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by catherineyronwode » Wed Apr 09, 2025 10:03 pm
Hello, Impishneophyte
Good for you for reading the Esdras account of Uriel. It is a bit of a confused story, probably written by a Jew and then touched up by a Christian editor. The Catholics certainly don't respect that material, but it was included in the original King James Bible, so both Jews and Protestants give it some heed.
In the 2nd Book of Esdras, Uriel presents himself as a riddler, an entity who teaches by posing confounding conundrums. This is an old method of teaching, found in other documents of the era and echoed down in Bardic songs such as "Savoury, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme":
Pray can you make me a fine cambric shirt,
Without any seam and all needle work?
Pray in yon brook can you wash it and wade,
Where water n’er flowed since earth it was made?
Pray can you dry it on yonder sweet thorn,
Where blossom n’er bloomed since Adam was born?
So Uriel comes out of the riddling and confounding tradition, a tradition which sets the questioner to thinking about the validity of the very questions themselves.
In this case the questions posed to Uriel, which he answers with confounding riddles, are about why God, who loves the Jews and is loved by them, permits the oppression of Jews -- a topic which would, of course, make the Catholics very uncomfortable, as they were poised to become greater oppressors of the Jews than the Egyptions, Babylonians, Greeks, or Romans ever were, and for many more years.
Uriel is very patient, asking only that the questioner fast for seven days before each of three encounters, and in the end provides riddles which lead the questioner to understand that time is to be measured in eons, not decades, and that since the creation of Earth, more than half the time has expired until its demise.
Are there prayers to Uriel? Not really, but there are praises to be given to the one who seeks to help those of struggling faith during difficult times.
catherine yronwode
teacher - author - LMCCo owner - HP and AIRR member - MISC pastor - forum admin