Re: This Really Helped Me

Noah could as easily have restored in spirit the book of Enoch,
destroyed by the Deluge, as Esdras could have restored the Scriptures lost
during the Captivity.

(Theos) en te epi Nabouchodonosor aichmalosia tou laou, diaphthareison ton
Graphon... enepneuse 'Esdra to ierei, ek tes phules Leui tous ton
progegonoton propheton pantas anataxasthai logous, kai apokatastesai to lae
ten dia Mouseos nomothesian. He alleges this to prove that it is not
incredible that the Seventy may have explained the Holy Scriptures with that
uniformity which we admire in them. And he took that from Saint Irenaeus.

Saint Hilary, in his preface to the Psalms, says that Esdras arranged the
Psalms in order.

The origin of this tradition comes from the 14th chapter of the fourth book
of Esdras. Deus glorificatus est, et Scripturae vere divinae creditae sunt,
omnibus eandem et eisdem verbis et eisdem nominibus recitantibus ab initio
usque ad finem, uti et praesentes gentes cognoscerent quoniam per
inspirationem Dei interpretatae sunt Scripturae, et non esset mirabile Deum
hoc in eis operatum: quando in ea captivitate populi quae facta est a
Nabuchodonosor, corruptis scripturis et post 70 annos Judaeis descendentibus
in regionem suam, et post deinde temporibus Artaxerxis Persarum regis,
inspiravit Esdrae sacerdoti tribus Levi praeteritorum prophetarum omnes
rememorare sermones, et restituere populo eam legem quae data est per
Moysen.[114]

633. Against the story in Esdras, 2 Maccab. 2.; Josephus, Antiquities, II,
i.--Cyrus took occasion from the prophecy of Isaiah to release the people.
The Jews held their property in peace under Cyrus in Babylon; hence they
could well have the law.

Josephus, in the whole history of Esdras, does not say one word about this
restoration. 2 Kings 17:27.

634. If the story in Esdras is credible, then it must be believed that the
Scripture is Holy Scripture; for this story is based only on the authority
of those who assert that of the Sev