The name 'Esdras' is found in the title of four texts (entitled Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras in most English versions) attributed to, or associated with, the prophet Ezra. The naming convention of the four books of Esdras differs between church traditions; and has changed over time.
Esdras () is a Greco-Latin variation of the Hebrew name 'Ezra' ().
Naming conventions
The books associated with Ezra are titled differently in different versions of the Bible. The following table summarizes the various names:
The Thirty-nine Articles that define the doctrines of the Church of England follow the naming convention of the Clementine 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 (Ezra), 2 Ezra (Nehemiah), 3 Ezra (Esdras A/1 Esdras), 4 Ezra (chapters 3–14 of 4 Esdras), 5 Ezra (chapters 1–2 of 4 Esdras) and 6 Ezra (chapters 15–16 of 4 Esdras). Otherwise, modern scholars sometimes apply the term 'Greek Esdras' for 3 Ezra, and 'Latin Esdras' for 4 Ezra, 5 Ezra and 6 Ezra together.
Historical development
The two books universally considered canonical, Ezra and Nehemiah (lines 1 and 2 of the table above), originated in the Hebrew bible as one book titled Ezra (= Esdras).
Otherwise, however, early Christian citations of the 'Book of Ezra' without qualification commonly denote the alternative Greek translation of Ezra represented by 1 Esdras; so that when early Christian writers talk of 'two books of Ezra', it is 1 Esdras and Ezra–Nehemiah that are being identified, and surviving Old Latin biblical manuscripts include both books in that order as the "first" and "second" books of Ezra.
In the Greek canon, and in all surviving early Greek pandect bibles, 1 Esdras and Ezra–Nehemiah are termed Esdras A and Esdras B respectively. For Ambrose 1 Esdras was the 'first book of Esdras', Ezra–Nehemiah was the 'second book of Esdras', and 2 Esdras was the 'third book of Esdras'. When the Council of Carthage (397) and Synod of Hippo (393), under the influence of Augustine of Hippo, determined that only 'two books of Ezra' were to be considered canonical, it was both Ezra–Nehemiah and 1 Esdras which were stated as being included in scripture, while 2 Esdras was being excluded.
Jerome however, in his new Vulgate translation of the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew of the early 5th century, affirmed in his prologue to Ezra that there was only one canonical book of that title, corresponding to Hebrew Ezra–Nehemiah, while the "third and fourth books" of Ezra were apocryphal; and in all early manuscripts of the Vulgate (as with the 7th century Codex Amiatinus) this book is presented without division, and 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras are omitted. Jerome appears to have considered the two books of Ezra in the Old Latin - translating Greek Esdras A and Esdras B respectively - as "variant versions" of Ezra-Nehemiah, in which case his apocryphal "third and fourth books" correspond to the texts in 'Latin Esdras'. Jerome's practice is followed in the 9th century Vulgate bibles of Alcuin and Theodulf of Orleans, but from the 9th century onwards Vulgate manuscripts are found sporadically which split Ezra–Nehemiah into two books; and this becomes standard with the Paris Vulgate bibles of the 13th century, while Greek Esdras and Latin Esdras also came to be included in the Paris bibles so that the Ezra portion becomes 1 Esdras, the Nehemiah portion becomes 2 Esdras, Greek Esdras becomes 3 Esdras and Latin Esdras becomes 4 Esdras. The naming conventions of the Paris bibles were taken over into the Clementine Vulgate. However, in the Stuttgart Vulgate, Ezra–Nehemiah is once again printed as a single text with the title 'Ezra', while (Clementine) 3 Esdras and 4 Esdras are in an appendix; named 3 Ezra and 4 Ezra respectively.
Since the English Reformation, most English translations have split the book of Ezra–Nehemiah under the titles 'Ezra' and 'Nehemiah'; while the Douay–Rheims version has followed the Clementine Vulgate.