Reaching for the Tree of Life: The Role of Eating, Drinking, Fasting, and Symbolic Foodstuffs in 4 Ezra

Abstract

This paper considers the role of foodstuffs and their (non-)consumption in 4 Ezra. While foodstuffs figure prominently in this work, no systematic research has been done into it. The paper argues that both the narrative progression of the work is expressed through foodstuffs as well as significant parts of the work's content.

‘My heart poured forth understanding’

“…He rightly recognizes that the progression of 4 Ezra is related literarily to the progression of Ezra’s relationship to food, and I agree with his conclusions, which I also argue here, that Ezra’s ability to speak wisdom is related to his consumption of foodstuffs (Smit, 2014: 8, 12). However, while he recognizes these structural–consumptive elements, Smit neglects to recognize the role of Ezra’s senses in this progression, as I outline in the present study, and further, neglects to discuss the function of the cup except to trace the metaphor of ‘drinking wisdom’ in other Jewish texts (Smit, 2014: 2–21). Smit’s otherwise excellent and thorough study, then, likewise misses the significance of Ezra’s experiences as sensory revelations that culminate in the ingestion of heavenly food.…”

“…This fourth revelatory episode marks a turning point both in the plot and in Ezra’s experience (Stone, 1990: 17; Stone, 2003: 171, 177; Hogan, 2008: 4; Stuckenbruck, 2013: 139; Smit, 2014: 8). Michael Stone’s important analysis of the structure of 4 Ezra has recently come under scholarly criticism.…”

“…Ezra fasts before receiving the second and third revelation and consumes flowers before the fourth and sixth. 5 Although Frances Flannery-Dailey maintains that all of the first six episodes are dreams, and that only episode seven occurs while Ezra is awake, and Smit states that Ezra receives visions (rather than auditory revelation) after fasting, and dreams after consuming flowers (Flannery-Dailey, 2004: 212–220; Smit, 2014: 12), most scholars agree that the fifth and sixth visions come to him like dreams, while the others take place while Ezra is awake (Stone, 1990: 160; Hogan, 2008). The seventh episode takes place in the same location as the fourth, fifth, and sixth visions, but instead of consuming flowers, Ezra consumes a heavenly liquid.…”

“…Two recent studies engage with 4 Ezra ’s food imagery and its significance to the text’s structure (Moo, 2011: 146–148, 153 n. 165; Smit, 2014), but both studies, surprisingly, neglect to comment on the role of the fiery cup in 14:39–40. Jonathan Moo recognizes the importance of Ezra’s floral meals, especially after fasting, but suggests the possibility that the text reflects the practices of actual seers consuming opium-poppies, while admitting that the evidence for such practices in antiquity is scant.…”