How Did Ezra Lose the Tribes?
In chronological terms, the canonical book of Ezra marks the last chapter
in the biblical saga that tells the history of the children of Israel, beginning
with the return of the Judahite exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem and the
building of the Second Temple.^30 The book begins just as 2 Chronicles
ends—with the dramatic declaration of Cyrus the Great (c. 559 – 530 bce),
ruler of the Persian Empire, which at its high point stretched from Central
Asia in the east to Egypt and Asia Minor in the west. Having conquered the
world and defeated the Babylonians, Cyrus proclaims the return of the Judahite
exiles to Jerusalem. Ezra asserts at the outset that these developments are all
the workings of the Lord and the fulfillment of prophecies that promised a
return to Judah—now Yehud, a Persian province. This return would be marked
by the building of a temple in Jerusalem:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord
by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout
all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus
king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the
kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house
at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. (Ezra 1 : 1 – 2 )^31The biblical authors were well aware of external sources, and they echoed them
in writing Ezra’s story.
Like his Assyrian and Babylonian predecessors, Cyrus left a monument.
The Cyrus Cylinder proclaims that the Persian emperor was “king of the
world, great king, legitimate king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and
Akkad, king of the four rims [of the earth].”^32 Restoring the Judahite exiles to
Jerusalem did not contradict Persian imperial policies concerning conquered
peoples. The Persians encouraged a great degree of cultural autonomy and
deliberately cultivated local loyal elites. Furthermore, it is likely that, after
Cambyses’ invasion of Egypt in 525 bce, a loyal and quiet province in Palestine
ruled by a Jewish elite tied to the Persian court was desperately needed by
the court.^33
The book of Ezra tells us that the initial return of the exiles met with all
sorts of trouble. By this account, the newly created province was socially and
politically unstable. In response, Artaxerxes I ( 465 – 424 or 423 bce) appointed
Ezra the scribe, a Jew of dignified pedigree, to lead another, greater wave of
returnees back to Jerusalem and to govern it.^34