Глава 10

A wife's account of the sudden death of her son during marriage and her grief (1–4). Ezra's denunciation of his wife for forgetting public disaster for the sake of family grief (5-24). The sudden disappearance of the wife and the appearance in her place of a fortified city (25–27). Ezra's prayer for the interpretation of the vision (28–37). Explanation of the vision of the Angel as applied to Jerusalem at different periods of its existence (38–57). The promise of new revelation (58–60). 3Ezra 10:1 But when my son entered into his bridal chamber, he fell and died. 3Ezra 10:2 And we all knocked down the lamps, and all my fellow citizens rose up to comfort me, and I slept until the night of the next day. 3Ezra 10:3 When everyone stopped comforting me to leave me alone, I got up at night, ran and came, as you see, to this field. 3Ezra 10:4 And I think no longer to return to the city, but to stay here, neither eating nor drinking, but weeping and fasting unceasingly until I die. 1–4. Lamps in the East were a common feature of the wedding feast, since it took place at night (Matthew XXV:7). When there is intense grief, there is no place for tears and sobs. The mother, having lost her son, froze with grief and spent the whole day in this state. Volkmar tries to interpret all the details in his wife's story in relation to the first and second destruction of Jerusalem. The death of the son is a symbol of the first capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The darkness into which the house where the feast took place is immersed indicates the time of the Babylonian captivity. The calming of the wife under the influence of the consolations of the neighbors hints at the construction of the second church through the labors of Ezra and Nehemiah. After this, a whole period passes, embracing the apocalyptic day, night and day. Finally, the night of new destruction arrives. Citizens no longer try to console their wives. This is an allusion to the extreme despair of the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, which did not allow them to even dream of restoring the holy city. Volkmar's explanation suffers from extreme artificiality. A number of details, left uninterpreted by the author, were taken by the author from a ready-made story, which perhaps existed in written form. 3Ezra 10:5 Leaving the thoughts I was occupied with, I answered her angrily and said: 3Ezra 10:6 Oh, the maddest of all women! Don’t you see our sorrow and what has happened to us? 3Ezra 10:7 Why is Zion our mother grieved beyond measure, utterly humiliated, and weeping bitterly? 3Ezra 10:8 And now, while we all grieve and grieve, because everyone is sad, will you grieve for your one son? 7–8. The wife's grief over family grief should recede into the background at the sight of the destruction of Jerusalem and be replaced by even more burning grief on the occasion of a nationwide disaster. 3Ezra 10:9 Ask the earth, and it will tell you that it should mourn the fall of so many born on it; 3Ezra 10:10 For all those who were born from her from the beginning, and others who are to come, almost all perish, and a great multitude of them are given over to destruction. 9–10. The earth is a common mother, since all people came from it. She has much more reason to mourn, since most people died because of an evil heart that pushed them to sin. 3Ezra 10:11 So who should grieve more than she who has lost so much, and you who grieve for one? 3Ezra 10:12 If you say to me: “My cry is not like the cry of the earth, for I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I carried with sorrow and gave birth to in pain; 3Ezra 10:13 and the earth according to the nature of the earth; on it the real multitude both leaves and comes”: 3Ezra 10:14 And I will tell you that just as you gave birth with difficulty, so the earth gives its fruit to the man who tills it from the beginning. 14. “As you gave birth to a son with sorrow, so the earth gave to Him who created it (ei qui fecit eam) its fruit - man (fructum suum hominem).” 3Ezra 10:15 Therefore, now refrain from your grief and courageously endure the loss that has happened to you. 3Ezra 10:16 For if you accept the decree of God as righteous, then in due time you will receive a son, and you will be glorified among women. 16. It is difficult to say whether we are talking about the resurrection of a son, or simply predicting the birth of a new son, thanks to which she will be surrounded by her former glory. 3Ezra 10:17 So return to the city to your husband. 3Ezra 10:18 But she said, “I will not do this, I will not return to the city, but I will die here.” 3Ezra 10:19 Continuing to talk to her, I said: 3Ez.10:20 Do not do this, but listen to my advice. For how many troubles does Zion have? Comfort yourself for the sake of Jerusalem's sorrow. 3Ezra 10:21 For you see that our sanctuary is desolate, our altar is overthrown, our church is destroyed, 3Ezra 10:22 Our psalm is despised, our songs are silent, our joy is gone, the light of our lamp is extinguished, the ark of our covenant is plundered, our holy things are profaned, and the name that is given to us is almost desecrated, our children are disgraced, our priests are beaten, our Levites are carried away into captivity, our maidens are defiled, our wives are violated, our righteous carried away, our youths perished, our youths in slavery, our mighty ones exhausted; 3Ezra 10:23 and what is most painful of all, the banner of Zion is deprived of its glory, because it is delivered into the hands of those who hate us. 21–23. The burning sorrow that is felt behind the author’s words prompts us to see in them an echo of the second destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, of which the author was an eyewitness. Israel was called by the name of God. As you know, the name Israel was given by God himself to Jacob and his descendants (Gen. XXXII:28). In Latin, instead of a banner, we speak of the seal (signaculum) of Zion, which has been taken away from its former glory and which is in the hands of the pagans. Here the state seal, as a symbol of Jerusalem’s independence, is destroyed. The transfer of a ring with the state seal meant the transfer of power to its new owner (Gen. XLI:42; Esther III:10; VIII:2; 1 Mac VI:15). Hilgenfeld unfairly puts forward this detail as evidence that Jerusalem and the church continued to exist at the time of writing and had only fallen under Roman rule. Since the above clearly speaks of the destruction of the city, the burning of the church and the dispersion of the Jews, there is no sufficient reason to give preference to this general comment over a detailed picture. The mention of the Ark of the Covenant cannot be seen as evidence that the author means here the first destruction of Jerusalem (Merx. Protestantische Kirchenzeitung, 1863, No. 37. S. 826–827. Hilgenfeld. Messias Judaeorum, 80). True, there was no Ark of the Covenant in the second church. However, the secondary position given to the Ark of the Covenant among other items of the church indicates that the author does not at all associate with it the central significance that it occupied in the ancient Jewish cult, before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. 3Ezra 10:24 Therefore leave your great sorrow, and put aside your many sorrows, so that the Mighty One may have mercy on you, and the Most High may grant you peace and relief from your labors. 3Ezra 10:25 At these words of mine to her, her face and gaze suddenly shone, and behold, her appearance became brilliant, so that I, frightened by her, wondered what it would be like. 25. Rev. XXI:9-XXII:5; XII:1–2. 3Ezra 10:26 And behold, she suddenly let out such a loud and such a terrible sound of a voice that the earth shook at the sound of the woman. 3Ezra 10:27 And I saw, and behold, the woman appeared to me no more, but a city was being built, and its place was marked out on extensive foundations, and I, terrified, cried out loudly and said: 27. Eastern translations speak of a city already created, built up with buildings (civitas aedificata). The heavenly Jerusalem is transferred to earth in a completely finished form (XII:44), without the participation of human hands. 3Ezra 10:28 Where is the angel Uriel, who came to me at the beginning? for he led me into such a frenzy of mind, in which the purpose of my striving disappeared, and my prayer turned into reproach. 3Ezra 10:29 While I was saying this, he came to me; 3Ez.10:30 and he saw me, and behold, I lay as if dead and unconscious; he took me by the right hand, strengthened me and, putting me on my feet, said to me: 28–30. The author wanted to know the future fate of Israel (IX:29–37). Instead of answering, he contemplates a vision that the limited human mind is powerless to unravel. Thus, all his prayers were in vain, since the vision did not achieve its goal, but only plunged the prophet into even greater horror at the unknown fate awaiting the Jewish people. He falls to the ground as if dead, and consciousness leaves him. Then painful efforts begin to comprehend the meaning of what happened. 3Ezra 10:31 What is the matter with you? Why are your mind and the feelings of your heart confused? Why are you embarrassed? 3Ezra 10:32 Because, I answered him, you left me, and I, doing according to your words, went out into the field, and now I saw and still see what I cannot tell. 3Ezra 10:33 And he said to me: Stand strong, and I will explain it to you. 3Ezra 10:34 Speak to me, my lord, I said, but do not leave me, so that I do not die in vain; 1Ezra 10:35 For I have seen what I did not know, and I have heard what I do not know. 3Ezra 10:36 Does my sense deceive me, or does my soul dream in a dream? 3Ezra 10:37 Therefore I ask you to explain to me, your servant, this frenzy of my mind. Answering me, he said: 1Ezra 10:38 Listen to me, and I will teach you, and I will explain to you what has frightened you: for the Most High will reveal to you many secrets. 3Ezra 10:39 He sees your right way, that you grieve continually for your people and are greatly saddened for Zion. 3Ezra 10:40 This is the meaning of the vision that appeared to you before this: 3Ezra 10:41 the woman whom you saw crying and tried to console, 3Ezra 10:42 which later became invisible, but the city that was being built appeared to you, 3Ezra 10:43 and who told you about the death of her son, this is what it means: 3Ezra 10:44 the woman whom you saw is Zion. And what did she tell you, whom you saw as a city just being built, 3Ezra 10:45 that she was barren for thirty years, this indicates that for thirty years no sacrifice had yet been made in Zion. 45. The printed text of the Vulgate defines the time during which no sacrifice was made in Zion as 30 years. This reading is accepted by Wieseler (285–286), noting the mystical significance given to this figure elsewhere in the book (III:1). In his opinion, the author is referring to the years that elapsed from the capture of Jerusalem by David from the Jebusites to the founding of Solomon's temple. Jerusalem became the city of God only under David. However, the desire noted here to draw a complete parallel between the years of barrenness of wives and the time when Zion remained without sacrifices does not allow us to recognize this reading as the original one. It was only an unsuccessful attempt to put meaning into the dark expression of the ancient Latin text: “three years according to the century” (anni seculo tres). Eastern translations say 3,000 years. It is possible that the Latin translator associated with the word “age” the idea of ​​simply a vast period of time, just as he uses it to designate the present and future life. “Three days” is used in apocalyptic writing in a mysterious sense. Van der Ulis, Gfrerer (II, 73) and Lieke (175-176) in the types of agreement between the Latin text and Eastern translations combine the current reading of the Vulgate with the reading of manuscripts and suggest that the author speaks of 30 centuries (anni seculo triginta). Most researchers are inclined to favor the eastern translations, seeing here an indication of the number of years that elapsed from the creation of the world to the construction of Solomon's Temple (Gutschmid, Hilgenfeld, Volkmar, Wellhausen, Gunkel). Since the figure indicated by the author diverges from the calculation of both the Greek Bible, where it is determined at 4,227 years, and the Hebrew, where it is reduced to 3,146 years, we have to assume that the author followed the chronological system of Josephus and Christian chroniclers. Josephus counts from the creation of the world to the flood 1,656 years, from the flood to Abraham 365, from Abraham to the exit from Egypt 430 and from Moses to the building of the church 592 years. Thus, from the creation of the world to the construction of the first church, 3,043 years passed. If we assume that the author, based on the book of Genesis (XV:13; cf. 3 Ezra VII:28), considers the time of the Egyptian captivity to be 400 years, then the entire figure is reduced to 3,013 years. 3Ezra 10:46 And at the end of thirty years the barren woman gave birth to a son: this was when Solomon created the city and offered sacrifices. 46. The construction of Jerusalem and the church is attributed to Solomon. This error is explained by the fact that in the author’s mind the city of God was inseparable from the church. Only the construction of the temple by Solomon gave Jerusalem the significance of a permanent political and religious center for Palestine. In this sense, Solomon could be called the founder of Jerusalem. During his peaceful reign, the city was decorated with rich buildings and far surpassed in its splendor the fortress taken by David from the Jebusites. 3Ezra 10:47 And what she told you, that she brought him up with difficulty, was that he lived in Jerusalem. 47. Raising her son, which cost the mother much work, is compared with the life that was in full swing in Jerusalem before its fall. The difficulties with which its existence was associated are explained, on the one hand, by frequently repeated cases of people drifting into idolatry, and on the other, by attacks from enemies and internal unrest that more than once threatened the further existence of the city. 3Ezra 10:48 And that her son, as she told you, when he entered her palace, fell and died, this was the fall of Jerusalem. 3Ezra 10:49 And behold, you saw her likeness, and how she grieved for her son, you tried to console her for what had happened: it was necessary to reveal this to you. 3Ezra 10:50 Now the Most High, seeing that you grieve in soul and grieve with all your heart for him, showed you the brightness of his glory and his beauty. 3Ezra 10:51 For this reason I commanded you to live in a field where there is no house. 3Ezra 10:52 I knew that the Most High would show you this; 3 Ezra 10:53 For this reason I commanded that you come to the field where the foundation of a building was not laid. 3Ezra 10:54 For the work of human creation could not exist where the city of the Most High began to appear. 51–54. The doctrine of the heavenly Jerusalem descending to earth without the participation of human hands appeared in Judaism after its second destruction (Gfrorer, I, 74–75). Seeing here Jerusalem, built by the works of Ezra and Nehemiah (Shavrov, 113), does not allow the prevailing belief among the Jews that the second Jerusalem was only a weak shadow of the first. 3Ezra 10:55 Fear not therefore, neither let thine heart be afraid, but go in and see the brightness and splendor of creation as far as thine eyes can see. 3Ezra 10:56 After this you will hear as much as your ears can hear. 55–56. The dazzling picture of heavenly Jerusalem that opens before the eyes of Ezra so surpasses the limits of human perception that he can give himself an account only of a certain part of what he saw and heard. The rest remains inaccessible to him (cf. 2 Cor. XII:4; 1 Cor. II:9). 3Ezra 10:57 You are more blessed than many and called to the Most High like few. 3Ed.10:58 Stay here tomorrow night, 3Ezra 10:59 and the Most High will show you a vision of the mighty works that He will do for the inhabitants of the earth in the last days. 3Ezra 10:60 And I slept that night and the next, as he commanded me.