Intro; Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Introductory Note; Chapter 1 A Status Quaestionis on the Formation of the Canon of the Hebrew Bible; 1.1 The Date of Origin of the Jewish Canon; 1.1.1 The Evidence of Qumran; 1.1.2 Other Evidence of the First Century CE; 1.2 The Problems Concerning Yavneh; Chapter 2 Some Preliminary Clarifications; 2.1 The Codex; 2.2 The Printing Press; 2.3 "Hebrew Bible"; 2.4 "Canon"; Chapter 3 Methodology and Structure; Part 1 The Twenty-Two Books of the Jews According to Josephus; Introductory Note; Chapter 4 The Passage of the Against Apion; 4.1 The Text 4.2 Possible Identification of the Twenty-Two Books4.3 The Prophets and Their Succession; 4.3.1 The Cessation of Prophecy?; 4.3.2 Priests, Philosophers, and Historians; 4.3.3 The Interruption of the Prophetic Succession; 4.3.4 The Prophet Josephus?; 4.4 Assimilation of the Books to the Sacredness of the Torah; 4.5 Summing-Up; Chapter 5 The Twenty-Two Books outside the Against Apion; 5.1 The Scriptures in the Jewish War; 5.2 The Jewish Antiquities; 5.2.1 The Twenty-Two Books; 5.2.2 The Succession of Prophets; 5.3 The Life; Chapter 6 Josephus and Some Books on the Borderline of the Canon 6.1 Daniel6.2 First Esdras, Ezra, and Nehemiah; 6.3 Esther; 6.4 Tobit and Judith; 6.5 Letter of Aristeas, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees; 6.6 The Book of Jubilees and the Temple Scroll; 6.7 The Apocalyptic Literature and the Case of 1 Enoch; Part 2 The Ninety-Four Books of the Torah According to 4 Ezra; Introductory Note; Chapter 7 Introduction to 4 Ezra; 7.1 Title, Literary Genre, and Jewish Character; 7.2 Text and Transmission; 7.3 Date and Place of Composition; 7.4 Fourth Ezra and 2 Baruch; 7.5 Structure and Summary of the Content 7.6 The Unity of the Work and the Importance of the Seventh SectionChapter 8 Coordinates for a Comprehensive Understanding of 4 Ezra; 8.1 The Debate on the Position of the Author; 8.1.1 The Distinction between Narrator and Author; 8.1.2 From Gunkel to Stone; 8.1.3 From Harnisch to Hogan; 8.2 The Planes of the Narrative Point of View; 8.3 The Psychological Plane and the Psychologizing Interpretation of 4 Ezra; 8.4 The Ideological Plane of the Narrative Point of View; 8.4.1 The Various Expressions of the Point of View of God; 8.4.2 What God Says about Ezra Chapter 9 The Characterization of Ezra9.1 The Presentation (4 Ezra 3:1-2); 9.1.1 The Allusion to Ezek 1:1; 9.1.2 "I, Salathiel, who am also called Ezra"; 9.2 Ezra in the Dialogues; 9.3 The Visions and the Transformation of Ezra; 9.3.1 Ezra in the Fourth Section; 9.3.2 Ezra in the Fifth Section; 9.3.3 Ezra in the Sixth Section; 9.4 Ezra in the Seventh Section: The Scribe of the Most High; Chapter 10 Function and Meaning of the Ninety-Four Books; 10.1 The Teachings Reserved for the Wise: Is 4 Ezra an Esoteric Book?; 10.1.1 The "Few" in 4 Ezra