Ezra 1

Introduction

Ezra begins like a history book. We might even call it a book of holy history. Marvin Breneman, Buenos Aires Professor of Old Testament, tells us: “Over half the Bible consists of historical narration; its authors emphasized God’s acts in history” [1] Ezra tells us about the Jewish pioneers who came back to the land of Israel from the Babylonian exile some eighty years, or a whole lifetime, before him. In fact, we do not meet Ezra until the seventh chapter of his book. [2]

The decree of Persian King Cyrus (reign 599-530 BC) allowing the Jewish return was handed down in 538 BC and the pioneers began their return in 537 BC. Almost 50,000 made the journey home. There was much enthusiasm as they settled and began to rebuild their holy temple. They first constructed an altar of sacrifice lest the weight of unforgiven sins would hinder their work and settlement. [3]

However, soon after the temple’s foundation was laid in 535 BC, wicked enemies from the neighboring area began to resist them. Their resistance resulted in a decree from Persian King Cambyses II (reign 530-522) that stopped the effort. The work could not be finished until the new king Darius I (reign 522-486) reversed the decree of his predecessor and allowed labor to begin once more. The temple was finally finished in 516 BC.

It was not until 458 BC that Ezra the priest came to Jerusalem, bringing additional returning families with him. Ezra not only taught people the law of God but he initiated several reforms to make their future more secure. D. Guthrie of London Bible College comments: “Ezra initiated a new era in which the Pentateuch was not simply a book of laws but a manual of instruction covering every detail of life…Ezra became the ‘father of Judaism’ and this way of life, which centered upon an unswerving allegiance to the Torah…Ezra must not be blamed for the unlovely features of later Judaism. The fact is that his policies saved Judea from oblivion in a particular historical situation.” [4]

Debates have gone on for centuries about who wrote the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Many scholars feel that Ezra wrote his own book as well as the Book of Nehemiah and the two books of Chronicles. [5] Ezra’s authorship is also confirmed in Jewish sources (Talmud, Baba Bathra 15a 16a). The highly esteemed W. F. Albright and other leading scholars have also confirmed it. [6] It is interesting that the final two verses of 2 Chronicles are repeated almost verbatim in Ezra 1:1-3. There is evidence that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in earlier times were combined into one book. Church fathers Origen and Jerome were aware of the tradition of the books being divided. [7]

Some scholars have proposed other scenarios, that Nehemiah even came to Israel before Ezra. They base this thinking on a number of internal hints in the books. Breneman comments saying: “Recent work on Ezra-Nehemiah, however, tends to prefer the traditional order and Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem in 458 BC…There is almost no indication that Ezra and Nehemiah worked together. They only appear together in two texts, Neh. 8:9 and Neh. 12:36…” [8]

It is clear that the returning Jewish people were blessed by having the ministry of Ezra. He turned the people back to the word of God, that sure foundation in times of trouble.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: Ezra 1:1

As we have mentioned, Ezra’s book begins with the last words of 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, showing that the books originally did have some connection. The first year of Cyrus king of Persia speaks of his rule over Babylon and the captive Jews. He conquered Babylon in 539 BC so the first year of his rule would have been 538 BC. [1]

According to the words previously spoken by the prophet Jeremiah the king made his decree concerning the Jews. Jeremiah almost a century before had said a lot about Babylon’s fall and the Jews’ release from captivity (cf. Jer. 25:12; 29:10-14; 30:18-21; 50:18-19; & 51:8-19). Verses 25:12 and 29:10 speak of this occurring after 70 years, while 51:11 names the Medes as helping with the conquest, and that was the case.

It is interesting that the prophet Isaiah also made several predictions concerning Babylon and the Jewish return. He is very specific, even naming Cyrus and calling him “my shepherd” (44:28). In 45:1, he calls him “his anointed.” In 45:13, he names Cyrus once more and swears that he will build the Lord’s city and set his captives free.

Several commentators have felt that Cyrus may have been privy to this biblical information before he made his decree. Some have suspected that the prophet Daniel may have had a hand in this. The first century historian Josephus reports: “This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies…This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished.” [2]

“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah’” (1:2). Many questions have arisen concerning Cyrus. He was obviously not a devotee or worshipper of Israel’s God. The Persians worshipped a single supreme being known as Ahura-Mazda, which was somewhat near to the Jewish conception of Yahweh. [3] The Persians did not demand that other people worship their god.

Persians were unlike the Assyrians and Babylonians in that they did not displace conquered people from their countries. Their practice was to keep them in their places and also to seek their welfare. Cyrus was very benevolent, in that he had respect for all the gods of conquered people. We can know of this practice from the famous Cyrus Cylinder that was discovered in 1879. The cylinder reads:

I returned to these sacred cities…the sanctuaries of which have been in ruins for a long time, the images which (used) to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I (also) gathered all their (former) inhabitants and returned (to them) their habitations…May all the gods whom I have resettled in their sacred cities ask daily Bel and Nebo for a long life for me… [4]

These practices no doubt helped Persia to become the greatest empire ever known at that time. So, while Cyrus obeyed the God of Heaven he probably worshipped regularly at the shrine of his own god. He was, after all, a pagan ruler and conqueror. The Puritan preacher John Watson once said, “God can make a straight stroke with a crooked stick.” [5]

“Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem” (1:3-4). We notice that the people had to decide whether to go or not to go. Also, we see that the main emphasis of this decree was that the temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt. The whole financial weight of the enterprise was not just upon the returnees but some of it was upon those who elected to remain in Babylon. This was a holy project and we can imagine that all the remaining Jewish people were anxious to give of their precious things to make it a success. This reminds us of Exodus 12:35ff. when the Egyptians liberally gave silver, gold and other gifts to the Israelites as they left the land. Only a remnant of the Israelites returned to the land from Babylon (cf. Isa. 10:21-22). In fact, the group was slightly less than 50,000.

While the Cyrus decree was broad enough to include the northern ten tribes who were carried away in 722 BC, we do not have evidence that they joined in the return. We do see some folks represented from Ephraim and Manasseh in the group later (1 Chron. 9:3). The journey to Jerusalem would take four grueling months of travel (Ezr. 7:8-9). David Guzik, pastor and biblical writer, describes their condition: “The journey itself was long, dangerous, and expensive; They returned to a city in ruins with no proper homes, roads, or city institutions; They didn’t have all the material resources they needed; They didn’t all return to Jerusalem but spread out over the province of Judea; They had many enemies; Their land was actually the possession of another empire.” [6]

“Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – everyone whose heart God had moved – prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. (1:5-6). We note that God had a hand in moving all those who “volunteered” to go. Several translations speak of the Spirit moving all those returnees. Every good work comes at the initiative of God not of human beings.

The Temple Treasures

Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. Ezra 1:7.

Guthrie says, “It was standard practice for a conqueror to place the gods of the vanquished in his own sanctuary (cf. e.g. 1 Sa. 5:2). Since the Jewish faith was imageless, the temple vessels served as a substitute.” [7] These temple items were priceless treasures that had been lost to Israel for a couple of generations. We note that the items of temple furniture were not present. These items, including the Ark of the Covenant, were probably destroyed in the conquest of 586 BC. Our apologies to Harrison Ford who played Indiana Jones in the 1981 movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Breneman comments: “The author emphasized the rebuilding of the temple and the vessels that belonged in it. From the beginning, he made clear that he considered the restoration and rebuilding of the worshiping community as the most significant event in this history.” [8]

“Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah” (1:8). English Bible scholar, Peter Pett comments: “ Mithredath (‘given by Mithra’) is a good Persian name, being connected with Mithra, the Persian god of light.” [9] We see again how thoroughly the pagan world was saturated with idolatry. It is interesting that Mithredath counted out the treasure items to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. Sheshbazzar is a rather elusive character. He appears four times in the Book of Ezra as Israel’s prince, but he is not mentioned anywhere else. The fact that this Sheshbazzar laid the foundations of the Lord’s new temple (Ezra 5:16), while Ezra 3:8-13 and Zechariah 4:9 attributes this act to Zerubbabel, makes a lot of interpreters think that the two were one and the same. [10] Many Jewish people in this period had more than one name, usually a Chaldean or Persian one and a Hebrew one.

“This was the inventory: gold dishes 30 silver dishes 1,000 silver pans 29 gold bowls 30 matching silver bowls 410 other articles 1,000” (1:9-10). These items must have looked exceedingly precious to those Hebrews involved. The early Anglican commentator John Trapp says: “Men use not to count how many pebbles they have in their yard, or piles of grass in their field, as they do how many pence in their purse, or sheep in their fold.” [11] Wiersbe remarks: “The statement in 1:10, ‘and other vessels a thousand’ suggests that verses 9-10 list the larger and more valuable items, while many smaller objects weren’t even listed in categories.” [12]

“In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem” (1:11). The figure of 5400 seems to confirm what we just said, that only the larger and more valuable vessels were listed in the first figures totaling 2,499. [13]

Footnotes

1. Marvin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), p. 16.

2. Derek Kidner, Ezra & Nehemiah (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1979), p. 31.

3. Ibid., p. 24.

4. D. Guthrie, ed. The New Bible Commentary: Revised (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), p. 398.

5. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p. 32.

6. Guthrie, ed., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 397.

7. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p. 37.

8. Ibid., p. 43.

Chapter 1

1. Albert Barnes, Commentary on Ezra, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, 1870, v. 1:1. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/ezra-1.html.

2. Josephus Flavius, Antiquities, Bk. 11, Ch. 1, v. 2.

3. Barnes, Commentary on Ezra, Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, v. 1:2.

4. Quoted in Kidner, Ezra & Nehemiah, pp. 17, 18.

5. Quoted in Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 735.

6. David Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary, Ezra, 2018, vs. 1:5-6. https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/ezra.

7. Guthrie, ed., The New Bible Commentary: Revised, p. 399.

8. Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, The New American Commentary, p. 71.

9. Peter Pett, Commentary on Ezra, Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible, 2013, vs. 1:7-8. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/pet/ezra-1.html.

10. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 735.

11. John Trapp, Commentary on Ezra, John Trapp Complete Commentary, 1865-1868, v. 1:9. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/jtc/ezra-1.html.

12. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 736.

13. Charles F. Pfeiffer & Everett F. Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), p. 425.