The book covers the period from the fall of babylon in 539 bc to the second half of the 5th century bc, and tells of the successive missions to jerusalem of zerubbabel, ezra, and nehemiah, and their efforts to restore the worship of the god of israel and to create a purified jewish community. Ezra nehemiah is a book in the hebrew bible found in the ketuvim section, originally with the hebrew title of ezra. It would have been natural for the writer of the book of ezra to follow a. The two became separated with the first printed rabbinic bibles of the early 16th century, following late medieval latin christian tradition. Ezra in the picture study bible the book of ezra with. Macarthurs understanding of ezra and nehemiah is not based upon the chronological facts found in the books of chronicles, kings, ezra, nehemiah, haggai, and zechariah but rather upon the assumption that the 70 weeks of daniel 9 must have begun during the reign of artaxerxes longimanus and thus the 2nd temple chronology. With virtually one voice scholars acknowledge that the biblical text presents ezra as preceding nehemiah and makes ezra and nehemiah contemporaries during the latters governorship.
The treatment of ezranehemiah as a single book by the earliest editors was undoubtedly due to the fact that in ancient times the two books were put under the one name, ezra. Cyrus made a decree giving the jewish exiles in his empire the right to return to jerusalem and rebuild the temple in 538 b. Biblical literature ezra, nehemiah, and chronicles britannica. The book of esther is an historical incident that occurred during the days of jewish captivity in babylon. Ezra returned from the babylonian captivity in 457 bc which was 80 years after the first group of jews had.
Persian kings in the bible iran in the bible cyrus. We will examine the portion of the book of nehemiah which relates to persia. Nehemiah was one of the most underrated heroes in the bible, cupbearer to the powerful persian king artaxerxes i longimanus. Stretching from iran to asia minor and from armenia to egypt, at its height persia covered two million square miles in all. The combined work ezranehemiah is our most important literary source for the formation of the jewish religious community in the province of judah after the babylonian exile. Ezranehemiah is a book in the hebrew bible found in the ketuvim section, originally with the.
Certainly the temple had priests and the work projects of jerusalem had overseers before ezra or nehemiah came on the scene. In addition to our key text, at the beginning of his book ezra quotes cyrus himself as saying, the lord, the god of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth ezra 1. Nehemiah made his request to king ardashir in the citadel of susa nehemiah 1. Biblical literature biblical literature ezra, nehemiah, and chronicles. As stated, this book is based on his memoirs, but the ancient tradition is that ezra turned nehemiah s diary of that time into this book, which was for some centuries called second ezra. The books of ezra and nehemiah are really one book that describes the period after the exile from the perspective of the return to jerusalem. Unlike nebuchadnezzar and the babylonian rulers, the persian emperor cyrus the great is a pretty reasonable guy who gives the house of israel the authorization to return to jerusalem and judah and. There are seven persian documents embedded in ezranehemiah, six in ezra and one in nehemiah.
Moreover, it is also quite possible that chroniclesezranehemiah was originally one book. In the 20th year of the persian king artaxerxes i 445, a delegation of jews. As we consider this, it would obviously be helpful for you not only to read through these books, but also through the book of esther, as continue reading surveying the text. The books of ezra and nehemiah are the only completely historical books in the third section of the hebrew bible, the ketuvim writings. An inquiry concerning the books of ezra and nehemiah jstor. There is another clue that tells us that darius the persian is artaxerxes in ezra, nehemiah, and xerxes in the book of esther. Ezra and nehemiah, books of jewish virtual library. Nehemiah, under king ardashir, traveled from persia to jerusalem 5 years after ezra returned ezra 7. Ezra and nehemiah are the only books within our canon which pro fess to narrate the. As if the spelling and pronunciation of ahasuerus and artaxerxes were not problematic enough for the average bible student, one must also consider these persian kings in light of the order in which they are mentioned in the book of ezra. The masoretic tradition regarded the books of ezra and nehemiah as one book. God moves king artaxerxes to commission ezra the priest and scribe to return to jerusalem and teach the laws of god to. The books of ezra and nehemiah are the only completely historical books in the. The book of nehemiah is the last of the historical books of the bible, originally part of the book of ezra, but split off into its own volume by the church in 1448.
The books of ezra and nehemiah originally a single literary work, hence. Cyrus, inspired by god, returns the temple vessels to sheshbazzar. Inspired by gods spirit, he tells the israelites that they can head home and rebuild their temple. Ezranehemiah deals with the period of the restoration of the jewish community in judah, then the persian province of yehud, in the sixthfifth centuries b.
Ezra in the picture study bible the book of ezra with maps. The greater part of this book, though it bears the name of ezra, tells of the pioneers who came back from exile to jerusalem a whole lifetime before him. The following are some of the early persian kings according to listed books of bible. It has been widely held that ezranehemiah in its final form reflects a propersian attitude, based on its treatment of the persian kings within the narrative.
The events in the book of esther occurred between the events recorded in ezra 6 and ezra 7. Ezra 16 speaks about the early return beginning with the cyrus decree 539 bc through the building of the second temple 515 bc. Ezra, nehemiah and esther for everyone spck publishing. Obviously, ezranehemiah has been composed using a number of sources. The book of ezra begins with a decree from king cyrus of persia, allowing the jews to return to jerusalem to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed by the. The stories of these two uniquely gifted men, however, are stories that commemorate a new era in the rebuilding of the city of god. The books of ezra and nehemiah are both set in judah while its ruled by the persian empire, the most powerful empire in the known world at the time. The persian empire was founded by cyrus the great who conquered babylon in 536 bc.
Ezra protests against the intermarriage of jews with foreigners and insists that such guilty jews should obtain divorces from their spouses. Herodotus tells us the circumstances under which darius came to power with the help of his seven friends who became the seven noble men and were the closest advisors of the king. Ezra was most likely the author of both ezra and nehemiah, which might have originally been one book. Through the protection and help of three persian kings cyrus, darius, and artaxerxes and the leadership of such great and godly jews as zerubbabel, joshua, haggai, zechariah, and ezra, the second temple. He came on the scene in the 20th year of artaxerxes.
The books of ezra, nehemiah, esther, haggai, zachariah, and malachi were written during the time of the early persian kingdom. Ezras ministry is to be placed during the reign of artaxerxes i 465424 b. Mar 10, 2019 josephus,1 jerome,2 and the talmud3 considered the books of ezra and nehemiah as one. As we have seen, cyrus, the king of persia, in 538 b. One of the first rulers of the empire, cyrus, sought to show tolerance to all of the. This chart reveals the kings of the persian empire achaemenid. The two books really form one, and the old hebrew bible grouped them both under the title of the book of ezra. The hebrew bible also has the books together as a single work. Persian kings in the bible the books of ezra, nehemiah, esther, haggai, zachariah, and malachi were written during the time of the early persian kingdom.
Kingly chronology in the book of ezra apologetics press. That these books constituted a single workreferred to as the chroniclers history, in distinction to the. Indeed, the book is one of the most important sources available for shedding light on the history of persianperiod judea. The majority of modern critics believe that the two books of chronicles, ezra, and nehemiah constitute one large work, compiled and edited by someone designated the chronicler, who has been dated from 400 to 300 b. After his arrival in jerusalem in 458 bc, he changed from writing in the third perions ezra 16 to writing in the first perions ezra 710. The persian empire succeeded the babylonian empire and it was cyrus, who issued the famous decree for the jews to return to their homeland to rebuild their temple. May 12, 2015 the old testament book of nehemiah takes place during a time of exile and captivity for the jewish people. Nehemiah is the last historical book in the old testament. Ezra nehemiah deals with the period of the restoration of the jewish community in judah, then the persian province of yehud, in the sixthfifth centuries b.
The hebrew traditions treated the books of ezra and nehemiah is one book, although they were probably separated in the bible. Some bible scholars feel that the persian king, ahasuerus in the book, is xerxes the great. In english bibles, they are usually split into two, with the book of nehemiah appearing as a separate book from ezra, but in the hebrew tradition, they are one book, entitled ezra, and nehemiah is simply the second part of ezra. Some passages in the book of nehemiah suggest that ezra and nehemiah were present in jerusalem at the same time neh 8. Ezra and nehemiah were formerly counted as one book and contain the account of the restoration of the exiles to jerusalem and the re establishment of their worship. Apologetics press kingly chronology in the book of ezra. Some say the one history books call xerxes the great, son of darius, others say artaxerxes 1, after ezra. The final books of the hebrew bible are the books of chronicles and ezranehemiah, which once formed a unitary history of israel from adam to the 4th century bce, written by an anonymous chronicler. Ezra is only confusing when you read the first 5 chapters, but if you just throw them away it becomes much more intelligible. Ezra and nehemiah describe events early in the persian reign, which lasted from cyruss defeat of babylon in 530 b. A catalogue record for this book is available from the british library. Jeshua the high priest and zerubbabel build the altar and celebrate the feast of tabernacles.
However, there is evidence that the two books were originally separate. Slightly later a second, and very different greek translation was made, in the form of 1 esdras, and initially early christians reckoned this later translation as their biblical book of ezra. As the curtain rises and the orchestra dramatically swells, king cyrus of persia has just defeated the babylonians. We have before us the books of ezra and nehemiah, which were probably one book originally. In this fascinating account, nehemiah, the jewish cupbearer to the persian king artaxerxes 1, successfully petitions to take a group back to jerusalem to rebuild the city walls after hearing they are in disrepair. The persian kings and bible chronology the ensign message. According to history, the persian kings reigned in the following order. So there you have it, we have lopped off 57 years, and removed the necessity of two of the persian kings. Study guide for ezra 1 by david guzik blue letter bible. In the first part of this book, nehemiah is presented as the cup bearer to artaxerxes, the persian king who granted nehemiah permission to visit the city of jerusalem. Nov 14, 2014 as indicated above, ezra begins our key passage with cyrus the great, the founder of the persian empire.
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