Before Jerusalem Fell

Tb Contempora~ Integtip of the Temple 187
Box, J. M. Myers, Robinson, and Bruce M. Metzger.87 Such a date
rests upon solid evidence. In 2 Esdras 3:1 we read: “In the thirtieth
year after the downfall of the City I Salathiel – who am also
Ezra – was in Babylon, and as I lay on my bed I was disquieted.”
Of this statement it can be noted that “we are, therefore, justified in
concluding that the date, like other features in S, was intended to
bear a typical significance, and that it typifies the thirtieth year after
the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, i.e., the year 100 A.D. Consequently
S maybe regarded as having been originally written and put
forth in 100 A.D.”W
In 2 Esdras, the writer is greatly troubled by the destruction of
Jerusalem and the wealth of Rome (cryptically designated “Babylon”).
2 Esdras 3:2K reads: “I was troubled as I lay on my bed, and
my thoughts welled up in my heart, because I saw the desolation of
Zion and the wealth of those who lived in Babylon. My spirit was
greatly agitated, and I began to speak anxious words to the Most
High.” Afiter noting God’s justice upon Adam’s sin (3:4f.), upon the
wicked in Noah’s day (3:8ff. ), and upon Egypt (3: 17ff.), he asks:
“Then I said in my heart, Are the deeds of those who inhabit Babylon
any better? Is that why she has gained dominion over Zion? For
when I came here I saw ungodly deeds without number, and my
soul has seen many sinners during these thirty years.” The writer
laments the historical fact that Rome inhabits Jerusalem and Israel
has been overthrown. This lamentation of Israel’s fate occupies his
attention from 3:1 through 5:19.
A work very similar to 2 Esdras in many respects is the Jewish
work 2 Baruch. It is probably to be dated in the second or third
decade of the second century.89 In 2 Baruch 1:1-5 the author opens
with a “prophecy” of the “coming” destruction of Jerusalem that is
explained as a divine means of chastening Israel. This EX eventu
“prophecy” illustrates the significance of Jerusalem’s demise to the
early Jews, the first persecutors of Christianity.
In Sibylline Oracles 4 (“a political oracle from the Hellenistic age
87. G. H. Box, The E2ra-Apoca~@e (London: Pitman, 1912), p. xxix. J. M. Myers, Z
and 11 Esdra.r: Introduction, Translation and ComnwntaV. Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY
Doubleday, 1974), pp. 129ff. Robinson, Reahting, pp. 247, 315. M. Metzger, “The Fourth
Book of Ezra,” in OTP 1:520.
88. Box, E,zra-Apoca~@e, p. xxix.
89. A. F. J. Klijn, “2 (Syriac Apaalypse of) Baruch,” in OTP 1:617.