The Syriac Apocalypse of Esdras
If the original text of the book is chiefly concerned with the rule of Islam, and assuming that its original language is Syriac, then it would seem to have come into existence at some time early in the conquest of the Syriac-speaking regions of the ancient Levant by the power of Islam. Permanent occupation of this area was effected during the second half of the 7th century AD; but if this “chief concern” is in fact an interpolation—however long—into a Greek work predating the Muslim conquest, then we may have here to do with the lower (as opposed to the upper) limits of invention for the Syriac Revelation of Ezra.
1 Again, through God I write about the question that Ezra the scribe asked when he was in the desert with his disciple whose name was Carpos.
2 He asked God to reveal to him the things that are going to happen in the end times. Then he said to Carpos his disciple, "Listen, my son Carpos, and I will tell you about the end times. It happened suddenly, in the manner of a dreadful vision. I asked God to explain to you the end times of the Ishmaelites. Then I saw a young man, one like whom I had never seen, wearing white clothing, and he had
the figure of a scroll in his right hand. He answered and said to me, 'Behold! Your prayer has been heard before God, and I have been sent to explain to you the end times of the children of Ishmael, that which has been concealed from many. Open this book of the scroll and read in it and see what is about to happen in the end times.'
3 I opened the scroll and I read about the times and the terrors that are going to come. My tears flowed with groans and I said, 'Have mercy on me, God, and have mercy on your creation,' for a serpent of the desert had devoured them. I saw twelve horns on the serpent's head, and nine small and cruel horns on its tail that came up from the desert, contending against all creation under heaven and oppressing the people of God. Then I saw an angel, clothed in a flame of fire, who descended from heaven and tore the twelve great horns from the serpent's head.
4 Then I said 'I believe in you, Lord; because today the prophecy of Moses is fulfilled.' The angel of the Lord said to me, 'Take heart, Ezra, because it was also revealed to Daniel about the nine small and cruel horns.'
5 Then I saw one great horn suddenly spring up on the tail of the serpent, and there were two small horns on its head. An eagle came from the south and broke the great horn and devoured the small ones. The world was filled with darkness and a whirlwind, and the whirlwind struck the eagle and tore out its two talons. Then there was a voice from heaven that said, 'The eagle will be recompensed according to its reward.'
6 Then I saw a viper that came from the east. It poured poison on all flesh and went up to the border of the Promise. There was a great earthquake and rumblings and thunders in heaven, and a voice from heaven was heard: 'Let those four kings who are bound on the great river Euphrates, those who are prepared to destroy one out of three people, be released.' They were released, and there was a great uproar.
7 Out of the darkness came ravens from the east, piercing the viper. The viper escaped to the borders of Egypt, and there it became despondent. It took its two chicks and crossed over to the right side. The younger chick came to the lion's whelp and took refuge with him. The lion's whelp received him joyfully, and the younger chick persuaded the lion's whelp to deliver him from those ravens that were seeking to devour him. The lion's whelp sent an ambassador to the leopard of the south so that he would come out to his aid, because the bull was troubling the land of the west with many evils, since he was the king of the ravens. He gnashed his teeth against the lion's whelp. There were three horns on his head; with the right one he makes war, with the left one he destroys, and with the one in the middle one he ravages. He will begin to ravage the children of his house, and he will gather gold and much silver, and he will begin to afflict all who are under his power. He will become arrogant and he will not glorify God. One of his horns will go and make war against the lion's whelp, and will ravage the rebellious fortresses. They will contend against each other and ravage each other, and much blood will be shed between the two mighty men. Then the bull
will devise an evil plot against the seven hills and the great city of Constantine, and he will contend with it, and much blood will be shed round about the city.
8 Then the viper's chick will take a great army from Thrace and from the upper ranks of the west, and he will enter in blood. The father of the younger chick will hear and he will gather a great nation from the Cushites and from the nations around them, and he will come to the aid of the chick and will ravage Egypt. Then the chick will come down from the Promised Land and he will ravage the
chief cities. He will leave them devoid of their inhabitants, because great iniquity was being perpetrated in them. He will throw the slain to the ground in heaps, and he will ravage Damascus at that time.
9 Then the lion's whelp will become inflamed with fierce anger, and he will go out after those ravens and ravage them and drive them out and destroy them from Syrian Antioch as far as the borders of the east, the land that belongs to the ravens. The leopard will go out from the north, and a great people like flying locusts will go out with him. He will go up to the Euphrates River and he will rise up in aid of the lion's whelp, and from there the two of them will go down to the land of Persia. The bull will go out to meet them with a great army, but the lion's whelp will go between the bull's horns and break both of them. He will ravage and plunder the land and burn it with fire. The ravens will flee from his presence and go down to their land. The lion's whelp will pursue them and will destroy them with the edge of the sword, because God has turned his face from them on account of their surpassing uncleanness. He will capture and plunder their land, and lay it waste down to the foundations. It will never again be inhabited, because they despised the Lord and made light of his commandments. There will be great tumult in the land—earthquakes and famines and plagues—and fear and trembling will rule over the people until they fall and die, without diseases or illnesses, from the fear that rules over them. The lion's whelp will go up with a great army to the Promised Land and will subject it to tribute, and there will be great tribulation in the land, the likes of which has never occurred. He will build walls around Phoenicia, and around the desolate places that are within it. He will lay Damascus waste down to its foundations, because it provoked the Most High. Then he will go up to Jerusalem with great pomp, and from there he will return and go up to his royal city.
10 After three and a half weeks a certain mighty man will come out of the south with a great nation, and his power will go forth over the Promised Land. He will make a great peace, and he will perform great good deeds in the land for three years and seven months. Then the four winds of heaven will be stirred up, and the nations will rise up one against the other, and ravage each other until the earth cries out because of the blood that is shed on its face.
11 Then I, Ezra, fell to the ground, and I was utterly filled with tears. And the angel of the Lord said to me, 'Do not be grieved, Ezra the scribe, because these things will not happen until uncleanness and wantonness and fornication defile the earth, when people have forsaken the marriage bed and defiled and polluted themselves and their bodies with the uncleanness of fornication, with drinking wine, and with sodomy, shameless about the disgrace they commit. Then the justice of God will be provoked, so that the rebellious seed will be delivered into the hands of their enemies, because their end has come, and the End is coming quickly.'
12 As I was pouring out fear on my face, the angel of the Lord stretched out his hand and lifted me up, since I was shaking with fear. I said, 'Who will be able to live in that time?' He said to me, 'Those in whom God is pleased. A great rebellion will gain strength, and the faithful will be oppressed, but their cries and their groaning will ascend before the royal throne of God's majesty, so that he will quickly send a fearsome angel and take hold of the point of the destroying sword and destroy the rebellious seed without mercy. But woe to pregnant women and those who are nursing at that time, because a tribulation will happen the likes of which has not occurred since the worlds were created.
13 Suddenly the children of the north will be opened and will go out from the house of Gog and Magog and commit terrible atrocities on the earth. Two tribes from the seed of Ishmael and those who have become sooty at the base of the mountain of the south will come and take refuge with them. They will drink and go up until they ascend Jerusalem, the city of the great king. There God will send against them the fearsome angel Michael, and he will ravage them without pity. If these days were not shortened, no flesh would live, because at that time a year is like a month, a month like a week, a week like a day, and a day like an hour.
14 Then the false messiah will appear and will show his cruelty and the vehemence of his wickedness. He will go up to Enoch and Elijah upon the altar and shed their blood upon the earth with great suffering. Then fearsome angels will be sent out, and they will cast the Son of Perdition into the Gehenna of fire. This is the End. But keep these words until their time.'
15 Then I, since I had great fear, fell down to worship and gave thanks to God the Savior, who had deemed me worthy of this vision. And I said, 'Blessed are you, O God my Savior, and your holy name be glorified forever and ever, Amen.'"
16 Ended with the aid of our Lord is the vision that Ezra the scribe saw about the kingdom of the Ishmaelites. To God be glory.
1 Again, through God I write about the question that Ezra the scribe asked when he was in the desert with his disciple whose name was Carpos.
2 He asked God to reveal to him the things that are going to happen in the end times. Then he said to Carpos his disciple, "Listen, my son Carpos, and I will tell you about the end times. It happened suddenly, in the manner of a dreadful vision. I asked God to explain to you the end times of the Ishmaelites. Then I saw a young man, one like whom I had never seen, wearing white clothing, and he had
the figure of a scroll in his right hand. He answered and said to me, 'Behold! Your prayer has been heard before God, and I have been sent to explain to you the end times of the children of Ishmael, that which has been concealed from many. Open this book of the scroll and read in it and see what is about to happen in the end times.'
3 I opened the scroll and I read about the times and the terrors that are going to come. My tears flowed with groans and I said, 'Have mercy on me, God, and have mercy on your creation,' for a serpent of the desert had devoured them. I saw twelve horns on the serpent's head, and nine small and cruel horns on its tail that came up from the desert, contending against all creation under heaven and oppressing the people of God. Then I saw an angel, clothed in a flame of fire, who descended from heaven and tore the twelve great horns from the serpent's head.
4 Then I said 'I believe in you, Lord; because today the prophecy of Moses is fulfilled.' The angel of the Lord said to me, 'Take heart, Ezra, because it was also revealed to Daniel about the nine small and cruel horns.'
5 Then I saw one great horn suddenly spring up on the tail of the serpent, and there were two small horns on its head. An eagle came from the south and broke the great horn and devoured the small ones. The world was filled with darkness and a whirlwind, and the whirlwind struck the eagle and tore out its two talons. Then there was a voice from heaven that said, 'The eagle will be recompensed according to its reward.'
6 Then I saw a viper that came from the east. It poured poison on all flesh and went up to the border of the Promise. There was a great earthquake and rumblings and thunders in heaven, and a voice from heaven was heard: 'Let those four kings who are bound on the great river Euphrates, those who are prepared to destroy one out of three people, be released.' They were released, and there was a great uproar.
7 Out of the darkness came ravens from the east, piercing the viper. The viper escaped to the borders of Egypt, and there it became despondent. It took its two chicks and crossed over to the right side. The younger chick came to the lion's whelp and took refuge with him. The lion's whelp received him joyfully, and the younger chick persuaded the lion's whelp to deliver him from those ravens that were seeking to devour him. The lion's whelp sent an ambassador to the leopard of the south so that he would come out to his aid, because the bull was troubling the land of the west with many evils, since he was the king of the ravens. He gnashed his teeth against the lion's whelp. There were three horns on his head; with the right one he makes war, with the left one he destroys, and with the one in the middle one he ravages. He will begin to ravage the children of his house, and he will gather gold and much silver, and he will begin to afflict all who are under his power. He will become arrogant and he will not glorify God. One of his horns will go and make war against the lion's whelp, and will ravage the rebellious fortresses. They will contend against each other and ravage each other, and much blood will be shed between the two mighty men. Then the bull
will devise an evil plot against the seven hills and the great city of Constantine, and he will contend with it, and much blood will be shed round about the city.
8 Then the viper's chick will take a great army from Thrace and from the upper ranks of the west, and he will enter in blood. The father of the younger chick will hear and he will gather a great nation from the Cushites and from the nations around them, and he will come to the aid of the chick and will ravage Egypt. Then the chick will come down from the Promised Land and he will ravage the
chief cities. He will leave them devoid of their inhabitants, because great iniquity was being perpetrated in them. He will throw the slain to the ground in heaps, and he will ravage Damascus at that time.
9 Then the lion's whelp will become inflamed with fierce anger, and he will go out after those ravens and ravage them and drive them out and destroy them from Syrian Antioch as far as the borders of the east, the land that belongs to the ravens. The leopard will go out from the north, and a great people like flying locusts will go out with him. He will go up to the Euphrates River and he will rise up in aid of the lion's whelp, and from there the two of them will go down to the land of Persia. The bull will go out to meet them with a great army, but the lion's whelp will go between the bull's horns and break both of them. He will ravage and plunder the land and burn it with fire. The ravens will flee from his presence and go down to their land. The lion's whelp will pursue them and will destroy them with the edge of the sword, because God has turned his face from them on account of their surpassing uncleanness. He will capture and plunder their land, and lay it waste down to the foundations. It will never again be inhabited, because they despised the Lord and made light of his commandments. There will be great tumult in the land—earthquakes and famines and plagues—and fear and trembling will rule over the people until they fall and die, without diseases or illnesses, from the fear that rules over them. The lion's whelp will go up with a great army to the Promised Land and will subject it to tribute, and there will be great tribulation in the land, the likes of which has never occurred. He will build walls around Phoenicia, and around the desolate places that are within it. He will lay Damascus waste down to its foundations, because it provoked the Most High. Then he will go up to Jerusalem with great pomp, and from there he will return and go up to his royal city.
10 After three and a half weeks a certain mighty man will come out of the south with a great nation, and his power will go forth over the Promised Land. He will make a great peace, and he will perform great good deeds in the land for three years and seven months. Then the four winds of heaven will be stirred up, and the nations will rise up one against the other, and ravage each other until the earth cries out because of the blood that is shed on its face.
11 Then I, Ezra, fell to the ground, and I was utterly filled with tears. And the angel of the Lord said to me, 'Do not be grieved, Ezra the scribe, because these things will not happen until uncleanness and wantonness and fornication defile the earth, when people have forsaken the marriage bed and defiled and polluted themselves and their bodies with the uncleanness of fornication, with drinking wine, and with sodomy, shameless about the disgrace they commit. Then the justice of God will be provoked, so that the rebellious seed will be delivered into the hands of their enemies, because their end has come, and the End is coming quickly.'
12 As I was pouring out fear on my face, the angel of the Lord stretched out his hand and lifted me up, since I was shaking with fear. I said, 'Who will be able to live in that time?' He said to me, 'Those in whom God is pleased. A great rebellion will gain strength, and the faithful will be oppressed, but their cries and their groaning will ascend before the royal throne of God's majesty, so that he will quickly send a fearsome angel and take hold of the point of the destroying sword and destroy the rebellious seed without mercy. But woe to pregnant women and those who are nursing at that time, because a tribulation will happen the likes of which has not occurred since the worlds were created.
13 Suddenly the children of the north will be opened and will go out from the house of Gog and Magog and commit terrible atrocities on the earth. Two tribes from the seed of Ishmael and those who have become sooty at the base of the mountain of the south will come and take refuge with them. They will drink and go up until they ascend Jerusalem, the city of the great king. There God will send against them the fearsome angel Michael, and he will ravage them without pity. If these days were not shortened, no flesh would live, because at that time a year is like a month, a month like a week, a week like a day, and a day like an hour.
14 Then the false messiah will appear and will show his cruelty and the vehemence of his wickedness. He will go up to Enoch and Elijah upon the altar and shed their blood upon the earth with great suffering. Then fearsome angels will be sent out, and they will cast the Son of Perdition into the Gehenna of fire. This is the End. But keep these words until their time.'
15 Then I, since I had great fear, fell down to worship and gave thanks to God the Savior, who had deemed me worthy of this vision. And I said, 'Blessed are you, O God my Savior, and your holy name be glorified forever and ever, Amen.'"
16 Ended with the aid of our Lord is the vision that Ezra the scribe saw about the kingdom of the Ishmaelites. To God be glory.