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EZRA

(Heb. {ezrāʾ),

BOOK OF

Ezra 1–10 depicts the early stages of reconstruction of Jewish life in Judah (Yehud) under Persian colonial rule in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem and exile to Babylonia. In Christian Bibles the book of Ezra appears with the historical books, between Chronicles and Nehemiah. In modern Jewish Bibles, with Nehemiah it is placed among the “Writings,” immediately preceding Chronicles, the last in the canon (although the oldest Hebrew manuscripts, such as the Leningrad Codex, place it last).

Date, Scope, and Structure

Written primarily between 400 and 300 b.c.e., the book of Ezra reflects Persian period politics and religiosity before the rise of Hellenism. It is the only biblical historiography that explicitly describes the transformations during the pivotal postexilic period. The author is unknown, though Ezra and Nehemiah have been suggested.

According to Ezra, the exiled Jews returned to Judah and Jerusalem en masse in response to a decree by Cyrus king of Persia (538; 1:1-4). Enthusiastically they restored cultic practices and rebuilt the Second Temple in Jerusalem (516/5; chs. 3–6). Later, under the leadership of Ezra the priest and scribe, they also began to implement the teachings of the Torah (458; chs. 7–8) and to rebuild the community itself by separating from foreigners (chs. 9–10). The account of the return and reconstruction continues in the book of Nehemiah, which was originally part of Ezra (as it still is in the LXX and MT). The structure of the unified Ezra-Nehemiah is as follows.

I. Cyrus’ decree (538) to restore the house of God in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4)

II. Implementation of the decree
(Ezra 1:5–Neh. 7:73[MT 72])

A. Introduction with a list of returning exiles (Ezra 1:5–2:1-70)

B. Implementation of decree in three movements (Ezra 3:1–Neh. 7:73[72])

1. First movement: Building of the temple under Zerubbabel and Joshua’s leadership in 538-516/5 (Ezra 3:1–6:22)

2. Second movement: Building community under Ezra’s leadership in 458-457 (Ezra 7:1–10:44)

3. Third movement: Building Jerusalem’s walls under Nehemiah’s leadership in 445-444 (Neh. 1:1–7:5)

C. Conclusion with a recapitulation of the list of returning exiles (Neh. 7:6-73[72])

III. Celebration of reconstruction under Ezra and Nehemiah with Torah at the center (Neh. 8:1–13:3)

IV. Coda: Nehemiah’s report (Neh. 13:4-31)

The book contains Hebrew and Aramaic sources, the latter often as correspondence with the Persian court. Like other ancient historiography (such as Herodotus), Ezra subsumes historical data to its own point of view and purpose. Although scholars question the historical accuracy of some descriptions and the authenticity of the documents Ezra reproduces, the overall perspective of the book and the general contours of its report have gained credence in recent years because (1) archaeological studies support the influx of settlements in Judah in the 5th century; (2) the structures and practices that came to dominate Jewish life in Judah comport with those depicted in Ezra; and (3) the book’s perspective on these developments generally agrees with extrabiblical sources.

Content and Messages

Ezra (like Ezra-Nehemiah as a whole) organizes its material to reflect the book’s particular ideology, highlighting three themes: (1) the importance of the community as a whole, not only its leaders; (2) the centrality of written documents, especially the book of the Torah; (3) the expansion of the holy space to include not only the temple but the city. The book unfolds as follows:

Cyrus’ decree (538) to restore the
house of God in Jerusalem (1:1-4)

Cyrus’ decree exhorts the people of Yahweh to build God’s house in Jerusalem. Cast as Cyrus’ response to Yahweh’s command, the decree presents Persian rule as a benevolent instrument of Israel’s God, setting the tone for the book as a whole and reflecting an important adaptation to colonial rule during the Persian period. This decree recurs in an abbreviated form in 2 Chr. 36:22-23 (Ezra 5:13-15 reproduces a different version of authorization). In form and content, Cyrus’ decree in Ezra conforms to other Persian period documents such as the famous Cyrus cylinder, which similarly presents Cyrus as the emissary of the Babylonian God. Although no extrabiblical sources show specific authorization of the Jewish return and rebuilding, it is clear that Jews from Babylonia did resettle Judah and that the temple was in fact built. Such activities could not have transpired without authorization by the bureaucratic imperial court.

Implementation of the decree
(Ezra 1:5–Neh. 7:73[72])

Introduction with a list of returning exiles (Ezra 1:5–2:1-70). The rest of Ezra depicts the enthusiastic compliance by the members of the families of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, who rise up and go to Jerusalem, with the support of those they leave behind. Ezra includes two of Ezra-Nehemiah’s three journeys from exile to Judah, framed by a repeated list of more than 42 thousand returnees (Ezra 2 = Neh. 7).

Implementation of decree in three movements
(Ezra 3:1–Neh. 7:73[72])

First movement: Building of the temple under Zerubbabel and Joshua’s leadership in 538-516/5 (Ezra 3:1–6:22). Ezra emphasizes the religious nature of the return from captivity. Accordingly, the first wave of resettlers hastens to build the altar and the temple (and establish cult personnel). Each completion is followed by celebration (of Succoth [3:4] and Passover [6:19] respectively). Ezra also highlights dual leadership by Zerubbabel (the last known Davidic descendant with authority in the OT) and Joshua the priest, setting a pattern that will continue. Finally, Ezra highlights communal dedication to the task, attributing delays in building to outside interference: Some local inhabitants, initially labeled “adversaries of Judah and Benjamin” (4:1) and then “people of the land” (v. 4), first attempt to join the builders and then, when rebuffed, incite the Persian authorities against the Jews. Consequently, the Persian government puts a stop to reconstruction.

Rebuilding resumes only at the time of Darius (520) and is completed in 516/5. To document the opposition, Ezra includes Aramaic correspondence with Artaxerxes. This correspondence raises the thorniest problem in the book, since Artaxerxes’ reign followed Darius’ and since Artaxerxes in Ezra 7; Neh. 2 supports the efforts of the Jews. Furthermore, some of the letters concern Jerusalem’s walls, not the temple. Either the record was no longer clear to the writer or the period itself was confusing. The use of such correspondence in this fashion, however, may also stem from the wish to emphasize Ezra’s view that the house of God extends to the city as a whole.

Second movement: Building community under Ezra’s leadership in 458-457 (Ezra 7:1–10:44). Ezra 7–10 describes a shaping of the community in accordance with the book of the Torah. In 458, Ezra comes to Jerusalem, commissioned by Artaxerxes I (398 if the king is Artaxerxes II). Ezra’s goal is to implement the Torah. His priestly and scribal credentials are impeccable and he remains the model leader not only in Ezra but in Ezra-Nehemiah as a whole.

The section includes an Aramaic letter from Artaxerxes delineating Ezra’s extensive powers as well as substantial financial support for his mission and for the temple (7:11-27), followed by a 1st person report (conventionally labeled Ezra Memoirs) in which Ezra describes his journey to and activities in Jerusalem (7:28–9:15).

The most dramatic part here is the crisis over marriages by Jewish leaders with women from “the peoples of the lands” (9:2). Ezra interprets such marriages as a violation of the Torah and repetition of the sins that caused exile in the first place (9:6-15). The book concludes with a 3rd person report describing steps undertaken to solve the crisis and separate from foreign wives (10:1-44).

The book celebrates the return and communicates a new model for Israel in its land. The leadership is diarchic, with a governor and priest in charge, both centered in Jerusalem. Life of the people is governed by the book of the Torah, in harmony with Persian rule. Voluntary separation protects community boundaries in the midst of other nations and secures loyalty to the particular traditions of Israel (in contrast to a military solution undertaken in the preexilic period).

Historical Background

The Persian period begins with Cyrus’ conquest of Babylon (539) and extends to the age of Alexander the Great (332). Initially the Persian Empire subsumed the Babylonian Empire. But by 525 it also included Egypt and was fighting with Greece for control of the region. The Persian kings Cyrus (539-530), Darius (522-486), Ahasuerus (485-464), and Artaxerxes I (465-424), all mentioned in Ezra, were deeply involved in this westward movement. The era constitutes the first major encounter between “East” (ancient Near East) and West (Greece and Europe), and its influence has been decisive for both regions. The Mediterranean became an arena of conflict, and the commercial, military, economic, and political importance of the lands around it inevitably grew.

Persian policies in Judah most likely were influenced by these conflicts even though Ezra-Nehemiah itself does not explicitly refer to them. Presumably, it served Persian interests to settle, organize, and strengthen loyal populations along the eastern Mediterranean coast and also in Judah.

Historical and Literary Issues

Several issues remain contested in Ezra studies.

1. Relation to Chronicles. The view that the Chronicler also composed Ezra-Nehemiah and shared its ideology had been held for 150 years. Sara Japhet has overturned this view, so that it now remains a minority position.

2. The identity and role of the “people(s) of the land(s).” In Haggai Judahite apathy accounts for the resistance to building the temple. In Ezra it is “people(s) of the land(s).” Ezra’s emphasis on external opposition may be a retrogression (though internal and external factors could coexist). The exact identity of these opponents in Ezra 4–5 and the “foreign women” is uncertain. Although the term may designate actual Moabites, Ammonites, etc., it may also include Israelites from the north, Samarians (not to be confused with the later Samaritans), and/or Judahites who evaded exile and whose legitimacy Ezra refuses to acknowledge.

3. The Torah of Ezra. Attempts to establish the extent of the Torah that Ezra is to administer have led to diverse conclusions: that it is the Priestly law, the Deuteronomic laws, a combination of pentateuchal laws, or some form of our Pentateuch. Since Spinoza, scholars also considered the possibility that Ezra was a major, perhaps the major redactor of the Pentateuch.

Other questions include the historical reliability of the Aramaic correspondence, the historicity of Ezra himself, and the authorship of the Ezra Memoirs. With few exceptions, scholars today have moved away from the radical skepticism of earlier studies on these issues.

Bibliography. J. Blenkinsopp, Ezra-Nehemiah. OTL (Philadelphia, 1988); T. C. Eskenazi, In an Age of Prose: A Literary Approach to Ezra-Nehemiah. SBLMS 36 (Atlanta, 1988); K. G. Hoglund, Achaemenid Imperial Administration in Syria-Palestine and the Missions of Ezra and Nehemiah. SBLDS 125 (Atlanta, 1992); S. Japhet, “The Temple in the Restoration Period: Reality and Ideology,” USQR 44 (1991): 195-251; H. G. M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah. WBC 16 (Waco, 1985).

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

EZRA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)