EZRA, a canonical book of the Old Testament; comprehending the history of the Jews from the time of Cyrus's edict for their return, to the 20th year of Artaxerxes Longimanus. It specifies the number of Jews who returned, and Cyrus's proclamation for the rebuilding the temple, together with the laying its foundation, the obstruction it met with, and the finishing thereof in the reign of Darius.
The illustrious author of this book was also the restorer and publisher of the canon of the Old Testament. See BIBLE.
The books of Ezra, called in the English version the First and Second Book of Esdras, though held by some, particularly the Greeks, for canonical, are thrown by the English church into the number of apocryphal books, being only extant in Greek.