EZRA, THIRD BOOK OF (z Esdras). This "book" is variously called I Esdras (Greek, Old Latin and Syriac versions, and the English Bible from 156o onwards) ; 2 Esdras (Latin Vul gate) ; 3 Esdras (Ethiopic version and some Greek mss.) ; the Greek Ezra (or Esdras), from the mistaken belief that Greek was the original language ; the third book of Ezra (in German usage especially) ; and there are still other titles. Though one of the so-called Apocrypha, it is very different in character from the other members of the group, for it is merely a portion of the old est Greek translation of Chronicles–Ezra--Nehemiah. It begins with 2 Chron. xxxv. r seq., the account of Josiah's passover, and ends (in the middle of a sentence!) at Neh. viii. 13. The explana tion of this fact, as first shown by Torrey, Ezra Studies, p. 36, is that a certain number of folded sheets (probably a single ten leaved quire) had been taken from a Greek codex, with the pur pose of preserving a highly important recension which had been abandoned by the Jewish authorities and was in danger of per ishing. The portion of the text thus rescued was thenceforth reproduced without change, even the fragmentary clause at the end being retained.
This Greek version was made from a Hebrew-Aramaic text generally identical with our Massoretic text, a skilful translation throughout ; not a free rendering, nor a paraphrase. It is rarely difficult to see what Hebrew it represents. It is the work of a single translator and existed in the middle of the 2nd century B.c., and thus antedates by about 30o years the rendering of the canonical Hebrew-Aramaic text by Theodotion which, designated as 2 Esdras, was adopted for the Greek Bible. (See CHRONICLES.) The 1 Esdras recension differs from the canonical in two very striking particulars : (I) the inclusion of the Story of the Three Youths at the court of Darius, with some appended narrative (iii. 1–v. 6) and the accompanying transposition of the account of events in the time of Artaxerxes (ii. 15-25=Ezra iv. 7-24) ; and (2) the transfer of a portion of the book of Nehemiah to the book of Ezra, the last verse of Ezra x. being immediately fol lowed by Neh. vii. 73–viii. 13a, where the fragment ends.
The three young soldiers who constitute the private bodyguard of Darius engage in a public contest of wit and wisdom. The victor, said to be Zerubbabel, is promised a rich reward by the king; but asks instead to be given permission to restore Jerusalem and the temple. This is granted, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua set out from Babylonia with the com pany described in chap. ii. of the canonical Ezra. This, however, is not the original form of the story. The parenthesis "this is Zerubbabel" (iv. 13) has long been recognized as an interpolation. The story as told by its author contained no mention of the Jews, nor even a religious element, and seems to have ended with iv. 42. All that follows this verse is incident to the interpolation of the story in the chronicler's history. A portion of the latter, orig inally forming the immediate sequel of Ezra i. II, is to be recog nized in I Esdr. iv. 47b-56; v. 1-5 and 6b. The necessary patches composed by the interpolator are iv.
; 57-61; v. 6a ; and he also changed "Cyrus" to "Darius" in v. 2 and slightly altered 6b, which originally read : "in the second year of Cyrus," etc. The impossible "Joakim the son of" in v. 5 came from a misreading of the Hebrew wayyaqom bo, "and there arose with him." The purpose of the interpolator seems to have been threefold: to show that Darius II. had a special personal interest in Zerub babel ; to improve the picture of the latter by bringing all his recorded activities into the single reign ; and to secure for the Jews this very entertaining bit of wisdom. The attempt succeeded, so completely that the original version perished, leaving only the interpolated form in circulation. This was the form rendered by the Greek translator of the 2nd century B.C., apparently the only form known to Josephus, certainly the only form known in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 2nd century A.D. It was never theless in its contradictions of the narrative and chronology of the chronicler an absolutely impossible version of the history ; hence the Jewish scholars who finally gave out an authoritative text were obliged to cut out the Story of the Three Youths with its appendage. Since the latter contained a portion of the chron icler's history (see above), there is a gap in our canonical Ezra between chaps. i. and ii.
The Story of the Three Youths was in Aramaic. The Darius of the story was perhaps Darius III. (Ezra Studies, pp. 4o seq.), but more probably Darius I. Hystaspis ("the Mede") ; cf. iii. i seq., with Dan. vi. r seq. The names in iv. 29 have been thought to denote actual personages, but it is much more likely that they are mere properties of the story-teller. The name Apama points to the 3rd century as the date of composition of the tale.
The account of the reading of the law by Ezra appears in the r Esdras fragment as the sequel of Ezra x. It occupied this position also in the text used by Josephus (Ant. xi., v. 5), and it is therefore evident that a version of the history embodying this peculiarity circulated widely and for a long period. The recension containing our Mas soretic order of the chapters was also in circulation, however, and it was from this that the rearrangement exhibited by i Esdras and Josephus was made, as is shown by the fact that the transposed section begins with v. 72 (not 69!) in Neh. vii. (See EZRA AND NEHEMIAH, Boom OF.) The reason for the transposition is very obvious; it was the appreciation of the fact that Ezra, sent by the Persian king to Judaea for the express purpose of proclaiming and administering there the law of God which was already "in his hand" (Ezra vii. 14, 25 seq.), could not possibly have waited 13 years before making any public use of it. There may also have persisted a tradition that the account of the reading of the law originally stood in other surroundings, namely in the story of Ezra. In Josephus, Neh. viii. is continued to the end of the chap ter, with mention of the feast of tabernacles, and this was cer tainly the continuation also in the codex from which the r Esdras fragment was plucked.
It is important to ascertain, if possible, what followed the ac count of the reading of the law, in this peculiar and widely used recension. Josephus proceeds with Neh. i.–vi., and makes also brief but plain allusion to vii. 4, xi. I, xii. 27, and xiii. ro seq. Of chaps. ix. and x. he makes no use. It is possible, but not prob able, that these two chapters preceded Neh. i. in this recension (as was held in Ezra Studies, 31 seq.) . It seems much more likely that the interpolation of the name of "Nehemiah the son of Hach aliah" in x. 2 (Ezra Studies, 282 seq.) was made at an early date; and this, with the appearance of "Ezra the Scribe" in xii. 36, would have held the two chapters firmly in their position between vii. 71 (7 2) and xi. I. Here, probably, they stood in the 1 Esdras codex and in the text used by Josephus.
Ezra Studies, pp. I-61; 115-135; "The Bibliography.--Torrey, Ezra Studies, pp. I-61; 115-135; "The Chronicler's History of the Return under Cyrus," Amer. Journ. of Sem. Lang., xxxvii. (1921) , 81-1oo ; Fritzsche, Handbuch zu den Apokryphen, i., 1-66; Lupton, in the Speaker's Commentary; Guthe, in Kautzsch's Apokryphen; S. A. Cook, in Charles' Apocrypha.
(C. C. T.)
