The Greek Apocalypse of Ezra is a Christian text that describes the Old Testament sage Ezra's meeting with the Archangel Michael, who gives Ezra (or in Greek, "Esdras") a series of revelations. The text is different than the books of 1, 2, and 3 Esdras, and as well as the book found in Biblical Apocryphas called 4 Esdras (Vulgate) / 2 Esdras (Protestant) / 3 Esdras (Slavic). However, the Apocalypse of Ezra appears based in part on 4 Esdras (dated to c. 90-218 AD.).
The Apocalypse of Ezra reminds me of the Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which are dated to c. 1st century AD - 380 AD. In the Testaments, the Old Testament Patriarchs meet the Archangel Michael who gave them revelations. It also bears similar to the Apocalypse of Shedrach (c.100-500 AD), in which the exiled Jewish youth Shedrach meets Jesus, who gives him revelations.
M.E. Stone writes in his introduction to the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra (in Charlesworth's Old Testament Pseudepigrapha book) that it bears similarity to the Greek Apocalypse of Ioannis, which he quotes in his passage below:
The Apocalypse of Ezra was written in Greek with elements of "Late Greek", a dialect used from about the late 2nd century AD until about the late 7th century AD according to Wikipedia. Patriarch Nicephorus in c.850 labeled what he called the "Apocalypse of Ezra" as apocryphal.
With the above information in mind, I can date the Apocalypse of Esdras to somewhere from c.150 AD to c.800 AD based on the use of "Late Greek". But this is so general and broad. Do you think that you can make a more specific estimate for its period of writing?
You can read M.E. Stone's translation and introduction to it, starting on p. 561 in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by James H. Charlesworth, online here: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
You can read Schaff's translation online here:
ANF08. The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementia, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents, Remains of the First - Christian Classics Ethereal Library
The Apocalypse of Ezra reminds me of the Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which are dated to c. 1st century AD - 380 AD. In the Testaments, the Old Testament Patriarchs meet the Archangel Michael who gave them revelations. It also bears similar to the Apocalypse of Shedrach (c.100-500 AD), in which the exiled Jewish youth Shedrach meets Jesus, who gives him revelations.
M.E. Stone writes in his introduction to the Greek Apocalypse of Ezra (in Charlesworth's Old Testament Pseudepigrapha book) that it bears similarity to the Greek Apocalypse of Ioannis, which he quotes in his passage below:
Unfortunately, I didn't find when the Greek Apocalypse of Ioannis was written.The description of the physiognomy of the Antichrist is to be found in a series of different sources. Most similar to the Apocalypse of Ezra (4:29-32) is the description in the Greek Apocalypse of Ioannis (according to Tischendorf, Apocalypses Apocryphae):
"The appearance of his face is gloomy; the hairs of his hand are sharp as missiles, his eyebrows like those of a wild man, his right eye like the star which rises at dawn and the other like that of a lion; his mouth (ias as wide) as one cubit..."
This description draws upon the same source as the Apocalypse of Ezra, and apparently not on the Apocalypse of Ezra itself.
The Apocalypse of Ezra was written in Greek with elements of "Late Greek", a dialect used from about the late 2nd century AD until about the late 7th century AD according to Wikipedia. Patriarch Nicephorus in c.850 labeled what he called the "Apocalypse of Ezra" as apocryphal.
With the above information in mind, I can date the Apocalypse of Esdras to somewhere from c.150 AD to c.800 AD based on the use of "Late Greek". But this is so general and broad. Do you think that you can make a more specific estimate for its period of writing?
You can read M.E. Stone's translation and introduction to it, starting on p. 561 in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, edited by James H. Charlesworth, online here: The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
You can read Schaff's translation online here:
ANF08. The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementia, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents, Remains of the First - Christian Classics Ethereal Library
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