Conclusion: Art and the Biblical Canon

Abstract

It is recorded in the apocryphal book II Esdras that God has a conversation with the priest and prophetic scribe Ezra, giving him instructions which Ezra is prompt to obey, for he records as follows:

I took with me the five men as I had been told, and we went away to the field, and there we stayed. On the next day I heard a voice calling me, which said: “Ezra, open your mouth and drink what I give you.” So I opened my mouth, and was handed a cup of what seemed like water, except that its colour was the colour of fire. I took it and drank, and as soon as I had done so my mind began to pour forth a flood of understanding, and wisdom grew greater and greater within me, for I retained my memory unimpaired. I opened my mouth to speak, and I continued to speak unceasingly. The Most High gave understanding to the five men, who took turns at writing down what was said, using characters which they had not known before. They remained at work through the forty days, writing all day, and taking food only at night. But as for me, I spoke all through the day; even at night I was not silent. In the forty days, ninety-four books were written. At the end of the forty days the Most High spoke to me. “Make public the books you wrote first,” he said, “to be read by good and bad alike. But the last seventy books are to be kept back, and given to none but the wise among your people. They contain a stream of understanding, a fountain of wisdom, a flood of knowledge.” And I did so. (II Esdras 14: 37–48)