Dating the Events of Ezra and Nehemiah

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Scholars conclude that Cyrus lived too early to be considered the king who gave the order to ‘restore and rebuild Jerusalem’, yet God said it would be Cyrus who would give the command to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple (Isaiah 44:24-28). The **only** reason that Cyrus is rejected by both historians and Biblical scholars is, due to the false work of Claudius Ptolemy, which concerns the chronology of the kings of Babylon and Persia. Despite his warm reception from historians and Biblical scholars, his work has been proved to be unscientific.[1] This study takes the position that Claudius Ptolemy’s works are false and fraudulent.

In his first year of rule over Babylon, Cyrus permitted all of the captive Israelites, who wished to do so, to return to their homeland. However, the command wasn’t mandatory for all Jews to return. Daniel had a vision in the 3rd year of Cyrus’ reign over Babylon, which is found in Daniel 10 & 11. It is particularly important to understand two verses (Daniel 10:1 & Daniel 11:2) in order to recognize the timeframe of the first seven weeks of years of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Prophecy, (Daniel 9:24-25).

First, “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel… Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all…” These four kings are known in secular history as: Cyrus, his son Cambyses, Darius Hystaspes, and his son Xerxes.[2] It was during the reigns of these four kings that Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther take place, and all four men are referred to in the Book of Ezra.

The reason that the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah must take place during the reigns of these four particular kings is, first, Cyrus is mentioned by name in both the Bible (Isaiah 44:24-28; Ezra 1:1-2) and secular history. Furthermore, the Book of Ezra chronicles the return of the first Jews to their homeland, and this occurs because of Cyrus’ decree. It is only reasonable that the next three kings would follow in succession, otherwise Daniel 11:2 would be ambiguous without further explanation by the angel.

Secondly, the reason we cannot stray from the natural succession of these four kings is that the timeframe of both the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah is fixed within the first three generations of Jews, returning to their homeland. This is noted in Nehemiah 12 in the lists of the generations of the priests. Jeshua is the name of the chief of all the priests who returned with Zerubbabel in the first release of Jews from Babylon (Ezra 2:1-2,36). Jeshua, the chief of all the priests, led the returning remnant to rebuild the altar of God and began again the evening and morning sacrifices (Ezra 3:1-3). The generation of chief priests who worked with Jeshua is found in Nehemiah 12:1-7. The next generation of priest who worked in the ministry of Jeshua’s son, Joiakim, is found in Nehemiah 12:12-21. This second generation, however, though serving with Jeshua’s son, Joiakim, also served with his son Eliashib, and continued to the reign of Darius the Persian (Nehemiah 12:22). These same priests (Nehemiah 12:12-21) continued to the end of the Ezra-Nehemiah record:

“These (i.e. the Levites who served in the Temple) were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe” (Nehemiah 12:26).[3]

Therefore, the entirety of the two books are locked into the timeframe of the reigns of these four kings: from the last years of Cyrus to the first seven years of Xerxes the fourth king; a time span that Daniel refers to in Daniel 9:25 as “seven weeks…” of years or 49 years. Therefore, both the Temple and the walls of the city of Jerusalem were finished in 49 years, which the prophecy describes as very troublesome times (Daniel 9:25). There was trouble from without and betrayal from within, but God was faithful and assured the fulfillment of his word, which he spoke through Daniel.

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[1] See my earlier study: Who Was Claudius Ptolemy?

[2] Note that the angel does not tell Daniel that Persia will fall after the fourth king, only that there would be four kings important to the prophecy. Daniel 10:20 says that the angel fights with or strengthens Persia, but when the angel stops doing so, Greece would come and conquer Persia. The angel is not saying that Greece will conquer Persia immediately after the fourth Persian king, only that the first four kings would be important to Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Prophecy.

[3] See my earlier study: List of the Priests.