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Introduction
First
Esdras belongs to a type of literature known as the “Rewritten
Bible.” As its name suggests this kind of literature is a retelling
or a paraphrase of some biblical account or book. First Esdras
retells the story of 2 Chronicles 35-36, the book of Ezra, and
Nehemiah 8. The story includes the “Tale of Three Guards” (which we
will return to in a moment). The relationship of 1 Esdras to the
Hebrew Bible can be illustrated in the following manner:
1 Esdras 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Chronicles
35-36
1 Esdras 2. 1-15 . . . . . . . . . . . . Ezra 1
1 Esdras 2.16-30 . . . . . . . . . . . . Ezra 4.7-24a
1 Esdras 3.1-5.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . -----------
1 Esdras 5.7-73 . . . . . . . . . . . . Ezra 2.1-4.5
1 Esdras 6.1-9.36 . . . . . . . . . . . Ezra 4.24b-10.44
1 Esdras 9.37-55 . . . . . . . . . . . Nehemiah
7.73b-8.13
First
Esdras was written in either Hebrew or Aramaic but survives only in
translation. The ancient translations that have come down to us
include two Greek versions, two Latin versions, one Ethiopic, and one
Syriac version (cf. Jacob M. Myers, The Anchor Bible: I and II
Esdras, pp. 5-7). The date of 1 Esdras is difficult to determine
but most scholars date it within the second century B.C.
Purpose of First Esdras
The
purpose of 1 Esdras is tied up in the way it retells the story found
in Chronicles and Ezra. The author, as the above chart showed,
rearranged the canonical material – even omitting and adding a
significant story not found in the parallel in the Hebrew Bible. The
big “addition” is the story of the Three Guards which serves to
highlight the person of Zerubbabel and the corresponding overshadowing
of Nehemiah. The use of the court tale creates opportunity for
Zerubbabel to have success at the court of the Persian king.
Nehemiah’s achievement seems to be attributed to Zerubbabel, but why?
Possibly because Zerubbabel is of the line of David and the one who is
celebrated in the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (who are likewise
mentioned in 1 Esdras). The motivation for elevating Zerubbabel, as
deSilva (Introducing the Apocrypha, p. 287) suggests, is to
give a sense that the Davidic dynasty has not ended. Thus in
Zerubbabel’s success there was, in some sense, a restoration of the
“booth of David that is fallen.”
The
Contest of the Three Guards
This
story resonates with other wisdom tales in which in which the point is
to arrive at what one thing is strongest, hardest, or most excellent.
The story is so good we will reproduce part of it. We pick up where
the narrator tells us that Darius has thrown a great banquet. Darius
has enough of the party and has gone to bed but cannot sleep:
Then
the three young men of the bodyguard, who kept guard over the person
of the king, said to one another, “Let each of us state what one
thing is strongest; and to the one whose statement seems wisest,
King Darius will give rich gifts and great honors of victory. He
shall be clothed in purple, and drink from gold cups, and sleep on a
gold bed, and have a chariot with gold bridles, and a turban of fine
linen, and a necklace around his neck; and because of his wisdom he
shall sit next to Darius and shall be called Kinsman of Darius.”
“Then each wrote his own statement, and they sealed them and put
them under the pillow of King Darius, and said, “When the king wakes,
they will give the writing; and to the one whose statement the king
and the three nobles of Persia judge to be wisest the victory shall
according to what is written. The first wrote, “Wine is strongest.”
The second wrote, “The king is strongest.” The third wrote, “Women
are strongest, but above all things truth is victor. . . .”
[We shall skip down to Zerubbabel’s discourse on women and truth]
“Then
the third, who had spoken of women and truth (and this was
Zerubbabel), began to speak: “Gentlemen, is not the king great, and
are not men many, and is not wine strong? Who is it, then, that
rules them, or has the mastery over them? Is it not women? Women
gave birth to the king and to every people that rules over sea and
land. From women they came; and women brought up the very men who
plant the vineyards from which comes wine. Women make men’s
clothes; they bring men glory; men cannot exist without women. If
men gather gold and silver or any other beautiful thing, and then
see a woman lovely in appearance and beauty, they let all
those things go, and gape at her, and all prefer her to gold or
silver . . . A man leaves his own father, who brought him up, and
his own country, and clings to his wife . . . Therefore you must
realize that women rule over you!”
[Skipping down a few verses, Zerubbabel turns to the subject of truth]
“Then
the king and the nobles looked at one another; and he began to speak
about truth: “Gentlemen, are not women strong? The earth is vast,
and heaven is high, and the sun is swift in its course, for it makes
the circuit of the heavens and returns to its place in one day. Is
not the one who does these things great? But truth is great, and
stronger than all things. The whole earth calls upon truth, and
heaven blesses her. All God’s works quake and tremble, and with him
there is nothing unrighteous. Wine is unrighteous, the king is
unrighteous, all human beings are unrighteous, all their works are
unrighteous, and all such things. There is no truth in them and in
their unrighteousness they will perish. But truth endures and is
strong forever, and lives and prevails forever and ever. . . .
Blessed be the God of truth!” When he stopped speaking, all the
people shouted and said, “Great is the truth and strongest of
all!”
This
moral tale is justly famous. Indeed, the last statement, “Great is
the truth and strongest of all” (1 Esdras 4.41) is quoted by
Alexander Campbell in his masthead on the Millennial Harbinger
for thirty years.
Influence of First Esdras
First
Esdras is first noticed as a writing with influence in the historian
Josephus. Josephus used 1 Esdras as his source of material for
telling the history of the Jews during the time of Ezra (Antiquities
10:4:5-5:2 and 11:1:1-5:5). Josephus, as noted previously, also
used the Greek version of Esther in recounting Israel’s history.
First
Esdras was quoted widely in the first four centuries of the Christian
Church (see Myers, I and II Esdras, pp. 17-19 for some
references). Though a variety of texts from 1 Esdras were appealed to
by authors like Justin, Clement of Alexandria, and Chrysostom the most
popular of all was Zerubbabel’s discourse on truth.
Questions
to Reflect On
1) What
surprised you about this book?
2) Did
you hear an “emphasis” in 1 Esdras that appears later in the NT?
3) Did
you find anything edifying in 1 Esdras? Anything that encouraged you
in your walk with God?
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