Texts in Conversation
2 Peter and 4 Ezra use the image of a lamp shining in darkness to convey the importance of prophetic guidance in times of uncertainty, highlighting a common expression used in Jewish literature and tradition.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
4 Ezra 12:42
2 Esdras
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
40 It came to pass, when all the people saw that the seven days were past, and I had not come again into the city, they all gathered together, from the least to the greatest, and came to me, and spoke to me, saying, 41 “How have we offended you? What evil have we done against you, that you have utterly forsaken us, and sit in this place? 42 For of all the prophets, only you are left to us, like a cluster of the vintage, and like a lamp in a dark place, and like a harbor for a ship saved from the tempest. 43 Aren’t the evils which have come to us sufficient? 44 If you will forsake us, how much better had it been for us if we also had been consumed in the burning of Zion! 45 For we are not better than those who died there.” Then they wept with a loud voice. I answered them, 46 “Take courage, O Israel! Don’t be sorrowful, you house of Jacob;
Date: 70–100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
2 Peter 1:19
New Testament
17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Date: 120–130 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In a passage paralleled in 2 Baruch 33‐35 we read in the already cited 4 Ezra 12:42: “For of all the prophets you alone are left to us, like a cluster of grapes from the vintage, and like a lamp in a dark place, and like a haven for a ship saved from a storm.” Here we see some parallels to 2 Peter as well. Ezra as a “prophet” ties in with 2 Peter 1:19’s “prophetic” and 1:20’s “prophecy” (compare 2 Peter 2:1’s “prophets” as well). 4 Ezra 12:42’s “like a lamp in a dark place” parallels 2 Peter 1:19’s “as to a lamp shining in a dark place.” Compare 1QH Col. XIII’s proximity of the stilling of a storm and orphan tropes (“orphan” occurs nowhere else in 1QH) ... There are some interesting correspondences between 2 Baruch’s vision of the black and bright waters (chapters 53ff.), its interpretation (chapters 56ff.), and 2 Peter ..."
Zinner, Samuel
4 Ezra, 2 Baruch and 2 Peter and Revelation
(pp. 1-55) University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2019
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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