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 to the subject have been hunted up and compared together. These statements are, indeed, scanty and incomplete, and many a detail is still obscure; but the main facts have been completely ascertained. "_Before the Babylonish captivity, Israel had no sacred writings._ There were certain laws, prophetic writings, and a few historical books, but no one had ever thought of ascribing binding and divine authority to these documents. "_Ezra brought the priestly law with him from Babylon, altering it and amalgamating it with the narratives and laws already in existence, and thus produced the Pentateuch in pretty much the same form_ (though not quite, as we shall show) _as we still have it. These books got the name of the 'Law of Moses,' or simply the 'Law.'_ Ezra introduced them into Israel (B. C. 444), and gave them binding authority, _and from that time forward they were considered divine_."[95:4] From the time of Ezra until the year 287 B. C., when the Pentateuch was translated into Greek by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of Egypt, these books evidently underwent some changes. This the writer quoted above admits, in saying: "Later still (viz., after the time of Ezra), _a few more changes and additions were made_, and so the Pentateuch grew into its present form."[96:1] In answer to those who claim that the Pentateuch was written by _one_ person, Bishop Colenso says: