Herein we continued, from part 1, a series regarding paranormal entities in text generally termed the Apocrypha, Deutero Canonical, Pseudepigrapha, Gnostic Texts, etc. (see my article on the Apocrypha here). The quotations are of those sections within the text that refer to Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Devil, Satan, demons, serpent and dragon. The point is not to elucidate these references but to provide relevant partial quotations and citations.
Angels in the apocryphal text 2 Esdras / Ezra aka 4 Esdras aka Latin Esdras: 70 AD.
1:19 I pitied your groanings and gave you manna for food; you ate the bread of Angels.
2:43-48 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.”
4:1-4 Then the Angel that had been sent to me, whose name was Uriel, answered and said to me, “Your understanding has utterly failed regarding this world, and do you think you can comprehend the way of the Most High?” Then I said, “Yes, my lord.”
And he replied to me, “I have been sent to show you three ways, and to put before you three problems. If you can solve one of them for me, I also will show you the way you desire to see, and will teach you why the heart is evil.”
4:36-37 And Jeremiel the Archangel answered them and said, ‘When the number of those like yourselves is completed; for he has weighed the age in the balance, and measured the times by measure, and numbered the times by number; and he will not move or arouse them until that measure is fulfilled.’”
5:15, 20, 31-32 But the Angel who had come and talked with me held me and strengthened me and set me on my feet…So I fasted seven days, mourning and weeping, as Uriel the Angel had commanded me…When I had spoken these words, the Angel who had come to me on a previous night was sent to me, and he said to me, “Listen to me, and I will instruct you; pay attention to me, and I will tell you more.”
6:1, 3 And he said to me, “At the beginning of the circle of the Earth…and before the innumerable hosts of Angels were gathered together…
7:1-2, 85, 95 When I had finished speaking these words, the Angel who had been sent to me on the former nights was sent to me again, and he said to me, “Rise, Ezra, and listen to the words that I have come to speak to you”… The fifth way, they shall see how the habitations of the others are guarded by Angels in profound quiet…
The fourth order, they understand the rest which they now enjoy, being gathered into their chambers and guarded by Angels in profound quiet, and the glory which awaits them in the last days.
8:19-22 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…
10:28-31 “Where is the Angel Uriel, who came to me at first? For it was he who brought me into this overpowering bewilderment; my end has become corruption, and my prayer a reproach.” As I was speaking these words, behold, the Angel who had come to me at first came to me, and he looked upon me; and behold, I lay there like a corpse and I was deprived of my understanding. Then he grasped my right hand and strengthened me and set me on my feet, and said to me, “What is the matter with you? And why are you troubled? And why are your understanding and the thoughts of your mind troubled?”
12:51 But I sat in the field seven days, as the Angel had commanded me; and I ate only of the flowers of the field, and my food was of plants during those days.
16:66 What will you do? Or how will you hide your sins before God and his Angels?
In the next segment, we will consider the books of Maccabees.