Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SEDRACH, APOCALYPSE OF

Echoing the questions about divine mercy and justice found in other “Ezra” apocalypses (4 Ezra, Greek Apocalypse of Ezra, Questions of Ezra), this pseudepigraph begins with a sermon on God’s love for humankind (including the sacrifice of his Son). Immediately following the sermon, Sedrach hears the voice of an angel and is transported into the presence of God in the third heaven, where he engages God in a discussion of divine punishment and the presence of evil in the world. God responds that humans are created with free will, and thus are responsible for evil. God then commands his “only begotten Son” to take Sedrach’s soul to paradise, but Sedrach pleads for mercy on behalf of sinful humanity and presses God to forgive any person who repents for 20 days. As soon as God agrees to Sedrach’s terms, Sedrach allows his soul to be taken.

This apocalypse is extant in a single 15th-century Greek manuscript, but its contents derive from a much earlier time. It is likely that the opening sermon dates to the Byzantine period, and equally likely that the ascent text dates to the first few centuries c.e. The coupled text is clearly Christian, but many elements of the ascent text bear strong resemblances to early Jewish apocalypses. There are no internal or external clues as to the provenance of the work. In addition to its preoccupation with divine justice, the work also presents readers with the legend of Satan’s refusal to worship humans (cf. Life of Adam and Eve), and an idealized, positive view of the human body.

Bibliography. S. Agourides, “Apocalypse of Sedrach,” OTP 1:605-13; R. J. H. Shutt, “The Apocalypse of Sedrach,” in The Apocryphal Old Testament, ed. H. F. D. Sparks (Oxford, 1984), 953-66.

James R. Mueller

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SEDRACH, APOCALYPSE OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)