EZRA, Boor OF. A record of portions of Jew ish history after the Babylonian exile. It origi nally formed in the Jewish canon one book with Nehemiah, and is supposed to have been com piled by the author of Chronicles from various doctunents, such as: (a) the memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah; (b) accounts of the building of the temple at Jerusalem in the reign of Darius; .(c) lists of heads of priestly and Levitical families; (d) lists of returned exiles—to all of which sources the redactor has made additions of his own. In the Septuagint the two hooks are still one and are called Esdras B (sec ESDRAS, BOOKS OF).
A division into two parts suggests itself, the first of which (ells. i.-vi.) contains: (1) The decree of Cyrus. dated in the first year of his reign and giving permission to the Jews to re turn to their own land and rebuild their temple. (2) The record of his restonition of the sacred vessels of silver and gold which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple and brought to Bab ylon. (3) The return of a portion of the people and the commencement of the work. (4) The obstacles placed in their way, chiefly by the Samaritans, in consequence of the refusal of the Jews to allow them to share in the work. (5) The interruption of the work till the second year Darius Ilystaspes, who. having found the decree of Cyrus, confirmed it and gave the Jews additional privileges and help by which they were enabled to complete their temple in the sixth year of Darius and reestablish divine worship. This part thus comprises the history of the Jews from ri.c. 538 to 513. The second part (ehs. vii.-x.) takes us to the seventh year of Artaxer xes I. Ininiimanus (n.c. 4510, and contains: (1) The decree of Artaxerxes, giving Ezra authority to proceed to Jerusalem with all Jews NV110 WHIN) to accompany him, and reestablish the Jewish State. On this occasion, the King, with his counselors, added large sums of silver and gold to the free-will offerings of the people, and also directed his treasurers in the provinces interven• ing between Babylon and Jerusalem to furnish the expedition liberally with needed supplies. (2) The arrival of Ezra, accompanied by 600 chief men and 200 priests and Levites. (3) The measures taken by Ezra for the suppression of mixed marriages.
The historical value of the narrative in Ezra and Nehemiah varies with almost every chapter. It is now considered doubtful whether the mem oirs of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra vii. 27 to viii. 34, and ix.; Nell. i. 1 to vii. 5, and xiii. 4-31), in which the two arc introduced as speaking in the first person, are authentic: and it seems, in any ease, certain that the memoirs do not lie before us in their original form. The decree of Arta
xerxes, more particularly, cannot be regarded as authentic. Strong arguments have also been brought forward against the current theory that any formal return of exiles in large numbers took place in the days of Cyrus. The lists in Ezra and Nehemiah are, on this theory, transferred to the days of Ezra, with whom the movement for a reorganization of the Jewish theocracy thus begins. This theory also carries with it the un historical character of the narrative regarding the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem long before Nehemiah's times (Ezra iv. 6-23). In short, the compiler of Ezra and Nehemiah ap proached his theme with a certain theory, and did not hesitate to rearrange his material and make his changes and additions in the documents from which he worked, so as to present the his tory of the Jews from the days of Cyrus as one continued endeavor on the part of the returned exiles to build this temple and establish the cult in accordance with the supposed laws given by Moses; whereas in reality it was the Jews who had remained in Judea and Jerusalem by whom the work of rebuilding the temple was begun, the exiles playing no part till B.C. 445, on the occasion of Nehemiah's first visit to Jerusalem. The late W. K. Kosters of Leyden, who first propounded this theory, also claimed that Ezra did not come to Jerusalem till Nehemiah's second visit in B.C. 433. and that it was on this occasion that the new law-book was brought to the people at the assembly which marks the constitution of the congregation of Israel. Certain features of this theory, such as the late date of Ezra's arrival, have been generally rejected; but the doubts east upon the authenticity of the events, at least in the order as related by the compiler of Ezra and Nehemiah, appear to be justified, though further investigation is required to dispose of some of the problems that still beset the scholar for the period n.c. 53S-130, which is one of the most puz zling in Jewish history.
Consult, besides thy works referred to under Ezun, Torrey's important monograph on The COMpositiou and Historic Value of Ezra and Nehemiah (Giessen, ISM), and the eommenta ries on Ezra and Nehemiah by Ryle. Keil, Oettli, and Siegfried, though in view of the direction re cently taken by Old Testament studies on Ezra Nehemiah, these are in part antiquated. See EznA N6;HEMI:\lI.