Book of Ezra
The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible. It is the record of events occurring at the close of the Babylonian captivity, especially The Return to Zion. At one time, it included the Book of Nehemiah, and the Jews regarded them as one volume. The two are still distinguished in the Vulgate version as I and II Esdras.
The book is divided into two principal parts:
- The history of the first return of exiles, in the first year of Cyrus the Great (536 BCE), till the completion and dedication of the new Temple in Jerusalem, in the sixth year of Darius (515 BCE). From the close of the sixth to the opening of the seventh chapter there is a period of about sixty years.
- The history of the second return under Ezra, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and of the events that took place at Jerusalem after Ezra's arrival there.
The book thus contains memorabilia connected with the Jews, from the decree of Cyrus to the reformation by Ezra (456 BCE), extending over a period of about eighty years. A more literal understanding does not have the sixty-year gap and the seventh year of 'Artaxerxes' is really the seventh year of Darius.[1]
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Synopsis
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| Genesis · Exodus · Leviticus · Numbers · Deuteronomy · Joshua · Judges · Ruth · 1–2 Samuel · 1–2 Kings · 1–2 Chronicles · Ezra (Esdras) · Nehemiah · Esther · Job · Psalms · Proverbs · Ecclesiastes · Song of Songs · Isaiah · Jeremiah · Lamentations · Ezekiel · Daniel · Minor prophets |
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| 1 Esdras · 3 Maccabees · Prayer of Manasseh · Psalm 151 |
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| 4 Maccabees · 2 Esdras |
| Ethiopian Orthodox "narrow" canon |
| Apocalypse of Ezra · Jubilees · Enoch · 1–3 Meqabyan · 4 Baruch |
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| Psalms 152–155 · 2 Baruch · Letter of Baruch |
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Cyrus, inspired by God, permits the Israelites to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem and returns to them the golden vessels which had been carried off by Nebuchadnezzar. The number of the captives that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and Judah with Zerubbabel is stated as 42,360, besides 7,337 men servants and women servants and 200 singing men and women.
Joshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel build the altar and celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. In the second year the foundations of the Temple are laid, and the dedication takes place with great rejoicing. The adversaries of the Jews, especially the Samaritans, make efforts to hinder the Jews from building the Temple. A letter is written by the Samaritans to Cambyses II (called "Ahasuerus" in 4:6) to procure a prohibition of the construction of the Temple, and the work is interrupted till the second year of Darius.
Through the exhortations of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel and Joshua recommence the building of the Temple. Tatnai, the governor "on this side the river," sends to the king a report of their action. Darius finds the decree of Cyrus in the archives of Achmetha (modern Hamedan), and directs Tatnai not to disturb the Jews in their work. He also exempts them from tribute and supplies everything necessary for the offerings. The Temple is finished in the month of Adar, in the sixth year of Darius, and is dedicated with great solemnity.
Artaxerxes I gives Ezra a commission to bring with him to Jerusalem all the captives that remain in Babylon. Ezra institutes a fast while on his way to Jerusalem. The princes of Israel inform Ezra that many have not disowned their foreign wives. Those who have taken foreign wives are compelled to send them away and to bring each a sin offering.
Origin, structure, and authorship
The canonical Book of Ezra commences where the Books of Chronicles leave off, and indeed with slight variation repeats the last two verses of II Chronicles. What follows consists of three portions:
- an account of the return of the exiles and a brief survey of the fortunes of the Jewish community down to the reign of Xerxes;
- extracts from a collection of historical documents in Aramaic, illustrating the fortunes of the community in the reigns of Artaxerxes I and Darius, with a short appendix in Hebrew;
- a record of the enterprise of the author of the book, including a copy of the decree granted to him by Artaxerxes I, with an account of the author's work at Jerusalem.
The first section includes a document also transcribed in Nehemiah, called by Nehemiah a genealogical table of the first return. A third copy is found in the apocryphal I Esdras.
Character of composition
The documents embodied in the second section are described as "written in Aramaic and 'targumed' in Nehemiah Aramaic" (iv. 7). Since a work can not be translated into the same language as it is composed, the expression "targumed" must mean "described," a sense which corresponds closely to the sense of the Arabic word "tarjamah," which, used of a tradition, signifies the heading in which its contents are described. This phrase, then, implies that the contents of this section were transcribed from a collection of documents and accompanied with a commentary, probably made for the benefit of the Eastern community. In these extracts there is evidently a chronological transposition; for the correspondence with Artaxerxes I. (ch. iv.) is placed before the correspondence with Darius (ch. v., vi.), who is certainly Darius I. This may be a confusion on the author's part between Darius I. and Darius II.; but it is surprising, since in iv. 5-7 he shows himself well acquainted with the order of the Persian kings. Thus the period covered by the commentary on the documents in ch. v. and vi. is earlier than that covered by the documents in ch. iv.
On the other hand, this apparent confusion is resolved if one looks at I Esdras. There, the first section of the book is arranged with a literary device, the chiasm, repeating "in the second year of Darius's reign" at the beginning and the end of the section; a reference to King Artaxerxes is repeated in the same way. Thus, the text does not jump around chronologically, but frames and sets off the most important part of the book between refrains.
For a further explanation of the arrangement, see the section following.
Comparison with Greek Ezra
The book of Ezra exists in three forms accepted as canonical by different Christian churches. Masoretic Ezra is accepted by Jews and the Western churches. The Eastern churches also accept Greek Ezra (1 Esdras), which survives among the Apocrypha in the West. First Esdras contains the whole of Ezra with additions of about four chapters. Moreover, just as Ezra begins with the last two verses of 2 Chronicles, 1 Esdras begins with the last two chapters; and it concludes with fourteen verses parallel to part of Nehemiah.
1 Esdras 2:15-30a flashes forward to Artaxerxes' reign, when the book ends. Following this prolepsis is the core of 1 Esdras, arranged in a beautiful literary chiasm around the celebration in Jerusalem at the exiles’ return. This arrangement is possible only with the material not found in Ezra (1 Esd. 2:30b — 5:1-6). These verses are the core of the chiasm, critical to the book's purpose and structure. Not only are these verses the core of the chiasm, but they fit the events in history, in the reigns of Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, and Artaxerxes I. Because of their importance, the two books Ezra and Nehemiah may once have formed separate books, rather than a single Ezra-Nehemiah. Indeed some scholars, such as W. F. Albright and Edwin M. Yamauchi, believe that Nehemiah came back to Jerusalem before Ezra.[2][3]
| EZRA AND I ESDRAS COMPARED | ||
|---|---|---|
| Masoretic Text | Septuagint | Summary |
| Continuation of Paralipomenon (i.e., "Things Set Off" from Esdras) |
||
| (II Chr. 35) | (I Esd. 1:1-33) | |
| (II Chr. 36) | (I Esd. 1:34-58) | |
| Begin Ezra | ||
| Ezr. 1 | I Esd. 2:1-14 | Cyrus's edict to rebuild the Temple |
| Ezr. 4:7-14 | I Esd. 2:15-30a | Flash forward to Artaxerxes’ reign (parenthesis) |
| Core: Chiasm of Celebration | ||
| — | I Esd. 2:30b | Inclusio: Work hindered until second year of Darius’s reign |
| — | I Esd. 3 | A Feast in the court of Darius |
| — | I Esd. 4 | B Darius vows to repatriate the exiles |
| — | I Esd. 5:1-6 | X The feast of those who returned to Jerusalem |
| Ezr. 2 | I Esd. 5:7-46 | B' List of former exiles who returned |
| Ezr. 3 | I Esd. 5:47-65 | A' Feast of Tabernacles |
| Ezr. 4:1-5[4] | I Esd. 5:66-73 | Inclusio: Work hindered until second year of Darius’s reign |
| Conclusion | ||
| Ezr. 5 | I Esd. 6:1-22 | In the second year of Darius's reign |
| Ezr. 6 | I Esd. 6:23 — 7 | The temple is finished |
| Ezr. 7 | I Esd. 8:1-27 | Back to Artaxerxes’ reign |
| Ezr. 8 | I Esd. 8:28-67 | List of latter exiles who returned |
| Ezr. 9 | I Esd. 8:68-90 | Repentance from miscegenation |
| Ezr. 10 | I Esd. 8:91-9:36 | Putting away of foreign wives and children |
| Finale | ||
| Neh. 7:73-8:12 | I Esd. 9:37-55 | Ezra reads the Law |
Authenticity
The authenticity of the documents is a matter on which there is difference of opinion, with critics being disposed to regard all of them as inauthentic, whereas before the time of Heinrich Graetz they were generally thought to be genuine. The custom in use among ancient historians of illustrating their histories by speeches and letters of their own composition makes the treatment of such questions difficult.
The edict of Cyrus, said to have been found at Achmetha (vi. 3-5), is the boldest of these fabrications, if they be such; but the mention of that ancient capital implies some very remarkable knowledge on the part of the author here excerpted. Some other reasons for believing these documents genuine are alleged by Levi Herzfeld.[5] The character of the Aramaic in which they are couched agrees fairly well, both in vocabulary and in grammar, with that of early inscriptions and papyri; and there would be nothing surprising in successive compilers having assimilated the language somewhat to the dialect with which they were most familiar. It is also possible that these Aramaic texts are translations of documents in Old Persian, and were accommodated to the taste of those whom they were intended to reach.
The third part of the book appears to be a personal memoir; and the decree there given (vii. 11-26), coming from an Artaxerxes whom the author distinguishes by spelling from Artaxerxes I, cannot be regarded as spurious without seriously shaking the writer's credit. The narrative which he proceeds to give of his journey, however, contains little which might have been invented for the purpose of edification. The narrative of Ezra's doings at Jerusalem is also not marked by exaggeration. Chapter ix. records a lengthy prayer offered by him on receipt of the intelligence of the mixed marriages, and chapter x. the measures taken by him to separate the erring couples, with a list of the persons affected. The objection urged by some critics that so severe a measure would not have been obeyed, seems insufficient to justify the condemnation of this part of the narrative as unhistorical; since the author may well have supposed it would be more effective than it turned out to be. Nor indeed does the recurrence to the subject in Nehemiah x. 31 and xiii. 23 render it improbable that severe measures were taken years before in the same direction.
Chronological placement
The date of Ezra's arrival in Judaea depends on the identification of the Persian King Artaxerxes I ca. 457 BC.
References
- ↑ Rashi Ezra 7:1
- ↑ W. F. Albright, "The Date and Personality of the Chronicler", JBL 40 (1921), 121. Full text.
- ↑ Edwin Yamauchi, "The Reverse Order of Ezra/Nehemiah Reconsidered," Themelios 5.3 (1980), 7-13. Full text.
- ↑ Ezra 4:6, which introduces a difficult "King Ahasuerus," is not found in I Esdras.
- ↑ Herzfeld, Levi. "Geschichte des Volkes Israel," i. 125
- This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
- This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.
See also
| Books of the Ketuvim |
|---|
| Three poetic books |
| Psalms Proverbs Job |
| Five Megillot |
| Song of Songs Ruth Lamentations Ecclesiastes Esther |
| Other books |
| Daniel Ezra – Nehemiah Chronicles |
- Greek Ezra
- Ezra-Nehemiah
External links
- Jewish translations
- Ezra (Judaica Press) translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
- Christian translations
- The Book of Ezra, (First Book of Esdras), Douay Rheims Version with Bishop Challoner Commentaries
- Online Bible at GospelHall.org
- Ezra at The Great Books (New Revised Standard Version)
| Preceded by Daniel |
Hebrew Bible | Followed by Nehemiah |
| Preceded by 1–2 Chronicles |
Western Old Testament | |
| Preceded by 1 Esdras |
Eastern Old Testament |
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Book:Bible