1 Esdras
'Esdras’ is the Greek equivalent of ‘Ezra’, and much of this book is a retelling of the book of Ezra in the Old Testament. It covers much of the same material, but with some differences. It opens with events that occur before the opening of Ezra and has an additional parable concerning Zorobabel (Zerubbabel). Like the book of Ezra, the author is unknown, and Esdras is probably a fictitious character created to act out certain happenings which were known vaguely to have taken place.
Most translations of the Old Testament were based on Hebrew text. The Apocrypha, however, was translated from the Greek. Names appear here as they are found in the Apocrypha with the equivalent Hebrew names in brackets - where they are different - after the first mention of that name.
1. King Josiah commands the Levites to set the ark inside the temple in Jerusalem and gives thirty thousand lambs to the people, priests, and Levites, for Passover. King Josiah dies after waging war with Egyptian forces. Josiah is succeeded by his son Joachaz (Johanan), then Joacim (Jehoiakim). Judah is sacked by the Babylonians and Chaldeans. These enemies are sent by God (and ‘spare neither young man nor maid, old man nor child’) because of transgressions of God’s law. Those not slain are ‘carried unto Babylon’ as slaves.
2. Cyrus, the Persian King, returns over five thousand items of gold and silver that were plundered from Jerusalem, together with many exiles. A group of officials write to the new king Artexerxes (Artaxerxes) saying that Jerusalem is a wicked and rebellious city and rebuilding should be discouraged. Artexerxes agrees and reconstruction stops.
3. Darius holds a feast for his subjects, his household, the governors of his provinces and neighboring princes. Three of the king’s guards decide that each should write a sentence and that the king should judge which sentence is the wisest. The first writes ‘Wine is strongest.’ The second writes ‘The king is the strongest.’ The third guard, Zorobabel (Zerubbabel), writes ‘Women are the strongest; but above all things Truth beareth away the victory.’ Darius calls the governors and princes together and the three guards are asked to substantiate their views. The first states that wine is strongest because it causes all men to err and reduces them to the same level.
4. The second guard who had spoken on the strength of the king offers examples of kingly power such as: when the king commands his soldiers to go to war, they go to war, and if the soldiers are victorious, the victory is the king’s. The third guard, Zorobabel, who spoke of women and of truth, then offers his reasoning. He states his case by saying that all are born of women, even the king; that all men desire women more than silver or gold (not true); a man leaves his father to join a wife (not always); and that he has seen the king’s mistress rebuke him, showing women's power over even the king. Then Zorobabel turns his attention to the truth, saying that truth is stronger still and that ‘all works shake and tremble at it’. He goes on to say that wine is wicked, the king is wicked, women are wicked, and that ‘in their unrighteousness … they shall perish’. He ends with ‘Blessed be the God of truth’. The king finds Zorobabel the wisest of the three guards (very unlikely after being reduced in stature by Zorobabel's revelation and being called wicked). Zorobabel takes this opportunity to remind the king of his promise to rebuild Jerusalem. Darius orders the rebuilding to commence and grants liberty to all who return to Jerusalem to participate.
5-9. These chapters retell the story of the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem from the Old Testament book of Ezra.
This unlikely parable starts well but degenerates into zealotry. When Zorobabel talks of 'truth' he means, of course, his particular brand of it.
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