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 BCE 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 CE Codex Amiatinus) this book is presented without division, and
1 Esdras and
2 Esdras are omitted. Jerome's practice is followed in the 9th century Vulgate bibles of
Alcuin and
Theodulf of Orleans, but from the
9th century CE 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. Greek Esdras or 1 Esdras (line 3 of the table above) is the version of Ezra most commonly cited as scripture by early Christians, and consequently was included in the Old Testament in late
4th century CE Greek and Latin canon lists before Jerome; but with the increasing dominance of Jerome's Vulgate translation it dropped out of use in the West; although from the 13th century, it was commonly reintroduced under the title
3 Esdras. This Latin text of 3 Esdras is found in later
medievalVulgate manuscripts and the
Sixto-Clementine Vulgate, and is however a completely different (and likely earlier) translation of Greek Esdras A from that found in the
Old Latin, as witnessed in the
Codex Colbertinus. Where the Vulgate text of 3 Esdras is woodenly literal in its rendering of the Greek, the Old Latin text of 'First Esdras' tends towards free
paraphrase. The Douay–Rheims version followed the Clementine Vulgate title, while
Protestant English versions chose a separate numbering for apocryphal books and called it
1 Esdras (using the Greek form to differentiate the
apocryphal book from the
canonical Ezra). Latin Esdras or 2 Esdras (lines 4, 5 and 6 of the table above) is contained in some Latin bibles as
4 Esdras; and in some Slavonic manuscripts as
3 Esdras. Except for the Douay–Rheims version (which follows the Vulgate), most English versions containing this book call it
2 Esdras (again using the Greek form for the apocryphal book). The book is not included in the Greek Septuagint and no complete copy of the Greek text has survived, though it is quoted by the
Church Fathers. Due to its
apocalyptic content, the book (specifically as referring to chapters 3-14) has also been called
Esdras the Prophet,
Apocalyptic Esdras or
The Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra. Because the most complete
extant text is in Latin, the book is also called
Latin Esdras. The Latin version differs from other versions of 2 Esdras in that it contains additional opening and closing chapters, which are also called
5 Ezra and
6 Ezra by scholars. ==Other Ezra writings==