Esdras
/ˈɛzdrəs/noun
A biblical name and title used in Greek, Latin, and Christian traditions for Ezra and books associated with him.
Did you know?“Esdras” is the Greek and Latin form of Ezra, and different Christian traditions used the name for different biblical and apocryphal books.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
עֶזְרָא (ʿEzrāʾ)
“Ezra, a personal name derived from the Semitic root meaning “to help” or “aid””
5th Century BCE
Aramaic/Hebrew
Ezra
“The name of the priest and scribe traditionally associated with restoring Jewish law and worship after the Babylonian exile”
3rd–2nd Century BCE
Ancient Greek
Ἔσδρας (Esdras)
“Greek transcription of the name Ezra in the Septuagint tradition”
4th Century CE
Latin
Esdras
“Latin form adopted in biblical and ecclesiastical writings”
Medieval Period
Christian Latin
Esdras
“A title applied to Ezra and to several books numbered differently across Western and Eastern traditions”
Modern English
English
Esdras
“A biblical proper name and a title used especially in discussions of the Apocrypha and Septuagint”