Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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EZRA, Book of

One of the historical books of the OT, associated with 2 Chronicles and Nehemiah.

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• Name

• Background

• Sources

• Date

• Languages, Texts, and Versions

• Purpose and Content

Name

In the Talmud tractate Baba Bathra 15a, the rabbis and scribes regarded Ezra and Nehemiah as one book. Josephus (Apion 1.8) also considered the two books to be one when the number of OT books was given as 22. Some church fathers, such as Melito of Sardis and Jerome, thought of them as one book. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT) also grouped the two books as one, referring to them as 2 Ezra to distinguish them from an apocryphal book known as 1 Ezra. The Latin Vulgate, however, called Ezra “1 Ezra” and Nehemiah “2 Ezra.”

Background

The Jewish people came under the rule of the Persian Empire when Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC. From then until Ezra’s time, the Persian kings were Cyrus (539–530 BC), who allowed the Jewish people and other captives to return to their homeland (Ezr 1); Cambyses (529–522 BC); Gaumata, a usurper of the throne (522 BC); Darius I (521–486 BC; Ezr 5:6); Xerxes I (OT Ahasuerus, 486–465 BC; Ezr 4:6); and Artaxerxes I (465–424 BC; Ezr 4:7-23; 7:1–10:44). Both Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s work fall within the period between Cyrus and Artaxerxes I. Some scholars, however, place Ezra during the reign of Artaxerxes II (404–359 BC).

Sources

By tradition, the Jewish leader Ezra researched and put together the material that forms his book. Chapters 7–10 are written in the first person singular, and Ezra may have used the autobiographical passages as the core of this book, adding information from other sources. That the book contains portions written in Aramaic has been used as justification for assigning a date later than Ezra’s time. But the Aramaic of Ezra bears a remarkable similarity to fifth-century BC Aramaic papyri from the Jewish community at Elephantine in Egypt.

The book is largely a compilation, using autobiography, official documents, edicts, and other material. The present book of Ezra contains four identifiable strata of source material.

Memoirs of Ezra

Certain sections appear in the first person singular (7:27–9:15), located between third-person narratives (7:1-26; 10). The memoirs were probably part of Ezra’s own official reports.

Aramaic Documents

Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Persian Empire, and a number of documents appear in the book of Ezra. A letter of complaint was written to Artaxerxes I about the rebuilding of the city walls, for example, and Ezra also included the official reply (Ezr 4:8-23). There is also a letter of Darius I and the king’s reply (5:1–6:18). An official authorization by the Persian court of Artaxerxes permitted Ezra to return, and this included a description of material entrusted into his keeping (7:12-26). Since all of those sections were official correspondence, the record naturally is written in Aramaic.

Hebrew Lists

Ezra included Hebrew documents listing people’s names for a number of purposes. One such document indicated the Persian government’s permission for Jewish immigrants to return to the land of Israel (Ezr 1:2-4). It was a Jewish version of Cyrus’s general edict expressing concern for all his subjects. The edict in Aramaic is repeated by Ezra in 6:3-5, and that version is probably taken from an original memorandum of a royal decision. Ezra included lists of the immigrants who returned to begin the second commonwealth of Israel (ch 2, repeated in Neh 7). The book also contains a list of immigrants who returned with Ezra by permission of Artaxerxes I (Ezr 8:1-14). Lists of those who had married pagan wives are provided as well (10:18-43).

Narrative

The rest of the book comprises narrative by Ezra himself. For the period of the first return prior to his own time, he probably drew upon existing sources, either oral or documentary. Material in the book that was contemporary with the scribe would be his personal account about his own work.

Date

Traditionally, the Artaxerxes in Ezra 7:1 has been identified with Artaxerxes I Longimanus. Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem would thus have been in 458 BC (see NLT mg for 7:8). Therefore, Ezra’s work at Jerusalem started before that of Nehemiah, who came in 445 BC.

But the traditional dates are questioned from a number of sources. One alternative is to place Nehemiah during the reign of Artaxerxes I (464–424 BC) and Ezra at a later date, in the reign of Artaxerxes II Mnemon (404–359 BC). Such a suggestion creates a difficulty with Nehemiah 8:2, because there Ezra is named as Nehemiah’s contemporary and coworker.

In addition, the Elephantine papyri (407–400 BC) mention the high priest Johanan in Jerusalem, and Sanballat as governor of Samaria. Johanan is considered a grandson of Eliashib, but Nehemiah was a contemporary of Eliashib (Neh 3:1, 20). The biblical material that speaks of Nehemiah going to Jerusalem in the 20th year of Artaxerxes (Neh 2:1, 445 BC) and again during the 32nd year (Neh 13:6, 433 BC) refers to Eliashib’s contemporary high priesthood with Ezra. The traditional position thus furnishes a reasonable date for the book of Ezra. If the scribe were placed during the reign of Artaxerxes II (c. 397 BC), his ministry would be too late for the high priesthood of Johanan.

Languages, Texts, and Versions

The primary language of the book of Ezra is Hebrew; the exceptions are 4:7, 6:18, and 7:12-26, which are written in Aramaic. The Hebrew portion appears to resemble the language of Daniel, Haggai, and 2 Chronicles much more than later Hebrew, such as that of Ecclesiasticus. As indicated, the Aramaic portions resemble the Elephantine papyri, dated about 407–400 BC. In addition, Persian personal and family names and Persian words and expressions occur in the book, such as Bigvai, Mithredath, and Elam. All of these evidences serve to place the book in about the fifth century BC.

The Hebrew Masoretic Text of Ezra seems well preserved. The Septuagint version is a bit shorter than the Masoretic Text. Only parts of Ezra 4 and 5 have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Purpose and Content

The book of Ezra is a straightforward account of one of the most important events in Jewish history. From a priestly point of view, it is an account of the restoration of Jewish people to their homeland following the Babylonian dispersion. The record tells of two distinct returns, one under the leadership of Zerubbabel (chs 1–6; 538 BC), and 80 years later, the second return led by Ezra (chs 7–10; 458 BC). The book emphasizes Ezra’s leadership and the reestablishment of the people on their land, both of which were to have important future consequences.

Little is known about the political activity of Ezra in the Persian court. He appears to have been a man of considerable influence, however, and could well be described as an official who held a position corresponding to that of “Secretary of State for Jewish Affairs.” To what extent that function applied to the Persian Empire as a whole is uncertain, since Ezra’s recorded activities took place only in the area known to the Persians as the province “Beyond the River,” that is, the territory lying to the west of the Euphrates. The importance of Ezra’s position in the Persian Empire is indicated by the fact that King Artaxerxes gave him full authority to do whatever he thought necessary for the welfare of his people and the empire (7:21-26). Ezra’s genealogy is given in 7:1-5, and he is consistently spoken of as a scribe learned in the Mosaic law. As a descendant of Zadok the priest, he would have the authority to instruct others in the Torah.

Chapter 4 speaks of the opposition to rebuilding the temple and the walls. We should recognize that Ezra’s approach in this chapter is topical rather than chronological where, in the middle of describing the earlier opposition to building the temple (5:1-5), he complained that the same kind of opposition was being repeated in his day concerning the attempt to rebuild the city walls and repair the fortifications of Jerusalem (5:7-23). Internal evidence suggests that a long historical interval ensued during the reign of Ahasuerus, or Xerxes, and the early part of Artaxerxes’ regime. During this period, complaints were made to the Persian authorities that the returned Judeans were rebuilding the city wall of Jerusalem, and as a result the work was halted for some time. It readily can be seen that Ezra was dealing with the evil intentions of Judah’s enemies and that the opposition of Rehum and Shimshai did not appear in the 520s (when the temple was being built) because they lived in the 460s, early in the reign of Artaxerxes I.

But the initial passage is actually a history of opposition to rebuilding the ruined temple. It narrates the frustrations experienced by the Judean community from the time of return to their homeland during Cyrus’s rule (4:1-5) up to the time of King Darius (v 24). The prophet Haggai (520 BC) aroused the people with his message and persuaded them to lay the foundations of the new temple.

Ezra resumes the theme of the book in chapter 5. He points out the problems, frustrations, and hindrances the Jewish people had with the construction of the temple. It was not until a diligent search had been made in the archives by the Persian authorities that the original edict granting permission to build the temple was found (5:7–6:5).