Ezra

• ANCIENT SOURCES: see Ezra (sources)
• LIST OF SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Category:Ezra (subject)

Ezra was a priest and scribe who came to Judah from Babylon during the Persian period.

Overview

According to 1 Esdras, Ezra-Nehemiah and Josephus, the priest and scribe Ezra came to Judah with an official mission to impose "the law of Moses and the law of the King" to all Jews "beyond the River." He also enforced the prohibition of marriage with women of foreign origin and insisted upon the dismissal of such wives.

Ezra came to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerses, but it is not clear which king of this name is intended, whether Artaxerses I or Artaxerses II. Also his relationship with Nehemiah is confused. The Nehemiah and the Ezra traditions developed autonomously. The first-person Memoirs of Nehemiah makes no reference to Ezra, as 1 Esdras makes no reference to Nehemiah. The early 2nd century Jewish author Ben Sira praises Nehemiah, but makes no mention of Ezra. The two traditions chronologically overlaps in Ezra-Nehemiah, but there is no real contact between the two characters, if not in harmonizing additions to the Nehemiah narrative (12:26,36). In Josephus Nehemiah came after the death of Ezra.

The later book of 4 Ezra turned Ezra into a "prophet" and the recipient of the 24 public books and 70 hidden writings to be kept secret for the "wise."

References

• Josephus’ Portrait of Ezra / Louis H. Feldman / In: Vetus Testamentum 43.2 (1993) 190-214

• Ezra: Priest and Scribe / Reinhard Gregor Kratz / In: Scribes, Sages and Seers (2008 Perdue), edited volume, 163-188

Related categories

• Persian Kings (subject) / Artaxerses I (subject) / Artaxerses II (subject)
• Nehemiah (subject)

External links

• Wikipedia