Lost Hebrew 4 Ezra Vorlage behind Latin and Greek transmission

This article describes an entity that is not directly attested as a surviving Hebrew 4 Ezra manuscript; it is inferred from the reported translation chain and lost original-language layer.

Epistemic status

Draft article. The Jewish apocalypse of 4 Ezra is attested through later versions; the Hebrew Vorlage is a missing source layer.

Summary

The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha describes 4 Ezra as a Jewish apocalypse most likely composed in Hebrew, says the Hebrew version is lost, and describes the Greek as surviving only in fragmentary quotation and paraphrase. Inferpedia treats the lost Hebrew layer behind the Latin and Greek transmission as a draft inferred-source entity.

What is being inferred

The inferred entity is the lost Hebrew 4 Ezra Vorlage behind Greek, Latin, and other translation witnesses.

What is attested

OCP attests probable Hebrew composition, loss of the Hebrew version, fragmentary Greek survival, later translations, and Christian additions in the Vulgate appendix form.

Why infer this entity

A lost Hebrew original that was translated into Greek, then into Latin and other languages, is a clear missing-source layer even when later versions preserve substantial text.

Evidence ledger

• E1, OCP: supporting trace for probable Hebrew composition.
• E2, OCP: supporting trace for the lost Hebrew version.
• E3, OCP: supporting trace for fragmentary Greek survival.
• E4, OCP: complicating trace for Christian additions in later Latin transmission.

Counterarguments

The Hebrew wording cannot be inspected directly. The Greek intermediary is fragmentary, and later Christian additions must be separated from the Jewish apocalypse.

Confidence scores

Direct attestation: 56. Existence warrant: 84. Specificity: 76. Reconstruction dependence: 88. Counterevidence: 28.

What would change the score

A critical edition mapping Latin, Greek fragments, Syriac, Ethiopic, Georgian, Arabic, Armenian, and Coptic witnesses to the Jewish apocalypse would change the score.