Esdras

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1. Greco-latin name for the scribe Ezra, from the Greek name Εσδρας.

2. Ezra's name has been given to several books of the Bible. The titles and enumeration of these books differ widely from version to version. A table summarizing these differences is given below:

Many English versions^[1]	DR and Vulgate	Septuagint	Slavonic Bibles
Enumeration of the books of Ezra
Ezra	1 Esdras	First half of 2 Esdras	1 Esdras
Nehemiah	2 Esdras or Nehemias	Second half of 2 Esdras	Nehemiah
1 Esdras	3 Esdras	1 Esdras	2 Esdras
2 Esdras	4 Esdras	not present	3 Esdras

Several factors contribute to the differing enumerations of these books.

The two books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book. In the early middle ages this book was split into two in the Hebrew bible and the Latin Vulgate. In the Hebrew, the first part was named after the scribe Ezra and the second part after Governor Nehemiah. In the Vulgate the two parts were alternatively labelled as simply 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras. In the Greek, the tradition of labelling the two parts as one book continued, and it was simply called 2 Esdras (Εσδρας B′). In the Hebrew and Latin Bibles, these two books follow Chronicles;^[2] in the Greek bible, this single book follows 1 Esdras.

1 Esdras (Εσδρας Α′) precedes Ezra and Nehemiah in the Septuagint, but followed Nehemias in the Vulgate^[3] where it is numbered 3 Esdras. In Anglican bibles it is found in the Apocrypha rather than the Old Testament.

2 Esdras follows 1 Esdras^[3] in western and Slavonic bibles. It is called 4 Esdras in Latin, and is sometimes called the Latin Esdras or Apocalyptic Esdras in English. It is not present in the Septuagint but was once extant in Greek. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia: "Greek Fathers quote it as Ἔσδρας Προφήτης or Αποκάλυψις Ἔαδρα. The most common modern name is IV Esdras."^[4]

In the Thirty-nine Articles, the naming convention of these books follows that of the Vulgate. Likewise, the Vulgate enumeration is often used by modern scholars, who nevertheless use the name Ezra to avoid confusion with the Greek and Slavonic enumerations: 1 Ezra, 2 Ezra, 3 Ezra, and 4 Ezra.

There is another, later book called Apocalypse of Ezra. That name is also applied to the book known as 2 Esdras here. Yet another book is the Vision of Ezra.