Historical Background
In the early 6th century Judah rebelled against Babylon and was destroyed. As a result the royal court, the priests, the prophets and scribes, were taken into captivity in Babylon. There a profound intellectual revolution took place, the exiles blaming their fate on disobedience to their God and looking forward to a future when he would allow a purified people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. The same period saw the rapid rise of Persia, previously an unimportant kingdom in present-day southern Iran, to a position of great power, and in 539 BC Cyrus II, the Persian ruler, conquered Babylon.
It is difficult to describe the parties and politics of Judah in this period because of the lack of historical source, but there seem to have been three important groups involved: the returnees from the exile who claimed the reconstruction with the support of Cyrus I; "the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin"; and a third group, "people of the land," who seem to be local opposition against the returnees building the Temple in Jerusalem.
The following table is a guide to major events in the region during the period covered by the Book of Ezra:
| King of Persia | Main events | Correlation with Ezra-Nehemiah |
|---|---|---|
| Cyrus II (550-530) | Fall of Babylon, 539 | Directive to the Jews to rebuild the Temple - first return of the exiles to Jerusalem (taken as 538, as Babylon fell in October 539) |
| Cambyses (530-522) | Conquest of Egypt, 525 | |
| Darius I (522-486) | Secures the throne in 520/519 after fighting off various rivals | Temple rebuilt, sixth year of Darius (515) |
| Xerxes (486-465) | Failed attempt to conquer Greece, beginning of struggle with Greeks for control of the eastern Mediterranean | |
| Artaxerxes I (465-424) | Successful suppression of Greek-supported revolt in Egypt, 460-456; revolt of Megabyzus, governor of the territory which included Judah, 449 | Currently most widely accepted period for arrival of Ezra in the "seventh year of Artaxerxes" - second return of the exiles to Jerusalem (458 if the king is Artaxerxes I, or 428 if the year is read as his thirty-seventh instead of his seventh); mission of Nehemiah, 445-433 (return before the death of Artaxerxes) |
| Darius II (423-404) | ||
| Artaxerxes II (404-358) | Egypt regains independence, 401 | Alternative period for arrival of Ezra and second return of exiles to Jerusalem (398 if the king is Artaxerxes II) |
| Artaxerxes III (358-338) | Egypt reconquered | |
| Darius III (336-330) | Persia conquered by Alexander the Great |
Read more about this topic: Book Of Ezra
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