Some scholars, including Joseph Blenkinsopp in his 1988 commentary on Ezra–Nehemiah, hold that the book is a late 2nd/early 1st century BC revision of Esdras and Esdras β, while others such as L. L. Grabbe believe it to be independent of the Hebrew-language Ezra-Nehemiah.

The book normally called 1 Esdras is numbered differently among various versions of the Bible. In most editions of the Septuagint, the book is titled in Greek: Ἔσδρας Αʹ and is placed before the single book of Ezra–Nehemiah, which is titled in Greek: Ἔσδρας Βʹ.

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Psalm 151

Psalm 151 is the name given to a short psalm that is found in most copies of the Septuagint but not in the Masoretic. The title given to this psalm in the Septuagint indicates that it is supernumerary, and no number is affixed to it: “This Psalm is ascribed to David and is outside the number. When he slew Goliath in single combat”. It is also included in some manuscripts of the Peshitta.

The Orthodox Church as well as the Coptic Church, Armenian Church and the Armenian Catholic Church accept Psalm 151 as canonical. Roman Catholics, Protestants, and most Jews consider it apocryphal. However, it is found in an appendix in some Catholic Bibles, such as certain editions of the Latin Vulgate, as well as in some ecumenical translations, such as the New Revised Standard Version.

Although for many years scholars believed that Psalm 151 might have been an original Greek composition and that “there is no evidence that Psalm 151 ever existed in Hebrew”, it is now known from the Dead Sea scrolls that this psalm did in fact exist in Hebrew and was a part of the psalter used by the Qumran community.

The title of the psalm states that it was written by David after his battle with Goliath. As it stands in the Greek text in this psalm, David rejoices that God favors him and hears his prayers and worship. David states that he was the least of his brothers, and yet God chose him to be anointed king (vv. 1–5). It goes on to commemorate how David cut off Goliath’s head with the Philistine’s own sword, and thereby removed Israel’s disgrace (vv. 6–7).