Hill, Andrew, & Walton, John. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (2nd Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 2000. 267.
Ezra is the most likely author of this book. Jewish tradition held that Ezra wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah (Baba Bathra 15a). He was the descendant of Aaron the high priest, and therefore, he was from a priestly class (Ezra 7:5). He was “well versed” in the Bible, and therefore, literate and scholarly (v.6). Ezra probably wrote most of this book. Notice his use of the first person “I” in Ezra 7-10.
Ezra and Nehemiah served in Israel after the Exile at the same time.
Ezra was a priest and scribe. He led the spiritual revival in Israel. Because he was a Levitical scribe, he may have “held a position akin to secretary or counsel for Jewish affairs in the royal cabinet (cf. Ezra 7:1-6).” He arrived in Israel 12 years before Nehemiah in 457 BC (the seventh year of Artaxerxes; Ezra 7:8).
Nehemiah was an administrator. He was responsible for the physical protection of Israel, rebuilding the protective walls. He was a cupbearer in King Artaxerxes’ court (Neh. 2:1-2). He arrived 12 years after Ezra in 444 BC (the twentieth year of Artaxerxes; Neh. 1:1). Nehemiah knew of Ezra, and he is mentioned in his book (Neh. 8:2).
Originally, Ezra and Nehemiah were one book in the Hebrew Bible. Later, the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT) split these up into two separate books, calling them “Ezra” and “Nehemiah.”
Ezra and Nehemiah pick up after the Babylonian Exile. The book of Kings ends with the Jewish people being taken into Exile (587-586 BC). Ezra and Nehemiah describe how the Jewish people regathered into their land, rebuilt the second Temple, and reformed their nation against all odds. Even though many Jews existed at this time, only a “remnant” of 50,000 returned (Ezra 2:64ff; cf. Isa. 10:22).
The Persian King Cyrus (son of Cambyses I) gave orders for the Jewish people to rebuild their Temple (Ezra 1:1). King Cyrus (Cyrus II) overthrew Astyages (549 BC), and he became the Persian emperor who founded the Achaemenid dynasty. He even ruled over Babylonia from 539-530 BC (fulfilling Isa. 44:28; 45:1ff). Achtemeier writes, “Cyrus’s military victories eventually put him in possession of the largest empire the world at that time had yet seen.” Cyrus died in battle in 530 BC, but his dynasty ruled over Babylon for two centuries (until Alexander the Great conquered them).
The Cyrus Cylinder attests to Cyrus’ rule. Geisler and Holden write, “The sixth-century BC Cyrus Cylinder, which many have recognized as the first charter of human rights, is a clay record written in Babylonian cuneiform of Cyrus’s victory over Babylon. Worthy of note, the cylinder gives permission to worship freely and to rebuild destroyed cities and worship centers. Though the Jews were not mentioned by name in the cylinder, they were free to return to their homeland that lay in ruins.” This syncretistic policy supports the biblical account of Cyrus being moved to let the Jewish people return home.
Cambyses II (the son of Cyrus II and grandson of Cambyses I) took over the throne after his father’s death, conquering Egypt and murdering his brother Smerdis to secure the Persian throne.
Darius I (521-486 BC) succeeded Cambyses, and the Bible mentions him in several books (Ezra 4-6; Haggai; Zech. 1-8). It was during Darius’ reign (520 BC) that Haggai and Zechariah came on the scene as prophets (Ezra 5-6).
Xerxes (also called Ahasuerus) took over the Persian throne from 486-465 BC (Ezra 4:6).
Artaxerxes I (also called Longimanus) was the son of Xerxes, and he ruled from 465-423 BC. He enters the biblical narrative in Ezra 7 and in the book of Nehemiah. Artaxerxes made Nehemiah the governor of Judah in 444 BC, giving him the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Neh. 2:1-8; Dan. 9:25).
Darius II (also called Darius the Persian) ruled from 423-404 BC. The Elephantine papyri were written during his reign “giving us a first-hand footnote to our story.” These papyri (specifically the “Passover Papyrus”) states that Darius II issued an order for the Jewish people to practice the Passover under the leadership of a Jewish provincial leader named Hananiah. This letter dates to 419 BC, and it concludes with the statement, “By order of King Darius.”
Is there any evidence that the Jewish people were removed from their land, as the Bible records? Saul Weinberg writes, “A rapid review of the archaeological evidence from Judah of the sixth century BCE thus gives a picture wholly in keeping with the literary evidence: thorough destruction of all fortified towns and cities by Nebuchadnezzar’s forces in 586, a great decrease in population due to slaughter, deportation, collapse of the economy, which continued, but at a very low ebb, through the efforts of those who remained behind and those who slowly drifted back, so rudimentary must this existence have been that it has proved extremely difficult to pick up its traces in material remains.”
While Nehemiah describes how God restored his physical kingdom to Israel (the wall, the defenses, the city, etc.), Ezra describes how God restored his spiritual kingdom to Israel (the Temple, the sacrifices, the priests, etc.). These books explain how the Jews got back into their land, restored their collective faith, and repaired their city walls from their enemies.
Hill, Andrew, & Walton, John. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (2nd Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 2000. 267.
Yamauchi writes, “The books now called Ezra and Nehemiah were known under the single title of Ezra in the earliest Hebrew MSS from the tenth century till the fifteenth century… Josephus (Contra Apion I, 40 [8]) and the Talmud (Baba Bathra 15a) also refer to the Book of Ezra, but not to a separate Book of Nehemiah.” Yamauchi, Edwin. Ezra-Nehemiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 1988. 572.
Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). In Harper’s Bible dictionary (1st ed., p. 200). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). In Harper’s Bible dictionary (1st ed., p. 200). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Joseph Holden and Norman Geisler, The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2013), 279.
Kidner, D. (1979). Ezra and Nehemiah: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 12, p. 19). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Kidner, D. (1979). Ezra and Nehemiah: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 12, p. 22). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Weinberg, Saul. Post-Exilic Palestine: An Archaeological Report (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humani ties, 1969), pp. 6–7. Cited in Yamauchi, Edwin. Ezra-Nehemiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 1988. 568.
James is an elder at Dwell Community Church, where he teaches classes in theology, apologetics, and weekly Bible studies.
