Editing Book of Ezra (section)

== Historical background ==

In the early 6th century&nbsp;BC, the [[Kingdom of Judah]] rebelled against the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] and was destroyed. As a result, the royal court, the priests, the prophets, and the scribes were taken into captivity in the city of [[Babylon]]. There, a profound intellectual revolution took place, the exiles blaming their fate on disobedience to their God and looking forward to a future when he would allow a purified people to return to [[Jerusalem]] and rebuild the [[Temple in Jerusalem]]. The same period saw the rapid rise of Persia, previously an unimportant kingdom in present-day southern Iran, to a position of [[great power]], and in 539&nbsp;BC [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus II]], the Persian ruler, conquered Babylon.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IfxMeDl6BZgC&q=The+books+of+Ezra+and+Nehemiah+Fensham Fensham, F. Charles, "The books of Ezra and Nehemiah" (Eerdmans, 1982)] p.&nbsp;10</ref>

It is difficult to describe the parties and politics of [[Judea]] in this period because of the lack of historical sources, but there seem to have been three important groups involved: the returnees from the exile who claimed the reconstruction with the support of [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus II]]; "the adversaries of [[Judea|Judah]] and Benjamin"; and a third group, "people of the land", who seem to be local opposition against the returnees building the Temple in Jerusalem.

The following table is a guide to major events in the region during the period covered by the Book of Ezra:
{| class="wikitable"
! {{nowrap|King of Persia}}<!--
    --><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=qRw7AAAAIAAJ&q=The+books+of+Ezra+and+Nehemiah++By+R.+J.+Coggins Coggins, R.J., "The books of Ezra and Nehemiah" (Cambridge University Press, 1976)] p.&nbsp;xi</ref>
! Reign&nbsp;{{nobold|(BC)}}
! Main events<!--
    --><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IfxMeDl6BZgC&q=The+books+of+Ezra+and+Nehemiah+Fensham Fensham, F. Charles, "The books of Ezra and Nehemiah" (Eerdmans, 1982)] pp.&nbsp;10–16</ref>
! Correlation with Ezra–Nehemiah<!--
    --><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RcB9XepTzRMC&q=The+Levitical+authorship+of+Ezra-Nehemiah Min, Kyung-Jin, "The Levitical authorship of Ezra-Nehemiah" (T&T Clark, 2004)] pp.&nbsp;31–32</ref>
|-
| [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus II]] || 550[?]–530
| 539 BC [[Neo-Babylonian Empire#Fall of Babylon|Fall of Babylon]]
| Directive to the Jews to rebuild the Temple and first return of the exiles to Jerusalem {{small|(taken as occurring in 538, since Babylon fell in October 539)}}
|-
| [[Cambyses II|Cambyses]] || 530–522
| 525 [[Battle of Pelusium (525 BC)|Conquest of Egypt]]
|
|-
| [[Darius I]] || 522–486
| Secures the throne in 520/519 after fighting off various rivals; [[First Persian invasion of Greece|failed punitive invasion of Greece]]
| 515 [[Second Temple|Temple rebuilt]].
|-
| [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]] || 486–465
| [[Second Persian invasion of Greece|Failed attempt to conquer Greece]]; beginning of struggle with Greeks for control of the eastern Mediterranean
| According to {{Bibleverse|Ezra|4:6}}, Xerxes (biblical [[Ahasuerus]]) received complaints from the [[Samaritans]] against the inhabitants of Yehud in the context of the enmities between the two groups.
|-
| [[Artaxerxes I of Persia|Artaxerxes I]] || 465–424
| 460–456 [[Artaxerxes I of Persia#Egyptian revolt|Successful suppression of Greek-supported revolt in Egypt]]<br />449 [[Megabyzus|Revolt by Megabyzus]], governor of the territory which included [[Judea|Judah]]
| Currently most widely accepted period for arrival of Ezra "in the seventh year of Artaxerxes"<br />Second return of the exiles to Jerusalem {{small|(in 458 if the king is Artaxerxes I, or 428 if the year is read as his thirty-seventh instead of his seventh)}}<br />445–433 [[Nehemiah|Nehemiah's mission]] {{small|(returns before the death of Artaxerxes)}}
|-
| [[Darius II]] || 423–404
|
| (Alternative) [[Second Temple|Temple rebuilt]].
|-
| [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]] || 404–358
| 401 [[Battle of Cunaxa|Egypt regains independence]]
| (Alternative) period for arrival of Ezra and second return of exiles to Jerusalem {{small|(in 398 if the king is Artaxerxes II)}}
|-
| [[Artaxerxes III]] || 358–338
| Egypt reconquered
|
|-
| [[Darius III]] || 336–330
| The [[Achaemenid Empire]] conquered by [[Alexander the Great]]
|
|}