Esdras
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [1]
the name of two apocryphal books which were always excluded the Jewish canon, and are too absurd to be admitted as canonical by the Papists themselves. They are supposed to have been originally written in Greek by some Hellenistical Jews; though some imagine that they were first written in Chaldee, and afterward translated into Greek. It is uncertain when they were composed, though it is generally agreed that the author wrote before Josephus.
Smith's Bible Dictionary [2]
Es'dras. (Greek Form Of Ezra). The form of the name of Ezra, the scribe, in 1 and 2 Esdras.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [3]
Esdras . See Apocrypha, and Apoc. [Note: Apocalypse, Apocalyptic.] Literature.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [4]
( Εσδρας ; Vulg. Esdras), the Graecized form, used throughout the Apocrypha ( 1 Esdras 8:1; 1 Esdras 8:3; 1 Esdras 8:7-9; 1 Esdras 8:19; 1 Esdras 8:23; 1 Esdras 8:25; 1 Esdras 8:91-92; 1 Esdras 8:96; 1 Esdras 9:1; 1 Esdras 9:7; 1 Esdras 9:16; 1 Esdras 9:39-40; 1 Esdras 9:42; 1 Esdras 9:45-46; 1 Esdras 9:49; 2 Esdras 1:1; 2 Esdras 2:10; 2 Esdras 2:33; 2 Esdras 2:42; 2 Esdras 6:10; 2 Esdras 7:2; 2 Esdras 7:25; 2 Esdras 8:2; 2 Esdras 8:19; 2 Esdras 14:1; 2 Esdras 14:38), of the name of the scribe EZRA (See Ezra) (q.v.). In several manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate, as well as in all the printed editions anterior to the decree of the Council of Trent, and in many since that period, there will be found four books following each other, entitled the 1 James 2:1-26 d, 3d, and 4th books of Ezra. The first two are the canonical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the 3d and 4th form the subject of the articles below. They are the same which are called 1 James 2:1-26 d Esdras in the English Authorized Version. For their use and relation to the canonical books see Josippon ben-Gorion (ed. Breithaupt, 1710), page 47 sq.; Trendelenburg, in Eichhorn's Biblioth. 1:180 sq.; Eichhorn, Einleit. in d. Apocr. page 335 sq.; Herzfeld, Gesct. d. Israel, page 320 sq.; Ewald, Gesch. Isr. 4:131 sq.; Keil, Einleit. in d. A. T. (ed. 1859), page 677 sq.; Davidson, Text of O.T. page 937 sq. (See Apocrypha).
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [5]
The name of two books of the Apocrypha, the first, written 2nd century B.C., containing the history of the rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of its cultus, with a discussion on the strangest of all things, ending in assigning the palm to truth; and the second, written between 97 and 81 B.C., a forecast of the deliverance of the Jews from oppression and the establishment of the Messianic kingdom.
