Ezra

Ezra book of the Bible, combined with Nehemiah in the Septuagint to form the book 2 Esdras. In the Vulgate , Ezra and Nehemiah are called 1 and 2 Esdras respectively. Ezra, like Nehemiah, is the work of the Chronicler (see Chronicles ) and narrates the history of the Jews from 538 BC to c.458 BC as follows: the decree of the Persian king Cyrus permitting the Jews to return to Palestine from captivity under the leadership of Sheshbazzar ; the return of Zerubbabel with a certain number to Jerusalem in c.520 BC where they complete the task of rebuilding the Temple despite opposition; and the return of Ezra, priest and scribe, to Jerusalem in c.458 BC with orders from King Artaxerxes I to restore the Jewish law. It is possible, however, that Ezra might have returned after Nehemiah in c.398 BC during the reign of Artaxerxes II. The text is not clear which Artaxerxes is meant. A substantial passage of Ezra is in Aramaic. See also Esdras for books purportedly written by Ezra in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha .

Bibliography: See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (1982); M. A. Thronveit, Ezra-Nehemiah (1992).

Ezra In the Old Testament, a continuation of Chronicles I and II. It records the priest Ezra's journey from Babylon to Jerusalem to spread the law of Moses.

Ezra. A priest and scribe after whom a book in the Hebrew Bible is named. Ezra himself was described as both a priest and scribe, and he had a major role in the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple after the Babylonian exile. Ezra was regarded as second in piety only to Moses.