Ezra Studies

About the Book

...

About the Author

Charles Torrey ---

Contents

PREFACE

I. PORTIONS OF FIRST ESDRAS AND NEHEMIAH IN THE SYRO-HEXAPLAR VERSION

II. THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF "FIRST ESDRAS"

    i. The Two Recensions of the Ezra History

    ii. Past and Present Theories Regarding the "Apocryphal" Book

    iii. The Nature of First Esdras

    iv. The Origin of Our Two Recensions

III. THE STORY OF THE THREE YOUTHS

    i. Origin of the Story

    ii. Translation

    iii. The Interpolator's Additions

IV. THE APPARATUS FOR THE TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF CHRONICLES-EZRA-NEHEMIAH

    i. Nature of the Text-Critical Problem

    ii. Theodotion the Author of Our "Canonical" Greek Version of Chron.-Ezr.-Neh

    iii. The Two Main Types of the Text

            1. First Esdras

            2. The Standard Text of the Second Century A. D.

    iv. Notes on Manuscripts and Versions

            1. The Superiority of the A Manuscripts to Those of the Β Group

            2. Hexaplar MSS of Chron.-Ezr.-Neh

            3. The Versions Made from Origen's " Septuagint"

            4. The Two Main Branches of the Greek Tradition

            5. The Syrian Tradition, the Lucian Recension and Our L Text

    v. The Critical Process in Restoring the Semitic Text

V. THE FIRST CHAPTER OF EZRA IN ITS ORIGINAL FORM AND SETTING

            The Restored Hebrew Text (the Chronicler's Narrative of the Return from the Exile)

            Translation

            Note A, the "Seventy Years" of Exile

            Note B, the Name Sheshbazzar

            Note C, the Number of the Temple-Vessels

VI. THE ARAMAIC PORTIONS OF EZRA

    i. The Character of the "Official Documents" in Ezra

            1. The Prevailing View

            2. A Literary Habit of Ancient Narrators

            3. The Tendency of the Documents

    ii. The Chronicler's Part in the Aramaic Portions

    iii. The Aramaic of the Book of Ezra

    iv. Proper Names and Foreign Words

            1. Proper Names

            2. The Foreign Words

    v. The History of the Text of 4:6-11

    vi. The Text of the Passages

            Samaritan Intrigues Against the Building of the Temple

            Ezra's Credentials

            Translation

VII. THE CHRONICLER AS EDITOR AND AS INDEPENDENT NARRATOR

    i. The Chronicler's Main Purpose

    ii. The Chronicler as Editor

            1. In the Books of Chronicles

            2. In Ezra-Nehemiah

    iii. The Chronicler as Independent Narrator

            1. The Sources, Real and Imaginary, in I and II Chron

            2. The Chronicler's Characteristics as a Narrator

            3. The "Ezra Memoirs"

            4. The Chronicler's Narrative of Nehemiah

VIII. THE EZRA STORY IN ITS ORIGINAL SEQUENCE

            The Account of the Expedition

            The Reading of the Law

            The Expulsion of the Gentile Wives

            The Covenant Against Gentile Marriages and in Support of the Clergy

            Note A, on Ezr. 10:44

            Note B, on Neh. 9:4 f.

            Note C, The Lacuna in Neh. 9:5

            Note D, on Neh. 10:1 f.

IX. THE EXILE AND THE RESTORATION

    i. Prevailing Misconceptions

    ii. The Deportation to Babylonia

    iii. The Beginning of the Hebrew Dispersion

    iv. The Reviving of Jerusalem

    v. The Renewal of the Worship

            1. Untrustworthy Narratives 301

            2. Conditions at the Time of Haggai and Zechariah

    vi. General Summary, 586 to 4:44 B.C.

    vii. The Religious Development

    viii. Jewish Temples of the Dispersion

    ix. The High Priests of the Second Temple

    x. The Rivalry with the Samaritans

    xi. The Date of Nehemiah

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

ADDENDA AND CORRIGENDA

INDICES