Ezra-Nehemiah

A Commentary

Joseph Blenkinsopp

• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
• Year: 1988
• ISBN:
  9781611645040
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

This volume, a part of the Old Testament Library series, explores the books of Ezra and Nehemiah

The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

COMMENTARY

I

EZRA 1–6

The Rescript of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1–4)

P. R. Ackroyd, “Two Old Testament Problems of the Early Persian Period,” JNES 17, 1958, 23–27; P. S. Alexander, “Remarks on Aramaic Epistolography in the Persian Period,” JSS 23, 1978, 155–170; D. K. Andrews, “Yahweh the God of the Heavens,” in W. S. McCullough (ed.), The Seed of Wisdom: Essays in Honor of T. J. Meek, Toronto, 1964, 45–57; E. J. Bickerman, “The Edict of Cyrus in Ezra 1,” JBL 65, 1946, 249–275; K. Galling, “Die Proklamation des Kyros in Esra 1,” Studien, Tübingen, 1964, 61–77; H. L. Ginsberg, “Ezra 1,4,” JBL 79, 1960, 167–169; M. D. Goldman, “The True Meaning of Ezra 1,4,” ABR 1, 1951, 58; H. H. Grosheide, “Twee Edicten van Cyrus ten gunste van de Joden,” GTT 54, 1954, 1–12; M. Haran, “Explaining the Identical Lines at the End of Chronicles and the Beginning of Ezra,” BR 2.3, 1986, 18–20; A. Kuhrt, “The Cyrus Cylinder and Achaemenid Imperial Policy,” JSOT 25, 1983, 83–97; J. Liver, “The Beginning of the Restoration of Zion,” Studies, 249–262 (Heb.); L. Rost, “Erwägungen zum Kyroserlass,” in A. Kuschke (ed.), Verbannung und Heimkehr, Tübingen, 1961, 301–307; H. Tadmor, “The Historical Background of the Edict of Cyrus” (Heb.), Jubilee Volume in Honor of David Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem, 1964, 450–473; C. C. Torrey, Ezra Studies, 115–139; R. de Vaux, “Les décrets de Cyrus et de Darius sur la reconstruction du temple,” RB 46, 1937, 29–57 ( = de Vaux, The Bible and the Ancient Near East, Garden City, 1971, 63–96); C. F. Whitley, “The Term ‘Seventy Years Captivity,’” VT 4, 1954, 60–72; H. G. M. Williamson, “The Composition of Ezra i–vi,” JTS n.s. 34, 1983, 1–30.

1:1 And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill his word spoken by^a Jeremiah, YHVH inspired Cyrus king of Persia, so that he issued a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also set it down in writing:

²“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: ‘YHVH the God of heaven has delivered to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has commissioned me to build him a house in Jerusalem which is in Judah. ³If anyone among you belongs to his people, may his god be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah to build the house of YHVH the God of Israel, that is, the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴Let the people of the place where there is any Jew remaining, wherever he may reside, support him with silver, gold, goods, and cattle, together with votive offerings for the house of the God who is in Jerusalem.’ ”

a. Reading b^epî with 2 Chron. 36:22 (cf. 1 Esd. 2:1) for MT mippî.

The opening paragraph of Ezra overlaps with the last of 2 Chron. (36:22–23), the connecting link being the allusion to Jeremiah’s prophecy, though in fact the turn of phrase used in this opening sentence suggests a conflation of Jeremiah and the exilic Isaiah (41:2, 25; 45:13). C’s account of the exile as the sabbatical rest of the land, interpreting Jer. 29:10–14 (cf. 25:11–14) in light of Lev. 26:34–35, marked the conclusion of the history of the First Temple. It also allowed him to represent the return under Cyrus as a new beginning with a temple built by diaspora Jews in a depopulated land. While the decree authorizing the return and the rebuilding of the temple is in general consonant with early Achaemenid policy, the present version has the appearance of a free composition. It contradicts the Aramaic version at 6:3–5, which stipulates that the operation be financed by the Persian government; and this and other differences are not adequately explained by diversity of function (pace Bickerman). Internal indications suggest the same conclusion as, for example, the term “survivor” (“any Jew remaining,” niš’ār) and the allusion to votive offering (n^edābāh), the latter characteristic of C.

[1:1] The first regnal year of Cyrus was 559/8 but his first year as ruler of Babylon was 538/7, the year of the well-known cylinder inscription (ANET, 315–316). The designation “king of Persia” does not occur in the Aramaic documents nor in Persian inscriptions during the period of Cyrus’ reign subsequent to the conquest of Babylon. His measures on behalf of the diaspora community are ascribed directly to YHVH who “stirred up” (hē‘îr) his spirit. The same expression is used of Tiglath-pileser (1 Chron. 5:26) and of Philistines and Arabs (2 Chron. 21:16). Haggai (1:14) uses it of Zerubbabel and, more directly to the point, the exilic Isaiah speaks in the same terms of Cyrus himself. There is therefore perhaps implied a reading of the Isaiah Cyrus text as indicating the concrete fulfillment of the Jeremiah prophecy. The rescript marks therefore a very special moment of grace, the historical realization of a new dispensation brought about by divine agency in fulfillment of the prophecies. The Jeremian text predicted judgment on Babylon, return after seventy years, and the renewal of religious life. The seventy years cannot be taken literally since we know of no deportation in 608. (Following Dan. 1:1 the nearest would be 606/5, but in the absence of confirmation this must remain uncertain.) But the author may be looking forward to the completion of the temple in 516/15, almost exactly seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple in 586 (cf. Zech. 1:12; 7:5; perhaps also Hag. 1:2); and it may not be pure coincidence that Nehemiah arrived to complete the rebuilding program exactly seventy years later, in 445. The proclamation was originally oral, carried through the streamlined Persian courier network. It was then committed to writing, certainly in Aramaic, the diplomatic lingua franca of the Persian empire.

[2] While the opening formula follows the pattern of Achaemenid royal inscriptions (e.g., Behistun), it was also familiar to Jews of the province. The title “God of heaven” with reference to YHVH is used in official documents (7:12, 21, 23) and when Jews are dealing with Gentiles (5:12; Jonah 1:9; cf. AP 30:2, 15, 27–28). It corresponds to the title of the Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazda, though it has not yet been established beyond doubt that Cyrus worshiped as a Zoroastrian. The attribution of his success to YHVH and the consequent need to restore his cult are historically plausible as a political adaptation of the language and ideology of the Cyrus cylinder, which credits the Babylonian imperial deity Marduk with his success; with which may be compared the inscribed brick from Ur reading “the great gods have delivered all the lands into my hands.” C was surely familiar with the preaching of the exilic Isaiah, who interprets the success of Cyrus in the same way, and it is even possible that the same prophetic text had come to the attention of Cyrus himself, as claimed by Josephus (Ant. 11.6).

[3] The syntax of this verse is problematic, but MT is intelligible as it stands. The translation given above assumes that the firman was addressed to the public at large rather than exclusively to golah Jews. The title “the god who is in Jerusalem” is standard in the Aramaic section (4:24; 5:2, 16, 17; 6:3, 12, 18; 7:16, 17, 19), though it is not always clear whether the reference is to the deity or the temple. It may be compared with “Yahu the god who is in the fortress of Jeb” of the Elephantine papyri (e.g., AP 30:6).

[4] The command to provide material support is directed at the population as a whole, a requirement which is historically quite implausible. Most likely the author has in mind the exodus theme of the despoiling of the Egyptians (Ex. 3:21–22; 11:2; 12:35–36), the first of many allusions to the early traditions which form a kind of deep structure to the history of this new beginning. The beneficiary is described as a “survivor” (niš’ār), a term with theological resonance identifying the Babylonian golah as the prophetic remnant (see also 1 Chron. 13:2; 2 Chron. 30:6; 34:21; Neh. 1:2–3; Hag. 2:3). The same term is used of golah Jews at Lev. 26:36 immediately following the description of exile as the sabbath of the land, a text which, as we have seen, stands behind 2 Chron. 36:21. Such language would not, of course, be used in an imperial Persian edict. The votive offering (n^edābāh; cf. 2 Chron. 31:14; 35:8; Ezra 3:5) belongs to a special category since the donor is Jewish and the gift is specifically for the temple. The verb hitnaddēb, volunteer, give freely, and related forms are characteristic of C (1 Chron. 29:5, 6, 9, 14, 17; 2 Chron. 17:16; cf. Ezra 7:13, 15–16).

Response of the Diaspora to the Rescript (Ezra 1:5–11)

P. R. Ackroyd, “The Temple Vessels—A Continuity Theme,” VTSup. 23, 1972, 166–181; W. F. Albright, “The Date and Personality of the Chronicler,” JBL 40, 1921, 104–124; F. I. Andersen, “Israelite Kingship Terminology and Social Structure,” Bible Translator 20, 1969, 29–39; A. Bartal, “Again—Who Was Sheshbazzar?” (Heb.), BM 24, 1979, 357–369; M. Ben-Yashar, “On the Problem of Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel” (Heb.), BM 27, 1981, 46–56; P.-R. Berger, “Zu den Namen ššbṣr und šn’ṣr,” ZAW 83, 1971, 98–100; F. M. Cross, “A Reconstruction of the Judean Restoration,” JBL 94, 1975, 4–18 ( = Int. 29, 1975, 187–203); P. E. Dion, “ššbṣr and ssnwry,” ZAW 95, 1983, 111–112; D. N. Freedman, “The Chronicler’s Purpose,” CBQ 23, 1961, 436–442; K. Galling, “Der Tempelschatz nach Berichten und Urkunden im Buche Esra,” ZDPV 60, 1937, 177–183; “Das Protokoll über die Rückgabe der Tempelgeräte,” Studien, 78–88; W. Th. In der Smitten, “Historische Probleme zum Kyrosedikt und zum Jerusalemer Tempelbau,” Persica 6, 1973, 167–178; S. Japhet, “Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel Against the Background of the Historical and Religious Tendencies of Ezra-Nehemiah,” ZAW 94, 1982, 66–98; C. C. Torrey, “The Chronicler’s History of the Return Under Cyrus,” AJSL 37, 1920/21, 81–100; J. Weinberg, “Das Bēit ’ābōt im 6.—4. Jh. V. u. Z.,” VT 23, 1973, 400–414.

1:5 Whereupon the heads of ancestral houses of Judah and Benjamin, together with the priests and Levites—in short, all whom God had inspired to go up and build the house of YHVH in Jerusalem—prepared to leave. ⁶All their neighbors supported them in every way,^a with silver, gold, goods, and cattle, and an abundance^b of precious gifts, apart from what they gave of their own free will. ⁷King Cyrus, moreover, retrieved the vessels belonging to YHVH’s house which Nebuchadnezzar had brought^c from Jerusalem to place in the house of his god; ⁸Cyrus king of Persia had them delivered into the keeping of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar prince of Judah. ⁹The total was: thirty gold basins, one thousand and twenty-nine assorted^d silver basins, ¹⁰thirty gold bowls, two thousand four hundred and ten^e silver bowls, and a thousand other vessels. “All of the gold and silver vessels came to five thousand four hundred. Sheshbazzar took them^f all up to Jerusalem when the exiles were brought back from Babylon to Jerusalem.

a. Reading bakkōl with 1 Esd. 2:6 and LXX for MT biklê-kesep, “with silver vessels.”

b. Reading lārōb with LXX and Syr. for MT l^ebad.

c. Reading hēbî’ for hôṣî’ with 1 Esd. 2:10 and LXX.

d. This translation of maḥ ^alāpîm (cf. NEB) is speculative, but no more so than the many other interpretations and emendations which have been suggested; e. g., a marginal note reading “to be changed” (Rudolph 1949, 5); “repaired” (Galling 1964, 83–85); “duplicates” (Williamson 1986, 4). Bewer 1922, 15–16, redivides ‘lpym ḥlpym and deletes the latter as dittographic.

e. Reading š^enayim ’elep for MT mišnîm with 1 Esd. 2:13.

f. Alternatively, “sent them” (he‘lāh).

[1:5] As C would have it, the rescript evoked an immediate and enthusiastic response from the exiles, the surrounding Gentiles supporting them no less enthusiastically. Those who answered the call are presented as a well-organized community hencef...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Works Consulted
• Introduction
• Commentary