Editing Ezra (section)

===The apocalyptic Ezra traditions===
The [[apocalypse|apocalyptic]] [[2 Esdras|fourth book of Ezra]] (also sometimes called the 'second book of Esdras' or the 'third book of Esdras') was written c. CE 100, probably in [[Judeo-Aramaic languages|Judeo-Aramaic]], but now survives in Latin, Slavonic and Ethiopic. In this book, Ezra has a seven part prophetic revelation, converses with an [[angel]] of God three times and has four visions. Ezra, thirty years into the Babylonian Exile (4 Ezra 3:1 / 2 Esdras 1:1), recounts the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|siege of Jerusalem]] and the destruction of [[Solomon's Temple]].<ref name="BrillPauly" /> The central theological themes are "the question of theodicy, God's justness in the face of the triumph of the heathens over the pious, the course of world history in terms of the teaching of the four kingdoms,<ref>{{bibleverse||Daniel|2:1|HE}}, {{bibleverse||Daniel|7:1|HE}}, {{bibleverse||Daniel|8:1|HE}}</ref> the function of the law, the eschatological judgment, the appearance on Earth of the heavenly Jerusalem, the [[Messianic Age|Messianic Period]], at the end of which the [[Messiah]] will die,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120712081932/http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Kjv4Ezr.sgm&images=images%2Fmodeng&data=%2Ftexts%2Fenglish%2Fmodeng%2Fparsed&tag=public&part=7&division=div2|archive-date=12 July 2012|url-status=dead|title=4 Ezra OR 2 Esdras, from The holy Bible, King James version (Apocrypha)|access-date=15 March 2010}}</ref> the end of this world and the coming of the next, and [[Last Judgment|the Last Judgment]]."<ref name="BrillPauly" /> Ezra restores the law that was destroyed with the burning of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]]. He dictates 24 books for the public (i.e. the Hebrew Bible) and another 70 for the wise alone (70 unnamed revelatory works).<ref name="cox">Howard H. Cox, ''The Pentateuch: History Or Story?'', p. 101</ref> At the end, he is taken up to [[heaven]] like Enoch and [[Elijah]].<ref name="BrillPauly" /> Ezra is seen as a new Moses in this book.<ref name="BrillPauly" />

There is also another work, thought to be influenced by this one, known as the ''[[Greek Apocalypse of Ezra]]''.