THE PROPHET EZRA Ezra was a Jewish priestly scribe who led about 5,000 Israelite exiles living in Babylon to their home city of Jerusalem in 459 BCE or 428 BCE or 397 BCE. Ezra reconstituted the dispersed Jewish community on the basis of the Torah and with an emphasis on the law. According to the Hebrew Bible, Ezra resolved the identity threat arisen by the intermarriage between Jews and foreigners and provided a definite reading of the Torah. Ezra is highly respected in the Jewish tradition. His knowledge of the Torah is considered to have been equal with Moses. Like Moses, Enoch, and David, Ezra is given the honorific title of "scribe" and is referred to as עזרא הסופר, or "Ezra the scribe" in Jewish tradition. Although not explicitly mentioned in the Quran among the prophets, he is considered as one of the prophets by some Muslim scholars, based on Islamic traditions. On the other hand, Muslim scholars such as Mutahhar al-Maqdisi and Djuwayni and notably Ibn Hazm and al-Samaw'al accused Ezra (or one of his disciples) of falsification of the Scriptures. Our knowledge of Ezra comes from the Book of Ezra, Book of Nehemiah and Apocryphal Book of I Esdras. According to the genealogy in Ezra 7:1-5, Ezra was the son of Seraiah, the high priest taken captive by Babylonians (see 2 Kings 25:18 and compare 1 Chron. 6:14), a lineal descendant of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. In the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes I Longimanus, Ezra obtained leave to go to Jerusalem and to take with him a company of Israelites. Artaxerxes showed great interest in Ezra's undertaking, granting him his requests, and giving him gifts for the house of God. Ezra assembled a band of approximately 5,000 exiles to go to Jerusalem. They rested on the banks of the Ahava for three days and organized their four-month march across the desert. After observing a day of public fasting and prayer, they left the banks of the river Ahava for Jerusalem. Having rich gifts and treasures in their keeping and being without military escort, they made the due precaution for the safeguarding of the treasures. After his arrival in Jerusalem, Ezra notices that contrary to the Jewish law, even the Jews of high standing and priests, had intermarried with pagan non-Hebrew women. Ezra took strenuous measures against such marriages and insisted upon the dismissal of such wives.[9][14] No record exists of Ezra until we find him at the reading of the Law which took place after the rebuilding of the wall of the city by Nehemiah. Ezra then brought the "book of the law of Moses" for the assembly. On the first day of the seventh month (Tishri), Ezra and his assistants read the Torah aloud to the whole population from the morning until midday. According to the text, a great religious awakening occurred. Ezra read the entire scroll of the Torah to the people, and he and other scholars and Levites explained the meaning of what is being read so that the people could understand them. These festivities culminated in an enthusiastic and joyous seven-day celebration of the Festival of Sukkot, concluding on the eighth day with the holiday of Shemini Atzeret. On the 24th day, immediately following the holidays, they held a solemn assembly, fasting and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. Afterwards, they renewed their national covenant to follow the Torah and to observe and fulfill all of the Lord's commandments, laws and decrees. Traditionally Judaism credits Ezra with establishing the Great Assembly of scholars and prophets, the forerunner of the Sanhedrin, as the authority on matters of religious law. The Great Assembly is credited with establishing numerous features of contemporary traditional Judaism in something like their present form, including Torah reading, the Amidah, and establishing the feast of Purim. In Rabbinic traditions, Ezra is metaphorically referred to as the "flowers that appear on the earth" signifying the springtime in the national history of Judaism. Even if the law had not been given to Moses before, Ezra was worthy of being its vehicle.[9] A disciple of Baruch ben Neriah, he favored study of the Law over the reconstruction of the Temple and thus because of his studies, he did not join the first party returning to Jerusalem in the reign of Cyrus. According to another opinion, he did not join the first party so as not to compete, even involuntarily, with Jeshua ben Jozadak for the office of chief priest. Ezra reestablished the Torah and apparently as a polemical measure against the Samaritans, he introduced Assyrian or square characters in it. Ezra was also doubtful of the correctness of some words in Torah and said that "Should Elijah, said he, approve the text, the points will be disregarded; should he disapprove, the doubtful words will be removed from the text". According to the tradition, Ezra was the writer of the Book of Chronicles. Source : Wikipedia HOME RETURN TO PAGE |
| Author: The Book of Ezra does not specifically name its author. The tradition is that the Prophet Ezra wrote the Book of Ezra. It is interesting to note that once Ezra appears on the scene in Ezra chapter 7, the author of the Book of Ezra switches from writing in the third person, to first person. Date of Writing: The Book of Ezra was likely written between 460 and 440 B.C. Purpose of Writing: The Book of Ezra is devoted to events occurring in the land of Israel at the time of the return from captivity and subsequent years, covering a period of approximately one century, beginning in 538 B.C. The emphasis in Ezra is on the rebuilding of the Temple. The book contains extensive genealogical records, principally for the purpose of establishing the claims to the priesthood on the part of the descendants of Aaron. |