Ezra (עזרא)

Priest (Scribe) and ldr of 2nd return in 458 BC

Born: 498 BC (if 40yo in 458 BC)
Died: 418 BC (if 80yo at d.)

15gfather: HP1 Aaron (cf Ezra 7:1-5)
14g-3gfathers ...
Ggfather: HP28 Hilkiah
Gfather: HP29 Azariah IV
Father: HP30 Seraiah (also father of HP31 Jehozadak), Ezra's bro and father of HP32 Joshua who came w/Zerubbabel ?! ... HP36 Johanan, HP37 Jaddua ...)
Mother: ?

Spouses: ?

Children: ?

At right, pic of Ezra from wiki ===>>


from Guillaume Rouille's 16C
Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum
(compilation of antique portraits)

3 returns:
1 (Prince) Zerubbabel 536 BC w/42360 Temple rebuilt (under Cyrus the Great)
[Esther c480 BC in Susa, m. Ahasuerus aka Xerxes]
2 (priest) Ezra 458 BC w/? piety restored (under Darius?)
3 (warrior/PM) Nehemiah 445 BC w/? walls rebuilt (under Darius?)

In the reign of King Artaxerxes [Longimanus r464-23 BC, cf ToN] of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah ... son of HP Aaron - Ezra went up from Babylonia ... [w/others] in the 7th year [458] of King Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:1-7).

From Bible:
Nehemiah 12:1-11 "1 These are the priests and the Levites who came up w/Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremoth, 4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the priests and of their associates in the days of Jeshua. 8 And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who w/his associates was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving. 9 And Bakbukiah and Unno their associates stood opposite them in the service. 10 Jeshua was the father of Joiakim ... Jaddua."

See also wiki?

SSM JTB: Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC. Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon in 539 BC. It was c520 when Zerubbabel and Joshua returned to Jerusalem w/Cyrus' blessing to rebuild the city and Temple. Tho the nearby people of Samaria wanted to help rebuild, Zerubbabel rejected them as 'half-breeds' and 'heretics' (55). The 2nd Temple was dedicated in March of 515 BC (55). Hmmm, p53 says Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar [= Zerubbabel?], son of the last king, to govern the region, and the latter soon led 42,360 exiles back to refound Judah, now as the Persian provice of 'Yehud'. But compared to Solomon's Temple, it was very modest, causing the older men who remembered the earlier one 'burst into tears' (56). It was 'over 50yrs later' (56, so c460 BC) that Nehemiah, cup-bearer to [Cyrus' son] Darius gson Artaxerxes I, was allowed to lead a 3nd return (hmmm, SSM doesn't mention the 2nd one, led by Ezra). But tho Nehemiah was granted governorship of the region, the Samaritans N of Jerusalem distrusted the Jerusalemites and were led by 'their own hereditary governor, Sanballat' (56), who plotted against Nehemiah. Nehemiah insisted on strict Torah-ruled, Temple-based, and Zadokite priests and NO intermarriage w/'people of the land' (also see Josiah.html for this date sequence). ... more from SSM JTB ...

Moved here from ahnen-sg: Johanan (or Jonathan) d371 BC HP36 c410-371 BC m. name? dau of Sanballat the Horonite. Johanan was the father of Jaddua, of the Aaronic line (KRGG p80). 400sy says [Jonathan's gdad] 'Eliashib [HP34] succeeded to the high-priesthood during the life-time of Nehemiah, and it was his gson (HP35 Joiada's son [HP36 Jonathan]) whom the Tirshatha [or Governor, i.e. Nehemiah] indignantly 'chased' from him because of his unhallowed alliance by marriage with the house of Sanballat the Horonite (Neh. 13:28). We know from Josephus that Joiada 'was exceedingly friendly to the mixed nations surrounding Judea' and that his son Jonathan, once driven out by Nehemiah, 'went over to the Samaritans, and with the aid of his wealthy and influential father-in-law [Sanballat], established the Samaritan system, and projected [planned] the building of a rival temple on Mount Gerazim. Such a temple was in existence as early as the days of Alexander the Great" [356-323 BC]. Jonathan 'left a most unsavory record [murder, corruption]. He was an insubject [lawless and violent] man'. The Bible mentions a 'Sheshbazzar' as seemingly the same as Zerubbabel i.e. as having 'laid the foundations of the Temple', but I wonder if that could've been Sanballat before his later split w/Nehemiah? Hmmm, so maybe Sanballat helped Zerubbabel w/the Temple but later spun off?


2 views of the site traditionally described as the tomb of Ezra at Al Uzayr near Basra, Iraq (d/l)


Woodcut from Die Bibel in Bildern
(The Bible in Pictures) 1860 by
Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld (d/l)


A color-improved version of Gustave Dore's 'Ezra Reading the Law' (d/l)


Ezra, 'the Scribe who wrote the Bible' (d/l)


Ezra beseeching the people (d/l)

Bible Events (cf Jesus, Ussher dates):
- 538 BC Cyrus the Great's decree permitting Jews to return to Jerusalem, given to Ezra
- 536 BC 1rst return led by Zerubbabel
- 519 BC rebuilt (2nd) Temple dedicated
- 517 BC Daniel writes his book, consulting Jeremiah (69yrs captivity, God says 'not 7, but 7 7s' i.e. not 49yrs, but 490yrs)
- 458 BC Artaxerxes' 1st proclamation: rebuild Temple only, not city (sends Ezra)
- 445 BC (14 Mar, or 5 Mar 444?) Artaxerxes' 2nd proclamation: now rebuild city too, 490yr clock starts (cf br400sy), 72yrs after Daniel wrote, 141yrs of captivity, Nehemiah goes to Jerusalem to rebuild walls
- 396 BC Jerusalem, Temple and OT completed (190yrs after captivity began, 121yrs after Daniel wrote, 49yrs after 'clock' started ticking, cf MacArthur in br400sy)



Contemporary (5C BC) Events:
- cf Zerubbab for earlier events
- 530 BC Cambyses succeeds Cyrus, rules to 521 9yrs
- 521 BC Darius I succeeds Cambyses, rules to 486 35yrs
- 510 BC Tarquinius Superbus ['the Proud'], last king of Rome, overthrown by rebellion, republic founded
- 496 BC Romans defeat Latins at Lake Regillus
- 494 BC Plebeians in Rome revolt, win political rights from patricians
- 493 BC Rome allies w/others in Latin League for mutual support in Latium v. Etruscans
- 492 BC Mardonius leads 1rst Persian expedition against Athens, but his fleet is shattered by a storm (Providential?)
- 490 BC 2nd Persian attempt, but Athenians win at Battle of Marathon (runner runs 26mi to Athens, rpts, dies, 1rst 'marathon')
- 486 BC Xerxes I the Great ruler of Persia (to 465 BC 21yrs, aka Ahasuerus husband of biblical Esther c480) demands tribute from Greek states, most refuse
- 480 BC 3rd Persian attempt, Xerxes w/180k men, the '300' die defending Thermopylae Pass N of Athens [movie], then Greek fleet defeats Persians at Salamis (2 of 7 'Tipping Points')
- 479 BC Battle of Plataea; Greek army defeats Persians, Persian fleet destroyed at Mycale, Athens and Piraeus fortified (wow, 4th time the charm?)
- 470 BC Hanno (the Carthaginian) sails down African coast, Socrates born
- 465 BC Artaxerxes I succeeds Xerxes I, rules to 424 41yrs
- 460 BC Egypt rebels against Persian rule
- 460-29 BC Golden Age of Pericles in Athens (29yrs)
- 460-51 BC 1rst Peloponnesian War (9yrs, Athens v. Sparta)
- 450 BC Herodotus visits Egypt, 'The 12 Tables' of Roman laws (on wooden tablets) written, Carthage developing new trading posts along N and W African coast
- 447 BC Athenians begin building Parthenon, completed 438 (WWiB p176)
- 431-21 BC 2nd Peloponnesian War (10yrs)
- c430 BC Statue of Zeus at Olympia built (3rd of 7 waw), plague breaks out in Athens
- 429 BC Pericles dies in plague, Acropolis completed and Plato born
- 424 BC Darius II succeeds Artaxerxes I (ass.), rules to 404 20yrs
- 415 BC War breaks out again Athens v. Sparta, Torah reaches its final form (WWiB p177)
- 409 BC Carthage begins invasion of Sicily
- 407 BC Athenian general Alcibiades quells revolt in subject states
- 406 BC deaths of Euripides, Sophicles end the great era of Greek drama (WWiB p177)
- 405 BC Lysander of Sparta defeats Athenian fleet
- 404 BC Athens defeated by Macedon, its sea-empire shattered, ends 'classical' age (tHA p45), begin shortlived 'govt of the 30 Tyrants'; Artaxerxes II rules to 359 45yrs
- c400 BC Navigation advances among Pacific islands (by natives?)
- 400 BC Retreat of the 10k (i.e. Greek soldiers from Mesopotamia led by Xenophon after defeat at Cunaxa)
- 399 Socrates condemned to die (b470 so 71yo)
- cf JaduHP37 for later events

The [fortress] city of Carcassonne has been a refuge for generations [millenia]. Built in the 5C BC, this stone fortress has provided protection for Romans, Gauls, Visigoths, Franks and French. Its sprawling size and majestic watchtowers and battlements gave confidence to those hiding inside its protective walls' (Daily Bread Fr 20 Dec 2013).



Sources:
- KRGG = Knights, Romans, Greeks and God, Brian Daniel Starr, Xlibris, 2011 (own)
- SSM JTB = Simon Sebag Montefiore's 'Jerusalem: The Biography', Knopf, 2011, FHL
- BN HT = History's Timeline, Barnes & Noble, 1981, own.
- WWiB = Who's Who in the Bible, Jean-Pierre Isbouts, Natl Geographic, 2013, Mustang.
- wikipedia page for Zerubbabel

cf ahnen-sg, David, Jesus.

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