The only other book which has teaching on this subject is the important apocalypse 2 (4) Esdras, and here, as one would expect, the teaching is full. The first point to notice is that as this book is of composite authorship the conceptions of the Messiah differ; thus, in the “Salathiel Apocalypse” (iii.-x.) the Messiah is regarded as purely human: “For my son the Messiah shall be revealed, together with those who are with him, and shall rejoice the survivors four hundred years. And it shall be, after these years, that my son the Messiah shall die, and all in whom there is human breath” (vii. 28, 29). On the other hand, in the “Eagle Vision” (xi.-xii. 39) the pre-existence of the Messiah is taught, though he is to spring from the seed of David: “This is the Messiah, whom the Most High hath kept unto the end of the days, who shall spring from the seed of David ...” (xii. 32). The same is taught in the “Vision of the Man from the Sea” (xiii.): “Whereas thou didst see a Man coming up from the heart of the sea—this is he whom the Most High is keeping many ages ...” (xiii. 25, 26). In this vision the Messiah is of a supernatural character. This truth of the Messiah’s pre-existence is likewise implied in the “Ezra Legend” (xiv.): “For thou shalt be taken up from among men, and henceforth thou shalt remain with my son, and with such as are like thee, till the times be ended” (xiv. 9). Only in the “Salathiel Apocalypse” are the signs which are to precede the Messianic Kingdom (i.e. the “Messianic Woes”) mentioned, but they are given in considerable detail: “Concerning the signs, however—Behold the days come when the inhabitants of the earth shall be seized with great panic, and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land of faith be barren. And iniquity shall be increased above that which thou thyself now seest or that thou hast heard of long ago. And the land that thou seest now to bear rule shall be a pathless waste; and men shall see it forsaken; if the Most High grant thee to live, thou shalt see it after the third period in confusion. Then shall the sun suddenly shine forth by night, and the moon by day; and blood shall trickle from the wood, and the stone utter its voice. The peoples shall be in commotion, the outgoings of the stars shall change. And one whom the dwellers upon earth do not look for shall wield sovereignty, and the birds shall take to general flight, and the sea shall cast forth its fish. And one whom the many do not know shall make his voice heard by night; and all shall hear his voice. And the earth o’er wide regions shall open, and the fire burst forth for a long period. The wild beasts shall desert their haunts, and women bear monsters. Salt waters shall be found in the sweet. Friends shall attack one another suddenly. Then shall intelligence hide itself, and Wisdom withdraw to its chamber—by many shall be sought and not found. And unrighteousness and incontinency shall be multiplied upon the earth.