Content
Together, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah originally formed a single work named for Ezra, the priestly scribe who helped establish in Judah a religiously purified community of returned exiles. The Christian Old Testament's io-chapter book of Ezra represents a selective historical narrative that relates the Jewish remnant's return to the promised land and the events of major theological significance during their first century or so back home (ca. 538-457 B.C.).
Both Ezra and the immediately preceding 2 Chronicles remain silent about the years of the Babylonian exile and the Persian conquest of Babylon (539; see "Exile and Return" [281- 831). Instead, the books move directly to Persian king Cyrus's edict charging the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, in accord with the Persian policy of returning exiled subjects and encouraging them to pursue their national religions. Though only about 50 thousand Jews resettle in Judah - a mere handful compared to the number that populated Canaan after the exodus (cf. Num. 1:20-47) - God's involvement with this remnant demonstrates his continued initiative in redeeming sinful humanity.
Content
Chapters 1-6 deal with the initial return from Babylon and the rebuilding of the temple under the leadership of the Persian-appointed Jewish governor Zerubbabel and the priest Jeshua (from 538-516). The writing prophets Zechariah and Haggai give the Jews courage to complete the project. These chapters seem concerned to establish the rebuilt temple and its service as the sole legitimate successor to the religious institutions of preexilic Jerusalem, perhaps to combat the rival sect later known as the Samaritans.
The final four chapters (plus Nehemiah 8) center on the activities of Ezra, introduced in
7:1ff. as leader of a second group of returnees to Judah. This journey probably took place in 458, during the reign of Artaxerxes I. The concrete establishment of an accurate chronology of the events recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah eludes us, however, and some scholars believe that Nehemiah returned before Ezra, with Nehemiah arriving in 445 and Ezra in 398 (during the reign of Artaxerxes II). But this view requires a significant rearrangement of the current text in both books.
Persian Kings
Cyrus 11 (559-530)
Cambyses 11 (530-522)
Darius 1(522-486)
Xerxes 1(486-465)
Artaxerxes 1(465-424)
Darius 11 (424-404)
Artaxerxes 11(404-359)
Artaxerxes III (359-336)
Darius III (336-330)
Composition
The questions concerning the dating of Ezra's activities in Judah/Jerusalem make it difficult to determine when the author of Ezra-Nehemiah composed the work and for what original audience and purpose. Some portions of Ezra are written in the first person and represent Ezra's personal memoirs. Other parts use the third person. Ezra 4:8-6:18 (mostly correspondence with the Persian royal court) is written in Aramaic. Other sections appear in Hebrew.
Ezra himself may have authored or compiled this material, or an editor (perhaps the Chronicler or a member of his writing circle) may have drawn on various sources (including Nehemiah's memoirs) to produce our current text of both books. Scholars who hold the latter view often propose an editorial combining of Ezra's and Nehemiah's memoirs ca. 400, with Ezra 1-6 representing the editor's own composition.
1 Cyrus Allows the Return
Ezra restates Cyrus's edict allowing exiled Jews in Babylon to return to Judah and charging them to rebuild the temple (cf. 2 Chr. 36:22-23; also 6:3-5). The biblical writer attributes Cyrus's directive, issued in 538, to the divine fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy (Jer. 24:4-7; 29:10). In order to cultivate loyalty to the empire, Persian policy offered return and renewed worship of national gods to all the exiled subjects that the new regional power inherited through its conquest of Babylon. In the case of the Jews and Judah, this policy would afford the empire a local base of support for its efforts to expand into neighboring Egypt.
Not only does Cyrus allow the Jews to return to Canaan, he also provides the means for their mission by instructing Babylonian locals and Jews who choose not to go to donate goods and valuables. Cyrus entrusts the transport of the temple treasuries to Sheshbazzar, who becomes the first governor of the Persian province of Judah (5:14). Sheshbazzar bears a Babylonian name, but his title "prince of Judah" identifies him as a Hebrew.
2 Listing the Returnees
The list of returnees cements the connection between the postexilic community and its predecessors in the promised land (cf. Nehemiah 7). The Davidic descendant Zerubbabel heads the group (on his lineage, see 1 Chronicles 3) and succeeds Sheshbazzar as civil governor.
A list of lay families, priests, Levites, and other religious personnel precedes a note about returning hopefuls who could not prove their Hebrew ancestry. These suffer at least initial exclusion from the priesthood to protect the purity of that office, but they appear to remain in the community of returnees. The priests would later use the Urim and Thummim to determine the qualification of those of questionable descent (v. 63; cf. Exod. 28:30).
That the exiles not just return to Jerusalem but resettle in their home cities strengthens the parallel between the pre- and postexilic Jewish communities. The number of the entire assembly of returnees (v. 64), plus servants and singers (v. 65), exceeds the sum of the numbers given in verses 3-6o and may include women (and perhaps children). The accounting of 7337 servants suggests that the returnees enjoyed a higher standard of living than generally assumed.
Cyrus cylinder (536 B.c.) permitting release of captives back to their own lands and aiding the restoration of their temples. (British Museum)
3 Laying the Foundation for the Temple
At the beginning of the Jewish religious year (September/October) the leading priest Jeshua and Governor Zerubbabel rebuild the central altar on its original site. They immediately initiate regular sacrifice and worship practices that strictly follow Mosaic law (Leviticus 1-7) and Davidic instruction (1 Chronicles 15-16; 23-26). The presence of hostile neighbors may fire the returnees' enthusiasm as they seek to ensure God's protection from external threats.
Preparations for rebuilding the temple include importing timber from the Phoenician coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon, as Solomon did for the first temple (2 Chronicles 2). After two years, construction begins with the laying of the foundation. The limited number of returned Levites may have necessitated lowering the age limit for foremen to 20 (v. 8; cf. Num. 4:23, 30; 8:24). The exuberant ceremony celebrating the completion of the foundation recalls Solomon's dedication of the first temple (vv. io-11; cf. 1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5-7). The older returnees who remember that glorious sanctuary weep openly, perhaps for joy over the beginnings of the new temple and sorrow for the loss of first, whose grandeur would go unparalleled.
By demonstrating the second temple's structural continuity with Solomon's sanctuary and by stressing the priestly resumption of divinelyordained religious practices, the writer continues to build a strong case for the legitimacy of worship at the new temple.
4 Local Opposition Halts Work
The returned exiles refuse an offer of help from non-Jewish neighbors, whose ancestors the Assyrian emperor Esarhaddon deported to Canaan in the early 7th century to replace the exiled Israelite population. At first friendly, the neighbors claim to honor Yahweh, whom they apparently regard as a national god of Canaan, but they also continue to worship idols (cf. 2 Kgs. 17:41). The Jews realize that these neighbors' incorporation into the community and their participation in the temple project would jeopardize the purity of postexilic Yahwism. The rejected would-be friends turn against the Jews and make so much trouble that work on the temple ceases for the rest of Cyrus's reign (to 530) until the second year of Darius's rule (520).
Similar opposition occurred later during the reigns of the Persians Ahasuerus (= Xerxes, 486-465) and Artaxerxes I (465-424; vv. 6-23). The enemies' second letter (to Artaxerxes) comes from the officials of Samaria, which the Assyrian Osnappar (Aramaic for "Ashurbanipal," 669-627) repopulated with foreigners. The region "Beyond the River" (v. io) refers to the Persians' fifth satrapy, the province west of the Euphrates stretching to the Mediterranean Sea and including Syria and Palestine. The officials compose their letter in Aramaic, the official Persian diplomatic language, which the text of Ezra preserves.
The letter speaks of the Jews' efforts to rebuild the walls and foundations of Jerusalem, a task taken up by Nehemiah well after the completion of the temple (Neh. 2:1-8). The officials instill in Artaxerxes mistrust of Jewish loyalty to Persia by bringing up Jerusalem's history of rebellion against foreign overlords. Artaxerxes confirms the report by checking historical records, suspects future revolt, and orders an immediate and forcible halt to the repairs.
Though it relates to a later period, this section contrasts with verses i-5 and 24, thus demonstrating the renewed hostility between the old northern Israelite territory, now populated with Samarians, and Judah, whose returned inhabitants closely guard their religious purity. Thus the episode further reinforces the legitimacy of worship at the second temple.
5-6 The Temple Rebuilt
Encouraged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the Jews resume rebuilding the temple during the last two years of Persia's King Cambyses, unnamed in the text. The Persian provincial governor challenges the Jews' authority to pursue the project but does not hinder their progress while investigating the matter with the Persian royal court. The governor's letter to King Darius includes a report of the Jews' explanation for Jerusalem's destruction by the Babylonians: God's punishment for Judah's religious waywardness. The explanation diverts attention away from Jerusalem's former rebelliousness against foreign overlords and demonstrates God's sovereign power. According to the letter, the Jews credit Sheshbazzar, Jerusalem's first Persian-appointed Jewish governor, with laying the temple's foundations. (Ch. 3 attributes this work to Sheshbazzar's successor, Zerubbabel, and the priest Jeshua.)
Perhaps at least partly fearful of a God who powerfully punishes his own people, Darius confirms Cyrus's original edict, which he finds in the royal summer residence of Ecbatana and which charges the Jews with rebuilding the temple. Darius's request for prayer to Yahweh on his behalf recalls the Egyptian pharaoh's similar charge to the Hebrews following the plague of insects prior to the exodus (Exod. 8:28). Darius orders that the taxes from the royal treasury fund the Jews' project, that the Persian governor provide all the required elements of the temple's service, and that violators of the edict meet with death by impalement on a beam from their own ruined houses.
Builders complete the temple in the next four years. Artaxerxes, who ruled well after the temple's completion and dedication, may receive mention in verse 14 because of his provisions for the temple in Ezra's day (ch. 7). After the dedication ceremony, the priests and Levites assume duties here said to follow Mosaic law (6:18) but in 1 Chronicles 23-26 attributed to David's organizational pattern. The spring Passover celebration and observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread follow. Non-Hebrews who have dedicated themselves to the worship of God alone join the community of Jews in these events. The references to Darius as "king of Assyria" (6:22) and Cyrus as "king of Babylon" (5:13) identify the Persian monarchs as rulers over the conquered territories of these bygone empires.
7 Ezra Leads a Second Return
Chapter 7 skips forward some 8o years to relate the next major religious development for the postexilic Jewish community: the leadership of Ezra, often viewed as a second Moses.
Artaxerxes I has assumed the Persian throne (from 464). The priestly scribe Ezra, who traces
his lineage to the father of the priesthood, Aaron, leads a second return to Judah with royal sanction. The goo-mile journey takes the group of clergy, laypeople, and religious personnel 14 weeks (ch. 8).
Artaxerxes's decree, preserved in Aramaic (vv 12-26), charges Ezra with delivering gifts and grants for the beautification of the temple; ensuring the proper use of donations; appointing magistrates to render judgments according to Mosaic law; and coordinating the teaching of that law throughout the Persian province to which Judah belonged. During the exilic and postexilic periods, the Hebrew Scriptures increasingly became fixed as the primary sources of religious authority. This led to the elevation of the teaching role of priestly scribes such as Ezra. Artaxerxes's edict also grants tax-exempt status to those involved in Jewish religious service, and it sanctions various forms of punishment for transgressors of Jewish religious law, which the king puts on par with his own civil decrees (v 26).
Ezra's personal note of thanks to God for inspiring Artaxerxes to "glorify the house of the Lord" (v 27) continues the Old Testament theme of God's sovereign use of foreign nations to accomplish his purposes for his people, for both punishment and blessing. The remaining chapters include additional sections that reflect Ezra's memoirs.
8 The Returnees and Their Journey
Several thousand priests and laypeople (some 1500 men plus their families) join Ezra at a place called Ahava to form the second wave of returnees. This time no Levites volunteer to go, perhaps because they know they will serve in subordinate roles to the priests in Jerusalem; so Ezra summons Levites from the temple at Casiphia to join the group.
Ezra's public statement of confidence in God's protection prevents his requesting a Persian military escort (cf. Neh. 2:9). Instead, the entire assembly fasts and prayerfully petitions God for traveling mercies.
Nehemiah entrusts to the priests and Levites the transport to Jerusalem of some 19 tons of silver and 3 tons of gold. Though Persian dona tions to the temple were undoubtedly generous, the amounts in verses 26-27 seem exaggerated.
God protects the Jews on their journey to Jerusalem, where, after several days of rest, they hand over the Persian gifts to four temple priests and Levites, who meticulously record their receipt. The returnees offer sacrifices and then deliver copies of Artaxerxes's edict to the appropriate provincial officials. A single "satrap" governed each province and supervised several subordinate "governors" (v. 36).
9-10 Reversing the Flow of Apostasy
Concerned Jewish leaders inform Ezra that the returnees have already begun to violate religious law by, and as a result of, intermarrying with foreigners, who presumably worshipped foreign gods. Priests and Levites are pursuing the practice, and community leaders too are setting the bad example. The lesson of the Hebrew kings in this regard stood in jeopardy of being lost on the Jewish remnant (cf. 1 Kgs. n:i-n).
For the most part, the peoples named in the standard list of pre-Israelite inhabitants of Canaan (9:1) did not exist in Ezra's day. But Ezra applies Mosaic law to contemporary times by interpreting the prohibition against intermarriage to extend to any foreigners who, presumably, worshipped gods other than Yahweh (cf. Exod. 34:11-16; Deut. 7:1-5). The spirit of the law sought to preserve the purity not of the Hebrew race but of Hebrew religion (cf. the inclusion of non-Jewish adherents to Mosaic law in 6:21).
Ezra responds to the news as though in mourning (9:3). His confessional prayer on behalf of his people lacks any request for favors - even for forgiveness. Ezra recognizes the Jews' corporate responsibility for the actions of individual community members by acknowledging that God would be justified in destroying the remnant he allowed to escape Judah's previous punishment by the Babylonians.
Ezra's public mourning at the temple draws a crowd of sympathizers, one of whom proposes a covenant requiring divorce from all foreign wives. Ezra summons to Jerusalem all Judah and Benjamin and announces the plan, which, apart from a mere handful, the assembly embraces. A special commission takes two months to dissolve the marriages.
Divorce in this context represented the righting of a moral wrong. As history had shown and current circumstances were demonstrating, religiously mixed marriages inevitably led to Hebrew religious failure, which would ultimately result in the loss of the Jewish remnant's identity as the distinctive community of God's chosen people. Reversing the flow necessitated divorce (but cf. Mal. 2:14-16; 1 Cor. 7:10-16).
Guilty priests, who should have set a faithful example, head the list of transgressors. 1 Esdras 9:36 sheds light on the last half of verse 44 by noting the dismissal of the foreign wives and their children. Thus, within one year after his arrival in Judah, Ezra had made possible a religiously purified community of returned exiles.