Theologies in conflict in 4 Ezra : wisdom, debate, and apocalyptic solution / / by Karina Martin Hogan.

• Superior document: Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism, v. 130
• Author: Hogan, Karina Martin.
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Series: Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism ; v. 130.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (288 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Recent scholarship on 4 Ezra has taken two divergent approaches, the first reading the dialogues between Ezra and Uriel as a reflection of theological debates in the author's time, and the second focusing on the psychological development of the protagonist. Combining the two approaches, this book offers a new interpretation of the dialogues as a literary representation of a debate between covenantal and eschatological wisdom, two branches of Jewish wisdom that emerged in the late Second Temple period. The inconclusive quality of the dialogues indicates the author's dissatisfaction with Uriel's attempt at a rational theodicy. Ezra's subsequent transformation points to the symbolic visions as the locus of the author's apocalyptic solution to the intractable theological problems raised in the dialogues.

Table of Contents

Introduction and history of scholarship on 4 Ezra -- The sapiential background of the conflicting theologies in the dialogues of 4 Ezra -- The dialogues of 4 Ezra as a wisdom debate -- The apocalyptic solution of the visions -- The epilogue and the context and purpose of 4 Ezra.