Esdras

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1. Greek name for Ezra.

2. There are several books of the Bible or Deuterocanon that have been labelled Esdras, after the Greek for Ezra. The Vulgate after Trent contains four Books of Esdras, and prior to Trent three books, and the Septuagint two. Slavonic and Russian Bibles contain three, and those few Protestant Bibles that include the Apocrypha contain Ezra (canonical) plus two of Esdras; but confusingly, the numbering of the books differs among all these. It is the Protestant nomenclature that is most often used in English, and hence Wikipedia. See the comparison tables below:

Septuagint vs other Nomenclature
Septuagint	old Greek	Post-Trent Vulgate + old Latin	Pre-Trent Vulgate	Russian / Slavonic	Protestant
Εσδρας Α′	Εσδρας Α′	Esdrae III	Esdrae II	2 Esdras	1 Esdras
Εσδρας B′	Εσδρας B′ and Εσδρας Γ′	Esdrae I et Esdrae II	Esdrae I	1 Esdras and Nehemiah	Ezra and Nehemiah
N/A	Εσδρας Δ′	Esdrae IV	Esdrae III	3 Esdras	2 Esdras

Note that in the Septuagint, following ancient Jewish practice, Ezra and Nehemiah are considered one book (Εσδρας B′), whereas most Bibles today count them as two, as does the Post-Trent Vulgate. The surviving Septuagint manuscripts do not contain the apocalyptic 2 Esdras.

The naming listed as "old Greek" refers to another ancient Greek naming scheme that apparently predated, or possibly overlapped the later Septuagint naming scheme. It is witnessed to by both Jerome and Origen as well as some surviving manuscripts.

The old Latin naming likewise fell out of use after Jerome combined Ezra and Nehemiah into one book, until it was reinstated later at Trent. The previous naming scheme is witnessed to in Jerome's prologue to Ezra, where he asks the reader not to be disturbed about his combining them into one book.

Post-Trent Vulgate vs Other Nomenclature
Post Trent Vulgate + old latin	Pre-Trent Vulgate	Septuagint	old Greek	Russian / Slavonic	Protestant
Esdrae I	1st Half of Esdrae I	1st half of Εσδρας B′	Εσδρας B′	1 Esdras	Ezra
Esdrae II	2nd Half of Esdrae I	2nd half of Εσδρας B′	Εσδρας Γ′	Nehemiah	Nehemiah
Esdrae III	Esdrae II	Εσδρας Α′	Εσδρας A′	2 Esdras	1 Esdras
Esdrae IV	Esdrae III	N/A	Εσδρας Δ′	3 Esdras	2 Esdras