Jensens survey of the old testament adam 131

historical books. Observe on the chart that
most of Malachi’s ministry took place during
Nehemiah’s return visit to Babylon. Those
were years of backsliding on the part of the
Jews in Canaan, when the rst spiritual zeal
had subsided. Hence, the message of
Malachi was mainly about sin and judgment
because of sin.
The prophet Daniel went into exile with
the rst contingent of Jews in 605 B.C. and
was ministering in Babylon in the service of
Darius the Mede (who was made king of
Babylon by Cyrus, Dan 5:31; 9:1) when the
exiles received permission to return (cf. Dan
1:21; 6:28). Though aged Daniel did not
return to Jerusalem with the exiles, he
supported the project in spirit (see Dan 9:125).
5. Observe on Chart 57 the periods
covered by each of the three books of Ezra,


Nehemiah, and Esther. Note the suspension
of the story of Ezra for a number of years.
Note also that Esther chronologically ts
between chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra, during
the reign of Xerxes.

6. Study the two maps related to the story


of these books. Map O shows the route of

the returning exiles, and Map P shows the
major places of postexilic Palestine, when
the Jews settled down in their homeland.
II. BACKGROUND OF EZRA
A. TITLE AND PLACE IN THE CANON

The book of Ezra is named after its
principal character. (If Ezra was its author,
this would also account for the title.)
Actually, the name Ezra does not appear in
the story until 7:1, but he still may be
regarded as the key person in the book.
In our English Bible, Ezra follows 2
Chronicles, picking up the story where 2
Chronicles leaves it (cf. 2 Chron 36:22-23
with Ezra 1:1-3). In the Hebrew canon, Ezra
and Nehemiah were considered as one
historical book8 and were located just
before Chronicles.


B. DATE AND AUTHORSHIP

The traditional view is that Ezra wrote the
book which bears his name. If he also wrote
1 and 2 Chronicles, which is very possible,
then we have in these three books a
continuous historical record by the one
author. (Compare the third-and rst-person
references to Ezra in such verses as

7:1,11,25,28; 8:15,16,17,21.)
Ezra may have written this book at about
450 B.C., soon after he arrived in Jerusalem
(458 B.C.).
C. THE MAN EZRA

Ezra has always been considered a key
gure in Jewish history. Just as Moses led
Israel from Egypt to Canaan, Ezra led the
Jews from Babylon to the land of their
fathers. Ezra’s name means “helper” (from
the Hebrew ‘ezer, “help”). He ministered to
his fellow Jews in captivity, and he led a