1 in the first year of cyrus king of persia, in order to fulfill the word of the lord spoken by jeremiah, the lord moved the heart of cyrus king of persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing 2 “this is what cyrus king of persia says: Ezra, whose name means “help,” was a descendent of aaron, the chief priest under moses, and was related to joshua, who became the high priest of the rebuilt temple (ezra 3:2) Appointed to be a priest and a scribe, ezra was also a prolific writer. Ezra was a scribe and priest sent with religious and political powers by the persian king artaxerxes to lead a group of jewish exiles from babylon to jerusalem (ezra 7:8, 12) Ezra condemned mixed marriages and encouraged jews to divorce and banish their foreign wives.
Ezra recounts the return of the jewish exiles from babylon to jerusalem under the leadership of zerubbabel and later ezra It highlights the rebuilding of the temple, the restoration of worship, and the reestablishment of the law. The book of ezra provides an account of the jews’ regathering, of their struggle to survive and to rebuild what had been destroyed Through his narrative, ezra declared that they were still god’s people and that god had not forgotten them. 2 thus saith cyrus king of persia, the lord god of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth And he hath charged me to build him an house at jerusalem, which is in judah.
It comes after 2 chronicles in the english bible, but the hebrew bible places it before chronicles. Ezra, a revered figure in biblical history, played a crucial role in the history of israel He was a scribe and priest who lived during the time of the babylonian exile and the subsequent return of the israelites to jerusalem.
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