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EZRA

(Heb. ʿezrāʾ)

1. A scribe and priest sent with religious and political powers by the Persian king Artaxerxes to lead a group of Jewish exiles from Babylonia to Jerusalem (Ezra 7–8). Ezra condemned mixed marriages (Ezra 9), encouraging Jews to divorce and banish their foreign wives (ch. 10). He read and interpreted the law (Neh. 8:1-12), renewed the celebration of festivals (vv. 13-18), and supported the rededication of the temple (chs. 9–10) and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall (12:36).

Scholarly opinion concerning the date and mission of Ezra varies widely. Most date Ezra’s mission to 458 b.c.e. (13 years before Nehemiah), but others suggest 398 (after Nehemiah), and still others doubt the historicity of the mission altogether. Though Ezra and Nehemiah are presented as coworkers, many argue that passages which connect them are anachronistic redactions (Neh. 8:9; 12:26, 36). Furthermore, since Ezra’s recorded actions (possibly dictated by others; cf. Ezra 9:1; 10:1-5; Neh. 8:1) differ much from his ascribed powers, many doubt the reported contents of the letter from Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11-26) and beckon comparison with other Persian directives. Perhaps Ezra was recalled by the Persians upon the failure of his segregationalist policy since Ezra 10 ends so abruptly.

See Ezra, Book of.

2. A priest who accompanied Zerubbabel and Jeshua from Babylonia to Jerusalem (Neh. 12:1, 13; cf. Azariah, 10:2[MT 3]).

3. A priest who participated in the rededication ceremony for the Jerusalem wall (Neh. 12:33).

Bibliography. J. Blenkinsopp, Ezra-Nehemiah. OTL (Philadelphia, 1988); L. L. Grabbe, Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian, 1: The Persian and Greek Periods (Minneapolis, 1992), 94-98, 136-38.

Eric F. Mason

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

EZRA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)