THE BOOK OF EZRA
Lesson 1
Introduction and Chapters 1-2
King Cyrus' Decree and a Davidic Prince Leads the Return of the Exiles
The List of the First Returning Exiles
Holy Lord of the Mighty and the Meek,
Jesus taught us in the Beatitudes that meekness is not weakness. When
we are meek, we seek our strength in You: Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. When the remaining children of Israel of the
Southern Kingdom of Judah obediently yielded themselves to You, Lord, You put
in motion the plan to return them to their ancestral homeland. The journey home
was almost as difficult as the journey that took them into exile, and yet their
hearts were encouraged because they were going home to the Promised Land. Our
journey through this life is often just as rugged; however, we know that the
success of the journey is not determined by the monthly paycheck or the praise
of our peers but by what we will find at the end of the earthly journey if we
remain faithful, the Promised Land of Heaven. Beloved Holy Spirit, guide us in
our study and give us the wisdom and insight to apply the lessons of the
struggles Old Testament Covenant people to our own lives. We pray in the name
of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ + +
The forgetting of the Law and the infidelity
to the covenant end in death: it is the Exile, apparently the failure of the
promises, which is in fact the mysterious fidelity of the Savior God and the
beginning of a promised restoration, but according to the Spirit. The People
of God had to suffer this purification. In God's plan, the Exile already stands
in the shadow of the Cross, and the Remnant of the poor that returns from the
Exile is one of the most transparent prefigurations of the Church.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 710
This is what Yahweh says: "When
seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my
gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have
for you," declares Yahweh, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:10-11
Introduction
In the Christian canon of Sacred Scripture, the Book of Ezra is part of the Historical Writings, coming after 2 Chronicles and before the Book of Nehemiah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are closely related to each other and similar in style to the Books of Chronicles. Originally, 1 and 2 Chronicles formed one book as did Ezra and Nehemiah. The division into two books for Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah first appeared in Church Father Origen's AD 254 translation. The division was adopted by Jerome into the Latin Vulgate in the 4th century AD and later by the Jews into the re-translation of the Hebrew Bible in 1448. Many modern scholars, recognizing the similarity in style between 1 and 2 Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah, believe the books formed a single historical work authored by an author they identify as "the Chronicler." Other scholars identify Ezra as the author of all four books.
Beginning where the 2 Chronicles ends, the Book of Ezra is a continuation of 2 Chronicles and relates the crucial period of the reestablishment of the Jewish community in Jerusalem after their release from the Babylonian exile by King Cyrus' edict (539 BC). It was an event of the utmost importance for the future of the covenant people and God's divine plan for humanity's salvation.
Historical Background
In 587 BC, the Babylonians, as God's instrument of judgment, conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and began the prophesied seventy years of exile for an apostate covenant people (Jer 25:8-13; 2 Chr 36:21). They took the surviving Jews as captives back to Babylon. It was the third wave of captured citizens of Judah; the first two groups went into exile in 605 BC and again in 597 BC. After King Cyrus of Persia conquered the Babylonian empire in 539 BC, he issued an official decree in which he magnanimously authorized the return and extended certain privileges to all peoples displaced from their homelands by the Babylonians, including the citizens of Judah. Led by Sheshbazzar, a descendant of King David and a prince of Judah (Ezra 1:8), the remnant of God's covenant people returned to their native land. However, they returned as vassals of the Persians who ruled Judah until the conquest of Alexander the Great two centuries later.
The first part of the Book of Ezra records the experiences of the returning exiles (Ezra 1:1-6:22). In 539/8 BC, King Cyrus commissioned Sheshbazzar to lead the first group of Jewish exiles back to their homeland and to serve as the first Persian governor of the Persian province of Judah. The second half of the book records the experiences of Ezra, a priestly scribe commissioned by Persian King Artaxerxes to lead the second group of exiles back to their homeland and to re-establish obedience to the Law and right worship (Ezra 7:1-26). Nehemiah 12:1 and 13 identify Ezra as a priestly teacher of the Law, and Nehemiah 12:26, 36, and 33 also mention him.
The book also recounts the efforts of Judah's Samaritan neighbors to frustrate the attempts of the Jewish settlers to return to normality. In 722 BC the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and banished its twelve tribes into exile in the Assyrian controlled territories. They then imported five different Gentile peoples to occupy what became the Assyrian Province of Samaria. These groups adopted Yahweh as their local deity, established a priesthood and form of worship, adopted only the first five books of Moses as their sacred texts, and built a temple on Mt. Gerizim. They did not welcome the return of a central authority for the worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem. While the Book of Ezra presents Ezra as a hero, Samaritan tradition presents him in as a villain opposed to Samaritan interests. Ezra, like most Jews, probably viewed the Samaritans as heretics.
The book is written in Hebrew with parts in Aramaic. Hebrew was the native language of the Israelites while Aramaic was the language of the Babylonians that the exiles learned to speak during their years in captivity and the language they brought back from their years in exile. Aramaic will become the common language of the Jews and the language Jesus and the disciples spoke in the first century AD.
The book quotes official decrees and counter-petitions and relates events according to subject-matter rather than chronology, with the chronological order mixed up within sections. The relevant documents, combined with Ezra's report on his mission, give a picture of the restored community determined to reinstate the daily Tamid liturgical worship services, rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple, and reestablishing an authoritative center of worship guided by the Law of the Torah. The book demonstrates that Yahweh was faithful to His promise to return His covenant people to the Promised Land and relates a new stage in salvation history which is part of God's on-going plan for the salvation of humanity that will reach its climax in the coming of Jesus, the promised Redeemer-Messiah. As Ezra instructed the covenant people in obedience to the Law of Moses, Jesus will teach a new Law that will bring the old Law to perfection.
PLAN OF THE BOOK OF EZRA
The text switches back and forth between Hebrew, the native language of the Judahites, and Aramaic, the language they learned in captivity:
1:1-4:6 is in Hebrew
4:7-6:18 is in Aramaic
6:19-7:11 is in Hebrew
7:12-26 is in Aramaic
7:27 to the end of the book is in Hebrew
The themes of the Book of Ezra are sovereignty, faithfulness, and restoration. Yahweh is the sovereign Lord of all peoples in all nations (1 Ezra 1:1; 6:22; 7:6, 27). He gives human beings the gift of free will to make righteous decisions or sinful decisions, but He will intervene in human history to move forward His divine plan, even using pagan kings and their nations. The Book of Ezra also demonstrates that Yahweh is faithful to His promises. He promised the restoration of His covenant people after they atoned for their sins during their years of exile, and He kept that promise in the return of the people of Judah to their homeland. The God of Israel not only restored the Jerusalem Temple (Ezra 3:1-6:22) but He renewed the spiritual, moral, and social fabric of the faithful remnant of the covenant people He returned to Judah (Ezra 9:1-10:44).
| BIBLICAL PERIOD | #9 THE REMNANT OF JUDAH RETURNS | |||
| FOCUS | The Return from Exile and Rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple | The Organization of the Community by Ezra and Nehemiah | ||
| COVENANT | The Sinai Covenant and Davidic Covenant | |||
| SCRIPTURE | 1:1-------------3:1---------------------7:1------------------9:1--------------10:44 | |||
| DIVISION | The Edict of Cyrus and registry of the first returning exiles | Restoration of worship and rebuilding the Temple | Ezra's mission and the registry of the second returning exiles | Ezra's spiritual restoration of the covenant people and opposition to mixed marriages |
| TOPIC | Sheshbazzar, Jeshua, and Zerubbabel | Ezra | ||
| First return = 49,897 | Second return = 1,754 | |||
| LOCATION | Babylon to Jerusalem | Babylon to Jerusalem | ||
| TIME |
22 years (539/8 -517/6 BC) Edict of Cyrus to the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem |
1 year during the reign of Artaxerxes I (ruled 465-424 BC)* | ||
*The Book of Ezra was probably written within the living memory of the events it recounts. If Ezra is the inspired writer, and he made the journey to Judah during the reign of Artaxerxes I, then a date of c. 450 is reasonable.
Yahweh founded the Sinai Covenant based on blessings for obedience to His Law and divine judgments for disobedience (Lev 26; Dt 28). The Davidic Covenant, however, was an unconditional royal-grant covenant promising an eternal Davidic heir.
TIMELINE BC
WORLD EMPIRE: PERSIA
| 538 | 516 | 483-473 | 458 | 444 | 336 | 323 | 250 |
| 1st return of Exiles to Judah | Temple in Jerusalem rebuilt | Esther Queen of Persia | 2nd return w/Ezra | Alexander the Great invades Persia | Alexander dies | Greek Translation of O.T. Septuagint |
Persian Kings of the Achaemenid Dynasty
Bardiya and Sogdianus are personal names; neither man ruled long enough to assume a throne/regnal name like the other Persian kings in the list.(1) The dates may vary according to different sources.
The events in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther took place during the rule of the Medo-Persian Empire located in northeast Mesopotamia which is present-day Iran. The Medes and the Persians joined forces under Cyrus the Great to defeat the Babylonians whose homeland was modern day Iraq. The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther return to the Biblical theme of the preservation of the faithful remnant, the "holy seed" promised in Genesis 3:15 from which the Messiah is destined to come to redeem humanity.
| Scripture Reference | Prophecy | When made | Date fulfilled | Significance |
|
Isaiah 44:28 And 45:1-7 |
God would anoint a Gentile named Cyrus to guarantee the return of a faithful remnant of Israel to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. | c. 688 BC | 539 BC |
God named Cyrus, "shepherd," even before he was born. God knows everything. God controls history! Cyrus, king of Persia 559-530 BC |
| Jeremiah 25:12 | God will punish Babylon for injustices against the covenant people. | 605 BC | <539 BC | Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC. |
| Jeremiah 29:10 | The citizens of Judah will spend 70 years in exile, after which God will bring His people back to their homeland. | 594 BC | 539/8 BC | Cyrus allows the return of the Jews to their homeland. The 70 years of captivity can span the years from the 605 BC deportation to the first resettlement or from the destruction of Solomon's Temple in 587/6 BC to the building of the Second Temple in 517/6 BC. |
| Daniel 5:17-30 | God judged Babylon and decreed her empire to be conquered by the Medo- Persians, the next regional power. | 539 BC | 539 BC | Babylonian ruler Belshazzar was killed the night of the prophecy in a surprise Persian invasion. |
| Ezekiel 34:23-27 | A Davidic prince will shepherd God's people back to their land. | 585 BC | 538 BC | Davidic prince, Sheshbazzar, leads the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin back to their homeland. |
Question: What are two lessons for us on this side of salvation
history concerning the fulfillment of these events that were prophesied centuries
and years in advance?
Answer:
Chapter I: King Cyrus' Decree and a Davidic Prince Leads the Return of the Exiles
And those who had escaped the sword he
deported to Babylon, were they were enslaved by him and his descendants until
the rise of the kingdom of Persia to fulfill Yahweh's prophecy through Jeremiah:
Until the country has paid off its Sabbaths, it will lie fallow for all the days
of its desolation until the seventy years are complete.
2 Chronicles 36:20-21
Thus says Yahweh to his anointed one,
to Cyrus whom, he says, I have grasped by his right hand, to make the nations
bow before him and to disarm kings, to open gateways before him so that their
gates be closed no more... Though you do not know me, I have armed you so that it
may be known from east to west that there is no one except me. I am Yahweh,
and there is no other, I form the light and I create the darkness, I make well-being,
and I create disaster, I, Yahweh do all these things.
Isaiah 45:1, 5-7
Ezra 1:1-11 ~ King Cyrus' Edict of Return
1 In the first year of
Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfil the word of Yahweh spoken through Jeremiah,
Yahweh roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation and to
have it publicly displayed throughout his kingdom: 2"Cyrus king of Persia says this,
Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has
appointed me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in Judah. 3 Whoever among you belongs to the full
tally of his people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem, in
Judah, and build the Temple of Yahweh, God of Israel, who is the God in
Jerusalem. 4 And
let each survivor, wherever he lives, be helped by the people of his locality
with silver, gold, equipment and riding beasts, as well as voluntary offerings
for the Temple of God which is in Jerusalem.'" 5 Then the heads of families of Judah and
of Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, in fact all whose spirit had been
roused by God, prepared to go and rebuild the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem; 6 and all their neighbors gave them every
kind of help: silver, gold, equipment, riding beasts and valuable presents, in
addition to their voluntary offerings. 7 Furthermore, King Cyrus handed over the articles belonging
to the Temple of Yahweh which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and
put in the temple of his god. 8 Cyrus
king of Persia handed them over to Mithredath the treasurer who checked them
out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. 9 The
inventory was as follows: thirty gold dishes; one thousand silver dishes,
twenty-nine repaired; 10 thirty
gold bowls; a thousand silver bowls, four hundred and ten damaged; one thousand
other articles. 11 In
all, five thousand four hundred articles of gold and silver. Sheshbazzar took all these with him when he led the exiles
back from Babylon to Jerusalem.
The Book of Ezra begins with the same proclamation that ended the Book of 2 Chronicles in 36:23. 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:1-4 agree in five ways:
The only difference in the two passages is in the additional part of the decree recorded in Ezra 1:4 where Cyrus commands the local people living near those desiring to return to offer them silver, gold, equipment and riding beasts, as well as voluntary offerings for the Temple of God which is in Jerusalem. The decree was not limited to the Jews but included all the different peoples the Babylonians and Assyrians had displaced from their homelands. The Persian kings were for the most part very generous to the peoples they conquered, restoring and supporting their temples and supporting freedom of various religions while maintaining control over their territories.
It is significant that Cyrus calls Israel's God "Yahweh, God of Heaven." Persian documents also refer to Yahweh as "the God of Heaven" which suggests the Jews enjoyed the advantage of the Persian king having a special reverence for their God. The title is not used for the gods of other nations and appears to equate Yahweh with the supreme god, Ahura-Mazda, worshipped by Persian kings.(2) When the Persian king met Daniel after the capture of Babylon, Daniel probably related the prophecies of Isaiah concerning a Gentile king anointed by Yahweh to be a great conqueror who would become a "shepherd" (Is 44:27-28; Cyrus, koresh, means "shepherd" in Hebrew) to fulfill God's will for His people, the way the king captured Babylon without a battle must have convinced him!(3)
4 And let
each survivor, wherever he lives, be helped by the people of his locality with
silver, gold, equipment and riding beasts, as well as voluntary offerings for
the Temple of God which is in Jerusalem.
The "survivors" constitute the remnant spared by God to
become part of the exiled people of Judah (Is 4:3-6;
Zeph 3:12;
Ezra 9:8, 13-15;
Neh 1:2).
5 Then the heads of
families of Judah and of Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, in fact all whose
spirit had been roused by God, prepared to go and rebuild the Temple of Yahweh
in Jerusalem.
Judah and Benjamin were the two tribes of Israel that
formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah and remained loyal to the descendants of
King David. The chief priests and Levitical lesser ministers were from the
tribe of Levi.
The other ten tribes separated from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin forming the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 930 BC and apostatizing from the covenant with Yahweh by establishing a non-Aaronic priesthood, establishing their own form of worship and rituals, and rejecting the authority of the Jerusalem Temple. For their sins in abandoning Yahweh's covenant, they were conquered by the Assyrian Empire, removed from the lands of the Northern Kingdom, and sent into exile first in 732 BC and the rest of the nation in 722 BC. The Assyrians transplanted them to pagan territory throughout Mesopotamia. At that time the Northern Kingdom of Israel became the Assyrian Province of Samaria, taking the name of the former capital of the Northern Kingdom.
Question: In what three
ways did Yahweh intervene in salvation history to bring about the return of the
tribes of Judah and Benjamin to the Promised Land of Judah? See verses 1 and 5.
Answer:
Question: In addition
to the edict of return, what other act of generosity did Cyrus show the
returning exiles? See verses 7-11.
Answer: He returned the
Jerusalem Temple treasures looted by the Babylonians and provided gold, silver,
supplies, livestock, and even offerings for Yahweh's rebuilt Temple.
Cyrus returned 5,400 articles of silver and gold that Nebuchadnezzar confiscated in 598 BC when he deposed young Davidic King Jehoiachin (2 Kng 24:8-17). Jehoiachin, his mother, his royal retinue, nobles, officials, and ten thousand others became captives and went into exile in Babylon. At the same time, the Babylonians took all the treasures of Yahweh's Temple and treasures from Solomon's palace. Jehoiachin remained a prisoner for 37 years until Nebuchadnezzar's death when his son and successor released Jehoiachin from prison and made him a guest at his royal table (2 Kng 25:27-30). The Persian treasurer entrusted the Jerusalem Temple treasures to Sheshbazzar who would become the first Persian governor of the Persian province of Judah.
The edict, in Hebrew, was probably copied by Jewish scribes working for the Persian government and was read aloud by heralds to the Jewish communities in Babylon. Just as there were three waves of citizens of Judah taken into captivity, there will be three major waves of returning exiles beginning with the first group in 539/8 BC.
Sheshbazzar took all these with him when he led the exiles back from
Babylon to Jerusalem.
Sheshbazzar, whose Babylonian name means "(the god) Shamash
protect the father" (probably also called Shenazzar in 1 Chr 3:18) was a Davidic
prince of Judah, a son of King Jehoiachin of Judah and an uncle of Zerubbabel,
also Davidic prince and the grandson of Jehoiachin (2 Kng 24:8-9, 12; 25:27-30;
1 Chr 3:18; Ezra 2:2; 3:2; Hag 1:1; Mt 1:12). Cyrus named Sheshbazzar the
first Persian governor of Judah, commissioning him to return the Temple vessels
plundered by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar (Ezra 1:8-11) and to start the
reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple (Ezra 1:3).
Question: What did it
mean to the returning exiles to have a Davidic prince leading them back to
their homeland? See 2 Sam 7:16; 23:5; 2 Chr 13:5; Ps 89:3-5 concerning the
Davidic covenant and the prophecies in Is 11:1-9; Jer 23:5-6; 33:14-18; Ez 34:23-26.
Answer: For the exiles,
it meant God was still honoring the Davidic Covenant, and in Sheshbazzar they
saw the hope of a son of David fulfilling the Redeemer-Messiah prophecies of
the prophets.
Chapter 2: The List of the Returning Exiles
Ezra 2:1-70 ~ List of the First Exiles to Return
1 These were the
people of the province who returned from the captivity of the Exile, those whom
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported to Babylon, and who returned to
Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 2 They were the ones who arrived with Zerubbabel,
Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar,
Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of the
country of Israel: 3 sons of
Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two; 4 sons of Shephatiah, three hundred and
seventy-two; 5 sons of Arah, seven
hundred and seventy-five; 6 sons of
Pahath-Moab, that is to say the sons of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight
hundred and twelve; 7 sons of Elam,
one thousand two hundred and fifty-four; 8
sons of Zattu, nine hundred and forty-five; 9 sons of Zaccai, seven hundred and sixty; 10 sons of Bani, six hundred and forty-two; 11 sons of Bebai, six hundred and twenty-three; 12 sons of Azgad, one thousand two hundred and
twenty-two; 13 sons of Adonikam,
six hundred and sixty-six; 14 sons
of Bigvai, two thousand and fifty-six; 15 sons
of Adin, four hundred and fifty-four; 16 sons
of Ater, that is to say of Hezekiah, ninety-eight; 17 sons of Bezai, three hundred and twenty-three;
18 sons of Jorah, one hundred and
twelve; 19 sons of Hashum, two
hundred and twenty-three; 20 sons
of Gibbar, ninety-five; 21 sons of Bethlehem, one hundred and twenty-three;
22 men of Netophah, fifty-six; 23 men of Anathoth, one hundred and twenty-eight;
24 sons of Azmaveth, forty-two; 25 sons of Kiriath-Jearim, Chephirah and
Beeroth, seven hundred and forty-three; 26
sons of Ramah and Geba, six hundred and twenty-one; 27 men of Michmas,
one hundred and twenty-two; 28 men
of Bethel and Ai, two hundred and twenty-three; 29 sons of Nebo, fifty-two; 30
of Magbish, one hundred and fifty-six; 31 sons of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred and fifty-four;
32 sons of Harim, three hundred and
twenty; 33 sons of Lod, Hadid and
Ono, seven hundred and twenty-five; 34 sons
of Jericho, three hundred and forty-five; 35
sons of Senaah, three thousand six hundred and thirty. 36 The priests: sons of Jedaiah, of the House of
Jeshua, nine hundred and seventy-three; 37
sons of Immer, one thousand and fifty-two; 38 sons of Pashhur, one thousand two hundred and
forty-seven; 39 sons of Harim, one
thousand and seventeen. 40 The
Levites: sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the line of Hodaviah, seventy-four. 41 The singers: sons of Asaph, one hundred and
twenty-eight. 42 The sons of the gatekeepers:
sons of Shallum, sons of Ater, sons of Talmon, sons of Akkub, sons of Hatita,
sons of Shobai: in all, one hundred and thirty-nine. 43 The temple slaves: sons of Ziha, sons of
Hasupha, sons of Tabbaoth, 44 sons
of Keros, sons of Siaha, sons of Padon, 45
sons of Lebanah, sons of Hagabah, sons of Akkub, 46 sons of Hagab, sons of Shamlai, sons of
Hanan, 47 sons of Giddel, sons of
Gahar, sons of Reaiah, 48 sons of
Rezin, sons of Nekoda, sons of Gazzam, 49 sons
of Uzza, sons of Paseah, sons of Besai, 50
sons of Asnah, sons of the Meunites, sons of the Nephisites, 51 sons of Bakbuk, sons of Hakupha, sons of
Harhur, 52 sons of Bazluth, sons of
Mehida, sons of Harsha, 53 sons of
Barkos, sons of Sisera, sons of Temah, 54 sons
of Neziah, sons of Hatipha. 55 The sons
of Solomon's slaves: sons of Sotai, sons of Hassophereth, sons of Peruda, 56 sons of Jaalah, sons of Darkon, sons of Giddel,
57 sons of Shephatiah, sons of Hattil,
sons of Pochereth-ha-Zebaim, sons of Ami. 58
The total of the temple slaves and the sons of Solomon's slaves: three
hundred and ninety-two. 59 The
following, who came from Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Cherub, Addan and Immer, could
not prove that their families and ancestry were of Israelite origin: 60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons
of Nekoda: six hundred and fifty-two. 61 And
among the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons
of Barzillai-who had married one of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite,
whose name he adopted. 62 These had looked for their entries in the official genealogies
but were not to be found there, and were hence disqualified from the
priesthood. 63 Consequently,
His Excellency forbade them to eat any of the consecrated food until a priest
appeared who could consult Urim and Thummim. 64 The whole assembly numbered forty-two thousand,
three hundred and sixty people, 65 not
counting their male and female slaves to the number of seven thousand three
hundred and thirty-seven. They also had two hundred male and female singers. 66 Their horses numbered seven hundred and
thirty-six, their mules two hundred and forty-five, 67 their camels four hundred and thirty-five and
their donkeys six thousand seven hundred and twenty. 68 When they arrived at the Temple of Yahweh in
Jerusalem, a certain number of heads of families made voluntary offerings for
the Temple of God, for its rebuilding on its site. 69 In accordance with their means they gave sixty-one
thousand gold drachmas, five thousand silver minas and one hundred priestly robes
to the sacred treasury. 70 The
priests, the Levites and some of the people settled in Jerusalem; the singers,
the gatekeepers and the temple slaves in their appropriate towns; and all the
other Israelites in their own towns.
Ezra 2:1-3:1 interrupts the narrative with a list of the first wave of exiles returning to Judah. See a similar list in Nehemiah Chapter 7. The chapter ends with a narrative that provides a lead to Chapter 3 in 2:70-3:1. Notice that Ezra's name is not on the list. He did not return with the first group and will not enter the narrative until Chapter 7.
2 They were the
ones who arrived with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Nahamani,
Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah.
The registry begins with the names of twelve leaders/elders leading the exiles on their homeward journey.
Some translations only name eleven leaders (NAB), leaving out Nahamani, but the same list in
Nehemiah 7:7 lists twelve men leading the returning exiles.
Of the twelve prominent men, Zerubbabel, a Davidic descendant and grandson of King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah (1 Chron 3:17) and nephew of Sheshbazzar will become the governor of the Persian Province of Judah during the reign of Persian King Darius I. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah credit him with the work of finishing the rebuilding of the Temple. It was a common practice for the Babylonians to give captives who they educated to serve in the government Babylonian names. Both Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel have Babylonian names like Daniel had the Babylonian name Belteshazzar. Zerubbabel means "shoot of Babylon."
Jeshua (Yeshua in Hebrew or Joshua/Jesus in English), named in verses 2 and 6, was the grandson of Seraiah, the last High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple (2 Kng 25:18-21, 1 Chron 5:41; Jer 52:24-27). His connection to the pre-exilic priesthood authorizes him to reestablish the rituals of worship in the rebuilt Temple. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah call him the "high priest" (Hag 1:1, 12-14; Zech 3:1-8).
Nehemiah is not the Nehemiah in the Book of Nehemiah, and Mordecai is not the same person as Queen Esther's cousin in the Book of Esther. Bigvai is the governor of the Province of Judah in 410-407 BC and the leader of a prominent family (Neh 7:19). Nehemiah 10:17 records his connection to the reinstatement of the Sinai Covenant (Neh 10:17). The list of twelve tribal leaders recalls the list of twelve Israelite leaders in the first part of the exodus out of Egypt in Numbers 1:5-15 and a second group of twelve chosen to reconnoiter Canaan in Numbers 13:3-16.
The registry names twelve different groups of people:
Woman and children were in the group of the returning exiles, but the registry only mentions women as being present among the groups of singers and slaves.
In ancient societies and some primitive societies today, the social structure consisted of extended family units usually referred to as "clans." Each unit consisted of a patriarch (an adult male authority figure who served as the family leader or head) along with his wife, sons and their wives, grandchildren (and often great-grandchildren), and other dependents.
Verse 21 mentions the "sons of Bethlehem" instead of the "men of Bethlehem." Bethlehem was the town in Judah where Boaz and Ruth lived, the town of Jesse and his sons, including his youngest son King David, and where Jesus will be born. However, "Bethlehem" is also a man whose genealogy is in 1 Chronicles 2:51, 54; 4:4.
41 The singers:
sons of Asaph ... 42 The sons of
the gatekeepers
These men are the descendants of Levitical families who
had specific duties in the Temple. Asaph was a gifted poet and musician. Scripture
attributes Psalm 50 and 73-83 to him. His descendants, the Asaphites, are a group
of musicians who organized the music for the liturgical assembly in Temple
worship (also see 1 Chron 6:24; 16:5-7, 37; 25:2, 9; 2 Chron 5:12).
Joshua 9:27 describes the origin of the Temple slaves (literally in Hebrew "the dedicated ones") in verse 43. In the conquest of Canaan, the Gibeonites tricked Joshua into making a treaty with them and swearing by an oath to guarantee their lives. When Joshua discovered their deception, he made them wood-cutters and water-carriers for the community and the altar of Yahweh for all their generations. The slaves of Solomon were Gentiles captured in war who became slaves in Solomon's palace and whose descendants became members of the covenant people.
62 These had
looked for their entries in the official genealogies but were not to be found there
and were hence disqualified from the priesthood. 63 Consequently, His Excellency forbade them to eat any of the
consecrated food until a priest appeared who could consult Urim and Thummim.
The search for names in the genealogical record to
establish genealogical connections is a reoccurring theme in Ezra and
Nehemiah. The problem reflects the growing concern for preserving the hierarchy
and lineage through the periods of the exile and postexile
Verses 59-62 list undocumented men and undocumented chief priests. "His Excellency," Sheshbazzar, the Tirshatha or royal governor, therefore, made the decision to forbid those laymen and their families who could not prove their lineage to eat the sacred communion meal of the Toda (Hebrew word meaning "thanksgiving") reestablishing "peace" with God that was limited to members of the covenant (Lev 7:7, 11-15/7:1-5; 22:21-30; Num 15:7-10). He also forbade undocumented chief priests from eating the terumah, sacred gifts belonging to only the priests (see Lev 7:7-10/6:37-40; 7:28-34/7:29-24 and Mishnah Ketubot, 24b).
Question: Limiting the sacred "thanksgiving" meal of
the Toda to covenant members is similar to what practice in the rituals of
worship in the Catholic Church?
Answer: The sacred meal of the Eucharist (from a Greek
word meaning "thanksgiving) is also limited to those baptized as a member of
the New Covenant in Christ and in communion with Christ's Vicar, the Pope.
Question: What were the Urim and Thummim mentioned in verse 63?
See Ex 28:30; Lev 8:8; Num 27:31; Dt 33:8; 1 Sam 28:6; Neh 7:65.
Answer: They were sacred lots worn on the breastplate of the high
priest that ere cast to obtain guidance from God when the people were facing
problems.
Question: What was the primary mission of the first group of
returning exiles lead by prince Sheshbazzar of Judah?
Answer: To rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
Question: What was the number of returnees in the first groups
and how does this number compare to the census of the people of the tribes of Judah
and Benjamin in Numbers 1:27-28 and 36-37?
Answer: The total number of the men returnees listed from both
tribes and the descendants of slaves was 49,897, whereas the numbers of men
only from the tribe Judah coming out of Egypt many centuries earlier had been
74,600 and for Benjamin 35,400. The majority of the covenant people of the Southern
Kingdom of Judah decided to remain in Persia.
68 When they
arrived at the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem, a certain number of heads of
families made voluntary offerings for the Temple of God, for its rebuilding on
its site. 69 In accordance with
their means they gave sixty-one thousand gold drachmas,
five thousand silver minas and one hundred priestly robes to the sacred
treasury. 70 The priests, the
Levites and some of the people settled in Jerusalem; the singers, the
gatekeepers and the temple slaves in their appropriate towns; and all the other
Israelites in their own towns.
The caravan probably followed the Euphrates River up to a
point east of the city of Aleppo, crossing west to the Orontes River valley and
then moving south. They probably passed either through the Beqaa (Becca) Valley
in Lebanon about 19 miles (30 km) east of the modern city of Beirut or through
Damascus, Syria on their journey of return. It was a about 750 miles from
Babylon to Jerusalem and took the exiles, traveling with the elderly, women,
and children, at least three months but perhaps longer since they rested from
their travels according to the Law on every Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11).
they gave sixty-one thousand gold drachmas, five thousand silver minas
The returning exiles made generous voluntary offerings for
the rebuilding of the Temple before they settled in the towns of their ancestors.
The drachma was a Greek silver coin, but the coin intended was probably the
Persian daric, a gold coin. In the Mesopotamian system, there were 60 shekels
in a mina and 60 minas in a talent. A shekel was the average wage for a month's
labor. Therefore, a mina was the equivalent of 5 years' wages and a talent,
300 years' wages. 61,000 gold Persian darics would weigh about 1,000 pounds
(about 500 kilograms) and 5,000 silver minas would weigh about 3 tons (about
2.9 metric tons).
The returned exiles then prepared to resume their lives as a people, chosen out of all other peoples of the earth, as Yahweh's priestly people living under the same conditions God gave them at the covenant formation at Mt. Sinai. In Exodus 19:5-6, Yahweh told them, So now, if you are really prepared to obey me and keep my covenant, you, out of all peoples, shall be my personal possession, for the whole world is mine. For me you shall be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation (see CCC 1539).
Do not miss the significant links between the exodus out of Egypt and the exodus out of Babylon. The word "exodus" means "departure."
| The Exodus out of Egypt | The Exodus out of Babylon |
| The Israelites endured a period of tribulation in Egypt. | The Judahites endured a period of tribulation in Babylon. |
| An Egyptian king with a hard heart resisted God's call to free the Israelites from bondage (Ex 5:1-2). | A Persian king with a receptive heart responded to God's call to release the Israelite/Judahite captives (Ezra 1:1). |
| The Israelites left Egypt with treasure and goods supplied by their Egyptian neighbors (Ex 12:12:35-36). | The returning exiles left Babylon with treasure and goods supplied by their neighbors (Ezra 1:4, 6). |
| Moses led the twelve tribes of Israel out of Egypt as a free people. | Sheshbazzar, a Davidic prince, led twelve groups of exiles out of Babylon as a renewed people. |
| There was a registry of the men making the journey (Num 1:27-28, 36-37). | There was a registry of the men making the journey (Ezra Chapter 2). |
| The twelve tribes of Israel returned to the Promised Land of Canaan. | Twelve groups of people from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin returned to the Promised Land of Judah. |
| The exodus out of slavery in Egypt prefigures Jesus Christ leading the New Covenant people of God out of slavery to sin and death and into the Promised Land of Heaven. | The exodus out of Babylon prefigures Jesus Christ leading the Kingdom of His Church on their journey of salvation to the Promised Land of Heaven. |
Question: How does the return of the exiles to their Promised Land also prefigure the mission of Jesus Christ?
Answer:
Questions for reflection or discussion:
Question: Why is it that Christians no longer seek the will of
God by casting lots? Zechariah cast lots for burning the incense in Luke 1:8-9
and the Apostles selected Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot as an Apostle by
lots in Acts 1:23-26.
Answer: Since the miracle of the filling and indwelling of the
Holy Spirit in the souls of those baptized in Christ at Pentecost in Acts
chapter 2, Christians discern the will of God in prayer by the power of God the
Holy Spirit.
Question: The people of Judah and their rulers had apostatized from their covenant with Yahweh, and He used the Babylonians as His instrument of judgment to bring the people to repentance and a renewed covenant relationship with Him. How does our loving God sometimes use judgment as the instrument of our conversion and salvation? When in your life has God allowed suffering to bring you to repentance and a renewed relationship with Him?
Endnotes:
1. History does not record the personal name of King Cyrus
the Great. It may have been Darius (a popular name for other Persian kings),
and he may be the Darius the Mede who the Book of Daniel credits with conquering
Babylon (5:30-6:1) and who Daniel served (Dan Chapters 6 and 9). History only credits
Cyrus the Great with conquering Babylon at the age of 62, as the ancients
counted (see Dan 6:1 where it is written that Darius was 62 when he conquered
Babylon). Cyrus' maternal grandfather was Astyagus, the king of the Medes. Cyrus
conquered the Medes and succeeded his grandfather as king of the Medes; it was his
first step in forming the Medo-Persian Empire.
2. Ahura-Mazda, a name meaning "wise lord," had many of the same attributes as Yahweh. Like Yahweh, he was the creator god and an invisible "supreme being" described as "a god of light" who is wise and good, and there was no created image of the Persian god. The only representation of Ahura-Mazda was an empty chariot drawn by white hoses in which the Persians believed the deity went into battle with the Persian army. Zoroaster/Zarathustra claimed to be a prophet of Ahura-Mazda and founder of the Zoroastrian religion. However, during the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550 " 330 BCE), Zoroaster is not mentioned in the inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings while inscriptions frequently mention Ahura Mazda. There are no solid links between the teachings of Zoroaster and the Achaemenid kings' worship of Ahura-Mazda besides the emphasis on moral behavior.
3. A nine-inch baked-clay cylinder records Cyrus' capture of Babylon without a battle. See a Persian record of the event in ANE 1:204, ANET 306, Herodotus' account in The Histories, 1.189-190.1, and Flavius Josephus' account in Antiquities of the Jews, 10.11.4.
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2018 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
Catechism references for this lesson (* indicates
Scripture is either quoted or paraphrased in the citation):
Davidic Covenant: 2 Sam 7:14 (CCC 238*, 441*);
7:18-29 (CCC 2579*);
7:28 (CCC 215, 2465*)