Ezra's Return to Jerusalem

The event

Nearly eighty years after Zerubbabel's first return, a priest and scribe named Ezra — described as "skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given" — obtained an extraordinarily generous letter of authorization from King Artaxerxes I in 458 BC. It granted funding for Temple worship, permission to bring further exiles and Temple articles to Jerusalem, tax exemption for Temple personnel, and authority to appoint judges and teach the Law throughout the province.

Rather than request a military escort for the dangerous journey, Ezra called the company to fast and pray, "ashamed to ask the king for soldiers... since we had told the king, 'The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him.'" The journey went safely, and Ezra arrived to find the Jerusalem community in spiritual disarray — many, including priests and Levites, had intermarried with surrounding peoples in violation of the Law, threatening the very identity that had brought the exiles back in the first place.

Ezra's public grief over the report — tearing his clothes, pulling his hair, and praying a long corporate confession before a gathered crowd — sparked a wave of repentance and reform. His arrival marks the beginning of a renewed emphasis on Scripture itself as the center of the restored community's life, a role that would come to full flower a few years later alongside Nehemiah.

Dating

Some scholars have proposed dating Ezra's return to Artaxerxes II (yielding 398 BC) or reordering Ezra's ministry after Nehemiah's; the traditional and majority evangelical view keeps Ezra 7's 'seventh year of Artaxerxes' as Artaxerxes I, giving 458 BC, which fits smoothly with the narrative order of Scripture.

Scripture references

• Ezra 7:1-10
• Ezra 8:21-23
• Ezra 9:1-15