Ezra was a priest and scribe, a man learned in matters of the Lord's commandments and his statutes for Israel (Ezr 7:6a, 11). Ezra had set his heart on studying the
Mosaic Laws, to follow them and to teach these Laws in Israel (Ezr 7:10). According to Jewish tradition, he also compiled the Chronicles and perhaps even the Psalms.
He moved from Babylonia to Jerusalem, which was under Persian rule
(Ezr 7:6 (1 in some translations), 8–9). Ezra also collaborated with Nehemiah
(Neh 8:9, 12:26), see The Book of Nehemiah.
The Book of Ezra has the following content:
Chapters 1–3: Ezra describes what has happened before his own time: how the
Jews returned to their homeland by a decree of Cyrus, the first king of Persia.
Chapter 4: How the temple building came off because of the resistance from
the people who lived in the land and were adversaries to the Jews.
(It also describes the resistance to rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem,
which later occurred during the reign of Artaxerxes I, the fifth king of Persia.)
Chapter 5–6: How the temple construction was able to proceed by obtaining the permission of Darius I, the third king of Persia, and with the support of Haggai and Zechariah.
Chapter 7–8: How Ezra strengthened the people's temple service when he arrived.
Chapter 9-10: How Ezra strengthened obedience to the Law (see also Neh 8).
We have the following chronology for Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther:
- 537 BC: The decree of Cyrus, the first king of Persia, to rebuild the temple
(Ezr 1:1–4, Isaiah 44:28, 45:1, 4), see The Book of Habakkuk. - 537 BC: Zerubbabel's expedition to Jerusalem (Ezr 2:2).
- 536 BC: The foundation of the temple was laid (Ezr 3:7–11).
- 535 BC: The temple work stopped (Ezr 4:4–5, 24).
- 520 BC: The ministry of the prophet Haggai began, see
The Book of Haggai and prophet Zechariah, see The Book of Zechariah.
They prophesied that they would continue with the rebuilding of the temple. Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the Jews obeyed and continued with the rebuilding. (Ezr 5:1–2, 14). See also the picture in The Book of Ezekiel. - 516 BC: The temple was completed after being given permission to proceed by Darius I, the third king of Persia, father to Ahasuerus
(known as Xerxes I). (Ezr 6:1–15). - 486 BC: The reign begins of Ahasuerus (known as Xerxes I),
the fourth king of Persia. - 479/478: Esther is crowned queen, married to Ahasuerus,
see The Book of Esther. - 465 BC: The reign of Artaxerxes I begins, the fifth king of Persia
(son to Ahasuerus). The rebuilding of the walls is stopped during his reign (Ezr 4:13, 21–23). - 458 BC: Ezra moves to Jerusalem with several other Jews during the reign of Artaxerxes I (Ezr 7:1, 8–9, 13, 28, 8:1–13, 18–20).
- 445 BC: Nehemiah arrives to Jerusalem (Neh 2:11).
- 445 BC: The walls of Jerusalem are completed after 52 days (Neh 6:15).
- 433 BC: Nehemiah returns to Persia but will later return to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem and its temple by sending Ezra (Ezr 7:11–28) and Nehemiah
(Ezr 8:35).
(Deu (5 Mos) 7:4). This was also a reason why they ended up in exile, something that Ezra understood (Eze 9:3, 7, 10–14).
(Ezr 10:1). "For you (God) will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:16–17 (18–19 in some translations)). Ezra was advised to make a covenant with God to send away all these wives and their children, to do it according to the Law, and that it was his job to do it (Ezr 10:3–4).
(Neh 13:26). God had a plan for Israel, Messiah would come from them, and therefore it had to be done, even if it wasn't easy for the people.
from their foreign wives. The whole assembly responded that he was right,
and that they must do as he said. (Ezr 10:10–12). It took three months to find out who of the people this affected (Ezr 10:16b–44).