Английская Википедия:Ethiopic Apocalypse of Ezra

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Файл:Ethiopic Apocalypse of Ezra.jpg
Halévy's transcription of the start of the Apocalypse

The Ethiopic Apocalypse of Ezra,[1] also called the Falasha Apocalypse of Ezra,[2] is an apocalypse written in Geʿez (Ethiopic) that circulated among the Beta Israel (Falasha) and foretold the divine destruction of Islam.

Textual history

The Apocalypse, or at least its second part,Шаблон:Sfn appears to be an original composition in Ethiopic.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn As it stands, it is a Jewish text with heavy Christian influences.Шаблон:Sfn For example, it calls the Messiah the Word and quotes from the New Testament.Шаблон:Sfn Richard Bauckham considers it "a de-christianized version of an originally Christian text",Шаблон:Sfn a view shared by Steven Kaplan.Шаблон:Sfn

The text begins, "This is what God said to Ezra."Шаблон:Sfn It is a piece of pseudepigrapha and not an authentic work of the biblical Ezra.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn It draws its inspiration and its view of Ezra as a prophet from the apocryphal book 4 Ezra.Шаблон:Sfn It also depends on the Book of Jubilees and 1 Enoch.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn New Testament books used include Matthew, 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians.Шаблон:Sfn

Joseph Halévy acquired a manuscript from a Jewish debtera in 1867. It was considered a sacred text by the Beta Israel at the time.Шаблон:Sfn He published a transcription of the Ethiopic textШаблон:Sfn with a French translationШаблон:Sfn and an introduction.Шаблон:Sfn Two other manuscripts of the text are Ethiopic MSS 27.7 and 61.1 in the British Museum.Шаблон:Sfn A version can also be found in the collection of Jacques Faitlovitch, now in Tel Aviv. The questions of the provenance and date of the Apocalypse can only be answered after the publication of a critical edition.Шаблон:Sfn

Synopsis

The Apocalypse has two clear parts. The first is an account of the last judgment and the resurrection of the dead in Jewish eschatology.Шаблон:Sfn It describes how Raphael will sound his trumpet and the dead will be raised to judgement. The just will see God's face and the wicked will be dragged by the angel Bernael to the throne of God, who will hand them over to Temlyakos, the angel of Gehenna.Шаблон:Sfn

The second part begins with Ezra fasting in the desert until Uriel gives him a drink like fire that reveals to him the future history of the world.Шаблон:Sfn This history is presented from creation until the end times, with special emphasis on the Ethiopian kings and the destruction of the Ishmaelites (Muslims) by the Messiah. Since the kings are unnamed and only initials are given, only King Lalibela (Шаблон:Reign) is identifiable from reference to his rock-hewn churches.Шаблон:Sfn

Under Lalibela, there will be abundance and peace. Under his successor, Ye (perhaps Yetbarak or Na'akueto La'ab), there will be perjury, famine, pestilence and death.Шаблон:Sfn Slaves will be sold to the Ishmaelites, who will reign for 700 years until a son of a lion, the Messiah of the house of David, arises. He will lead the nine tribes that were exiled by King Shalmaneser V (according to 1 Kings), kill the Ishmaelites and reign for forty years. Then he will go into hiding. Gog and Magog and a certain Guga will rampage and a false messiah, the devil, will reign for three years, six months and three days before God strikes him down to Sheol.Шаблон:Sfn

Because of its concern with Muslim rule, Lisbeth Fried calls it "a polemic against the Muslim invasion"Шаблон:Sfn and a "political apocalypse".Шаблон:Sfn Its tone, however, is less strident than the comparable Syriac Apocalypse of Ezra.Шаблон:Sfn

Notes

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Bibliography

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  1. Also spelled Esdras, as in Шаблон:Harvnb.
  2. Шаблон:Harvnb. It is called the Falasha Book of Ezra in Шаблон:Harvnb.