2 Esdras

2 Esdras 1:29-33 “that you should be my people and I should be your God, and that you should be my sons and I should be your father? I gathered you as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But now, what shall I do to you? I will cast you out from my presence. When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from you; for I have rejected your feast days, and new moons, and circumcisions of the flesh. I sent to you my servants the prophets, but you have taken and slain them and torn their bodies in pieces; their blood I will require of you, says the Lord. Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the wind drives straw.”

Matthew 23:37-38 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate”

• This also points to Christ being God, since 2 Esdras gives these words to the Lord Almighty.

2 Esdras 1:33-37 “Thus says the Lord Almighty: Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the wind drives straw; and your sons will have no children, because with you they have neglected my commandment and have done what is evil in my sight. I will give your houses to a people that will come, who without having heard me will believe. Those to whom I have shown no signs will do what I have commanded. They have seen no prophets, yet will recall their former state. I call to witness the gratitude of the people that is to come, whose children rejoice with gladness; though they do not see me with bodily eyes, yet with the spirit they will believe the things I have said.

John 20:28-29 “Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

2 Esdras 2:7-9 “Let them be scattered among the nations, let their names be blotted out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant. “Woe to you, Assyria, who conceal the unrighteous in your midst! O wicked nation, remember what I did to Sodom and Gomor′rah, whose land lies in lumps of pitch and heaps of ashes. So will I do to those who have not listened to me, says the Lord Almighty.

I believe 2 Esdras 2:7–9 is Christ speaking as God, the church fathers say that He was the one in Genesis who rained down fire from the Father in heaven, and in these verses God says He rained down fire and brimstone upon these cities, so when you go back 2 Esdras 1, Christ is speaking in verse 33-37, He repeats His words in Matthew 23:37-38, then right after these words in 2 Esdras 1, you have God speaking about not seeing Him physically yet believing in what He has said. Given this information I believe this assumes that God will take on a human form, speak to us, or as Baruch says, God would dwell among men and converse with them (Baruch 3:35-37), and His words that He speaks would be written down for future generations to believe in His words without having seen Him. I also believe this assumes the Gospels will be written that will contain His words. So although we don’t see Him physically, but we will read of His words and will believe in Him.

2 Esdras 1:32 I sent to you my servants the prophets, but you have taken and slain them and torn their bodies in pieces; their blood I will require of you, says the Lord.

Luke 11:49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’

This book speaks of Christ:

2 Esdras 2:34–47 Therefore I say to you, O nations that hear and understand, await your shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest, because he who will come at the end of the age is close at hand. Be ready for the rewards of the kingdom, because the eternal light will shine upon you for evermore. Flee from the shadow of this age, receive the joy of your glory; I publicly call on my Savior to witness. Receive what the Lord has entrusted to you and be joyful, giving thanks to him who has called you to heavenly kingdoms. Rise and stand, and see at the feast of the Lord the number of those who have been sealed. Those who have departed from the shadow of this age have received glorious garments from the Lord. Take again your full number, O Zion, and conclude the list of your people who are clothed in white, who have fulfilled the law of the Lord. The number of your children, whom you desired, is full; beseech the Lord’s power that your people, who have been called from the beginning, may be made holy. I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude, which I could not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs. In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound. Then I asked an angel, “Who are these, my lord?” He answered and said to me, “These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and they have confessed the name of God; now they are being crowned, and receive palms.” Then I said to the angel, “Who is that young man who places crowns on them and puts palms in their hands?” He answered and said to me, “He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world.” So I began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord.

Church Fathers

The Shepherd of Hermas:

And behold, a little later I saw an array of many men coming, and in the midst a man of such lofty stature that he stood taller than the tower. And the six men who had supervised the building were walking with him on his right and on his left, and with him were all those who worked on the building, and many other glorious beings were around him. And the virgins who watched the tower ran up and kissed him, and began to walk around the tower beside him. And that man inspected the building so carefully that he felt every single stone. And he held a rod in his hand, and struck every stone that had been put into the building. And when he struck the stones, some of them became black as soot, and some rough, and some cracked, and some too short, and some neither white nor black, and some became uneven and did not fit in with the other stones, and some badly spotted; these were the various kinds of defective stones found in the building. So he ordered all these to be removed from the tower and placed by the side of the tower, and other stones brought and put in their place. And the builders asked him from what mountain he wanted stones to be brought and put in their place. But he did not order them to be brought from the mountains; instead he ordered them to be brought from a certain plain that was nearby. And the plain was excavated, and brilliant square stones were found there, but some were round. And all the stones that were found in that plain were brought in and were carried through the door by the virgins. And the square stones were trimmed and set in the place of those that had been removed, but the round ones were not placed in the building, because they were too hard to shape and it took too long. So they were placed beside the tower, as though they were going to be shaped and put into the building, for they were extraordinarily brilliant. – The Shepherd of Hermas 3.9.6

The interpretation of who the who this tall man is:

“Did you see,” he said, “the six men, and the glorious and mighty man in their midst, who walked around the tower and rejected the stones from the building?” “I saw him, sir,” I said. “The glorious man,” he said, “is the Son of God, and those six are the glorious angels who surround Him on His right and on His left. Not one of these glorious angels,” he said, “enters God’s presence without Him; whoever does not receive His name will not enter the kingdom of God.” – The Shepherd of Hermas 3.9.12

The detail glorious man being taller than the rest is also found in 2 Esdras:

2 Esdras 2:42–48 I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude, which I could not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs. In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound. Then I asked an angel, “Who are these, my lord?” He answered and said to me, “These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and they have confessed the name of God; now they are being crowned, and receive palms.” Then I said to the angel, “Who is that young man who places crowns on them and puts palms in their hands?” He answered and said to me, “He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world.” So I began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord. Then the angel said to me, “Go, tell my people how great and many are the wonders of the Lord God which you have seen.”

Barnabas:

In like manner He points to the cross of Christ in another prophet, who says, And when shall these things be accomplished? And the Lord says, When a tree shall be bent down, and again arise, and when blood shall flow out of wood. Here again you have an intimation concerning the cross, and Him who should be crucified. – Epistle of Barnabas Chapter 12

2 Esdras 5:5 “…Blood shall drip from wood, and the stone shall utter its voice; the peoples shall be troubled, and the skies shall be changed.”

Tertullian:

“But to you who hear” Luke 6:27 (showing that this was long ago a command from the Creator: Speak into the ears of those who hear.) – Tertullian, Against Marcion, Book 4, chapter 16 PL 2:395A

2 Esdras 15:1 The Lord says, “Behold, speak in the ears of my people the words of the prophecy which I will put in your mouth.”

The footnotes in the ANF volume reference 2 Esdras 15:1 for this quote. In “The Use of the Apocrypha in the Christian Church” page 35 it says  “In Adv. Marcionem iv. 16 he [Tertullian] quotes II. Esd. XV. 1, “loquere in aures audientium,” as being an ancient command illustrated by our Lord in St Luke vi. 27.”

Clement of Alexandria:

“Accursed be the day on which I was born-may it never be blessed,” says Jeremiah. He is not simply saying that birth is an accursed thing; he has withdrawn in impa- tience at the sinful disobedience of the people. Anyway he goes on, “Why was I born to see trouble and toil? Why have my days come to fulfillment in shame?” All those who preached the truth were in danger of persecution through the disobedience of their audience. “Why did my mother’s womb not become my tomb, to prevent me from seeing Jacob’s trials and the troubles of the house of Israel?” says the prophet Esdras. (2 Esdras 5:35) “No one is pure from stain,” says Job, “not even if his life is only of one day’s duration.” – Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata 3.16.100

2 Esdras 5:35 And he said to me, “You cannot.” And I said, “Why not, my lord? Why then was I born? Or why did not my mother’s womb become my grave, that I might not see the travail of Jacob and the exhaustion of the people of Israel?”

Cyprian (allusion/echo?):

You have said that all these things happen through us, and that all these events by which the world is now shaken and distressed ought to be imputed to us, because your gods are not worshipped by us. In this matter, since you are ignorant of divine knowledge and a stranger to the truth, this first of all you must know: the world has already grown old; it no longer stands in that strength in which it formerly stood, nor does it possess that vigor and power in which it once prevailed. This, even if we were silent and brought forward no proofs from the holy Scriptures and divine proclamations, the world itself now declares, and by the evidence of things slipping away bears witness to its own decline. In winter there is not such an abundance of rains to nourish the seeds; in summer there is not such burning heat of the sun to parch and ripen the crops; the sown fields are not so joyful in the mildness of spring; nor are the autumns so fruitful in the produce of the trees. From mountains already dug out and worn down, fewer layers of marble are quarried; the mines, now exhausted, yield less wealth of silver and gold, and the meager veins shrink and diminish with each passing day. The farmer fails in the fields, the sailor on the sea, the soldier in the camp, innocence in the forum, justice in the judgment hall, harmony in friendships, skill in the arts, and discipline in morals. Do you think that a thing growing old can have as much substance as it once could when it was still young and fresh in its vigor? It is necessary that whatever is already drawing near to its end and sinking toward the setting and the last limits should be diminished. — Cyprian, Treatise to Demetrianus, chapter 3 (PL 4:546B-47A)

2 Esdras 5:54-55 “Therefore, consider that you yourself are smaller in stature than those who were before you, and those who come after you will be smaller than you, as born of a creation which already is aging and passing the strength of youth.”

Cyprian: The world has already grown old; it no longer stands in that strength in which it formerly stood, nor does it possess that vigor in which it once prevailed.

2 Esdras 5:55: Those who come after you will be smaller than you, as born of a creation which already is aging and passing the strength of youth.

Cyprian: The world itself now declares, and by the evidence of things slipping away bears witness to its own decline.

2 Esdras 5:55: A creation which already is aging and passing the strength of youth.

Cyprian: Do you think that a thing growing old can have as much substance as it once could when it was still young and fresh in its vigor?

2 Esdras 5:55: Passing the strength of youth.

Cyprian: It is necessary that whatever is already drawing near to its end and sinking toward the last limits should be diminished.

2 Esdras 5:54–55: You yourself are smaller than those who were before you… and those who come after you will be smaller than you.

Aging creation → loss of youthful strength → inevitable diminution / smaller / weakened state.

These parallels suggest an allusion to 2 Esdras 5:54–55

Athanasius:

…If then after taking him, when enfeebled, into Himself, He renews him again through that sure renewal unto endless permanence, and therefore is made one with him in order to raise him to a diviner lot, how can we possibly say that the Word was sent through the Man who was from Mary, and reckon Him, the Lord of Apostles, with the other Apostles, I mean prophets, who were sent by Him? And how can Christ be called a mere man? On the contrary, being made one with the Word, He is with reason called Christ and Son of God, the prophet having long since loudly and clearly ascribed the Father’s subsistence to Him, and said, “And I will send My Son Christ ,” and in the Jordan, “This is My Well-beloved Son.” For when He had fulfilled His promise, He showed, as was suitable, that He was He whom He said He had sent. – Athanasius, Against the Arians 4.33

Pseudo-Gregory of Nyssa:

“You shall see your life hanging before your eyes, and you shall not believe, even if someone recounts it to you. In the morning you will say, How did evening come? And in the evening, How did morning come?” (Deuteronomy 28:66–67). Amos says: “And it shall be in that day, says the Lord God, that the sun shall set at midday, and I will darken the light in the daytime” (Amos 8:9). Jeremiah says: “The sun set while it was still midday” (Jeremiah 15:9). Isaiah says: “All the day long I stretched out my hands to a people who contradict and disobey” (Isaiah 65:2). And again: “Lift up a signal to the nations” (Isaiah 62:10). And again: “And then these things shall be fulfilled, says the Lord, when wood shall be bent by wood, and shall rise up, and when blood shall drip from wood.” (2 Esdras 5:5) Zechariah says: “And it shall be in that day: there shall not be light; and that day shall be known to the Lord; it shall not be day, nor night; but toward evening there shall be light” (Zechariah 14:6–7). David says: “I waited for one who would grieve with me, but there was none; and for one who would comfort me, but I found none. They gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:20–21). None of these things can be shown to have happened to David. And again: “They placed me in the lowest pit” (Psalm 88:6). Zechariah says: “Sword, awake against my shepherd, and against the man who is my fellow, says the Lord Almighty; strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered” (Zechariah 13:7). And again: “And in that day, what is on the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord” (Zechariah 14:20). – Pseudo-Gregory Of Nyssa: Testimonies Against The Jews, chapter 7

This is the same passage quoted in the Epistle of Barnabas.

Ambrose of Milan:

It is rather striking that the holy Evangelist makes a point of telling us that many people thought that the child should be given the name of Zachary his father. Notice that the mother did not find it displeasing to give her son the name of a stranger, but had already received a communication to this effect from the Holy Spirit—who had previously announced the name to Zachary. He, being dumb, could not tell his wife the boy’s name, but Elizabeth learnt by revelation what she could not be told by her husband. “John,” she declared, “is his name.” It is as if to say: it is not we who give him a name, since he has already received his name from God. He has his name. We did not choose it, but we recognise it. Saints have this privilege of receiving a name from God. For example, Jacob is called “Israel” because he saw God (Genesis 32:28). So, too, our Lord is called “Jesus” before His birth; it is not the angel but the Father who confers this name upon Him: “My Son Jesus,” so Scripture says, “will show Himself with those who share His joy, who are left for four hundred years. And after these years my Son the Christ shall die and the world be converted” (2 Esdras 7:28–30). You observe that angels announce what they have heard; they do not take it on themselves to make an announcement. — Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Luke, Book 2, chapter 31

That there are chambers for souls up above receives abundant proof in the testimony of Scripture, since in the books of Esdras we read that when the day of judgment comes, “the earth will give up the bodies of the departed and the dust will give up those that rest in the graves, the remains of the dead. And the chambers will give up the souls that have been committed to them, and the Most High will be revealed on his judgment seat” (2 Esdras 7:32–33). These are the chambers concerning which the Lord says that there are many mansions in His Father’s house, which He is going to the Father to prepare for His disciples (John 14:2). Now I have used the writings of Esdras so that the pagans may know that the marvelous contents of their philosophical works have been taken over from ours. — Ambrose of Milan, Death As A Good 10.45

Further, the Scripture calls those dwellings “repositories of souls” (2 Esdras 7:32). Meeting the complaint of men that the just who have gone before seem to be cheated of their due reward for a very long time, even to the day of judgment, it admirably says that the day of judgment is like the day when the crown is awarded, when “just as there is no slowness on the part of those who are last, there is no swiftness on the part of those who are first” (2 Esdras 5:42). For all await the day when the crown is given, so that during that day the defeated may manifest their shame and the victors obtain the palm of victory. And the text quoted made no secret of the fact that those who were created earlier seem stronger, while those of later creation seem weaker. For it compared the births of this world to those of a woman’s uterus, since those are stronger “who were born in the vigor of youth,” but weaker “who were born in the time of old age” (2 Esdras 5:53). For this world, like the womb of one who procreates, has been enervated from the multitude of begettings, and like a creature growing old, it has laid aside the vigor of its youth, for the powers it possessed in its prime have withered away. — Ambrose of Milan, Death as a Good (10.45)

The joy of just souls is apportioned over certain orders (2 Esdras 7:91–99). First, that they have overcome the flesh and have not bent to its enticements. Then, that as the reward of their perseverance and their innocence they possess a composure and are not involved in any vices and disorders, as the souls of the unholy are, nor are they tormented with the recollection of their vices or tossed about, as it were, on tides of anxiety. Third, that they are supported by God’s testimony that they have kept the law so that they have no fear of any uncertain outcome of their deeds at the last judgment. Fourth, that they begin to understand their rest and to foresee their future glory. They find it a soothing consolation, and they rest in much quietness in their chambers, where they are attended by escorts of angels. The fifth stage moreover is one of the most delightful and rich exaltation, because the souls have come from the prison of this corruptible body into light and liberty and they possess the inheritance promised to them. It is the stage of tranquillity because it is also the stage of resurrection. “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made to live, but each in his own turn, Christ as firstfruits, then they who are Christ’s, who have believed in his coming, then the end.” And so the order of splendor and of glory will differ, as will the order of merit. The advance in the stages represents also the advance in splendor. Then in the sixth stage it will be shown to them that their face is beginning to shine like the sun and to be like the light of the stars; only their splendor cannot suffer decay henceforth. The seventh stage will be such that they exult confidently and trust without any hesitation and rejoice fearlessly, as they hasten to see the face of Him to whom they have offered their devoted and faithful service. With the recollection of a clear conscience, they trust to receive from Him a glorious reward for their poor toil. As they begin to receive it, they come to know that the sufferings of this age do not deserve the glorious and eternal reward that is given for them. “Such is the way of the souls of the just,” the Scripture says (2 Esdras 7:99), and it did not hesitate to call them immortal in the fifth stage, “because of the spaciousness they are destined to receive and enjoy in immortality” (2 Esdras 7:96). Such is their repose through the seven stages, and such is their first accomplishing of the glory that is to come, before they enjoy to the full the gift of tranquil assembly in their dwellings. On this account the prophet says to the angel: “Then will time be given the souls after they are separated from the bodies to see what you have told me of?” (2 Esdras 7:100). And the angel said: “They will have freedom for seven days, to see in the seven days the words that have been foretold, and afterward they will be gathered in their dwellings” (2 Esdras 7:101). And these matters are more fully described in relation to the stages of the just than to the sufferings of the unholy (2 Esdras 7:78–87), because it is better to know how the guiltless are saved than how sinners are tormented. — Ambrose of Milan, Death as a Good (11:48)

Nor does it escape my notice that heretics have been wont to object that the Holy Spirit appears to be a creature, because many of them use as an argument for establishing their impiety that passage of Amos, where he spoke of the blowing of the wind, as the words of the prophet made clear. For you read thus: “Behold, I am He that establish the thunders, and create the wind [spirit], and declare unto man his Christ, that make light and mist, and ascend upon high places, the Lord God Almighty is His Name.” (Amos 4:13) If they make an argument of this, that he said spirit was created, Esdras taught us that spirit is created, saying in the fourth book: “And upon the second day You made the spirit of the firmament,” (2 Esdras 6:41) yet, that we may keep to our point, is it not evident that in what Amos said the order of the passage shows that the prophet was speaking of the creation of this world? — Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit, Book 2, chapter 6.48-49

• 2 Esdras is also known as 4 Esdras

To me, then, does this message come, and Holy Scripture says: Do you teach this, is it thus that you instruct the people of God? Do you not know that your example is a danger to others? save that perchance you complain that your prayer is not heard. First of all this is shameless arrogance, to desire to obtain for yourself what you know to have been denied to many, even saints, when you are aware that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). For although God is merciful, yet if He always heard all, He would appear to act no longer of His own free will, but by a kind of necessity. Then, since all ask, if He were to hear all, no one would die. For how much do you daily pray? Is, then, God’s appointment to be made void in consideration of you? Why, then, do you lament that is sometimes not obtained, which you know cannot always be obtained? “You fool,” it says, “above all women, do you not see our mourning, and what has happened to us, how that Sion our mother is saddened with all sadness, and humbled with humbling. Mourn now also very sore, since we all mourn, and be sad since we all are sad, and you are grieved for a brother. Ask the earth and she shall tell you that it is she which ought to mourn, outliving so many that grow upon her. And out of her,” it says, “were all born in the beginning, and out of her shall others come, and, behold, they walk almost all into destruction, and a multitude of them is utterly rooted out. Who, then, ought to make more mourning than she that has lost so great a multitude, and not thou, which art sorry but for one?” (2 Esdras 10:6–11). Let, then, the common mourning swallow up ours and cut off the bitterness of our private sorrow. For we ought not to grieve for those whom we see to be set free, and we bear in mind that so many holy souls are not without a purpose at this time loosed from the chains of the body. For we see, as if by God’s decree, such reverend widows dying so closely at one time, that it seems to be a sort of setting out on a journey, not a sinking in death, lest their chastity in which they have served God their full time should be exposed to peril. What groans, what mourning, does so bitter a recollection stir up in me! And if I had no leisure for mourning, yet in my own personal grief, in the loss of the very flower of so much merit, the common lot of nature consoled me; and my grief in consideration of one alone veiled the bitterness of the public funeral by the show of piety at home. I seek again, then, O sacred Scripture, your consolations, for it delights me to dwell on your precepts and on your sentences. How far more easy is it for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fail! But let us now listen to what is written: “Now,” it says, “keep your sorrow to yourself, and bear with a good courage the things which have befallen you. For if you shall acknowledge the determination of God to be just, you shall both receive your son in time, and shall be praised among women” (2 Esdras 10:15–16). If this is said to a woman, how much more to a priest! If such words are said of a son it is certainly not unfitting that they should be uttered also concerning the loss of a brother; though if he had been my son I could never have loved him more. For as in the death of children, the lost labour and the pain borne to no purpose seem to increase the sorrow; so, too, in the case of brothers the habits of intercourse and joint occupations inflame the bitterness of grief. — Ambrose of Milan, On the Death of Satyrus 1.65-68

You asked me whether the soul is in all likelihood a heavy substance, for you do not believe that the soul is blood or fire or a harmony of nerves, as ordinary philosophers teach. Again, it seems to you that the soul is that which moves itself and is moved by no other, for this is the teaching of the ancient line of followers of Plato. You feel at least, since Aristotle inferred with remarkable originality some sort of fifth element, that there is an element, entelléchia, from which you would derive or form the substance of the soul. I suggest that you read the Book of Esdras, for he has his back on those little nothings of the philosophers and with that deeper wisdom which he gathered from revelation has shown quite briefly that souls are of a superior substance. — Ambrose of Milan (Letter 34, Fathers of the Church volume 26, page 272)

2 Esdras 3:5 …”and it gave you Adam, a lifeless body? But it was the work of your hands, and so you breathed into him the breath of life, and he came to life in your presence.”

2 Esdras 7:78 “Now a word about death: When the final sentence goes forth from the Most High that a person should die, when the spirit recedes from the body so that it may be sent again to him who gave it, the first thing is to stand in awe before the glory of the Most High.”

And so let us not be afraid to be taken from among men, let us not dread the end that is due to all; in it Esdras finds the recompense of his devotion when the Lord says to him: “You will be taken up from among men and henceforth you will live with my Son and those who are like you” (2 Esdras 14:9). Now if it was glorious and pleasing for him to live with those who were like him, how much more glorious and more pleasing it will be for us to go on to our betters and to live with those whose deeds we hold in admiration. And who indeed is first, Esdras or Plato? For Paul followed the words of Esdras, not those of Plato. Esdras revealed according to the revelation bestowed on him that the just would be with Christ and with the saints. Hence Socrates too says that he is hastening to those gods of his, those most excellent heroes. Likewise, what is admirable in the writings of the philosopher belongs to us. Socrates indeed set down these matters while he did not have his own proof of them, but we have the weight of God’s instruction. Moses and Elias appeared with Christ (Matthew 17:3). Abraham hospitably received God and two others (Genesis 18:1–2). Jacob looked upon God’s camp (Genesis 32:1–2), and Daniel, at the revelation of the Holy Spirit, said that the just shone in heaven like the sun and the stars (Daniel 12:3). — Ambrose of Milan, Death As A Good 11.50

Pseudo-Ambrosian fragment:

And Esdras likewise bears witness: “Now concerning death the word is this: When the limit of the decree of the Most High has gone forth that a man should die, when the breath departs from the body so that it returns to Him who gave it, to adore the glory of the Most High.” (4 Esdras 7:78) Again Esdras: “For You alone are God, and we are one formation of Your hands, as You have spoken. For now You visit in the womb the body that has been formed, and You provide the limbs; in fire and water Your creation is preserved. For nine months the formation of Your creature endures in that which has been created in it, so that it may be kept safe. And when the womb again gives back the things that have been created in it, You have commanded that from these members, that is, from the breasts, milk be supplied, the fruit of the breasts, so that what has been formed in the womb may be nourished.” (4 Esdras 8:7–11) – Pseudo-Ambrosian fragment, The Fourth Book of Ezra: The Latin Version Edited from the MSS Number 2 (Texts and Studies: Contributions to Biblical and Patristic L), page 25

Latin: Et Esdras similiter testatur: Nunc de morte sermo est: Quando profectus fuerit terminus sententiae Altissimi ut homo moriatur, recedente spiratione de corpore, ut reuertatur ad eum qui dedit ei adorare gloriam Altissimi (vii. 78). Item Esdras: Solus enim tu es deus, et una plasmatio nos sumus manuum tuarum sicut locutus es. Quoniam uisitas nunc in matrice plasmatum corpus et praestas membra, conseruatur in igne et aqua tua creatio. Nouem mensibus patitur plasmatio creaturae tuae ea quae in ipso creata est ut seruetur. Et quando iterum reddit matrix quae in ea creata fuerint, imperasti ut ex his (so CM) membris, hoc est mammillis, praebeatur lac, fructum mammillarum ut nutriatur, quod plasmatum est in utero (viii. 7—11).

Priscillian of Ávila:

But the nature of the divine mystery is more subtle than that of the devil, for it willed that Ezra be preserved, so that he who rewrote the things that had been burned might show what God is able to do in man. If those things were truly burned and we truly believe that they were rewritten, although the burned Testament is read in the canon while the one rewritten by Ezra is not read in the canon, nevertheless, since after the Testament had been burned it could not have been restored unless it had been written, we rightly give credence to that book which, brought forth with Ezra as its author, although it is not placed in the canon, is kept with the reverent honor due to the realities it records, as a commendation of the restored divine Testament. In this book, however, we read that it is written that the Holy Spirit, who from the beginning of the world has held in His keeping the deeds of men and of things, entered the heart of the chosen man, and that, by repeating the order, the number, and the arrangement of that which scarcely the written form could preserve for human memory, as he spoke by day and did not keep silence by night, writing, He committed to human memory all the things that seem to have been done or that we read as written. – Priscillian, Third Tractate, De fide et apocryphis [380 AD] The Fourth Book of Ezra: The Latin Version Edited from the MSS Number 2 (Texts and Studies: Contributions to Biblical and Patristic L), page 25 

Pseudo-Jerome:

When the sixth hour had come, darkness fell over the whole earth. Here Noah is present, drunk and stripped bare, heaven and earth covered with a dark cloak, and mocked by man. Here blood dripped from the wood. – Pseudo-Jerome, Commentary on Mark 15

2 Esdras 5:5 “…Blood shall drip from wood, and the stone shall utter its voice; the peoples shall be troubled, and the skies shall be changed.” 

Apostolic Constitutions:

You, who has bound the strong man, and spoiled all that was in his house, who has given us power over serpents and scorpions to tread upon them, and upon all the power of the enemy; Matthew 12:29; Luke 10:19 who has delivered the serpent, that murderer of men, bound to us, as a sparrow to children, whom all things dread, and tremble before the face of Your power; who has cast him down as lightning from heaven to earth, not with a fall from a place, but from honour to dishonour, on account of his voluntary evil disposition; whose look dries the abysses, and threatening melts the mountains, and whose truth remains for ever; whom the infants praise, and nursing babies bless; whom angels sing hymns to, and adore; who looks upon the earth, and makes it tremble; who touches the mountains, and they smoke; who threatens the sea, and dries it up, and makes all its rivers as desert, and the clouds are the dust of His feet; who walks upon the sea as upon the firm ground —  Apostolic Constitutions, Book 8, Section 2

2 Esdras 8:19- 24 “The beginning of the words of Ezra’s prayer, before he was taken up. He said: “O Lord who inhabitest eternity, whose eyes are exalted and whose upper chambers are in the air, whose throne is beyond measure and whose glory is beyond comprehension, before whom the hosts of angels stand trembling and at whose command they are changed to wind and fire, whose word is sure and whose utterances are certain, whose ordinance is strong and whose command is terrible, whose look dries up the depths and whose indignation makes the mountains melt away, and whose truth is established for ever — hear, O Lord, the prayer of thy servant, and give ear to the petition of thy creature; attend to my words.”

• Apostolic Constitutions was written in Greek while the current version is in Latin with no complete Greek copy, this points to the book being available in Greek, since the Constitutions used part of Esdras prayer in their own prayer. 

Anonymous Latin Commentary on Matthew (4-5th century):

2 Esdras 5:42 He said to me, “I will compare my judgment to a crown. Just as there is no delay for those who come last, so there is no rushing for those who come before.”

Jerome’s statements about the book:

…No one ought to be bothered by the fact that my edition consists of only one book, nor ought anyone take delight in the dreams found in the apocryphal third and fourth books. For among the Hebrews the texts of Ezra and Nehemiah comprise a single book, and those texts which are not used by them and are not concerned with the twenty-four elders ought to be rejected outright. — Jerome, The Prologue on the Book of Ezra

…As for you, when wide awake you are asleep, and asleep when you write, and you bring before me an apocryphal book which, under the name of Esdras, is read by you and those of your feather, and in this book it is written that after death no one dares pray for others. I have never read the book: for what need is there to take up what the Church does not receive? — Jerome, Against Vigilantius

This passage Jerome rejected is not found in the version of Esdras as found in the King James Version [not that we approve this translation]. This is included in other translations, 2 Esdras 7:105, but this is Jerome’s disapproval of the book. We know some church fathers did used it Authoritatively and viewed it as Scripture, but Jerome knew of the books existence. These portions were known to Ambrose who quoted verses around chapter 7:105, and he still accepted it as Scripture, he prefaces a quote by saying “Esdras taught us that spirit is created, saying in the fourth book” (see his citations above).

The Church Fathers talking about the Scriptures being restored by Esdras/Ezra after they were destroyed during the time of Nebuchadnezzar:

2 Esdras 14: For thy law has been burned, and so no one knows the things which have been done or will be done by thee. If then I have found favor before thee, send the Holy Spirit into me, and I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning, the things which were written in thy law, that men may be able to find the path, and that those who wish to live in the last days may live. He answered me and said, “Go and gather the people, and tell them not to seek you for forty days. But prepare for yourself many writing tablets, and take with you Sarea, Dabria, Selemia, Ethanus, and Asiel—these five, because they are trained to write rapidly; and you shall come here, and I will light in your heart the lamp of understanding, which shall not be put out until what you are about to write is finished. And when you have finished, some things you shall make public, and some you shall deliver in secret to the wise; tomorrow at this hour you shall begin to write.” Then I went as he commanded me, and I gathered all the people together, and said, “Hear these words, O Israel. At first our fathers dwelt as aliens in Egypt, and they were delivered from there, and received the law of life, which they did not keep, which you also have transgressed after them. Then land was given to you for a possession in the land of Zion; but you and your fathers committed iniquity and did not keep the ways which the Most High commanded you. And because he is a righteous judge, in due time he took from you what he had given. And now you are here, and your brethren are farther in the interior. If you, then, will rule over your minds and discipline your hearts, you shall be kept alive, and after death you shall obtain mercy. For after death the judgment will come, when we shall live again; and then the names of the righteous will become manifest, and the deeds of the ungodly will be disclosed. But let no one come to me now, and let no one seek me for forty days.” So I took the five men, as he commanded me, and we proceeded to the field, and remained there. And on the next day, behold, a voice called me, saying, “Ezra, open your mouth and drink what I give you to drink.” Then I opened my mouth, and behold, a full cup was offered to me; it was full of something like water, but its color was like fire. And I took it and drank; and when I had drunk it, my heart poured forth understanding, and wisdom increased in my breast, for my spirit retained its memory; and my mouth was opened, and was no longer closed. And the Most High gave understanding to the five men, and by turns they wrote what was dictated, in characters which they did not know. They sat forty days, and wrote during the daytime, and ate their bread at night. As for me, I spoke in the daytime and was not silent at night. So during the forty days ninety-four books were written. And when the forty days were ended, the Most High spoke to me, saying, “Make public the twenty-four books that you wrote first and let the worthy and the unworthy read them; but keep the seventy that were written last, in order to give them to the wise among your people. For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge.” And I did so.

Ezra 7 LXX Now after these things, in the reign of Arthasastha king of the Persians, came up Esdras the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of Chelcias, the son of Selum, the son of Sadduc, the son of Achitob, the son of Samarias, the son of Esria, the son of Mareoth, the son of Zaraia, the son of Ozias, the son of Bokki, the son of Abisue, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the first priest. This Esdras went up out of Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel gave: and the king gave him leave, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him in all things which he sought.

Irenaeus:

He who, when, during the captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar, the Scriptures had been corrupted, and when, after seventy years, the Jews had returned to their own land, then, in the times of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, inspired Esdras the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to recast all the words of the former prophets, and to reestablish with the people the Mosaic legislation. – Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.21.2

Clement of Alexandria:

Since the Scriptures having perished in the captivity of Nebuchadnezzar, Esdras the Levite, the priest, in the time of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, having become inspired in the exercise of prophecy restored again the whole of the ancient Scriptures.– Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata 1.21

At that time Zorobabel, having by his wisdom overcome his opponents, and obtained leave from Darius for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, returned with Esdras to his native land; and by him the redemption of the people and the revisal and restoration of the inspired oracles were effected. – Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata 1.21

Tertullian:

If (Noah) had not had this (conservative power) by so short a route, there would (still) be this (consideration) to warrant our assertion of (the genuineness of) this Scripture [Book of Enoch]: he could equally have renewed it, under the Spirit’s inspiration, after it had been destroyed by the violence of the deluge, as, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian storming of it, every document of the Jewish literature is generally agreed to have been restored through Ezra. But since Enoch in the same Scripture has preached likewise concerning the Lord, nothing at all must be rejected by us which pertains to us; and we read that every Scripture suitable for edification is divinely inspired. By the Jews it may now seem to have been rejected for that (very) reason, just like all the other (portions) nearly which tell of Christ. Nor, of course, is this fact wonderful, that they did not receive some Scriptures which spoke of Him whom even in person, speaking in their presence, they were not to receive. – Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women ch. 2

Origen of Alexandria:

“Thus Joshua did” (Joshua 11:15). From this it is shown that it was not Joshua son of Nun himself who wrote these words, but another, many generations later. Yet this does not contradict what was said earlier: for Joshua wrote the events of his own time, or those revealed to him, just as Moses wrote what concerned his own time. But later, when the temple had been built by Solomon and the people had fallen into much impiety, and the temple was deserted by God—so that the book of Deuteronomy was scarcely found cast aside (2 Kings 22:8)—then, after the Babylonian captivity, Ezra, skilled in the law, re-wrote the Law and some other events and revelations. What was spoken long before was then brought into writing. And so it may be with what we have just mentioned here. — Origen, Selections on Joshua. PG 12

Basil the Great:

Here is the oak of Mamre; here is the ladder going up to heaven, and the stronghold of the angels which Jacob saw; here is the wilderness in which the people purified received the law, and so came into the land of promise and saw God. Here is Mount Carmel where Elias sojourned and pleased God. Here is the plain whither Esdras withdrew, and at God’s bidding uttered all the God inspired books. – Basil the Great, Letter 42.5

Ambrose of Milan:

…And why should I speak of men? Judith, absolutely unmoved by the luxurious banquet of Holofernes, solely by virtue of her temperance carried off the triumph which men’s strength despaired of; she lifted her country from siege; she slew the general of the army with her own hands. This is clear proof that his luxury had enervated that warrior, terrible to the nations, and temperance in food had made this woman stronger than men. Here it was not in her sex that nature was overcome, but she overcame through her own food. Esther by her fasts won the favor of a proud king. Anna, who for eighty-four years as a widow worshiped in the temple with fasts and prayers day and night, knew Christ whom John announced, he who was the teacher of abstinence and, as it were, a new angel on earth. O foolish Eliseus, feeding the Prophets with wild and bitter gourds! and Esdras, unmindful of the Scriptures, although he restored the Scriptures from memory! Foolish Paul, glorying in fasts,* if fasting profits nothing! — Ambrose of Milan, Letter 59 (Fathers of the Church volume 26, page 331-332)

Macarius Magnes (late 4th century):

But while you say that the writings of Moses suffered during the Captivity and were rewritten inaccurately by Esdras, it will be found that they were rewritten with complete accuracy. For it was not that one person spoke to Esdras and another to Moses, but the same Spirit taught both and dictated the same things clearly to both. And the same architect put the Mosaic Law back together just like a house destroyed by enemies, harmoniously organizing each section according to the rule of wisdom. – Macarius Magnes, Apocriticus 3.10

John Chrysostom:

And look at it from the first, that you may learn the unspeakable love of God. He inspired the blessed Moses; He engraved the tables, He detained him on the mount forty days; and again as many [more] to give the Law. And after this He sent prophets who suffered woes innumerable. War came on; they slew them all, they cut them to pieces, the books were burned. Again, He inspired another admirable man to publish them, Ezra I mean, and caused them to be put together from the remains. And after this He arranged that they should be translated by the seventy. They did translate them. Christ came, He receives them; the Apostles disperse them among men. Christ wrought signs and wonders. — John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Hebrews

Jerome:

The word of God says in Genesis, And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem, and lost them until this day. Likewise at the end of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 34:5-6 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor: but no man knows of his sepulchre unto this day. We must certainly understand by this day the time of the composition of the history, whether you prefer the view that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch or that Ezra re-edited it. In either case I make no objection. The question now is whether the words unto this day are to be referred to the time of publishing or writing the books, and if so it is for him to show, now that so many years have rolled away since that day, that either the idols hidden beneath the oak have been found, or the grave of Moses discovered; for he obstinately maintains that what does not happen so long as the point of time indicated by until and unto has not been attained, begins to be when that point has been reached. – Jerome, Against Helvidius 7

Theodoret of Cyrus:

There are certain people who cast aspersions upon this book, saying that they cannot believe it to be at all spiritual, weaving together various myths that are not fitting even for women who have gone mad, claiming that the wise Solomon composed this book only with reference to himself and to the daughter of the Pharaoh. There are others who are hold similar views but imagine that the bride is actually Abishag the Shunamite, and not the Pharaoh’s daughter. These, though, have a somewhat more purified sense of things, and describe the work as a “regal treatise,” saying that the bride represents the people, while the bridegroom represents the king. It seems therefore necessary, before beginning my interpretation, first to refute this false and harmful view, and afterwards to establish the purpose of the text. Toward this end, we must turn to the blessed Fathers, who had greater wisdom and were more spiritual than those mentioned above, and who decreed that this book be placed among the sacred Scriptures, having determined that it was spiritual, and showing that it was fitting for the Church. Because it has been counted as sacred Scripture, it is not the case, as some have maintained, that it is concerned with debauchery and the love of pleasure. Indeed, why should we invoke the authority of the Fathers on this question when we are able to call upon the testimony of the Holy Spirit itself? But when the people were recalled from exile, the blessed Esdras—a man of great virtue and filled with the all-Holy Spirit, as the events themselves make manifest—wrote down those Scriptures that were necessary for our salvation. And of these not only the writings of Moses, but also the history of Joshua, Judges, and Kings, along with the narrative of the noble Job, and the sacred hymnody of David, which is the joy of the Church, and the sixteen prophets, and the works of the wise Solomon: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. How then, dear sirs, can the Song of Songs contain the meaning which you say it does, when Esdras wrote it down, not from a written copy, but being filled with the Holy Spirit, in order to provide all human beings with spiritual benefit in written form? For descriptions of debauchery are not of the Holy Spirit but rather of the opposing spirit, “For the fruit of the Spirit,” according to the blessed Paul, “is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22). If then, “self-control” is a “fruit of the Holy Spirit,” then self-indulgence is obviously the fruit of the opposing spirit, and yet you say that this very self-indulgence is the theme of the Song of Songs! Do you see where such blasphemy leads you? Your foolish ideas about this book lead you to oppose the all-Holy Spirit, for, as we said, this book having been destroyed, it was restored by Esdras, who was filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Based on this knowledge, the blessed Fathers placed this book among the sacred Scriptures, and many of the ancients commented on it. And even those who did not write commentaries on it, nevertheless made abundant use of such commentaries in order to beautify their own works. And it was not only Eusebius of Palestine (i.e., of Caesarea), and Origen the Egyptian, and Cyprian of Carthage (whose brow was plaited with the crown of martyrdom), along with many of their predecessors, who were close to the apostles, but also many who have since followed them in the churches, who knew this book to be spiritual. Of these I note Basil the Great, who interpreted the beginning of the Book of Proverbs, as did his brother Gregory (of Nyssa), and Diodore (of Tarsus) that noble defender of the faith, and John (Chrysostom), who to this very day waters the world with the streams of his teaching, and many more besides. – Theodoret of Cyrus, Preface to the Commentary on the Song of Songs

Another tradition about how the Psalms were compiled that affirms this tradition about Ezra rewriting the destroyed Scriptures as found in 2 Esdras 14:

[The title of Psalm 3.] — The third psalm should be understood as taken from the person of Christ, treating of His passion and resurrection. It directs us to that history in which it is said that David fled from the face of his son Absalom, who rose against him in battle. The prophet Ezra, understanding that this history foreshadowed the events of Christ’s passion, gave it the following title: “A psalm of David when he fled from the face of Absalom his son.” This is explained in this way: this psalm — that is, this exhortation of moral instruction contained in what follows — is of David, that is, of Christ, who is mighty in hand. It is a psalm composed about the things that happened when He fled, that is, when by withdrawing His grace He receded from the face of Absalom, the son, that is, from the mind of Judas, whom, together with the other apostles, He had chosen by His grace so that he might be His son. And rightly, for Absalom means “the peace of the father,” the traitor of Christ is understood; for although Judas himself did not have peace with Christ, yet Christ gave him peace both with His mouth and held it in His heart. Therefore, seeing that His elect would suffer not only at the hands of others but also from friends and relatives for the sake of righteousness, the Lord intends in this psalm to exhort them to constancy in suffering, setting Himself forth as their example: so that just as He Himself was steadfast in His passion and called upon the Lord in His tribulation, and that very tribulation became for Him a cause of glory and exaltation, so too they, considering that they will be exalted through tribulations, might turn to prayer, reflecting that He is their head and advocate, and not grow faint. — Commentary on 75 Psalms, Psalm 3, chapter 1, PL. 21.654 [traditionally attributed to Rufinus of Aquileia; authorship now deemed anonymous].

• The superscriptions or titles of the Psalms, were written down by Esdras when he compiled all the psalms into one book and they were not written by the original psalmist. He understood the Psalms and put down the titles for each.

After these words, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, etc. Josephus (Antiq. XIII, 5) considers this Artaxerxes, under whom Ezra ascended from Babylon to Jerusalem, to be Xerxes, the son of Darius, who reigned after him. Furthermore, the books of Chronicles believe that the successor of the same Xerxes, who is also called Artaxerxes by them, is here designated. Now Darius, under whom the temple was built, reigned thirty-six years; after him Xerxes reigned twenty years; after whom Artabanus for seven months, which chronographers count as a year; after whom Artaxerxes for forty years. Ezra, a swift scribe in the law of Moses, because he restored the law which had been consumed; not only the law but also, as common tradition of the elders says, he rewrote the entire series of sacred Scripture which had been equally consumed by fire, as he saw fitting for the readers. They say in this work, he added some words which he deemed appropriate; among which is this: “And there arose not a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,” etc. Words indeed which only one who lived long after Moses could say. And in the book of Samuel: “Formerly in Israel a man going to inquire of God would say, Come and let us go to the seer. For he who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer” (1 Sam. IX). Moreover, he left untouched some entire volumes, which were once held among the people of Israel; of which now only the memory of the name remains in sacred Scripture; as it is said in the book of Numbers: “Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord” (Num. XXI). And in Joshua: “Is this not written in the book of Jashar?” (Jos. X). But also in the volume of Kings and Chronicles, the historical books of the prophets Ahijah the Shilonite, and Shemaiah, Iddo, and Nathan, as well as Isaiah, and Jehu the son of Hanani are mentioned (1 Kings XVI; 2 Chron. IX); concerning whom it is said that he wrote the book of the kings of Israel; and many others, of which it is said no traces can be found today. The Hebrews also report, and there is no doubt among them about this matter, that the same Ezra invented lighter letters against the names of those they had hitherto used, by which he swiftly restored such a great amount of books that had been consumed. Therefore he is known not only as a scribe but also as a swift scribe. However, the earlier letters remained with the Samaritans, with which they used to write the five books of Moses, which they alone had received from the sacred Scripture. – Bede the Venerable, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah