Texts in Conversation
4 Ezra draws on the language of Daniel 7 by interpreting the unnamed fourth beast as a great eagle. This vision describes an empire characterized by destruction and arrogance, with 4 Ezra interpreting Daniel’s symbols as the Roman empire.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Daniel 7:7
Hebrew Bible
6 “After these things, as I was watching, another beast like a leopard appeared, with four bird-like wings on its back. This beast had four heads, and ruling authority was given to it. 7 “After these things, as I was watching in the night visions a fourth beast appeared—one dreadful, terrible, and very strong. It had two large rows of iron teeth. It devoured and crushed, and anything that was left it trampled with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had 10 horns. 8 “As I was contemplating the horns, another horn—a small one—came up between them, and three of the former horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This horn had eyes resembling human eyes and a mouth speaking arrogant things.
4 Ezra 11
2 Esdras
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 For you have judged me worthy to show me the end of time and the last events of the times.” 10 He said to me, “This is the interpretation of this vision which you saw: 11 The eagle, whom you saw come up from the sea, is the fourth kingdom which appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel. 12 But it was not explained to him, as I now explain it to you or have explained it. 13 Behold, the days come that a kingdom will rise up on earth, and it will be feared more than all the kingdoms that were before it. 14 Twelve kings will reign in it, one after another. 15 Of those, the second will begin to reign, and will reign a longer time than others of the twelve.
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Notes and References
"... the cryptic and allusive qualities of the revealed data permit the repetition of expected events or motifs, often from divergent points of view. This device, whose formal designation is recapitulation, plays a significant part in several apocalypses that feature historical-political elements, including the book of Revelation (Yarbro Collins 1998). Third, these qualities allow multiple or even sequential interpretations. Daniel 9 reinterprets the seventy weeks of Jeremiah 25.11-12; 29.10; the Eagle Vision of 4 Ezra reinterprets the fourth beast of Daniel 7. In the late antique and early mediaeval periods, this process continues with the recycling of oracles in the production of political-historical apocalyptic ..."
DiTommaso, Lorenzo
Apocalypses and Apocalypticism in Antiquity
(p. 248) Currents in Biblical Research, vol. 5, no. 2, 2007
* 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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