KING OF PERSIA · EXILE & RETURN

Artaxerxes. Stopped the building of the walls, then sent Ezra and Nehemiah.

REIGNEDi

Not given c. 465–424 BC (dates vary)

CAPITAL

Susa

HOUSE

Not stated 8th of 9 in Persia

SCRIPTURE SAYS

“To Rehum and Shimshai: "Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not…”

PROPHETS

None named

PERSIA: 9 RULERS CYRUS → NEHEMIAH

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The powers of the day

PERSIA

Ahasuerus

BEYOND THE RIVER (A PERSIAN PROVINCE)

Rehum · Shimshai

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · 465/464 BC

Elephantine papyrus (Cowley No. 6)

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · 408 BC

Elephantine papyrus (Cowley No. 30)

SUCCESSION

Before and after

THE REALM

Susa and the places of the account

Persia. Only places Scripture names are shown, each where the Atlas puts it.

WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS

What Scripture says of him

  • To Rehum and Shimshai: "Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me." Ezra 4:21
  • "Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace"; "for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?" Ezra 7:12 Ezra 7:23
  • Ezra: "Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem." Ezra 7:27
  • Nehemiah: "And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me." Nehemiah 2:8

DEALINGS

Dealings with God's people

  • His letter to Ezra gave silver and gold for offerings, vessels for the house, supplies from the treasurers beyond the river, and freedom from toll for priests and Levites. Ezra 7:15–24
  • He first halted the building of the city; later he gave Nehemiah letters for timber "for the gates of the palace" and "for the wall of the city". Ezra 4:21 Nehemiah 2:8
  • He sent letters to "the governors beyond the river", and Ezra delivered "the king’s commissions unto the king’s lieutenants". Nehemiah 2:7–9 Ezra 8:36
  • He told Ezra to set magistrates and judges for all the people beyond the river who knew the law of his God, and to teach those who did not. Ezra 7:25–26

EVENTS

Wars, works and turning points

Each mark sits at the year of the reign the Bible gives for it.

UNDATED IN SCRIPTURE

DATES DIFFER

When was it?

SCRIPTURE'S NUMBERS

No years given

Seventh, twentieth and thirty-second years named; no length of reign.

ARTAXERXES I: LATE 465 – DECEMBER 424 BC (PARKER AND DUBBERSTEIN, 1942)

c. 465–424 BC[3]

On this identification his seventh year was 458/457, his twentieth 445/444 and his thirty-second 433/432 BC.

ARTAXERXES I: 465–424 BC (RYLE, 1893)

c. 465–424 BC[34]

Ryle: "Artaxerxes reigned 41 years (465–424 b.c.)"; the twentieth year, 445 BC.

ARTAXERXES II: 404–358 BC (FOR ONE VIEW OF EZRA)

c. 404–358 BC[6][24]

Cowley's dates for Artaxerxes II; on this view Ezra's seventh year would be 398/397 BC.

No: the Magian who reigned between Cambyses and Darius

James Ussher (1658); H. Ewald (as reported by R. Dick Wilson, 1915)

Ussher identified this "Artachshashta" with the Magian usurper who called himself Smerdis, so that the work stopped until Darius's second year (Ezra 4:24). Ezra 4:24 [25][12]

Yes: Artaxerxes I

R. Dick Wilson (1915)

Wilson notes there is no evidence that the Magian was ever called Artaxerxes, holds that Artaxerxes I is meant, and says the other view "would never have been thought of had it not been for the difficulty of explaining the reference to him in this place". Ezra 4:12 [12]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 8

Ezra 4 Ezra 6 Ezra 7 Ezra 8 Nehemiah 1 Nehemiah 2 Nehemiah 5 Nehemiah 13

PASSAGES · 9

Ezra 4:7–23 Ezra 6:14 Ezra 7:1–28 Ezra 8:1 Ezra 8:36 Nehemiah 1:1 Nehemiah 2:1–9 Nehemiah 5:14 Nehemiah 13:6

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture does not say which Persian Artaxerxes is meant, or whether one king is meant throughout.
  • Nehemiah 2:6 does not name the queen who sat by the king.
  • Scripture records no separate decree lifting the halt of Ezra 4:21; the next word of the king on the walls is Nehemiah's letters (Neh 2:7–8).

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the textEzra 4:7–23, Ezra 7–8 and Nehemiah 2, 5 and 13 all name "Artaxerxes"; whether one king is meant in all of them is a question below. Ezra 4:7 Ezra 7:1 Nehemiah 2:1
  • Scholars' viewScholars identify Nehemiah's Artaxerxes with Artaxerxes I, who reigned 465–424 BC; A. Cowley (1923) argued from an Elephantine letter of 408 BC that Nehemiah's "two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes" was 433 BC.[12][6][34]

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), pp. 380–384 (the Cylinder of Cyrus, lines 12–35).
  • R. F. Harper (ed.), Assyrian and Babylonian Literature: Selected Translations (1901), pp. 168–171 ("The Annals of Nabonidus").
  • R. A. Parker and W. H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.–A.D. 45 (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 24; dates cited as facts only) (1942), pp. 11–15 (kings' reigns) and the tables of years.
  • L. W. King and R. C. Thompson, The Sculptures and Inscription of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistûn in Persia (1907), Persian text, §§ I–IV and X–XIII, pp. 1–13.
  • A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. (1923), No. 6, pp. 15–16 (introduction and translation).
  • A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. (1923), No. 30, pp. 108–114 (introduction and translation).
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 1 (1890), Book I §§191, 214.
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 1 (1890), Book III §88.
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 2 (1890), Book VII §§4, 61, 114; Book IX §§109–112.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Darius", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections (1)–(3).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Ahasuerus", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 1, 2 and 4.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Artaxerxes", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections (1)–(3).
  • T. G. Pinches, "Cyrus", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 9, 10, 12 and 14.
  • Burton Scott Easton, "Xerxes", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Zerubbabel", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 1, 3 and 4.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Tirshatha", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Nehemiah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 3 and 5.
  • James Crichton, "Gedaliah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), (1), sections 2–3.
  • John Urquhart, "Vashti", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • John Urquhart, "Esther", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • George L. Robinson, "Isaiah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), the sections on chapters 40–66 and on the critical view.
  • Gerson B. Levi, Kaufmann Kohler and George A. Barton, "Ahasuerus", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 1 (1901), biblical data and critical view.
  • Emil G. Hirsch and Isaac Broydé, "Ezra the Scribe", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 5 (1903).
  • Joseph Jacobs, M. Seligsohn, Morris Jastrow Jr. and D. S. Margoliouth, "Ezra, Book of", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 5 (1903).
  • James Ussher, The Annals of the World (English translation of the Annales) (1658), The sixth Age of the World, pp. 108–112 and 118 (read from the page scans, leaves 59–64).
  • L. McFall, "A Translation Guide to the Chronological Data in Kings and Chronicles", Bibliotheca Sacra 148 (facts only) (1991), numbered texts 1–68; page numbers of the author's PDF.
  • W. F. Albright, "The Chronology of the Divided Monarchy of Israel", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 100 (facts only) (1945), Chronological table, pp. 20–22.
  • C. F. Keil, tr. M. G. Easton, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on Dan 9:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. S. Taylor, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Keil and Delitzsch) (1873), note on Ezra 1:8 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. S. Taylor, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Keil and Delitzsch) (1873), note on Ezra 6:14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. A. Harper, The Books of the Chronicles (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on 1 Chr 3:17–19 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. D. Patrick, The Prophecies of Jeremiah (Keil and Delitzsch) (1880), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. E. Ryle, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1893), note on Ezra 1:8 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. E. Ryle, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1893), note on Neh 2:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers: 1 Chronicles (c. 1878–1884), note on 1 Chr 3:19 (read on Bible Hub).
  • S. R. Driver, The Book of Daniel (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1900), note on Dan 5:31 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Daniel (1880–1897), note on Dan 6:28 and the "Excursus on Darius the Mede" (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Esther (1880–1897), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. W. Streane, The Book of Esther (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1907), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1748–1763), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Jeremiah (1880–1897), note on Jer 41:1, reporting H. Graetz (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. W. Streane, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1881), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Isaiah (1880–1897), note on Isa 44:28 (read on Bible Hub).

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