db95b 4th Ezra & the Son of Man: The Similitudes

of
Enoch was
not by any
means the only first-century
Jewish text other than the Gospels
in which the Son of Man was identified as the Messiah.

In another text from the same time as the Similitudes & the Gospel of Mark, the apocalypse known as 4th Ezra,
we also find a divine figure based on Dani'el 7 & identified with the Messiah. Fascinatingly enough, we also find evidence in this text for yet another attempt to suppress this religious idea, thus adding to our evidence that the idea was controversial among Jews entirely outside of the question of Jesus' divinity & Messiahship. This text is, as we shall see, dependent as well on Daniel 7 & provides us with one more option for an interpretation of the Son of Man figure that is important for understanding the Gospels. In chapter 13 of that text, we meet the Danielic one like a son of man once again. in some ways the Son of Man figure in 4th Ezra
is even closer to the one of the Gospels
than the version of Enoch:

AFTER SEVEN DAYS
I DREAMED A DREAM IN THE NIGHT;
AND BEHOLD A GREAT WIND AROSE FROM THE SEA
SO THAT IT STIRRED UP
ALL IT'S WAVES!

AND I LOOKED,
AND BEHOLD, THIS WIND MADE SOMETHING LIKE THE FIGURE OF A MAN COME OUT OF THE HEAT OF THE SEA.

AND I LOOKED, AND BEHOLD,
THAT MAN FLEW WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN; AND WHEREVER HE TURNED HIS FACE TO LOOK, EVERYTHING UNDER HIS GAZE TREMBLED, AND WHEREVER THE VOICE OF HIS MOUTH ISSUED FORTH, ALL WE HEARD HIS VOICE MELTED
AS WAX MELTS WHEN IT FEELS THE FIRE.

AFTER THIS I LOOKED, AND BEHOLD,
AN INNUMERABLE MULTITUDE OF MEN WERE GATHERED TOGETHER FROM THE FOUR WINDS OF HEAVEN TO MAKE WAR AGAINST THE MAN WHO CAME UP OUT OF THE SEA. AND I LOOKED, AMD BEHOLD, HE CARVED OUT FOR HIMSELF A GREAT MOUNTAIN, AND FLEW UPON IT. AND I TRIED TO SEE THE REGION OF PLACE FROM WHICH THE MOUNTAIN WAS CARVED,
BUT I COULD NOT.

AFTER THIS I LOOKED,
AND BEHOLD, ALL WHO HAD GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST HIM,
TO WAGE WAR WITH HIM, WERE MUCH AFRAID,
YET DARED TO FIGHT.

AND WHEN HE SAW THE ONRUSH
OF THE APPROACHING MULTITUDE,
HE NEITHER LIFTED HIS HAND NOR HELD A SWORD OR ANY OTHER WEAPON OF WAR;
BUT SAW ONLY HOW HE SENT FORTH FROM HIS MOUTH
AS IT WERE A STREAM OF FIRE, AND FROM HIS LIPS
A FLAMING BREATH, AND FROM
HIS TONGUE HE SHOT
FORTH A STORM
OF FIERY
COALS
~~~
26 jan 2013 - bewerkt op 26 jan 2013 - meld ongepast verhaal
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