The Ezra Muddle
Podcast Episode: 2.3 The Ezra Muddle.
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Disentangling the Many Books of Ezra
The many books of Ezra in the Jewish and Christian traditions are a nightmare to distentangle. In the chart below I do my best to work out the mess.
Jewish Tradition | Modern Catholic and Protestant | Latin Vulgate (Former Catholic) | Ethiopian | LXX & Greek Orthodox | Slavonic Orthodox | Content and Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ezra | Ezra | 1 Esdras | 1 Ezra | Esdras β |
1 Esdras | |
Nehemiah | 2 Esdras (Nehemias) |
2 Ezra | ||||
— | — | 3 Esdras Known as 1 Esdras in early editions of the King James Bible, and in the modern NRSV. |
— | Esdras α Also called Greek Ezra. |
2 Esdras | Consists of 2 Chron 35-36, Ezra 1-10, Nehemiah 7:72-8:13, and the Story of the Three Youths. |
4 Esdras (as an appendix) Also called Latin Esdras or Latin Ezra. Known as 2 Esdras in early editions of the King James Bible, and in the modern NRSV. |
Ezra Setuel | — | 3 Esdras (as an appendix) | Ch. 3–14 consist of the book known as 4 Ezra, or the Jewish
Apocalypse of Ezra. Probably written 100–150 AD. |
||
— | Ch. 1–2 consist of the book known as 5 Ezra. Probably written 180–300 AD. | |||||
Ch. 15–16 consist of the book known as 6 Ezra. Probably written 100–300 AD. |