiguo Testamento. Salamanca, Sígueme, 1984. Tomo II, p.398. 3 Analyzing the text, we can see how the Eagle is: 11 5And I looked and behold, the eagle flew with his wings to reign over the earth and over those who dwell in it. 6And I saw how all things under heaven were subjected to him, and no one spoke against him, not even one of the creatures that was on the earth. And I looked, and behold, the eagle rose upon his talons, and uttered a cry to his wings saying: 8 “Do not alt watch at the same time; let each sleep in his own place and watch in his turn; 9 but let the heads be reserved for the Iast.” (…) 15And behold, a voice sounded saying to it: 16 “Hear me, you who have ruled the earth all this time; I announce this to you before you disappear. 17 After you no ones shall rule as long as you, or even half as long.” 18Then the third wing raised itself up, arid held the rule u like the former ones and it also disappeared. 19 And so it went with all the wings; they wielded power one after another and then were never seen again. (…) Then I heard a voice saying to me, “Look before you and consider what you see. 2 When “the eagle” is described going out of the sea, the author´s intention is to complete and explain the vision of Daniel 7. The seer reaffirms that his explanation would complete the vision of Daniel of the fourth Beast (v. 12:11). The figure of the “Eagle”, which Romans are identified with, is related with the Intertestamentary literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls in the apocalyptic Jewish tradition. In several pesharim, the Kittim, the main hostile strong nation, are identified with the Romans. If the author´s intention was to complete the vision of Dan 7, these versicles would show the first prophetic-apocalyptic descriptions which mention the defeat of the hostile strong nations by Israel: the vision of the destruction of the Gog and Magog kingdom of Ezequiel 38,19-21, the description of the wicked king of Daniel 11 and the pesharim of 1QpHabacuc: Col. III 1 and they will advance over the plain, to destroy and pillage the cities of the country. 2 For this is what he has said: Hab 1:6 «To take possession of dwellings not theirs». Hab 1:7 It is dreadful 3 and terrible; his judgment and his exaltation arise from himself. [Blank] 4 Its interpretation concerns the Kittim, the fear and dread of whom are on all 5 /the peoples/; all their thoughts are premeditated to do evil, and with cunning and treachery 6 they behave towards all the nations. Hab 1:8 Their horses are swifter than panthers; they are keener 7 than wolves at night. [Blank] Their war-horses paw the ground, galop, from afar 8 they come flying like an eagle, hastening to eat. Hab 1:9 All of them come to use violence; the breath of 9 their faces is like the East wind. [Blank] Its inter[pretation] concerns the Kittim, who 10 trample the land with [their] horse[s] and their animals 11 and come from far off, from the islands of the sea, to devour all the nations, like an eagle, 12 insatiable. With fury they are he[ated, and with] burning wrath and livid 13 faces they will speak to all [the 2 STONE, MICHEAL. Fourth Ezra: A Commentary on the Book of Fourth Ezra. Minneapolis, Fortess Press, 1990. Hermeneia Serie. P. 343-44. 4 nations. Fo]r this is what 14 he has said: Hab 1:9 The brea[th of their faces is like the East wind. And he gathers] captives [like sa]nd. 15 Its [interpreta]tion […] 16 […] 17 [… Hab 1:10 a At kings].3 Together with the Eagle, the wings, which are part of his body, are described. In 4Ezra we can identify the different wings with the Roman princeps of the Julius-Claudius dynasty4, that succeeded in the century I A.D. In the text we find a description in the v. 16, of Octavian-Augustus, first “princeps” of the dynasty and the most important head of the eagle, whose ruling was the longest. On referring to the end of the Claudius Dynasty and the institutional crisis that followed Nero´s death (68 A.D.), the description of the “smaller wings” (vv.20-29) makes a reference to the year of the three emperors (Galba, Otho and Vitelius), and it is used to give a picture of the political-institutional change in Rome, when the emperors began to be appointed by the Roman legions. Besides, the text says that a second head will appear, (Vespasianus). Then, the third and the fourth heads are described, that is to say, his children, as his successors. The references to the dynasty of the Flavius are clear and become evident in the vv.2833. According to the text, the representatives of the princehood are not wings any more, but the heads of the eagle, and it is emphasized that the power passes to another “big head”: Vespasianus (v. 31). Furthermore, the text adds about this head: “the head turned with those that were with it and it devoured the two little wings which were planning to reign. Moreover this head gained control of the whole earth, and the wings that had gone before.5 These versicles emphasize that the second head receives the universal power with more force than the first one: Augustus. 3 GARCÍA MARTÍNEZ, FLORENTINO & TIGCHELAAR, EIBERT J.C., The Dead Sea Scrolls: Study Edition. Leiden-New York, W.Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. 1QpHab Col III,1-16. 4 The wings are: Iulius Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudio, Nero; (the generals Glaba, Otho y Vitelius); and the hear are c Octavianus-Augustus, Vespasianus, Titus Flavius and Domitian. 5 STONE, MICHEAL. Fourth Ezra, 11:31-32. 5 B) The Lion (11,37-44): The description of the “creature like a lion”, symbolizes the appearance of the Messiah that implies the destruction of the Eagle. The text says: 37 And l looked, and behold, a creature like a lion was aroused out of the forest, roanng; and I heard how he uttered a man’s voice to the eagle, and soked, saying “Listen and I will speak to you. The Most High says to you. 39 ‘Are you not the one that remains of the four beasts which I had made to reign in my world, so that the end of the times might come through them?’ 40 You, the fourth that has come, have conquered alt the beasts that have gone before; and you have held sway over the world with much terror, and a over ah the earth with grievous oppression; and for so long you have dwelt on the earth with deceit. 41 And you have judged the earth but not with truth; 42 for you have afflicted the meek and injured the peaceable; you have hated those who tell the truth, and have Iowd tiars; you have destroyed the fortifications of those who brought forth fruit, and have laid low the walls of those who did you no harm. 43 And so your insolence has come up before the Most High. and your pride to the Mighty One. 44 And the Most High has Iooked upon his times, and behold they are ended, and his ages are completed! 6 In our interpretation of the figure of The Lion, it represents the Messiah, whose main function, according to the text, is to defeat and annihilate the “Eagle”. So this vision put forward the end of the Roman Empire and the end of history: The total destruction of Rome and the annihilation of the 4th Beast. The meaning of history would be expressed in the realization of the eschaton already announced in Dan. 7,23-25 and 11,30-45, whose prophecy from about the middle of the century II BC., warned about the end of the Seleucid rulings and the 4th Beast Antiochus IV Epiphanes, whose description is the archetype of the “wicked king” in the Jewish-Palestinian Apocalypsis.7 6 STONE, MICHEAL. Fourth Ezra, 11:37-44. See our works in II SIHC: International Symposium about Hellenism-Christianism. Presentation: “Hellenistic Influences in the Conception of the Wicked King, Daniel 11.2-45”. Web: http://www.sihc.com.ar/pdf/Bizzarro%20Laura.pdf. 7 6 C) Interpretation, teachings and meaning of history derived from the vision of “the Eagle and the Lion”: From the integral analysis of the fifth vision, we found that the meaning of history would be given in: The defeat of the hostile strong nations, “Rome/the Eagle”, that implied the establishment of the messianic Kingdom with a Davidic Monarchy, subject that is dealt with in the sixth vision: “the Man on the Sea”. The reconstruction of Jerusalem after the year 70, which appears related to the vision of the woman who represents Zion (4th vision) and 6th vision . The association of the Eagle and his wings with the 4 th Beast in Dan 7, 23-25 makes special reference to their bad performance and government in the 4th reign. The Eagle are characterized as wicked kings. The heads are defeated by the Lion, who represents the anointed of God: the Masiaj, as an eschatological figure. He must perform his specific functions: the trial of the wicked king, the mercy for Israel and the punishment to the wings and the three heads: governors of the hostile nations (a similar theory appears in several manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls.). Such topic was central for the Jewish-Palestinian apocalypticism during the centuries II BC- I AD. From all the conceptions, ideas and contents in the 5th vision of 4Ezra, we think that it responds to properly Jewish contents, because: It would follow within the same line of the Jewish apocalyptic traditions more related to Daniel 7, Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish writings of the end of centuries I B.C. (cf. SalSl 17 and 18, The Scroll of the War 1QM, 1Q33, 4Q285, Sibylic Oracles III and IV). The concept of the time is linear, with an absolute end. From our analysis of the 5 th vision comes forth that history has an end: it begins with the Creation in the book of Genesis, it receives meanings and contents in the prophetic times to finish with the development of the apocalypsis. During that long and continuous process, emphasis is placed on the fact that: Human history has an end: it finishes. Its terminology means the full realization of the eschaton. 7 It is different from the Greek-Roman concept of history for which history is cyclic, determined by gods (Homer, Herodotus, Hesiod and Virgil)8 in which the man cannot change his destiny. Prophecies by Prophets are fulfilled, since they announced how the end would be developed: with the trial and punishment of the hostile nations carried out by Israel and the coming of the eschatological messianic figure. The theory of the Oriental propaganda is used again 9. In it the persian-Jewish prophecy is expressed with respect to the defeat of the West by the East, which should be fulfilled. Such theory projected a vindication of the oriental people over Greeks and Romans; especially over the Greeks, who after the Medic Wars, adding the influence of the Hellenistic culture after the conquests of Alexander the Great, are present in the Syrian-Palestinian and Egyptian areas, starting the long process of Hellenization of the Oriental Mediterrenean, which was highly resisted in several oriental peoples (Ex: The uprising of the Maccabees and the revolutions of Egypt against the Ptolemaic Pharaohs). We notice that there is a change of the prophecy in Dan 7 to the 5th vision in 4Ezra. What produced it? : The necessity of the apocalyptic circle (to which the author belonged) to adequate Daniel´s prophecy to the necessities of his entourage so as to explain, update and complete the vision of the 4th kingdom. The conception of the eschaton is stressed: the end of history is imminent. In the explanation of the 5 th vision (12, 10-40), when The Lion annihilates and defeats “The Eagle”, the end of the 4th kingdom is announced. Even if the prophecy of Dan 7 is post–eventu, it made reference to the Hellenistic kingdom of Antiochus IV Epiphanes; in the 4Ezra the Hellenistic kingdom is replaced by the Eagle and the Roman wings, and the historic events have not been produced yet. Such change of figures and scene keeps the traditional Jewish scheme of the 4th Kingdom and the defeat of the 4th Beast intact. 8 CF. mi análisis sobre los pasajes de HESÍODO, “Los Trabajos y los Días”; HERODOTO “Nueve libros de Historia”, en BIZZARRO, LAURA “La teoría de los Cuatro Imperios como elemento opositor al Helenismo y a Roma”. In Revista Antíteses, Ahead of Print do vol. 3, n. 5, jan.-jun. de 2010. Descargar de http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/antiteses/article/view/3493/4917 8 In the Apocalyptic Jewish circles, following the opinion of David Flusser: “It should be noted that the Jews did not abandon the scheme of four empires, having Roma as the four and last monarchy; in the Jewish source his concept was more or less explicitly anti-Roman. The sources learned of course the theory of four monarchies from Daniel. As they identified the fourth kingdom with Roma, the Greek empire become third, and Media had to be united with Persia in one kingdom. So a new anti-Roman list of four empires came to existence, namely: Babylonia, Media, Greece and Rome, and in this light Daniel was interpreted.” 9 Conclusion: From the analysis we have made in the 5th vision of 4Ezra, we conclude: The author of the vision had full knowledge of the events of the Roman history of centuries I BC -I AD. because through his vision he describes the ruling of the princeps of the dynasties Julius-Claudian and of the Flavius. The use of the image he makes of “The Eagle” to describe the fourth kingdom of Daniel is in agreement with the eschaton of the Jewish-Palestinian apocalyptcism and it tends to complete the vision of Daniel 7. This prophet nourishes both on the canonic texts (Daniel 7 and Ezequiel 38) and on the pesharim of the Dead Sea Scrolls (the Scroll of the War 1QM, 1Q33, 4Q285); where the Kittim-Romans begin to be associated to the 4th Beast and in which the idea to defeat the hostiles nations has a total escatologycal sense. The statement that comes from the comparison and analysis of the texts has an aim: to announce the end of history, the arrival of the Messiah, represented by The Lion and the defeat-annihilation of the hostile nations “Rome, the eagle and the 4th Beast. For the author of the vision the end of the history is imminent. He writes with the hope that this escathon begins in his generation. We can also infer that he wants to transmit to his contemporaries an idea of hope and political religious justification for the war of Israel against the hostile nations, typical of the apocalyptic message. 9 FLUSSER, DAVID. “The Four emperies in the Fourth Sibyl an in the book of Daniel”. Israel Oriental Studies 2, 1972, p.157-158. 9 Unlike the prophecy of Dan7 that is post-eventu, the 5th vision of 4 Ezra is a full prophecy because it is vincled to all the characteristics of the prophetic announcements of the OT. It will have to be fulfilled in a not far future. It has not taken place yet. Even if it informs and retells partial events of the Roman history, it contains all the elements typical of the apocalyptic Jewish eschatology and we consider that there were not any later chances from Christians hands referring to the 5th vision.
