2 Esdras: Encyclopedia II - 2 Esdras - Naming numbering and language

2 Esdras - Naming numbering and language

As with 1 Esdras, there is some confusion about the numbering of this book. Some early Latin manuscripts call it 3 Esdras, and Jerome denoted it 4 Esdras. Once Jerome's 1 and 2 Esdras were denoted Ezra and Nehemiah in more recent times, the designation 2 Esdras became the most common. The Russian Orthodox Church, which accords this book canonical status in the Slavonic Bible, calls it 3 Esdras, with Ezra-Nehemiah being "1 Esdras" and 3 Esdras as "2 Esdras." [1]

Among Greek Fathers of the Church, the book is generally cited as Εσδρας Προφήτης ("The Prophet Esdras") or Αποκάλυψις Εσδρα ("Apocalypse of Ezra"). Wellhausen, Charles, and Gunkel have shown that the original composition was in Hebrew, which was translated into Greek, and then to Latin, but the Hebrew and Greek editions have been lost. Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopian, Georgian, and Armenian translations (all from the Greek) have also survived; the Greek version can be reconstructed (without absolute certainty, of course) from these different translations, while the Hebrew text remains a bit more elusive.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Naming numbering and language", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki