Ezra

For other uses, see Ezra (disambiguation).

Ezra is a personal name derived from Hebrew, written variously as עֶזְרָא ( Standard Hebrew: ʿEzra, Tiberian Hebrew: ʿEzrâ), Arabic: 'Uzair (عزير), Turkish: Üzeyir.

Site traditionally described as the tomb of Ezra at Al Uzayr near Basra.

The historical Ezra was a priestly scribe who is thought to have led about 5,000 Israelite exiles living in Babylon to their home city of Jerusalem in 459 BCE. Many scholars credit him as the author of the Book of Ezra and the Book of 1 Chronicles in the Bible.

He is commemorated with the other Minor prophets in the Calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 31.

Accomplishments

According to the genealogy in Ezra 7:1-5, Ezra was the son of Seraiah (2 Kings 25:18-21), and a lineal descendant of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. A similar genealogy is given in 1 Esdras 8, as well as at the beginning of the Latin version of 2 Esdras, with the addition of a few names. All versions of 2 Esdras mention that he was also known as "Salathiel", "Shaltiel" or "Sutu`el" (depending on the version language).

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 (Ezra 8). Artaxerxes showed great interest in Ezra's undertaking, granting him "all 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.

No record exists for the 14 years between 459 BCE, when Ezra is thought to have organized the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of the Israelite nation, and 445 BCE, when Nehemiah first appears in the Bible's chronology. Nehemiah's first recorded act was to rebuild the ruined wall of the city. After this reconstruction, a great group of people gathered in Jerusalem to dedicate the wall. On the appointed day, Ezra and his assistants read the Torah aloud to the whole population. According to the text, a great religious awakening occurred. For successive days, beginning on Rosh Hashanah, the people rejoiced in the holy days of the month of Tishri. Ezra read the entire scroll of the Torah to the people, and he and other scholars and Levites explained and interpreted the deeper meanings and applications of the Torah to the assembled crowd. 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. Then, they renewed their national covenant to follow the Torah and to observe and fulfill all of the Lord's commandments, laws and decrees (Neh. 10:30). Abuses were rectified, and arrangements for the temple service were completed.

According to Josephus, Ezra was the contemporary of Xerxes son of Darius, rather than of Artaxerxes, and he died around the time Eliashib became High Priest (AotJ 11.5.1-5).

Relation to the Book of Ruth

According to many scholars, the Book of Ruth was originally a part of the Book of Judges, but was later made into a separate book. Its opening verse explicitly places it during the time period of the Judges, and its language and description seem to make the authorship contemporary with that period.

On the other hand, the message of the book, which shows acceptance of marrying converts to Judaism, has been used to suggest that the book was written during the early days of the Persian period. At that time, Ezra condemned intermarriages and, according to his eponymous book, forced the Israelites to abandon their non-Jewish wives who did not convert. According to this theory, the Book of Ruth was written in response to Ezra's reform, and in defense of these marriages. However, it has also been suggested that Ruth was written in response to critics of King David, who contested his qualifications as a Jew due to his Moabite ancestry.

Place in editing the Torah and Bible

According to Rabbinic Jewish tradition, Ezra collected and arranged some relatively minor books that today form part of the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Traditional Jewish sources do not mention any process of fundamental editing or redacting of the Chumash, or Five Books of Moses. Rather, the aggada suggests that Ezra and the Men of the Great Assembly edited such works as Daniel, Esther and Ezekiel (Bava Batra 14b).

The Deuterocanonical book of II Esdras (the Apocalypse of Ezra, which is also known as IV Ezra) tells us that Ezra wrote 94 Books in 40 days; 24 of those Books were to be distributed among the people, and the other 70 were to be given to the wise alone.

According to a theory expounded by some Biblical scholars, Ezra did play a fundamental role in the compilation of nearly all parts of the Hebrew Bible, including the Five Books of Moses. According to this theory, the documentary hypothesis, Ezra is thought to have interspersed various primary texts with occasional additions of his own that were intended to help reconcile apparent contradictions among the original texts. Discussion of the merits of the documentary hypothesis can be found in works by Rabbi David Weiss Halivni such as Revelation Restored: Divine Writ and Critical Responses (Westview Press, 1997), and Peshat and Derash: Plain and Applied Meaning in Rabbinic Exegesis (Oxford University Press, 1998), as well as in works such as "Who Wrote the Bible?" (Harper San Francisco, 1997 reprint) by Richard Elliot Friedman.

Ezra in the Qur'an

Ezra is known in the Qur'an as Uzair (9:30) : "The Jews said, "Ezra is the son of GOD," while the Christians said, "Jesus is the son of GOD!" These are blasphemies uttered by their mouths. They thus match the blasphemies of those who have disbelieved in the past. GOD condemns them. They have surely deviated."Orthodox Judaism (and all other streams as well) has never acknowledged Ezra to be the son of God. The Bible itself actually disproves that any Jews believed this by clearly stating that, "Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah," Ezra 7:1

Some Muslim sources also claim that some Jews who had converted to Islam believed Ezra was the MessiahNo Jewish movement claims that any man is the son of G0D as this is idolatrous.This belief is against Judaism.

Contrary to what it says in the Qur'an, Jews do not believe that Ezra is the son of G0D. This belief is against Judaism as Judaism is a monotheistic religion believing in one God.

Also in some Islamic narrations Ezra is the person mentioned in this verse:

[Quran 2:259] Consider the one who passed by a ghost town and wondered, "How can GOD revive this after it had died?" GOD then put him to death for a hundred years, then resurrected him. He said, "How long have you stayed here?" He said, "I have been here a day, or part of the day." He said, "No! You have been here a hundred years. Yet, look at your food and drink; they did not spoil. Look at your donkey - we thus render you a lesson for the people. Now, note how we construct the bones, then cover them with flesh." When he realized what had happened, he said, "Now I know that GOD is Omnipotent."

According to some Muslim commentators the town is Jerusalem after its destruction and Ezra is the person who did not believe it would be rebuilt.

External links

• Ezra in the Biblical Encyclopedia Tanakh Profiles Template:Languageicon See also translations of names.
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Ezra the Scribe