Kings mentioned in the book of ezra 1-3

Lawrence mykytiuk reveals the surprising numberfrom israelite kings to mesopotamian monarchsand some lesser figures as well. King artaxerxes is moved by god to commission ezra to inquire. These postexile books record the return from babylon after. We take up the story in ezra with cyrus, the persian king in 538 b. How many people mentioned in the hebrew bible have been confirmed archaeologically.

This pagan king is important in jewish history because it was under his rule that jews were first allowed to return to israel after 70 years of captivity. They are both credited with being key figures in bringing the jews back from exile and creating a new community wrought from the destruction of the temple and their lands. Those who thus dislocate the two divisions of this book proceed to speak of. In any important public or historic event, reliable eyewitnesses serve as the primary authority concerning what has actually taken place. Ezra niv cyrus helps the exiles to return in bible gateway. In biblical history, we can also call upon dependable and inspired firsthand eyewitness accounts in. Assyria conquered babylon in modernday iraq and was the conquering empire to whom the northern kingdom fell in 721 b. Ahasuerus, the hebrew version of artachshashta aramaic in ezra 4 and nehemiah.

Ezra, ezekiel, and jeremiah have all been named as possible authors. The book of ezra relates the restoration of jerusalem and the building of the. The book of ezra in the bible explained given a quick overview. The prayers in the book of ezra offer us an opportunity to learn about prayers of confession. At one time, however, ezra and nehemiah followed 1 and 2 chronicles and were generally considered to be the work of one and the same author known as the chronicler. As if the spelling and pronunciation of ahasuerus and artaxerxes were not problematic enough for the average bible student, one must also consider these persian kings in light of the order in which they are mentioned in the book of ezra. Hope this helps when you read the book, to understand the story etc. And yet in between these two books lies the babylonian captivity, which lasted 70 years compare jeremiah 25. Although most of the book was written in hebrew, portions of it see ezra 4. 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. Ezra bible book with full chapters king james version. The prayers in the book of ezra praying through the bible. The books of ezra and nehemiah are the only completely historical books in the third section of the hebrew bible, the ketuvim writings.

In the early years of his reign, there was a revolt in. The books of ezra and nehemiah are about gods renewing his errant people. The person of ezra, along with nehemiah, are two of the greatest men in israelite history. The two became separated with the first printed rabbinic bibles of the early 16th century, following late medieval latin christian tradition. Book of second kings overview insight for living ministries. Clicking on a chapter will show you the text of that chapter of ezra in the bible king james version. Persian kings in the bible iran in the bible cyrus. Now in the first year of cyrus king of persia almost seventy years after the first jewish captives were taken to babylon, that the word of the lord by the mouth of jeremiah might begin to be accomplished, the lord stirred up the spirit of cyrus king of persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing.

David guzik commentary on ezra 1, where cyrus, king of persia, makes a decree which allows the exiles to return to jerusalem. Although ezra is a continuation of the historical books begun with joshua, the precaptivity and captivity books could be profitably studied before beginning with ezra. The last four books of the hebrew canon are ezra, nehemiah, and 1 and 2 chronicles, in that order. Apologetics press kingly chronology in the book of ezra. The global message of ezra the big picture of ezra.

A literary masterpiece of the english language, the original king james bible is. The book of ezra records the fulfillment of god s promise to restore israel to her land after the 70 years of captivity in babylon jer. Second kings continues the history of the divided kingdom, picking up the story around 853 bc. Handout ezra lesson 3 persian kings mentioned in this lesson. 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. Persian kings in the bible iran in the bible cyrus charter of human rights cyrus the great iran in the bible history of persia and cambysses, darius the great, xerxes, artaxerxes i persian kings according to the bible. Xerxes i also called ahasuerus 486465 bc he is mentioned in passing in ezra 4. Cyrus is a king mentioned more than 30 times in the bible and is identified as cyrus the great also cyrus ii or cyrus the elder who reigned over persia between 539530 bc.

Ezra 110 new international version niv cyrus helps the exiles to return. The book of ezra the books of ezra and nehemiah and esther cover about 100 years, closing the old testament historical books. Summary and analysis 1 and 2 kings, 1 and 2 chronicles, ezra, and. He was the king of persia during the time of esther. Ezra 1, new international version niv the bible app. The books of samuel, kings, and chronicles closed with the southern kingdom judah going into captivity. The king of assyria describes the battle for the centre or high ground by the contending empires. King cyrus of persia lets the jews go back to jerusalem to build the templecyrus returns the vessels of the house of the lord taken by. In english bibles, they are usually split into two, with the book of nehemiah appearing as a separate book from ezra, but in the hebrew tradition, they are one book, entitled ezra, and nehemiah is simply the second part of ezra. In 722 bc, the powerful nation of assyria invaded the northern kingdom, scattering and taking captive the people of israel. The books of ezra, nehemiah and esther are the last three history books found in the old testament. Darius i ruled from 522486 bc xerxes ruled from 486465 bc artaxerxes i ruled from 465424 bc the events in the book of ezra are related to the work of the prophet haggai who was one of the three postexile prophets along with the prophets zechariah and malachi. The elyphantine papyri mention the high priest johanan, also mentioned in the book of ezra, as a contemporary of darius ii.

This darius ruled for only two years 538536 bc and is best known as the ruler who promoted daniel to a high. As we study these books, its very important to know that the appearance of these kings is not mentioned in ezra in chronological order. Estimates regarding when the book of ezra was written generally range from 440 to 300 b. As the last verses of 2 chronicles and the first few verses of the book of ezra are nearly identical and as the book of ezra is the historical sequence of chronicles the jewish scholars who wrote the talmud named ezra as author of the chronicles. We do not know when or where the book of ezra was written. There are three references to rulers named darius in the bible. The central message of the book of ezra is found in ezra the scribes moving confession on behalf of his people ezra 9.

Now in the first year of cyrus, king of persia this is that famous cyrus who, one hundred and forty years before the temple was destroyed, and two hundred years before he was born, was mentioned by name in the prophecies of isaiah, as raised up, and appointed by god, for the restoration of his people, isaiah 44. The lord, the god of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed. The truth about the apocrypha and the lost books of the bible duration. The book of ezra the name ezra meaning help therefore is the sequence to the chronicles in regard to history and in regard to contents. The son of seraiah, ezra was a descendant of the ancient priestly house of zadok. In matthew, noble pilgrims followed a star to israel to pay homage to the newborn christ child. It is, however, believed that ezra did write that book and its known that it originally was part of a larger book that included the books of. They are put together as one book in the hebrew bible, although the fact that the lists in ezra 2 and nehemiah 7 are virtually the. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. From genesis to deuteronomy, god calls out israel as a special nation and teaches them his laws from joshua to 2 chronicles, god gives israel a land and a king, but israel loses both when they consistently disobey god from ezra to esther, god restores israel from exile in their own land again. These three books tell us what happened to the jewish people after the babylonian captivity see chapter 1 under the historical category described by the word construction.

Artaxerxes i 465424 bc persian king whose reign encompasses ezra 7 to the end of the book and the entire book of nehemiah. God had justly sent israel into exile for its sins, but, in his perfect timing, the jews who later returned to jerusalem have received gods grace to revive them. God used three persian kings, cyrus, darius, and artaxerxes, to bring this to pass, as well as jewish leaders such as zerubbabel, joshua, haggai, zechariah, and ezra. The book is named after its principal character, ezra, although ezra is not mentioned in the book as the author.