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1 Esdras (Ancient Greek:Ἔσδρας Αʹ), alsoEsdras A,Greek Esdras,Greek Ezra, or3 Esdras, is the ancient GreekSeptuagint version of the biblicalBook of Ezra in use within theearly church and among many modern Christians with varying degrees ofcanonicity. 1 Esdras is substantially similar to thestandard Hebrew version ofEzra–Nehemiah, with the passages specific to the career ofNehemiah removed or re-attributed to Ezra, and some additional material.
As part of the Septuagint translation, it is now regarded ascanonical in the churches of theEast, butapocryphal in theWest; either presented in a separate section or excluded altogether. For example, it is listed among the Apocrypha in Article VI of theThirty-Nine Articles of theChurch of England.[1] 1 Esdras is found inOrigen'sHexapla. The GreekSeptuagint, theOld Latin bible and related bible versions include both Esdras Αʹ (English title: 1 Esdras) and Esdras Βʹ (Ezra–Nehemiah) as separate books.
There is scope for considerable confusion with references to 1 Esdras. The name refers primarily to translations of the original Greek 'Esdras A'.[2] TheSeptuagint calls it Esdras A, and theVetus Latina calls it 1 Esdras, while theVulgate calls it 3 Esdras. It was considered apocryphal by Jerome.[3]
1 Esdras contains the whole of Ezra with the addition of one section; its verses are numbered differently. Just as Ezra begins with the last two verses of2 Chronicles, 1 Esdras begins with the last two chapters, beginning withJosiah's celebration of thePassover;[4] this suggests that Chronicles and Esdras may have been read as one book at some time in the past.[citation needed]
Ezra 4:6 includes a reference to a KingAhasuerus. Etymologically, Ahasuerus is the same asXerxes, who reigned betweenDarius I and Artaxerxes I. In 1 Esdras, the section is reorganized, leading up to the additional section, and the reference to Ahasuerus is removed.
The additional section begins with a story known variously as the "Darius contest", the "Tale of the Three Guardsmen", or the "Story of the Three Youths", which was interpolated into 1 Esdras at 3:1 to 4:42.[5] This section forms the core of 1 Esdras with Ezra 5, which together are arranged in a literarychiasm around the celebration in Jerusalem at the exiles' return. This chiastic core forms 1 Esdras into a complete literary unit, allowing it to stand independently from theBook of Nehemiah. Indeed, some scholars, such asW. F. Albright andEdwin M. Yamauchi, believe thatNehemiah came back to Jerusalembefore Ezra.[6][7]
| EZRA AND I ESDRAS COMPARED | ||
|---|---|---|
| Masoretic Text | Septuagint | Summary |
| Continuation ofParalipomenon i.e. "Things Set Off" | ||
| (2 Chronicles 35) | (I Esd. 1:1–33) | Reforms and final battle ofKing Josiah |
| (2 Chronicles 36) | (I Esd. 1:34–58) | KingsJehoahaz,Jehoiakim,Jehoiachin andZedekiah |
| Begin Ezra | ||
| Ezr. 1 | I Esd. 2:1–14 | Cyrus's edict to rebuild the Temple |
| Ezr. 4:7–24 | I Esd. 2:15–30a | A prolepsis orflash forward to Artaxerxes's reign |
| Core: Chiasm of Celebration | ||
| — | I Esd. 2:30b | Inclusio: Work hindered until second year of Darius’s reign |
| — | I Esd. 3 | A Feast in the court of Darius with Darius contest |
| — | I Esd. 4 | B Darius vows to repatriate the exiles |
| — | I Esd. 5:1–6 | X The feast of those who returned to Jerusalem |
| Ezr. 2 | I Esd. 5:7–46 | B' List of former exiles who returned |
| Ezr. 3 | I Esd. 5:47–65 | A' Feast of Tabernacles |
| Ezr. 4:1–5[8] | I Esd. 5:66–73 | Inclusio: Work hindered until second year of Darius’s reign |
| Conclusion | ||
| Ezr. 5 | I Esd. 6:1–22 | The second year of Darius's reign |
| Ezr. 6 | I Esd. 6:23 – 7:15 | The temple is finished |
| Ezr. 7 | I Esd. 8:1–27 | Ezra's appointment and journey to Jerusalem |
| Ezr. 8 | I Esd. 8:28–67 | List of latter exiles who returned with Ezra |
| Ezr. 9 | I Esd. 8:68–90 | Repentance frommiscegenation |
| Ezr. 10 | I Esd. 8:91–9:36 | Putting away of foreign wives and children |
| Nehemiah 7:73–8:12 | I Esd. 9:37–55 | The seventh month |
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The purpose of the book seems to be retelling theReturn to Zion in a way that it revolved around the story of the dispute among the courtiers, the 'Tale of the Three Guardsmen'. 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. Most scholars agree that the original language of the work wasAramaic andHebrew, with a few arguing for the originality of theGreek.[9] The text contains similarities to the vocabulary in theBook of Daniel andII Maccabees, and it is presumed that the authors came either fromLower Egypt orPalestine and wrote during theSeleucid period. Assuming this theory is correct, many scholars consider the possibility that the book made use of an Aramaic chronicle.[10]
Josephus makes use of 1 Esdras, which he treats as Scripture, while generally disregarding the canonical text ofEzra–Nehemiah. Some scholars believe that the composition is likely to have taken place in the second century BC.[11] Many Protestant and Catholic scholars assign no historical value to the sections of the book not duplicated inEzra–Nehemiah. The citations of the otherbooks of the Bible, however, provide an early alternative to theSeptuagint for 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 theFeast of Tabernacles, as described in Nehemiah 8:13–18. An additional difficulty with the text appears to readers who are unfamiliar with chiastic structures common in Semitic literature. If the text is assumed to be a Western-style, purely linear narrative, thenArtaxerxes seems to be mentioned beforeDarius, who is mentioned beforeCyrus. (Such jumbling of the order of events, however, is also presumed by some readers to exist in the canonicalEzra and Nehemiah.) The Semitic chiasm is corrected in at least one manuscript of Josephus in theAntiquities of the Jews, Book 11, chapter 2 where we find that the name of the above-mentioned Artaxerxes is called Cambyses.
Some scholars, includingJoseph Blenkinsopp in his 1988 commentary on Ezra–Nehemiah, hold that the book is a late 2nd/early 1st century BC revision of Esdras and Esdras β,[12] while others such as L. L. Grabbe believe it to be independent of the Hebrew-language Ezra–Nehemiah.[13]
The book was widely quoted by early Christian authors and it found a place inOrigen'sHexapla.
In early Latin traditions, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras were known, respectively, as 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 3 Esdras (‘the Greek Esdras’) and 4 Esdras.[14]
In the Vulgate, I Esdras is considered to be Ezra, II Esdras to be Nehemiah, III Esdras to be 1 Esdras, and IV Esdras to be 2 Esdras. ForJerome, III Esdras and IV Esdras were apocryphal.[3][15] As Jerome'sVulgate version of the Bible gradually achieved dominance in Western Christianity, III Esdras no longer circulated. From the 13th century onwards, Vulgate Bibles produced in Paris reintroduced a Latin text of 1 Esdras, in response to commercial demand. However, the use of the book continued in the Eastern Church, and it remains a part of the Eastern Orthodox canon.
At theCouncil of Trent, only 3 bishops voted for an explicit rejection of the books of Esdras; the overwhelming majority "withheld any explicit decision on these books": thus "the question of Esdras' canonical status was left theoretically open".[16] Catholic theologians and apologists disagree, but some argue that these books could theoretically be added as "tritiocanonical" books by the Roman CatholicMagisterium (or pope) at a later time, most likely related tounion with one or more of the churches who already hold these books to be canonical.[17]
In theRoman rite liturgy, 1 Esdras is used in theMissal of 1962 in the offertory prayer of aVotive Mass for the election of a Pope.
Non participentur sancta, donec exsurgat póntifex in ostensiónem et veritátem
("Let them not take part in the holy things, until there arise a priest unto showing and truth.") (3 Esdras 5:40).[a][18][better source needed]
The book normally called 1 Esdras is numbered differently among various versions of the Bible. In most editions of theSeptuagint, the book is titled in Greek:Ἔσδρας Αʹ and is placed before the single book ofEzra–Nehemiah, which is titled in Greek:Ἔσδρας Βʹ.
1 Esdras is called 3 Esdras in the Latin Vulgate, which was translation from the Greek version of the Septuagint called Esdras A.[19]
The Vulgate denoted 1 Esdras (Ezra) and 2 Esdras (Nehemiah) respectively. Vulgate Bible editions of the 13th century, and in what later became the usage of theClementine Vulgate and the AnglicanArticles of Religion, theBook of Ezra is applied to '1 Esdras'; while theBook of Nehemiah corresponds to '2 Esdras'; Esdras 1 (Esdras A in the Septuagint) corresponds to 3 Esdras and finally 2 Esdras, an additional work associated with the name Ezra, is denoted '4 Esdras' (It is called '2 Esdras' in theKing James Version and in most modern English bibles). 3 Esdras continues to be accepted as canonical by Eastern Orthodoxy and theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, with 4 Esdras varying in canonicity between particular denominations within the Eastern churches.[20]
TheSlavonic Bible refers to this book as 2 Esdras, the Romanian Synodal Version refers to it as III Ezdra,[21] and theEthiopic Bible calls it "Ezra Kali", i.e. "2 Ezra".
Overwhelmingly, citations in early Christian writings claimed from the scriptural 'Book of Ezra' (without any qualification) are taken from 1 Esdras, and never from the 'Ezra' sections ofEzra–Nehemiah (Septuagint 'Esdras B'), the majority of early citations being taken from the 1 Esdras section containing the 'Tale of the Three Guardsmen', which is interpreted asChristological prophecy.[2]
TheKing James Version and many successive English translations, including theRSV,NRSV,NEB,REB, andGNB, refer to "1 Esdras". The ClementineVulgate and its derivative translations refer to 3 Esdras.
| Deuterocanon | ||
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| Preceded by | E. Orthodox Books of the Bible | Succeeded by |
