The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (740 page)

(Heb., ‘mixing’). A symbolic act, by which
Sabbath
restrictions can be circumvented. Such acts include carrying burdens on the Sabbath by amalgamating holdings; walking further than the permitted Sabbath distance by amalgamating boundaries, and cooking for the Sabbath on a Friday festival by amalgamating meals. The tractate
Eruvin
follows naturally from
Shabbat
in the Order
Mo‘ed
in
Mishnah
et seq
.

 
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Ervad
(Zoroastrian priest)
:

see
MAGI
.

 
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Esau
.

Elder son of the patriarch Isaac, and twin brother of Jacob. The relationship between the two brothers was the subject of much aggadot, particularly since Esau/Edom was taken to represent Rome and all hostile governments.

 
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(Gk.,
eschatos
, ‘last’). That which is concerned with the last things, the final destiny both of individuals and of humanity in general, and of the cosmos. The word was first used in the 19th cent., in discussing the Bible, but it refers to a concern in those religions which have a sequential (from a beginning to an end) understanding of time, and by application to religions which envisage an end to this particular cosmic cycle.

 
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Esdras, Books of
.

Various Jewish biblical books. ‘Esdras’ is the Gk. and Lat. form of Ezra. Confusion results from the differences between the books of this title in the
Septuagint
,
Vulgate
(and hence some Catholic Bibles) and
Apocrypha
in English Bibles. These correspond as follows:
2 Esdras
, and specifically chs. 3–14, is also known as the ‘
Ezra Apocalypse
’. It describes seven visions: the first three concern the destruction of Jerusalem and the problem of evil; the sixth (ch. 13) is of the victorious
Messiah
, described as ‘son of man’. It is usually dated toward the end of the 1st cent. CE.

 
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(Heb., ‘A woman of valour’). Title, from opening words, of a Jewish song, derived from Proverbs, praising virtuous women. In
Kabbalistic
Judaism,
Eshet
ayil
is taken as applying to the
Shekhinah
of God as his bride.