“Apocalypse of Sedrach”
From “The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 1”, James H. Charlesworth (1983)
Written between the 2nd and 5th centuries AD, in Greek, the “Apocalypse of Sedrach”, also known as the “Word of Sedrach”, is an ancient apocryphal text. It is preserved only in one 15th century manuscript (Bodleian Cod. Misc. Gr. 56, fols. 92–100). The text was published by M. R. James and translated into English by A. Rutherford. Apparently the original apocalypse was composed between AD 150 and 500, it was joined with a lengthy sermon on love to reach its final form shortly after AD 1000 (Agourides, 606). The original was probably Jewish, but this was later edited to take on a Christian flavour.
The name of the titular figure, Sedrach may simply be the Greek form of Shadrach, the name of one of the three individuals put into the fiery furnace in the Book of Daniel. It may however simply be a corruption of Esdras, the Greek form of Ezra, particularly since the text has much similarity with other apocryphal texts attributed to Ezra, such as the Apocalypse of Ezra.
Like much other apocalyptic literature, the text narrates how Sedrach was given a vision of heaven, first describing someone being sent by God take him there. In the Apocalypse of Sedrach, it is Jesus himself who comes to take Sedrach, but while the text seems superficially Christian, it appears to be a corruption of an earlier Jewish text, with Jesus simply having been substituted in place of the name of an archangel.
Unlike other apocalyptic texts, however, the Apocalypse of Sedrach heavily discusses ethical issues, particularly repentance, and God being merciful. In a marked contrast to the bitter attitude often expressed in the genre, God is depicted as patient, keen to help people make the right choices, and keen to allow them repentance at every opportunity.
James Charlesworth writes (The Pseudepigrapha and Modern Research, pp. 178-179):
This pseudepigraphon is extant only in a fifteenth-century Greek manuscript preserved in the Bodleian Library (Cod. Misc. Gr. 56, ff. 92-100). It was partially edited by M. R. James (Apocrypha Anecdota [T&S 2.3] Cambridge: CUP, 1893 [repr. 1967]. Pp. 130-37), and this edition was translated into English by A. Rutherford (ANF 10. Pp. 175-80).
Very little critical work has been published on this pseudepigraphon. It is probably neither a Jewish work as C. C. Torrey intimated (“Apocalypse,” _The Jewish Encyclopedia_1 [1901] col. 674) nor a Christian redaction of a Jewish writing as P. Riessler suggested (no. 62, p. 1274). It appears to be a late Christian farrago of Jewish traditions (cf. A.-M. Denis, no. 24, pp. 97-99; and R. Meyer, no. 1233). Although extremely difficult to date, it may have been compiled sometime in the third or fourth century A.D. (contrast H. Weinel in Gunkel Festschrift, pp. 158-60). The author borrows directly from Job, Paul, John, the Testament of Abraham (cf. M. R. James, The Testament of Abraham [T&S 2.2] Cambridge: CUP, 1892 [repr. 1967]; pp. 31-33, 66), the Apocalypse of Ezra (cf. the comparisons outlined by James in Apocrypha Anecdota, p. 128), 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra (cf. the parallels outlined by James in Apocrypha Anecdota, p. 129). The Christian elements are pervasive: “concerning…orthodox Christians, and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (preface); “his only begotten (monogene) Son” (chp. 9); “and they obeyed neither apostles nor my word in the Gospels” (chp. 14).
It is difficult to follow James’ suggestion (Testament of Abraham, p. 32; Apocrypha Anecdota, p. 129) that this pseudepigraphon embodies two separate documents, one a homily on love and the other an apocalypse. The connection between these two, which James missed, is that God’s actions are motivated mainly by love (chp. 8; cf. outline below). The work was probably compiled from diverse writings by one person who prefaced the whole compilation as follows: “The word of the holy and blessed Sedrach concerning love, repentance, orthodox Christians, and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is not inconceivable, however, that two independent compositions, with some similar ideas, when combined were introduced by the preface.
James divided the text into sixteen chapters. Apparently under the influence of Paul and John the author praises “love” (agape; 1). With a rough transition typical of the compiler, Sedrach is introduced as one who aspired to talk with God. “A voice” (he phone) takes him up into the third heaven (2). Sedrach converses with the Lord and receives answers to his questions; for example, he asks why god made the earth and is told “for the sake of man” (dia ton anthropon; 3). Sedrach laments man’s condition (4), and wonders why God, if he loves (egapesas) man, willed Adam’s deceitfulness (sou thelematos epatethe, despota mou, ho Adam; 5). God replies that Adam, although he was given everything, became a sinner (6). Sedrach repeats his opinion that man failed because of God’s will (sou thelematos hermarten), and pleads for God to save man and protect him from sin (7). God’s answer is eloquent: “But I have permitted him to have (his own) will because I loved (egapesa) him.”
God now asks Sedrach a few questions, similar to those in Job, forcing him to confess that only God knows such things (8). God sends his son to take Sedrach’s soul, but Sedrach, as Abraham in the Testament of Abraham, refuses to do so (9). Sedrach asks God from whence he will take the soul, and receives the answer that, although it is scattered throughout the body, it comes out through the lungs, heart, throat, and mouth (10). Sedrach, weeping, catalogues the physical qualities of his body that will soon be interred (11), and asks Christ about the forgiveness of sinners. He receives the assurance that repeentance “for three years” will erase the memory of all (pasas) his sins (12). Sedrach succeeds in reducing the three years to forty days (13), and then beseeches Michael to help him attain God’s mercy for the world; but is told of man’s continuous failures (14). Sedrach again pleads for God’s compassion (15) and sympathy for sinners, moving God to reduce the forty days to twenty. God takes Sedrach’s soul and places him in Paradise with all the saints (16). Running throughout the entire work, despite rough transitions and tensions sometimes caused by employing numerous disrelated sources, is the love motif and the appeal for God’s forgiveness.
S. Agourides writes: “Much of the doctrinal content of Sedrach is atypical of medieval Christianity and many other elements of the Apocalypse are more Jewish than Christian (see below, ‘Provenance’). Where ‘Christ’ is briefly mentioned, the term seems to be a substitute for the name of the Jewish archangel Michael. While no precise dates can be given, it appears that the Apocalypse was originally composed between A.D. 150 and 500, and that it was joined together with the sermon on love and received its final form shortly after A.D. 1000.” (The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1, p. 606)