1 Esdras

1 Esdras is a book from the Septuagint Greek translation of Hebrew scriptures. Largely a recapitulation of other biblical texts, it is regarded as canonical in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, but is considered as apocryphal by Jews, Catholics, and most Protestants. It is also listed among the Apocrypha in Article VI of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.

"Esdras" is simply the Greek word for "Ezra," and it is from the Book of Ezra that 1 Esdras borrows most heavily, together with the books of Chronicles and Nehemiah. It also adds new material not found in Ezra, notably concerning the legendary background of the Jewish leader Zerubbabel while he was still living in Babylon. This material accounts for 99 additional verses, including a polished conclusion that the much shorter Book of Ezra lacks.

In the Slavonic editions of the Bible this book is called 2 Esdras; in the Vulgate it is called 3 Esdras, and in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible it is called Ezra Kali which means 2 Ezra. For information about the book called 1 Esdras in the Vulgate and Slavonic editions, see the article on Book of Ezra.

Naming and numbering

Compiled by a Jewish writer in Egypt probably about 150 B.C.E., 1 Esdras is primarily a translation into Greek of older Hebrew texts, adding some new material and occasionally "correcting" older material. It was included in the Greek language collection of Jewish scriptures known as the Septuagint, which circulated widely among the Jews of the diaspora. After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., rabbinical authorities decided not to use the Septuagint as a basis for decided which scriptures were canonical. Thus 1 Esdras and the other works of the Apocypha came to be excluded from the Jewish canon of scripture. However, since educated Christians generally read Greek but not Hebrew, the Septuagint did become a basis for deciding what books belonged in the Christian version of the Old Testament.

The book now called 1 Esdras presents various problems of naming. In most editions of the Septuagint, the book is titled in Greek: Εσδρας Α′ (1 Esdras) and is placed before the traditional book of Ezra-Nehemiah, which are together titled in Εσδρας Β′. However, the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible titled the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as "1 and 2 Esdras," giving the current book the title "3 Esdras."

Since most modern translations use the more Hebraic transliteration of "Ezra" for the canonical Hebrew book, the Vulgate's 3 Esdras is called 1 Esdras in most English Bibles. The Vulgate's 4 Esdras, meanwhile, becomes 2 Esdras. Because it repeats so much material from other books universally considered canonical, the book is not not included in Catholic or Greek Orthodox collections of scripture. The Russian Orthodox Church, however, considers this book canonical.

Contents

The majority of the content of 1 Esdras closely parallels Ezra, Nehemiah, and II Chronicles. However, there are some exceptions, particularly regarding chapters 3-5. The contents are summarized as follows.

• Chapter 1 = 2 Chron 35:1-36:21. Josiah's institution of the celebration of Passover and his death, followed by the history of Jerusalem up to its destruction. One significant change from the version of Chronicles is that 1 Esdras states that it was the prophet Jeremiah, rather than Pharaoh Neco II, whom God inspired to warn Josiah not to attack Egyptian forces en route to Babylon. Josiah's death is thus attributed to his disobeying a command from God through a known prophet, rather than a warning from God given through the Egyptian king.
• Chapter 2:1-14 = Ezra 1:1-11. The edict of Cyrus authorizing the Jews of Babylon to return Jerusalem.
• Chapter 2:15-26 = Ezra 4:7-24. The first attempt of the returning Jews to rebuild the temple.
• Chapter 3:1-5, 3 (original). Three courtiers of Darius dispute the question of what is the strongest thing in the kingdom. The winner of the dispute is to receive great honor from Darius. One of the courtiers is Zeruabbel, a descendant of King David. whether wine, the king, or women (but above all the truth)Darius concurs with Zerubbabel, who said women and truth, and at his request, sends him with the Jews, ordering the restoration of the temple.
• Chapter 5:4-6 (original) Beginning of a list of the exiles who returned.
• Chapter 5:7-73 = Ezra 2:1-4, 5. List of exiles returning. Work on the temple. Interruption of building until Darius' time.
• Chapter 6-7:9 = Ezra 5:1-6, 18. Correspondence between Sisinnes and Darius about the temple. Completion of the Second Temple.
• Chapter 7:10-15 = Ezra 6:19-22. Celebration of the Passover.
• Chapter 8:1-9, 36 = Ezra 7:1-10, 44. Return of exiles under Ezra. Preaching against mixed marriages.
• Chapter 9:37-55 = Nehemiah 7:73-8:12. Ezra reads the Law.

Author and criticism

The purpose of the book seems to be the presentation of the dispute among the courtiers, to which details from the other books are added to complete the story. Since there are various discrepancies in the account, most scholars hold that the work was written by more than one author. However, some scholars believe that this work may have been the original, or at least the more authoritative; the variances that are contained in this work are so striking that more research is being conducted. Because of similarities to the vocabulary in the Book of Daniel, it is presumed by some that the authors came from Lower Egypt and some or all may have even had a hand in the translation of Daniel. Assuming this theory is correct, many scholars consider the possibility that one "chronicler" wrote this book.

Josephus makes use of the book and some scholars believe that the composition is likely to have taken place in the first century B.C.E. or the first century AD. Many Protestant and Catholic scholars assign no historical value to the "original" sections of the book. The citations of the other books of the Bible, however, provide a pre-Septuagint translation of those texts, which increases its value to scholars.

In the current Greek texts, the book breaks off in the middle of a sentence; that particular verse thus had to be reconstructed from an early Latin translation. However, it is generally presumed that the original work extended to the Feast of Tabernacles, as described in Nehemiah 8:13-18. An additional difficulty with the text is the apparent ignorance of its author regarding the historical sequence of events. Artaxerxes is mentioned before Darius, who is mentioned before Cyrus. (Such jumbling of the order of events, however, is also suspected by some authors to exist in the canonical Ezra and Nehemiah.)

Legacy

The book was widely quoted by early Christian authors and it found a place in Origen's Hexapla. It was not included in early canons of the Western Church, and Clement VIII relegated it to an appendix following the New Testament in the Vulgate "lest [it] perish entirely" [1]. However, the use of the book continued in the Eastern Church, and it remains a part of the Eastern Orthodox canon.

Josephus and the Church Fathers quoted 1 Esdras extensively; it was considered part of the Canon of the Old Testament,^{[citation needed]} and indeed it is found in Origen's Hexapla.

External links

• Full text of 1 Esdras from the University of Virginia's Etext Center
• Various translations of 1 Esdras at the World Wide Study Bible
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Esdras: THE BOOKS OF ESDRAS: III Esdras
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Esdras, Books of: I Esdras
• 1 Esdras 1 -NRSV
• 1Esdras at earlyjewishwritings.com

Preceded by: Chronicles

Books of the Bible

Succeeded by: Ezra

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