2 Esdras / 4 Ezra

The most sublime of the Jewish apocalypses — a seven-vision dialogue between Ezra and God, wrestling with the justice of God after the destruction of Jerusalem. Canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.|||Survives in Latin, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic (two independent versions), and Armenian. All derive from a lost Greek version, itself made from a Hebrew original.|||Core composed in Hebrew around 100 CE. Later edited and expanded by a redactor around 120 CE, in the early reign of Hadrian.|||Ethiopian Orthodox: Canonical (Izra Sutuel). Eastern Orthodoxy: part of the canon in some traditions. Roman Catholic: not canonical (Vulgate appendix). Protestant: Old Testament Apocrypha. Jewish: not canonical.|||Theodicy: one of the most profound Jewish reflections on suffering and divine justice. Messianism: develops the Son of Man figure. Rabbinic-apocalyptic fusion.|||Stone, M. E. Fourth Ezra: A Commentary on the Book of Fourth Ezra. Fortress Press, 1990.|||Box, G. H. " IV Ezra." In APOT 2:542–624.|||Charlesworth, J. H., ed. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1. Doubleday, 1983.|||4 Ezra — Early Jewish Writings|https://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/4ezra.html|Full translation and scholarly resources.;; 2 Esdras — Wikipedia|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Esdras|Background and scholarly discussion.|||" For the world has lost its youth, and the times are growing old." — 4 Ezra 14:10