Editing Ezra (section)

==Academic view==
===Timeline===
Scholars debate the dating of Ezra’s mission due to textual emendations and lack of extrabiblical evidence, with proposed timelines placing his activity either during the reign of [[Artaxerxes I]] or [[Artaxerxes II]], complicating the historical context and relationship with Nehemiah.<ref name="Frevel 2023"/> Ezra came to Jerusalem "in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the King".<ref>{{bibleverse||Ezra|7:7|131}}</ref> The text does not specify whether the king in the passage refers to Artaxerxes I (465–424 BCE) or to [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]] (404–359 BCE).<ref name="igb">{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=J.R. |title=The Illustrated Guide to the Bible |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7607-2278-7 |location=New York |pages=115–16}}</ref><ref>The dates of Nehemiah's and Ezra's respective missions, and their chronological relation to each other, are uncertain, because each mission is dated solely by a regnal year of an [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenian]] King Artaxerxes; and in either case we do not know for certain whether the Artaxerxes in question is [[Artaxerxes I]] (465–424 BCE) or [[Artaxerxes II]] (404–359 BCE). So we do not know whether the date of Ezra's mission was 458 BCE or 397 BCE' [[Arnold J. Toynbee]], ''[[A Study of History]]'', vol. 12 (1961) [[Oxford University Press]], 1964 pp. 484–85 n.2</ref> Most scholars hold that Ezra lived during the rule of Artaxerxes I, though some have difficulties with this assumption:<ref name="Britannica" /> Nehemiah and Ezra "seem to have no knowledge of each other; their missions seem to have no overlap".  These difficulties have led many scholars to assume that Ezra arrived in the seventh year of the rule of Artaxerxes II, i.e. some 50 years after Nehemiah. This assumption would imply that the biblical account is not chronological. The last group of scholars regard "the seventh year" as a scribal error and hold that the two men were contemporaries.<ref name="Britannica" /><ref name="Edwards Gadd Hammond Boardman 1970 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Edwards | first1=I. E. S. | last2=Gadd | first2=C. J. | last3=Hammond | first3=N. G. L. | last4=Boardman | first4=John | last5=Lewis | first5=David M. | last6=Walbank | first6=F. W. | last7=Astin | first7=A. E. | last8=Crook | first8=J. A. | last9=Lintott | first9=A. W. | last10=Rawson | first10=Elizabeth | last11=Bowman | first11=Alan K. | last12=Champlin | first12=Edward | last13=Garnsey | first13=Peter | last14=Rathbone | first14=Dominic | last15=Cameron | first15=Averil | last16=Ward-Perkins | first16=Bryan | last17=Whitby | first17=Michael | last18=Sollberger | first18=Edmond | author19=Cambridge University Press | title=The Cambridge ancient history | publication-place=Cambridge [England] | year=2002 | isbn=0-521-85073-8 | oclc=121060 | page=272}}</ref>
However, in Nehemiah 8, Nehemiah has Ezra read the Torah to the people. So, they clearly were contemporaries working together in Jerusalem at the time the wall and the city of Jerusalem were rebuilt in contrast to the previously stated viewpoint.<ref name="MaryJ2">{{cite book
 | last = Winn Leith
 | first = Mary Joan
 | editor = Michael David Coogan
 | title = The Oxford History of the Biblical World
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zFhvECwNQD0C
 | orig-year = 1998
 | year = 2001
 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
 | location = [[Oxford]]; [[New York City|New York]]
 | isbn = 978-0-19-513937-2
 | oclc = 44650958
 | pages = 281
 | chapter = Israel among the Nations: The Persian Period
 | lccn = 98016042
}}
</ref> There is a much clearer problem with the timeline in a story from Ezra 4, that tells of a letter that was sent to Artaxerxes asking to stop the rebuilding of the temple (which started during the reign of Cyrus and then restarted in the second year of Darius, in 521 BCE). Clearly no such letter could have been sent to Artaxerxes, as he only became king in 465 BCE, so apparently some events detailing the resistance of leaders of nearby peoples against the works of Nehemiah must have been confused with events during the days of Zerubbabel.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}{{Relevance inline|date=September 2024|discuss=This claim has nothing to do with the timeline of Ezra's ministry.}}

===Historicity===
[[File:Tomb of Ezra.jpg|thumb|Site traditionally described as the [[Ezra's Tomb|tomb of Ezra]] at Al-Uzayr near [[Basra]], Iraq]]

There is no historical [[Scientific consensus|consensus]] on Ezra’s existence or mission due to a lack of extrabiblical evidence and conflicting scholarly interpretations, ranging from viewing him as a historical [[Aramean]] official to a literary figure, with debates hinging on the authenticity of the [[Artaxerxes I of Persia|Artaxerxes]] rescript and its dating.<ref name="books.google.com"/>

Mary Joan Winn Leith in ''The Oxford History of the Biblical World'' believes that Ezra was a historical figure whose life was enhanced in the scripture and given a theological buildup.<ref name="MaryJ1">{{cite book
 | last = Winn Leith
 | first = Mary Joan
 | editor = Michael David Coogan
 | title = The Oxford History of the Biblical World
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zFhvECwNQD0C
 | orig-year = 1998
 | year = 2001
 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
 | location = [[Oxford]]; [[New York City|New York]]
 | isbn = 978-0-19-513937-2
 | oclc = 44650958
 | pages = 306
 | chapter = Israel among the Nations: The Persian Period
 | lccn = 98016042
}}
</ref> Gosta W. Ahlstrom argues the inconsistencies of the [[Bible|biblical]] tradition are insufficient to say that Ezra, with his central position as the 'father of Judaism' in the Jewish tradition, has been a later literary invention.<ref name="Ahlström 1993 p. ">{{cite book | last=Ahlström | first=Gösta W. | editor-last=Vikander Edelman | editor-first=Diana | title=The history of ancient Palestine | publisher=Fortress Press | publication-place=Minneapolis | date=1993 | isbn=0-8006-2770-9 | oclc=27684165 | page=888}}</ref> Those who argue against the historicity of Ezra argue that the presentation style of Ezra as a leader and lawgiver resembles that of Moses. There are also similarities between Ezra the priest-scribe (but not [[Kohen Gadol|high priest]]) and Nehemiah the secular governor on the one hand and [[Joshua the High Priest|Joshua]] and [[Zerubbabel]] on the other hand. The early 2nd-century BCE Jewish author [[Ben Sira]] praises Nehemiah, but makes no mention of Ezra.<ref name="MaryJ1" />

[[Richard Elliott Friedman|Richard Friedman]] argues in his book ''Who Wrote the Bible?'' that Ezra is the one who redacted the Torah, and in fact effectively produced the first Torah.<ref name="Friedman1987">{{cite book|author=Richard Elliott Friedman|title=Who Wrote the Bible?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bwSAQAAIAAJ|year=1987|publisher=Perennial Library|isbn=978-0-06-097214-1|pages=232, 242}}</ref> It has been argued that even if one does not accept the [[documentary hypothesis]], Ezra was instrumental in the start of the process of bringing the Torah together.<ref name="Fantalkin Tal 2012 pp. 1–18">{{cite journal | last1=Fantalkin | first1=Alexander | last2=Tal | first2=Oren | title=The Canonization of the Pentateuch: When and Why? (Part I) | journal=Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft | publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH | volume=124 | issue=1 | year=2012 | issn=1613-0103 | doi=10.1515/zaw-2012-0001 | page=4 | s2cid=55036539 | url=http://archaeology.tau.ac.il/arch_files/directory/zaw124-1-2_fantalkin-tal.pdf}}</ref>

One particular aspect of Ezra's story considered dubious historically is the account in [[Ezra 7]] of his commission. According to it, Ezra was given truly exalted status by the king: he was seemingly put in charge of the entire western half of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]], a position apparently above even the level of the [[satrap]]s (regional governors). Ezra was given vast hoards of treasure to take with him to Jerusalem as well as a letter where the king seemingly acknowledges the sovereignty of the God of Israel. Yet, his actions in the story do not appear to be that of someone with near unlimited government power, and the alleged letter from a Persian king is written with [[Hebraism]]s and Jewish idiom.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grabbe |first=Lester L. |date=2004 |title=A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah |location= |publisher=T&T Clark |volume=1 |series=Library of Second Temple Studies 47 |isbn=0-5670-8998-3 |pages=324–327}}</ref>

Biblical scholar Tova Ganzel has recently argued that Ezra's status as both priest and scribe fits well in its [[fifth century BCE]] historical context in light of parallels with the [[Babylonia]]n temple scribes of the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Neo-Babylonian]] and [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Periods]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ezra the Scribe-Priest against the Backdrop of Babylonian Temple Officials |journal=Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society |url=https://janes.scholasticahq.com/article/75250-ezra-the-scribe-priest-against-the-backdrop-of-babylonian-temple-officials |last=Ganzel |first=Tova |issue=1 |volume=36 |pages=90–103 |year=2023 |issn=0010-2016}}</ref>