$70.00

This comprehensive text-critical commentary on the apocryphal book of First Esdras aims to retrieve its lost Hebrew-Aramaic text now hidden behind layers of transmission and the thick veil of translation. It offers a close comparison between First Esdras 1-2, 5-9 and the canonical counterparts in 2 Chr 35-36, Ezra 1-10 and Nehemiah 8, in an attempt to discern the relationship between them, as well as a detailed analysis of the most intriguing part of First Esdras, the Story of the Youths (chapters 3-4), which has no parallel in the Old Testament. The commentary provides rich evidence, based on ample material from contemporary sources, especially from Qumran.