Before Jerusalem Fell

156 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL
edited between A.D. 100 and 120, with four chapters being added in
the third century.37 The crucial statement reads: “Behold, the days
are coming when a kingdom shall arise on earth, and it shall be more
terri$ing than all the kingdoms that have been before it. And twelve
kings shall reign in it, one after another. But the second that is to
reign shall hold sway for a longer time than any other of the twelve.”3 8
Here Julius is included in the line of the twelve Caesars, for the
reference to the “second” king is obviously to Augustus Caesar,
whose 44 year reign was one-third of the combined reigns of the first
twelve emperors.
The same is true in chapter 11: “And I looked, and behold, on
the right side one wing arose, and it reigned over all the earth. And
while it was reigning it came to its end and disappeared, so that its
place was not seen. Then the next wing arose and reigned, and it
continued to reign a long time. And while it was reigning its end
came also, so that it disappeared like the first. And behold, a voice
sounded, saying to it, ‘Hear me, you who have ruled the earth all this
time; I announce this to you before you disappear. After you no one
shall rule as long as you, or even half as long.’ The third wing raised
itself up, and held the rule like the former ones, and it also disappeared.”3
g
Coggins notes that “the first wing can be identified as
Julius Caesar because the next wing is clearly Augustus.’ ya
According
to Box “one of the surest results of the critical discussion is that
in the ori~nal vision the greater wings must represent the six Julian
Emperors, beginning with Julius Caesar. The identification of the
second ruler with Augustus (cf. 11:15- 17) is unmistakable, and makes
the reckoning from Julius Caesar certain.”4 ’
Again the clear reference
is to Julius as the “first” and Augustus (the longest reigning emperor)
as the one who followed him, who in turn, is followed by the “third.”
And this “prophecy” was given in the general era ofJohn’s time.
37. Metzger, “Fourth Ezra,” OTP 1:517, 520, 522. See also R. J. Coggins and M. A.
Knibb, T/u Ftrst and Seuma’ BookJ of Esdnr.r. Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New
English Bible (London: Cambridge, 1979), p. 115; J. M. Myers, I and 2 Esdrm: Introduction,
Translation and Comnwntury. Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974), pp.
129K.; and Robinson, Redating, pp. 247, 315. Howard Clark Kee, The Originr of Chri.stiani~:
Sources and DocunwztJ (Englewcmd, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973), p. 191.
38.4 Ezra 12:1311; OTP 1:550.
39.4 Ezra 11: 13ff.; OTP 1:548.
40. Coggins and Knibb, Esdras, p. 240.
41. G. H. Box, T/w EZra-A@zlMse (London: Pitman, 1912), p. 261.