2 Esdras

An apocalypse associated with Ezra. English 2 Esdras is not the Septuagint book called 2 Esdras (Ezra–Nehemiah).

English 2 Esdras is an apocalypse associated with Ezra. The core is late first century CE, with later frames, at medium confidence. It is not the Septuagint book called 2 Esdras, which is Ezra–Nehemiah in Greek. It is not a book of the Greek Septuagint corpus under the name 4 Ezra in the sense of the LXX catalog this site uses. The 1611 King James Bible printed it in the Apocrypha section. Ethiopian shelves treat Ezra Sutuel and related 4 Ezra materials on their own terms, apart from LXX 2 Esdras. The name on a contents page has to be matched to this entry before the status means anything.

Printed in the 1611 KJV Apocrypha. Not in the Greek Septuagint corpus as 4 Ezra. Ethiopian related-literature shelves treat Ezra Sutuel / 4 Ezra materials separately from LXX 2 Esdras.

Date

Late 1st century CE core, with later frames (medium confidence)

Confidence

medium

Languages

Hebrew, Greek, Latin

Traditional authorship

Ezra

Authorship note

Presented as the visions of Ezra; the Ethiopian Orthodox Church receives Ezra's apocalypse

• Latin 4 Ezra · Latin manuscripts of 2 Esdras

  Medieval Latin copies of an older apocalypse · Latin · Latin apocalypse

  2 Esdras in this dataset is the apocalypse also called 4 Ezra, not Greek 1 Esdras and not Ezra–Nehemiah. It survives in Latin manuscripts that often place it with the Vulgate appendix, and the complete form familiar in English Bibles also uses other ancient versions to fill chapters that one Latin branch lacks. It is not a book of Codex Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, or Alexandrinus. The 1611 King James Bible printed it in the Apocrypha. Manuscript evidence here is the Latin tradition. That printing is a later edition, recorded on the timeline, not the original copy.

• B. 21 Inf. · Codex Ambrosianus

  6th–7th centuries CE (medium confidence) · Syriac · Syriac 4 Ezra in the Ambrosian codex

  Codex Ambrosianus, Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana MS B. 21 Inf., is a Syriac biblical manuscript commonly placed in the sixth or seventh century at medium confidence. It preserves the complete Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, called 2 Baruch in this dataset, and also 4 Ezra, the apocalypse behind 2 Esdras. Neither book is in Codex Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, or Alexandrinus. A Syriac church copied them in a biblical collection. That is preservation in one Eastern Christian tradition. It is not evidence that Greek or Latin canon lists adopted these apocalypses, and 2 Baruch is not the Letter of Jeremiah or Greek Baruch.

• mentions

  Hebrew canon / Greek-speaking Jews

  2 Esdras is not a book of the Tanakh. Josephus, near the end of the first century, describes twenty-two Jewish books his people trust and sets later writings in a lower rank. The later rabbinic Bible, counted as twenty-four books, likewise leaves 2 Esdras outside Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim. 2 Esdras, or 4 Ezra, is a Jewish apocalypse from around the end of the first century CE. It is not Ezra–Nehemiah and it is not in the Tanakh. The surviving complete copies are Syriac and Latin, not a Qumran manuscript. Jewish copying or quotation, where it exists, is reception. It is not the same fact as a place in the Hebrew canon, and it is not a Christian council’s decision.

• uses liturgically

  Greek and Latin churches

  Greek-speaking churches met 2 Esdras in Septuagint Bibles. Fourth- and fifth-century pandects copy it beside other Old Testament books. Early lists do not all use the same boundary. Athanasius in 367 keeps a shorter Old Testament and still names some of these books as useful to read. Hippo in 393 is reported to have approved a wider list, and Carthage in 397 names several of them among books to be read in church. Greek uncials do not carry this apocalypse. Latin churches met it in Vulgate manuscripts, and the Milan Syriac codex preserves 4 Ezra beside 2 Baruch. The 1611 Apocrypha is a later printing. Those are early Christian acts. Trent, Luther’s Apocrypha, and Westminster are later and stay on the councils list.

• ProtestantRelated literature

  Printed in the 1611 KJV Apocrypha as 2 Esdras; not one of the 66.

• CatholicRelated literature

  4 Ezra is not among the Trent deuterocanonical list in the way Tobit is.

• OrthodoxRelated literature

  English 2 Esdras (4 Ezra) is not the LXX book called 2 Esdras (Ezra–Nehemiah).

• EthiopianRelated literature

  Ezra Sutuel / 4 Ezra materials are treated on Ethiopian related-literature shelves, not as LXX 2 Esdras.

• TanakhNot applicable

  Not part of the Tanakh.

• LXXNot applicable

  4 Ezra is not a standard Septuagint book; LXX 2 Esdras means Greek Ezra–Nehemiah.

• Early ChristianDisputed

  Latin 4 Ezra circulated in the West; reception varied.

• Second TempleRelated literature

  The 4 Ezra core is a post-70 Jewish apocalypse.

• 1611 CE · Bible edition · London

  King James Bible of 1611 includes an Apocrypha section

  The 1611 Authorized Version printed an Apocrypha section between the Old and New Testaments, including Tobit and 2 Esdras among others.

  The 1611 Authorized Version, printed in London, placed an Apocrypha section between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The curated source names Tobit and 2 Esdras among the writings in that section.

  Printing a section inside the volume is an edition fact: contents and order in one London Bible. Canonical rank is a different kind of claim. About thirty-five years later, the Westminster Confession says the books commonly called Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are not part of the canon of Scripture. Many later Protestant printings leave the section out. The 1611 volume still contains it.

  Read the 1611 entry beside Luther’s 1534 Apocrypha section and beside Westminster. One prints the books in a separate section, one ranks them below Holy Scripture in German, and one refuses them a place in the Reformed canon. Edition placement and confessional status stay side by side on this tab.

  Why it matters. Edition placement is not the same as later Anglican or Reformed confessional statements that deny those books equal canonical status.

  Follow-up questions

  What is the Apocrypha section in the 1611 Bible?

  A printed block between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The source names Tobit and 2 Esdras among the writings included there, and it treats that placement as an edition fact.

  Does including those books give them the same status as the sixty-six?

  The 1611 fact on this page is edition placement. Equal canonical status is a separate claim. The Westminster Confession later says the Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are not part of the canon of Scripture.

  Why do many later King James Bibles omit that section?

  Later Protestant printing followed confessional statements such as Westminster, which refuse those books a place in the canon. The 1611 volume itself still prints the Apocrypha between the Testaments.

  Source: The 1611 King James Bible printed an Apocrypha section between the Old and New Testaments. That placement is an edition fact, not a claim that those books were canonical for every later Anglican confession.

• 1646/1647 CE · Reformation · Westminster, London

  Westminster Confession names the 66-book canon

  The Confession lists the 66 books and says the books commonly called Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are not part of the canon of Scripture.

  The Westminster Assembly’s Confession of Faith, chapter I, was finished in London in 1646/1647. Sections I.2–3 name the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon. They say the books commonly called Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are not part of the canon of Scripture.

  This is a Reformed confession. It sits on Councils & Lists because it is a dated canon list with a church-document source. It explains why many later Protestant editions leave the Apocrypha out of the printed Bible.

  Set it next to the other Protestant-tradition entries on this tab. Luther’s 1534 Bible still printed selected books in a separate section and called them useful to read, while ranking them below Holy Scripture. The 1611 King James Bible still included an Apocrypha section. Westminster’s wording refuses those books a place in the canon.

  Why it matters. A defining Reformed statement of the modern Protestant 66. It explains later omission from many Protestant printings.

  Follow-up questions

  What does Westminster Confession chapter I say about the canon?

  It names the sixty-six books and says the books commonly called Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are not part of the canon of Scripture. That wording is the source citation for this event.

  How is Westminster different from Luther’s 1534 Bible?

  Luther printed selected books in a separate Apocrypha section and called them useful to read, while ranking them below Holy Scripture. Westminster refuses them a place in the canon. Both are Protestant-tradition events, and they use different wording.

  How is Westminster different from the Council of Trent?

  Trent in 1546 defines the Roman Catholic list, including the deuterocanonical writings received in the Vulgate. Westminster in 1646/1647 is a Reformed confession that names the sixty-six and excludes the Apocrypha from the canon of Scripture. They are different bodies and different lists.

  Source: Westminster Confession I.2–3 names the 66-book Protestant canon and says the books commonly called Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are not part of the canon of Scripture.

• Shared tradition · Greek 1 Esdras ↔ Latin 4 Ezra

  Medium confidence — a common reading, with some uncertainty.

  The shared Esdras name hides two different books. 1 Esdras retells Ezra material in Greek. 2 Esdras is an apocalypse preserved in Latin.

• Shared tradition · Syriac apocalypse ↔ 4 Ezra

  High confidence — strong primary or manuscript support.

  2 Baruch and 2 Esdras (4 Ezra) are both Jewish apocalypses answering the destruction of the Temple. They are not the same book, and neither is Greek Baruch or Greek 1 Esdras.

1. 1611 CE — King James Bible of 1611 includes an Apocrypha section
2. 1646/1647 CE — Westminster Confession names the 66-book canon

• The 1611 King James Bible printed an Apocrypha section between the Old and New Testaments. That placement is an edition fact, not a claim that those books were canonical for every later Anglican confession.
• Council of Trent, Session IV (8 April 1546), lists the Catholic canonical books including the deuterocanonical writings received in the Vulgate.
• Brenton’s public-domain Septuagint translation includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, the Additions, and Maccabees as part of the Greek Old Testament corpus.
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church publishes an 81-book list that includes 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and the Meqabyan books.
• Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, speaks of 22 Jewish books and distinguishes later writings as not equally trusted.
• 2 Esdras (4 Ezra) survives in medieval Latin manuscripts, often with the Vulgate appendix. It is not Greek 1 Esdras and it is not a book of the great Greek uncials.
• Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, MS B. 21 Inf., a sixth- or seventh-century Syriac biblical codex, preserves 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra. Neither book is in the great Greek uncials.
• Westminster Confession I.2–3 names the 66-book Protestant canon and says the books commonly called Apocrypha are not of divine inspiration and are not part of the canon of Scripture.