Journey Through Esther, Ezra & Nehemiahഉദാഹരണം

Ezra: Behind the Text

The “Second Temple Period” begins after the 70-year Exile. This period is marked by the issues and institutions we encounter in the New Testament (circumcision, purity, food, Sabbath observance).

iMap: Exile & Return

During the ministry of Jeremiah and his contemporaries, a succession of Southern kings following Josiah headed inexorably toward exile. Babylon invaded Judah in 607 BC and made King Jehoiakim a vassal. Elite exiles were deported.

Then, after Jehoiakim rebelled, King Nebuchadnezzar returned to lay siege to Jerusalem in 597 BC. He took Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin and family back to Babylon along with a wave of 10,000 exiles. Jerusalem was left with only its poorest residents.

Another rebellion took place under King Zedekiah. Jerusalem was brought to its knees completely in 586 BC. A final group of exiles left a city now in ashes.

Jeremiah’s prophecy of a 70-year exile corresponds either to the time between the first exiles (including Daniel) in 607 BC and the first returnees with Zerubbabel (ca. 538 BC) or between the destruction of the Temple in 586 BC and its rebuilding in 516 BC.

The unthinkable happened when the Persian King Cyrus took over Babylon. He was welcomed into the city as a liberator. The Empire changed hands without a fight. This famous Cyrus Cylinder (ca. 538 BC), called the world’s first charter of human rights, records his invitation to exiled peoples all over the Empire to return to their homes.

The final waves of returnees mentioned in the Bible include those with Ezra (ca. 458 BC) and Nehemiah (ca. 444 BC).

Cyrus Cylinder

Second Temple Period