The Law in the Fourth Book of Ezra

The dissertation investigates the concept of Law in 4 Ezra in a transcultural perspective. According to this Jewish apocalypse, judgement will be held on all humans according to their obedience or disobedience to "the law". This raises the central question of the study: What is meant by "the law"? An answer is sought through exegetical analysis of 4 Ezra in its different versions. The backgrounds of the concepts of Law in this book are further elucidated from their context by comparison to other, Jewish and non-Jewish sources. This comparative analysis focuses on universalist concepts of law which are expressed in sapiential texts from Ancient Near East and in Graeco-Roman philosophy, as in the idea of a natural law grounded in reason. The study contributes to viewing Jewish apocalypticism within its transcultural entanglements and disentanglements and to determining the relationship between universalism and particularism in Ancient Jewish thought.