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Seer Isolation" and Apocalyptic

Revelation in 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra

JOHN MARKLEY

This paper draws attention to the w a y that 2 B aru ch and 4 E zra


con sisten tly isolate their resp ective seers ju st before d ivin e
revelation is d elivered to them. This feature, seer isola tio n ,
appears in the narrative fram ew ork that organ izes the revelatory
ep iso d es recounted in each text. In addition to d escrib in g h o w
this feature is d ep loyed , this paper w ill also su g g est h o w it
contributes to each a p o ca ly p ses rhetorical aim s. S p ecifically ,
this paper w ill argue that seer isolation is on e w a y that these
ap ocalyp ses underscore the ex clu siv ity o f their resp ective seers
as p rivileged hum an recipients o f d ivin e revelation.

Introduction

Scholars have long noted the many similarities between the


apocalypses known as 2 Baruch and 4 E zra.1ln R. H. Charles

1 E.g., R. H. Charles, 2 Baruch, or the Syriac Apocalypse o f Baruch, 4 7 0 -


521 in R. H. Charles, ed., A pocrypha an d P seudepigrapha o f the O ld Testament,
Vol. 2 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), 476 -77 ; G. H. Box, 4 Ezra, 5 4 2 -62 4 in
A pocrypha an d Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 2, 553-54; Bruce M. Metzger, The Fourth
Book o f Ezra, 5 1 6-6 0 in James H. Charlesworth, ed., O ld Testament
Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 1: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments (The Anchor Yale

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1896 edition o f the Syriac version o f 2 Baruch, he detailed over


100 passages in 4 Ezra that were directly connected or closely
parallel with over 60 passages in 2 Baruch. These passages, he
qualified, represented only the more important parallels.2Beyond
these verbal parallels, most scholars also discern a sevenfold
structure in both apocalypses.3 As Collins points out, both
apocalypses delimit several units in their sevenfold structure with a
seven-day fast o f the seer; both express the main problem in the
early units and contain allegorical visions in the fifth and sixth
units; and both conclude with the seer writing in the seventh unit.4
The purpose o f this paper is to explore one more feature
found in both apocalypses that has not received much attention.
This feature is here identified as seer isolation. Seer isolation

Bible Reference Library; N ew York: Doubleday, 1983), 522-23; A. F. J. Klijn, 2


(Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch, 6 1 5 -5 2 in O ld Testament P seudepigrapha, 6 1 9 -
20.
2 R. H. Charles, The A pocalypse o f Baruch: Translated from the Syriac
(London: Black, 1896), 169-71.
3 E.g., Alden Lloyd Thompson, R esponsibility f o r E vil in the Theodicy o f
4 Ezra: A Study Illustrating the Significance o f Form and Structure f o r the
M eaning o f the Book (Society o f Biblical Literature Dissertation Series 29;
Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1977), 121-25; Tom W. Willett, Eschatology in the
Theodicies o f 2 Baruch an d 4 E zra (Journal for the Study o f the Pseudepigrapha
Supplement Series 4; Sheffield: Journal for the Study o f the Old Testament Press,
1989), 5 4 -5 8 , 80-84; Michael E. Stone, Fourth Ezra: A Com m entary on the Book
o f Fourth Ezra (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1990), 21-23;
Karina Martin Hogan, Theologies in Conflict in 4 Ezra: Wisdom D ebate and
A pocalyptic Solution (Supplements to the Journal for the Study o f Judaism 130;
Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2008), 1; John J. Collins, The A pocalyptic Imagination: An
Introduction to Jew ish A pocalyptic Literature, 2nd ed. (The Biblical Resource
Series; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 197-98; Gwendolyn B. Sayler, H ave the
P rom ises F ailed? A L iterary Analysis o f 2 Baruch (Society o f Biblical Literature
Dissertation Series 72; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1984), 11-39; Frederick James
Murphy, The Structure a n d M eaning o f Second Baruch (Society o f Biblical
Literature Dissertation Series 78; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985), 11-29, who
includes a helpful chart o f the various delimitations o f the seven units.
4 Collins, A pocalyptic Imagination, 22 2 -23 .
MARKLEY SEER ISOLATION AND APOCALYPTIC REVELATION... 117

refers to the way that the setting details provided in the narrative
frameworks o f these two apocalypses regularly separate or seclude
the seer from other people during the time that he receives
revelation.5 The narrative isolation o f the seer, or seer isolation,
is often the result o f the seers movement away from other
characters, and vice versa. Occasionally, seer isolation is the
result o f a flat statement that the seer was alone or by him self when
his revelations commenced. Following a survey o f this feature in
2 Baruch and 4 Ezra, I will argue that its purpose is to highlight
that the seer, like Moses on Sinai, was an exclusive human
recipient o f divine revelation.

Seer Isolation in 4 Ezra


The sevenfold structure o f 4 Ezra contains eight revelatory
episodes, which are organized by a narrative framework.6
Episode 1: dialogue with Uriel (3:1-5:15)
Narrative interlude: dialogue with Phaltiel (5:16-19)
Episode 2: dialogue with Uriel (5:20-6:34)
Episode 3: dialogue with Uriel (6:35-9:25)
Episode 4: vision of a woman (9:26-10:59)
Episode 5: vision of an eagle (11:1-12:39)
Narrative interlude: dialogue with the people (12:40-
50)

5 Concerning the function o f narrative framework in the apocalypse genre,


see John J. Collins, Introduction: Towards the Morphology o f a Genre, Semeia
14(1979): 5 -10 .
6 That there are eight revelatory episodes in a seven-part structure is indeed
confusing. Several scholars who affirm the seven-part structure divide the seventh
unit into two parts. E.g., W olfgang Harnisch, Der Prophet als Widerpart und
Zeuge der Offenbarung: Erwgungen zur Interdependenz von Form und Sache im
IV Buch E sra, 46193 in David Hellholm, ed., A pocalypticism in the
M editerranean W orld an d the N ear East: P roceedings o f the International
Colloquium on Apocalypticism , Uppsala, August, 12-17, 1979, 2nd ed. (Tbingen:
Mohr Siebeck, 1983, 1989), 493.

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Episode 6: vision of a man from the sea (12:51-13:58)


Episode 7: God speaks to Ezra (14:1-26)
Narrative interlude: Ezra instructs the people (14:27-
36)
Episode 8: Ezra is inspired to produce Scripture (14:37-48)
The introduction to episode 1 does not explicitly highlight
that Ezra is isolated from other humans, but this is certainly
implied by the information in 3:1 that he was laying on his bed
while contemplating the desolation o f Jerusalem.7 While on his
bed, Ezra voices his concerns in prayer to God (3:3-36), which
eventuates an encounter and dialogue with the angel Uriel (4:1-
5:13). Ezras isolation comes more clearly into view at the
conclusion o f episode 1, and in the narrative framework which
links it to episode 2. On the night after his dream-vision, Ezra is
approached by Phaltiel, a leader o f the people, who questions him
about abandoning them.8Phaltiel asks, Where have you been? ...
Or do you not know that Israel has been entrusted to you in the
land o f their exile? Rise therefore and eat some bread, so that you
may not forsake us, like a shepherd who leaves his flock in the
power o f savage wolves (5:16-18).9 Through Phaltiels questions,
the narrative emphasizes that Ezra has been separated from the
people during the preceding episode {i.e., episode 1). Furthermore,
this narrative interlude establishes Ezras seclusion from the people
during episode 2, since he banishes Phaltiel from his presence.
Ezra narrates, Then I said to him, Depart from me and do not

1 So also Stone, who view s the bedroom setting as one o f privacy (Stone,
Fourth Ezra, 28). Cf. 2 Enoch 1:2.
8 This concern over whether the people are being abandoned by their
prophetic light is a prevalent theme in both 4 Ezra (5:16-18; 12:40-45; 14:20-
22) and 2 Baruch (32:8-33:3; 46:1-3; 77:12-17).
9 A ll quotations o f 4 E zra and 2 Baruch are taken respectively from
Metzger, Fourth Ezra and Klijn, Second Baruch.
MARKLEY SEER ISOLATION AND APOCAL.YPTIC REVELATION... 119

come near me for seven days, and then you may come to m e. He
heard what I said and left me (5:19).
With this, Ezra remains isolated from the people for the next
four revelatory episodes (episodes 2-5). Episodes 2 and 3, like
episode 1, involve a seven-day period o f preparatory mourning and
fasting (5:20; 6:35).10Apparently, like episode 1, they also occur
while Ezra is within the city, presumably in his own house.11
Episodes 2 and 3 are also structured similarly to episode 1 Ezras
prayerful complaints lead to an encounter and dialogue with Uriel.
However, both the setting and the mode o f the revelation change in
the five remaining revelatory episodes (episodes 4-8). Uriel
commands Ezra to go into a field o f flowers where no house has
been built (9:24).12 Rather than fasting, Ezra is to eat only the
flowers o f the field during his seven days o f preparation there. In
episode 4, Ezra prays and sees a vision o f woman, which Uriel
explains is the heavenly Jerusalem. Ezra remains in the field for
episode 5, and he receives the eagle vision. In sum, Ezras
isolation, which was constructed by his dialogue with Phaltiel
between episodes 1 and 2, has persisted uninterrupted to this point,
despite his change in location.

10 Due to the redaction o f 4 E zra, which resulted in the addition o f chapters


1-2 (i.e., 5 E zra) to the original form o f the apocalypse, there is a lost reference to
a seven-day period o f fasting prior to episode 1. For a detailed presentation o f the
supporting evidence, see Michael P. Knowles, Moses, the Law, and the Unity o f
4 Ezra," Novum Testamentum 31, no. 3 (1989): 257 -74 .
11 So Stone, Fourth Ezra, 28.
12 This change o f location accomplishes three things. First, it creates an
appropriate setting for the heavenly Jerusalem to be revealed to Ezra in episode 4
{cf. 9:24 v. 10:51-54). Second, the change in Ezras location marks a transition in
his disposition and outlook (so Earl Breech, These Fragments I Have Shored
Against M y Ruins: The Form and Function o f 4 Ezra," Journal o f B iblical
Literature 92 [1973]: 2 6 7 -7 4 , who says that this transition signals the beginning
o f Ezras consolation). Third, it establishes an outdoor setting in which Ezra could
encounter God in the same manner as M oses (14:1-7).

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After episode 5, while Ezra is still in the field, the people


track him down. Once again out o f fear that he has abandoned
them. Ezra narrates,

When all the people heard that the seven days were past
and I had not returned to the city, they all gathered
together, from the least to the greatest, and came to me and
spoke to me, saying, How have we offended you, and what
harm have we done you, that you have forsaken us and sit
in this place? (12:40-41).

Ezra then ameliorates their concern by clarifying that he has


not forsaken or permanently withdrawn from them, but that he has
come to the field in order to solicit Gods mercy for Jerusalem and
the sanctuary there. Since Uriel has told Ezra to remain in the field
awaiting further revelation, Ezra banishes the people from his
presence, much like he dismissed Phaltiel before episode 2. He
says, N ow go, every one o f you to his house, and after these days
I will come to you. So the people went into the city, as I told them
to do. But I sat in the field seven days, as the angel had
commanded me (12:49-5la). Through this interaction with the
people and their departure from his presence, this narrative
interlude again draws attention to Ezras isolation in the episodes
that preceded the interaction (episodes 2-5), and in those that
follow (episodes 6 and 7).
Episode 6, which recounts the vision o f the man from the sea,
is thus set in the same field as the earlier visions. After receiving
the vision in seclusion, Ezra is told to wait in the field for three
more days in order to receive more revelation (13:56). In episode
7, while still in the field, Ezra encounters God in the same way as
Moses, and is told about his impending departure from normal
existence (14:9). Out o f concern for the people yet to be bom, who
have no Law or prophetic light, Ezra requests that he might receive
inspiration in order to publish new written revelation. God agrees
to this proposal, and gives Ezra instructions concerning how this
MARKLEY SEER ISOLATION AND APOCALYPTIC REVELATION... 121

massive task should be carried out. Additionally, God commands


Ezra to [g]0 and gather the people, and tell them not to seek you
for forty days (14:23; cf. 5:19; 12:49; 2 Bar 20:5; 32:7; 2 En 1:9b;
2:4). At this point, there is a narrative interlude after episode 7, and
Ezra returns from the field and gathers the people. After addressing
them, Ezra commands, But let no one seek me for forty days
(14:36). With this, he and five scribes depart for the field. The
following day, they begin their forty-day production o f Israels
Scriptures and seventy esoteric books that were not to be made
public. This is the eighth and final revelatory episode.
In summary, Ezra is consistently isolated during the eight
revelatory episodes recounted in 4 Ezra. Three narrative interludes
highlight his seclusion from the people. During episodes 13, Ezra
is apparently in the city, but in a state o f seclusion. This is made
clear by his dialogue with Phaltiel, which is the narrative interlude
linking episodes 1 and 2. When Ezra dismisses Phaltiel from his
presence, he remains secluded in the city during episodes 2 and 3.
After episode 3, Ezra goes to a field. Ezras isolation in the field
during episodes 4 -7 is made clear by his dialogue with the people,
which is the narrative interlude between episodes 5 and 6. Ezra
dismisses the people from his presence, thus resuming his isolation
during episodes 6 and 7. After episode 7, Ezra returns to the city
and addresses the people, which is the final narrative interlude. He
prohibits the people from seeking him for forty days, which
secures his isolation during episode 8. Therefore, from start to
finish, the narrative deliberately and consistently isolates Ezra
when he receives revelation.

Seer Isolation in 2 Baruch


As with 4 Ezra, the sevenfold structure o f 2 Baruch contains
eight revelatory episodes, which are similarly organized by a
narrative framework:

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Episode 1: dialogue with God (1:1-5:4)


Narrative interlude: Baruch takes people to Kidron
Valley (5:5-6:1)
Episode 2: journey over Jerusalem (6:2-8:3)
Narrative interlude: destruction of Jerusalem and
mourning (8:4-9:2)
Episode 3: word of God comes to Baruch (10:1-3)
Narrative interlude: Jeremiah and people leave,
Baruch laments (10:4-12:5)
Episode 4: dialogue with God (13:1-20:6)
Episode 5: dialogue with God (21:1-30:5)
Narrative interlude: Baruch addresses the people
(31:1-35:4)
Episode 6: vision of the forest (35:1-43:3)
Narrative interlude: Baruch addresses the people
(44; 1-47:2)
Episode 7: dialogue with God, vision of a cloud, dialogue
with Ramael (48:1-76:5)
Narrative interlude: Baruch addresses the people
(77:1-17)
Episode 8: Baruch writes letters (77:18-26)
The narrative interlude between episodes 1 and 2 is the first
place that explicitly isolates Baruch. During this narrative
interlude, Baruch leads certain people from Jerusalem to the
Kidron Valley in response to his previous revelation (in episode 1)
that the city would be destroyed. Once they are in the Kidron
Valley, Baruch withdraws from the people before episode 2
begins. Baruch narrates, And in the evening I, Baruch, left the
people, went outside, and set m yself by an oak (6:1b). Here,
secluded by the oak, Baruch is carried away on a divinely assisted
journey over Jerusalem, which constitutes episode 2. Following
episode 2, there is another narrative interlude, which describes the
destruction o f Jerusalem and Baruchs subsequent mourning in the
MARKLEY SEER ISOLATION AND APOCALYPTIC REVELATION... 123

company o f Jeremiah. This provides the setting for episode 3,


during which the God tells Baruch to dismiss Jeremiah to Babylon
with the people. Following episode 3, there is another narrative
interlude, which recounts Jeremiahs departure. Baruch narrates,
And I spoke to Jeremiah as the Lord commanded me. He, then,
went away with the people, but I, Baruch, came back and sat in
front o f the doors o f the Tem ple... (10:4-5). The details provided
in this narrative interlude clearly isolated Baruch from the people,
and even from his fellow prophet, Jeremiah.
Episode 4 involves a dialogue with God concerning
eschatological matters. Towards the conclusion o f the dialogue,
God commands Baruch to go away and sanctify yourself for
seven days and do not eat bread and do not drink water and do not
speak to anybody (20:5). In order to carry out these preparatory
duties, Baruch spends seven days in a cave in the Kidron Valley
before returning to Zion for the next installment o f revelation.
After this time o f preparatory isolation, episode 5 commences, and
Baruch engages in further dialogue with God about eschatological
matters. Following episode 5, there is another narrative interlude,
and Baruch returns to the people in the Kidron Valley. After
addressing them, he tells them, And now, do not draw near to me
for some days and do not call upon me until I shall come to you.
And it happened after having said all these words to them that I,
Baruch, went my way (32:7-8a). When Baruch leaves, the people
express their fear that he is permanently abandoning them (32:8b-
33:3). Baruch reassures them that he is only separating from them
for the purpose o f receiving revelation in the Holy o f Holies (34:1 ;
cf. 4 Ezra 12:48). Therefore, this narrative interlude also highlights
that Baruch is isolated from the people during episode 6.
Between episodes 6 and 7, there is yet another narrative
interlude. Baruch narrates that he left the Holy o f Holies, and
summoned his son and the elders o f the people, apprising them in a
testamentary fashion that he would soon go to [his] fathers in

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accordance with the way o f the whole earth (44:2). After


instructing them and addressing their concerns about having no
remaining prophet, Baruch again narrates that he separated from
them: He says, And after I had left, having dismissed them, I
returned from there and said to them: Behold, I go to Hebron, for
to there the Mighty One has sent me (47:1). With this, Baruchs
isolation is established for episode 7, which includes dialogue with
God, visions, and uniquely in this apocalypse an angelic
mediator.
Between episodes 7 and 8, there is a final narrative interlude.
Baruch returns to the people and assembles them all, in order to
deliver his final instructions to them. At the peoples request,
Baruch agrees to write a letter o f doctrine to the people in Babylon,
which he will send by normal means. Additionally, he proposes to
write to the nine and a half tribes, but this he will send by means of
a bird. His letter writing stands as the eighth and final episode, and
the preceding narrative interlude underscores that he is secluded
from the people while he writes. Baruch narrates, And it
happened on the twenty-first day o f the ninth month that I, Baruch,
came and sat down under the oak in the shadow o f the branches,
and nobody was with me; I was alone (77:18).
In summary, we have seen that Baruch is consistently
isolated during the eight revelatory episodes recounted in the
apocalypse.13As was the case in 4 Ezra, the narrative interludes
that link the episodes together explicitly highlight Baruchs
isolation through the details that they provide. There are more o f
these narrative interludes in 2 Baruch than in 4 Ezra six
compared to three. Only one o f the six narrative interludes does not
explicitly isolate Baruch; between episodes 2 and 3 he mourns with

13 This is also noted by Liv Ingeborg Lied, The Other Lands o f Israel:
Imaginations o f the L and in 2 Baruch (Supplements to the Journal for the Study o f
Judaism 129; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2008), 127-29.
MARKLEY SEER ISOLATION AND APOCALYPTIC REVELATION... 125

Jeremiah over the destruction o f Jerusalem, and so episode 3


occurs while Baruch is in some proximity to Jeremiah. Due to
Jeremiahs prophetic status, this should probably not be viewed as
somehow compromising the otherwise pristine pattern o f
seer isolation exhibited by the apocalypse. The authors concern
to isolate Baruch is especially pronounced in the narrative
interludes that precede episodes 2 and 8. Just before episode 2,
Baruch narrates, I, Baruch, left the people, went outside, and set
m yself by an oak (6:1); just before episode 8, Baruch almost
identically narrates, I, Baruch, came and sat down under the oak
in the shadow o f the branches, and nobody was with me; I was
alone (77:18; cf. 4 Ezra 14:1). Baruchs isolation receives special
emphasis in these two episodes since both occur in the Kidron
Valley,14 where the people also are, whereas the other episodes
take place somewhere else. Therefore, like 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch
deliberately and consistently isolates Baruch when he receives
revelation.

Conclusion

We have seen that both apocalypses consistently isolate their


respective seers from other people when they receive revelation.
Moreover, both apocalypses accomplish this in this same
manner through the details provided in the narrative interludes
between revelatory episodes. But what is the rhetorical
significance o f seer isolation in these two apocalypses?
Perhaps most obviously, this feature supports the portrayal o f
the seer as an exclusive recipient o f apocalyptic revelation. In
several places, these apocalypses explicitly flag their seers
exclusive status on account o f the mysteries that have been

14Lied (O ther Lands, 124) notes that the text locates all ritualised
preparations in the Kidron valley.

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revealed to him. For example, after showing Ezra what will happen
in the last times, God says, I have not shown this to all men, but
only to you and a few like you (4 Ezra 8:62). This statement
places Ezra on par with figures such as Abraham and Moses,
whom the text also identifies as recipients o f eschatological
mysteries in 3:14 and 14:5, respectively. Again, after Ezras eagle
vision, Uriel explains that the interpretation was not given to
Daniel, and tells him, [Y]ou alone were worthy to learn this secret
o f the Most High (12:36; also 7:44). Once more, at the conclusion
o f episode 6, Uriel declares to Ezra, [Y]ou alone have been
enlightened about this (13:53). Likewise, Baruch is placed on par
with Moses when the angel Ramael tells him that God showed
[Moses] many warnings together with the ways o f the Law and the
end o f times, as also to y o u ... {2 Bar 59:4).15 Seer isolation, it
seems, works in tandem with explicit statements such as these to
assert and support the exclusivity o f Ezra and Baruch as recipients
o f apocalyptic revelation. By carefully constructing settings of
seclusion and isolation, the authors o f these apocalypses have
circumscribed the initial reception o f revelation to the seer alone.16
Notwithstanding such figures as Abraham, Moses, and Daniel,
they alone are privileged to a special disclosure o f eschatological
mysteries. In keeping with the esoteric nature o f apocalyptic
revelation, this explains to the audience why the revelation was
heretofore unknown. It was exclusively disclosed to the seer, and

15 Perhaps 2 B ar 4 :3 -5 aligns Baruch with Adam, Abraham, and Moses.


16 Lied, O ther Lands, 127-29, does not relate Baruchs isolation to his
portrayal as an exclusive recipient o f revelation. Instead, she view s Baruchs
isolation as indicating that he is carrying out the ritual acts o f fasting and
lamenting for the peoples sins in the manner o f other divine intermediaries, such
as the high priest on the Day o f Atonement. Although Baruch certainly fasts and
laments the situation o f his people, L ieds analysis minimizes that Baruchs
isolation builds the portrayal o f him as an exclusive recipient o f revelation on par
with figures such as M oses (cf. 2 B ar 59:4), since the revelations were granted to
him exclusively, and secretly preserved for the authors real audience.
MARKLEY SEER ISOLATION AND APOCALYPTIC REVELATION... 127

restrictively transmitted to them, who constitute the terminal


audience (c f 4 Ezra 12:36-38; 14:26, 46-47; 2 Bar 20:3; 50:1;
46:7; 84:9; 86:1).
However, seer isolation performs a much more important
function in these apocalypses than simply justifying the appearance
o f these texts to their respective audiences. Seer isolation was
probably one o f several Mosaic topoi utilized for the purpose o f
persuading the audience.17 In other words, the authors o f these
apocalypses probably drew from the portrayal o f Moses in Exodus
when constructing the portrayals o f Ezra and Baruch, in an effort
to invest these texts with authority and credibility. For example, in
Exod 24, God instructs Moses to approach the top o f Mount Sinai
in order to receive the stone tablets containing the law and
commands for Israel: Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron,
Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy o f the elders o f Israel, and worship
at a distance. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD; but the
others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with
him (Exod 24:1-2; NRSV). Moses, therefore, is isolated with God
during the revelatory episode on the top o f Sinai.18 Moreover, after
he has separated from the people, Moses spends seven days alone
on the mountain before God speaks with him (24:16).19 This also
has obvious parallels with 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. The Exodus
narrative once again emphasizes M oses isolation from the people
when he receives the second publication o f the tablets after the
golden calf incident. God instructs him, [C]ome up in the morning
to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me, on the top o f the

17Hogan (Theologies in Conflict, 2 0 7 -1 2 ) discusses the presentation o f


Ezra as a second M oses, but she does not mention that both figures are
portrayed as receiving their revelations while isolated from others.
18 Jubilees, which includes an apocalypse, adopts this setting for the secret
revelation given to M oses on Sinai (Jub 1:1-4).
19 The Exodus narrative does not explicitly say that M oses fasted during
this time, but this is certainly implied it is made explicit in Deut 9:9.

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mountain. No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone
be seen throughout all the mountain... (Exod 34:2-3; NRSV). In
a strikingly similar manner to what we have observed in 4 Ezra
and 2 Baruch, the Exodus narrative isolates Moses from all others
during his reception o f revelation on Sinai, showing him to be the
exclusive recipient o f the revealed law. Since the apocalypses both
portray their seers as Mosaic-type figures, it is extremely likely
that portrayal o f Moses in Exodus provided the impetus for their
deployment o f seer isolation.20 Since Ezra and Baruch receive
their apocalyptic revelation in a similar manner as Moses received
the law, they are shown to be credible and authoritative bearers o f
divine revelation, just like Moses.
In conclusion, seer isolation not only contributes to the
portrayals o f Ezra and Baruch as exclusive recipients o f divine
revelation, but it also evokes the portrayal o f Moses in Exodus,
showing their reception o f revelation to be like his. This indicates
that the authors o f these apocalypses hoped that their texts would
be received as divine explanations o f Israels plight, which was
caused by the disastrous events o f CE 70. Their audiences would
find consolation and renewed hope to faithfully face their
circumstances, only through Sinai-like revelation, delivered
exclusively to worthy seers on par with Moses.

John R. Markley earned his Ph.D. at the University o f Edinburgh.


Dr. Markley currently serves as Assistant Professor o f Religion at
Liberty University Online. He lives in Wheaton, Illinois.

20 A side from M oses isolation on Sinai in Exod 2 4:1-2 and 34:2-3, there
are only two other examples o f seer isolation in the Hebrew Bible: Jacobs
encounter with a divine being in Gen 32:34 (= LXX 32:25), and Daniels epiphany
in Dan 10:7-8. Several other apocalypses deploy seer isolation (e.g., I En 12:1-
2; 2 En 1:2 [A]; A pocalypse o f Abraham 12:1; Shepherd o f H erm as 1:3; 5:1;
M artyrdom an d Ascension o f Isaiah 6:10-12, 14, 16-17), yet 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra
alone draw an explicit connection between their seers and Moses. Thus, the others
do not evoke the Exodus narrative with their use o f seer isolation.
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