shed 444 B. C._

At that time Ezra (or Ezdras) _added_ to the work of his two
_predecessors_ a series of _laws_ and _narratives_ which had been drawn
up _by some of the priests in Babylon_.[94:6] This "series of laws and
narratives," which was written by "some of the (Israelitish) priests in
Babylon," was called "_The Book of Origins_" (probably containing the
Babylonian account of the "_Origin of Things_," or the "_Creation_").
Ezra brought the book from _Babylon_ to Jerusalem. He made some
modifications in it and constituted it a code of law for Israel,
_dove-tailing it into those parts of the Pentateuch which existed
before_. A few _alterations_ and _additions_ were subsequently made,
but these are of minor importance, and we may fairly say _that Ezra put
the Pentateuch into the form in which we have it_ (about 444 B. C.).

These priestly passages are partly occupied with historical matter,
comprising a very free account of things from the creation of the world
to the arrival of Israel in Canaan. Everything is here presented from
the _priestly_ point of view; some events, elsewhere recorded, are
_touched up in the priestly spirit, and others are entirely
invented_.[95:1]

It was the belief of the Jews, asserted by the _Pirke Aboth_ (Sayings of
the Fathers), one of the oldest books of the _Talmud_,[95:2] as well as
other Jewish records, that Ezra, acting in accordance with a divine
commission, re-wrote the Old Testament, the manuscripts of which were
said to have been lost in the destruction of the first temple, when
Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem.[95:3] This we _know_ could not have been
the case. The fact that Ezra wrote--adding to, and taking from the
already existing books of the Pentateuch--was probably the foundation
for this tradition. The account of it is to be found in the Apocryphal
book of Esdras, a book deemed authentic by the Greek Church.

Dr. Knappert, speaking of this, says:

"For many centuries, both the Christians and the Jews supposed
that Ezra had brought together the sacred writings of his
people, united them in one whole, and introduced them as a
book given by the Spirit of God--a Holy Scripture.

"The only authority for this supposition was a very modern and
altogether untrustworthy _tradition_. The historical and
critical studies of our times have been emancipated from the
influence of this tradition, and the most ancient statements
with regard