Ezra 6

Ezra 6
"They builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Is-rael..." Ezra 6:14. In: Our day in the light of prophecy and providence (1921).
BookBook of Ezra
CategoryKetuvim
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part15

Ezra 6 is the sixth chapter of the Book of Ezra in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible,[1] or the book of Ezra–Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, which treats the book of Ezra and book of Nehemiah as one book.[2] Jewish tradition states that Ezra is the author of Ezra–Nehemiah as well as the Book of Chronicles,[3] but modern scholars generally accept that a compiler from the 5th century BCE (the so-called "Chronicler") is the final author of these books.[4] The section comprising chapter 1 to 6 describes the history before the arrival of Ezra in the land of Judah [5][6] in 468 BCE.[7] This chapter records the response of the Persian court to the report from Tattenai in the previous chapter: a search is made for the original decree by Cyrus the Great and this is confirmed with a new decree from Darius the Great allowing the temple to be built. This chapter closes this first part of the book in a "glorious conclusion with the completion of the new temple and the celebration of Passover" by the people, as their worship life is restored according to the Law of Moses.[8][9]

  1. ^ Halley 1965, p. 233.
  2. ^ Grabbe 2003, p. 313.
  3. ^ Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 15a, apud Fensham 1982, p. 2
  4. ^ Fensham 1982, pp. 2–4.
  5. ^ Grabbe 2003, p. 314.
  6. ^ Fensham 1982, p. 4.
  7. ^ Davies, G. I., Introduction to the Pentateuch in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 19
  8. ^ McConville 1985, p. 37-38.
  9. ^ Levering 2007, p. 75.