66. B.C. 516 to 444

B.C. 516 to 444

Chapter III

Timeline View:

1. It does not appear that the restored Jews experienced any further molestation in the lifetime of Darius Hystaspes, who reigned thirty-six years, and died b.c. 485. He was succeeded by his son Xerxes; and as he is the Ahasuerus of Ezra (Ezr 4:6), it would appear that he was friendly to the Jews, notwithstanding the attempts made by the Samaritans to prejudice his mind against them. He was succeeded in b.c. 564, by his son Artaxerxes Longimanus, whose long reign embraces several circumstances of great interest to the Jewish people.

2. Early in this reign they proceeded to rebuild Jerusalem on a regular plan, and to surround it with a wall. This last procedure excited a ferment of opposition from the Samaritans and others, who succeeded in alarming the Persian government lest its dominion in these parts should be endangered by the fortification of a city, noted of old for its turbulent character, as well as for the power of its former kings. Hence, an order was obtained that the building of the walls should not be allowed. It was not long, however, before Artaxerxes ascertained the present position and character of the Jewish people, and the favorable sentiments of Cyrus and Darius Hystaspes towards them, as manifested in the conduct and edicts of these princes. He learned also the veneration with which the God of the Hebrews had been regarded by the most eminent of his predecessors. All this is manifested in the terms of the commission by which, in the seventh year of this reign, Ezra, the priest and scribe, was authorized to proceed to Jerusalem to set in order whatever related to the service and worship of Jehovah. He was not, however, authorized to rebuild the walls.

3. Such a commission as that with which Ezra was invested lead become highly necessary; for after the death of the first leaders of the restoration, the high-priest Joshua, the governor Zerubbabel, and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, both the civil and ecclesiastical state became very unsettled, and had remained so for many years. The commission granted to Ezra was very extensive, and its terms were so precisely applicable to the circumstances of the Jewish people, as to suggest that it was procured from the king by some of the powerful Jews who remained beyond the Euphrates. As governor, Ezra was authorized to appoint superior and inferior judges, to rectify abuses, to enforce the observance of the law, and to punish the refractory with fines, imprisonment, or even death, according to the degree of their offences. Such of the Jews as thought proper, were invited to go back with Ezra, and from those who chose to remain, he was authorized to collect contributions for the use of the Temple. To this fund the king himself and his council liberally contributed; and the ministers of the royal revenues west of the Euphrates were enjoined to furnish Ezra with what be might require, within certain limits, of silver, wheat, wine, oil, and salt, in order that the sacrifices and offerings of the Temple should be constantly kept up; all of which is said to have been done in order to avert from the king and his sons, the wrath of the God of the Hebrews, who, it is very evident, was held in much honor at the Persian court.

4. An exemption from all taxes was also promised to persons engaged in the service of the Temple; but this boon did not induce any of the Levitical tribe to join the caravan which assembled on the banks of the river Ahava, in Babylonia; and it was with some difficulty that Ezra at last induced some of the priestly families to go with him. The whole caravan was composed of 1754 adult males—making, with wives and children, about 6000 persons. As a party thus composed lead little military strength, and as the journey across the desert was then, as it always has been, dangerous, from the predatory Arab tribes by which it is infested, they felt considerable anxiety on this account. But Ezra, from having said much to the king of the Lord’s power to protect and deliver those that trusted in him, felt disinclined to apply for a guard of soldiers; and thought it better that the party should, in a solemn act of fasting and prayer, cast themselves upon the care of their God. Their confidence was rewarded by the perfect safety with which their journey was accomplished. In four months they arrived at Jerusalem.

5. Having deposited in the Temple the donations with which he was charged, and imparted his commission to the royal officers in that quarter, Ezra applied himself earnestly to the work he had undertaken. He does not himself record any of his acts particularly, excepting the removal of the foreign and idolatrous women, whom many of the people, and even of the priests and Levites, had married, contrary to the law. But we are informed by Nehemiah, that Ezra caused the law to be publicly read to the assembled people, and to be explained by interpreters to those who understood only the Chaldean dialect, in which they had been brought up. This doubtless gave occasion for the increase of the copies of the law; and it is generally understood that Ezra collected and revised the sacred books which compose the Old Testament, and arranged them in the form which they now bear.

6. While Ezra was engaged in these labors, a great danger threatened the Jews who remained beyond the Euphrates. In the third year of his reign, the Persian king had put away his queen Vashti, and had taken in her place a beautiful Jewish damsel named Esther, the niece of Mordecai, a Benjamite, and one of the officers of the palace. Years passed away, in the course of which the chief place in the king’s favor was acquired by Haman, an Amalekite.

Interior of the Church of The Holy Sepulcher To him the king commanded that all his servants and officers should bow in that peculiar manner, by which the Persians testified the highest respect This act of homage was refused by Mordecai,[*] who constantly allowed the great man to pass by without spewing that respect which all others paid, This attracted the attention and excited the inquiries of Haman; and learning, probably, that all other rigid Jews would act in the same manner, he vowed the extinction of the whole race. Having fixed, by lot, what he considered a propitious day for the execution of his design, he proceeded to the king, and without naming the people, but describing them, in general terms, as of peculiar customs and unpleasant manners, and of a refractory and rebellious disposition, he obtained an order for their extermination. Couriers were accordingly sent to all the provinces, commanding that the Jews everywhere, without regard to age or sex, should be utterly extirpated on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, and their property taken as a prey. When this became known in Shushan (Susa) the metropolis, all the Jews there declared their concern in loud lamentations, and by garments of mourning. On learning these things from Mordecai, Esther, at his desire, undertook to intercede with the king in behalf of her people.

[*] The precise ground of this refusal is not well known. Some think that it was because the form of homage was deemed idolatrous by Mordecai; others, that he would not bow to one of the race which had been doomed to extermination as the implacable enemies of Israel.

Bowing

7. This was an undertaking of great peril; for it was death for any one to appear before the king uncalled, and she had not for some time been invited to his presence. She went, however, attended by her maidens, and the king, happening to be in good humor, extended to her the golden scepter, by which act her intrusion was forgiven. She invited the king and Haman to a banquet, at which she improved the favorable opening with such consummate tact, that the design of Haman appeared in the king’s view as a plot for the destruction of the queen and her people; and in his rage be commanded him to be hanged upon a high gallows which he had himself prepared for Mordecai, It was less easy to revoke the murderous order which had at Haman’s instance been issued, by reason of that peculiar practice of the Persians which made the word of the king a law that could not be altered. All that could be done was to allow the Jews to stand upon their defence against those who might attempt to put the first order into execution. These conflicting orders occasioned much bloodshed in different parts; but the Jewish nation was preserved, and the deliverance is to this day commemorated by an annual feast, called Purim.

8. There is yet another incident in this remarkable history. In the interval, after the first order had been issued, the king’s attention was providentially drawn to the fact, that a domestic plot against his life had been formerly detected and made known by Mordecai. He then asked what reward had been conferred on the man to whom be owed his life; and hearing that be had received no mark of favor, he sent for Haman, and asked him what ought to be done for the man “whom the king delighted to honor.” Supposing that the king referred to himself, Haman enumerated distinctions of the very highest class, bordering on those which belonged to royalty itself; he was, therefore, utterly confounded when the king told him to see that all these honors were bestowed upon Mordecai the Jew—the very Mordecai for whom he had just prepared a gallows fifty cubits high. Haman obeyed in silence; and on his downfall, which immediately followed, Mordecai was promoted to his place, which gave him power to be very useful to his nation.

9. Sacred Writers—The history of Ezra has been mentioned, and some allusion has been made to his labor in arranging and revising the sacred books. Of these labors he says nothing himself; but the constant tradition of the Jews has been, that he collected as many copies of the sacred books as he could obtain; and by correcting the errors of former copyists, and by adding in various places what appeared necessary to illustrate, connect, or explain the context, he produced one perfect copy, which became the exemplar for all subsequent transcribers. Ezra was probably the author of the book which bears his name; and to him also the authorship of the books of Chronicles has been usually ascribed.

Tomb of Ezra