ABSTRACT
Second Esdras, composed late in the first century CE, throws light on the Apostle Paul because the author was struggling with the problem that had plagued Paul, namely, universal human evil. Paul and the Jewish author of 2 Esdras often embrace the same explanation of human evil's emergence. Their heritage has given them the hypothesis of an original man, Adam, who served more or less as the unelected federal head and representative of the human race. In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul dares to raise the question of Israel’s salvation. One major literary difference between Paul’s own epistles and 2 Esdras is that the latter does not reveal his own name but rather purports to be Ezra, who lived almost half a millennium earlier than the author. Earlier references to Paul’s preoccupation with the theme of weakness and power relate directly to the puzzling Romans 7:14–16 passage regarding the law.
