Texts in Conversation
In the Ladder of Jacob, images of bronze and stone speak for three days at the coming of a promised figure. In 4 Ezra, a speaking stone is one of the signs of the end of the age.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ladder of Jacob 8:1
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
1 Now at his coming will images of bronze and stone and all graven things utter their voice for three days. 2 And they announce to the wise men and let them know what will happen on earth, and by the star will they know the way to him, when they see him on earth whom the angels do not see above. 3 Then will the Almighty be found in a body on the earth, and encompassed by the arms of a mortal, and he renews the state of man and gives life to Eve, who died through the fruit of the tree. 4 Then will the deceit of the godless one be overcome, and all idols fall on their faces, for they will be put to shame by one who is adorned with honour, because they made lying inventions.
4 Ezra 5:5
2 Esdras
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
4 But if the Most High grants you to live, you will see troubles after the third period. The sun will suddenly shine in the night, and the moon in the day. 5 Blood will drop out of wood, and the stone will utter its voice. The peoples will be troubled, and the stars will fall. 6 He will rule whom those who dwell on the earth don’t expect, and the birds will fly away together. 7 The Sodomite sea will cast out fish, and make a noise in the night, which many have not known; but all will hear its voice. 8 There will also be chaos in many places. Fires will break out often, and the wild animals will change their places, and women will bring forth monsters.
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Notes and References
“... The motif of a stone crying out is well-attested; cf. Hab 2:11 (“the stone will cry [βοήσεται] out from the wall”); Luke 19:40 (“if these were silent, the stones would shout out”); Liv. Proph. Jon. 10 (Jonah “gave a portent concerning Jerusalem and the whole land, that whenever they should see a stone crying out piteously the end was at hand”); 4 Ezra 5:5 (“the stone shall utter its voice”—one of the signs of the end); Ladder Jacob 7:17 (“at his coming the idols of brass, stone, and any sort of carving will give voice for three days”). One recalls 4Q403 1 1:38–46, where the pillars and corners of the heavenly temple are animate and praise God, and Hippolytus, Haer. 9.25: Jews think “nothing inanimate.” ...”
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