TheTorah [h/t Davila] has an excellent summary of the Ezra legend in Late Antique Judaism. By tradition, the Jews on return from Babylon didn't have proper and/or legible Torah. Ezra either restored this by Divine Inspiration, or translated it to Aramaic by same. There exist some parallels with the Septuagint legend over in Egypt.
Porphyry's work against the Christians, we are informed, grabbed hold of this legend to prove that Moses had not composed Torah. More: that under the Monarchy was no Torah. These days this standpoint is considered extreme; for instance we may have Deuteronomy from Josiah, and the four Reigns books plus Judges always looked ancient.
But Porphyry had his lore from legitimate Judaeo-Christian tradition. I am reminded of nothing so much as the earliest Christian hits against the jam' al-Qurâni. Here too, AbdalMasih Kindi and even Emperor Leo were able to confront the "furqân" by means of Islamic tradition, at least as it existed under the last Umayyads.
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