Nehemiah was a high official in the persian court of king artaxerxes i at. Project gutenberg offers 61,814 free ebooks to download. Persian inscriptions and rtsyl only in the pahlavi books from the old iranian. The decrees of artaxerxes i and the seventyweeks prophecy. Women could own land, conduct business, received equal pay, could travel freely on their own, and in the case of royal women, hold their own council meetings on policy. To complicate matters somewhat, the lxx and josephus identify the king as. And a tablet written by xerxes discovered in the kings palace, yes the kings father, the same king of persia in the book of esther. Further as weve seen above there is a great deal of additional chronological and historical evidence that suggest that darius i whom the book of ezra describes as an artaxerxes before the throne name was taken by his grandson was also the king the book of esther describes as ahasuerus. Brosius ends this study with a general discussion of the organisation and administration of the empire and its religious aspects. Is the greek and latin form of one, and perhaps of two or three kings of persia mentioned in the old testament. Artaxerxes in the books of ezra and nehemiah the same. List of the kings of the persian empire old testament. King of babylon the use of the title king of babylon in the book of ezra and nehemiah is a fascinating study and worth further explanation. And in the days of artaxerxes wrote bishlam, mithredath, tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto artaxerxes king of persia.
Strongs concordance calls this artaxerxes a persian king known as darius. Portrayal in the book of ezra and nehemiah a king artaxerxes hebrew. During his reign, artaxerxes i completed the hall of 100 columns at persepolis, rebuilt the palace of darius i at susa after a fire, and put down the revolt of inaros ii c. King xerxes of persia was the worlds most powerful monarch who ruled the persian empire around 486 b. List of the kings of the persian empire old testament charts bible. By the time the temple was completed in his 6 th year he is recognized, not just as king of persia, nor king of assyria, but, as artaxerxes, king of kings. In matthew, noble pilgrims followed a star to israel to pay homage to the newborn christ child. Artaxerxes i of persia project gutenberg selfpublishing. Esther and mordecai under xerxes of persia amazing bible. Artaxerxes ii, achaemenid king of persia reigned 404359358. Why does the niv say the king was xerxes, while the esv says the king was ahasuerus. Women in ancient persia were not only highly respected but, in many cases, considered the equals of males.
Artaxerxes, the great king, king of kings, king of lands, son of xerxes the king, the. He was the sixth emperor of the achaemenid dynasty. Artaxerxes is the greek form of ardashir the persian. Daniels prophecy of 69 weeks commences with a decree to restore and rebuild jerusalem, and the timeline of artaxerxes i verifies when artaxerxes issued that decree to ezra daniel along with ezra and nehemiah reckoned regnal years by the accessionyear system and civil calendar years running tishrielul see regnal year reckoning. A younger son of xerxes i and amestris, he was raised to the throne by the commander of.
Artaxerxes i was a persian king of kings who reigned from 465 bc to 424 bc. There would be only one more persian king before persia would be conquered during the wars of alexander the great. As if the spelling and pronunciation of ahasuerus and artaxerxes were not problematic enough for the average bible student, one must also consider these persian kings in light of the order in which they are mentioned in the book of ezra. This artaxerxes commissioned ezra to go to jerusalem and then, about thirteen years later, also sent nehemiah ezra 7. Artaxerxes i was the sixth king of kings of the achaemenid empire, from 465424 bc.
Great king, the name or title of several kings of persia. The decree to rebuild and restore jerusalem bible research tools daniels prophecy mentioned this decree. King ahasuerus, the son of darius hystaspes, the husband of queen esther and recorded in the book of esther. A younger son of xerxes i and amestris, he was raised to the throne by the commander of the guard, artabanus, who had murdered xerxes. Artaxerxes i, achaemenid king of persia reigned 465425 bc. Here we can see the actual beautiful silver plates from persian king artaxerxes i reigned 465425 b. Wise men of the east, also called magi, or three kings of the orient. Malachi did, zechariah and haggia just preceded nehemiah. A history of the persian empire and its rulers from c. According to the cambridge ancient history, king darius i of persia died in 485 bc, king xerxes his son, acceded in that year and so his first regnal year was 484 bc, so his 20th was 465. Discovered evidence of esthers husband king artaxerxes in. And it came about in the month nisan, in the twentieth year of artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him, and i as usual took up the wine and gave it to the king.
Josephus wrongfully claims that the ahasuerus xerxes of the book of esther is this artaxerxes i. He was a son of king xerxes ahasuerus and is often referred to as artaxerxes i longimanus. He may have been the artasyrus mentioned b y herodot us as being. Artaxerxes i, died 425 bc, susa, elam now in iran, achaemenid king of persia reigned 465425 bc. Artaxerxes i, a son of xerxes i and amestris, whose name flavius josephus jewish antiquities 11. The decrees of artaxerxes i and the seventyweeks prophecypart two. Many kings of babylon, media, and persia are mentioned in the bible, all of the names in. He was the son of the former persian king darius i he is traditionally considered to be the persian king ahasuerus referred to in the biblical story of esther.
In this year in august, he was murdered by his son who was not artaxerxes according to a. Since artaxerxes, as well as ahasuerusand even cyrus and dariusare believed by some scholars to be titles like pharaoh rather than personal. In verse 24 it states that the work on the temple of god in jerusalem remained at a standstill until the rain of darius of persia. If darius and artaxerxes are one and the same king as above, then we can expect a similarity in phraseology, family life etc. Many translations struggle with the issue of how to identify the king of esther.
According to the jewish bible books of ezra and nehemiah artaxerxes. Artaxerxes international standard bible encyclopedia. Ctesias wrote several books about persia and india. In the book of daniel a king named darius the mede is mentioned, in 5. This artaxerxes was the third son of xerxes and was raised to the throne by. He succeeded his father, xerxes i, in whose assassination he had no part. He was the son and successor of darius ii and was surnamed in greek mnemon, meaning the mindful. King xerxes was murdered shortly before king artaxerxes ascended the throne. Women in ancient persia ancient history encyclopedia. King xerxes was murdered shortly before king artaxerxes. The difficulty that presents itself in the book of ezra is that events surrounding letters which king artaxerxes received from, and wrote to, the enemies of the jews see ezra 4. He also maintained the persian policy of religious tolerance and autonomy and is probably best known through the biblical books of ezra and nehemiah where he is depicted as a great benefactor of the. Like his father and predecessor darius i, he ruled the empire at its territorial apex.
The first artaxerxes, among all the kings of persia the most remarkable for a gentle and noble spirit, was surnamed the longhanded, his right hand being longer than his left, and was the son of xerxes. Nehemiah was also stuck babylon persia at the time. Also includes an index of people and gods, extensive notes on sources and lists of authors and texts, maps, family tree, calendrical and chronological information. The persian empire from cyrus ii to artaxerxes i 9780903625289. Artaxerxes i of persia label from public data source wikidata artaxerxes i, king of persia, 425 b. Ezra chapter 7 explained discover the 66 books of the bible. He was surnamed in greek macrocheir longhand and in latin longimanus. The second, whose story i am now writing, who had the surname of the mindful, was the grandson of the former, by his daughter parysatis, who brought darius four sons, the eldest artaxerxes, the. He ruled over the kingdoms of persia, media, and babylonia, from india to ethiopia. Not long after cyrus, the king of persia, in year 6 of nabonidus 50100 b. Artaxerxes was the second son of xerxes, who was murdered in the summer of 465 by his allpowerful vizir artaban. In the days of artaxerxes wrote bishlam, mithredath, tabeel, and the rest of his companions, to artaxerxes king of persia.
If that isnt confusing enough, there was also an artaxerxes iii 359337 bce and an artaxerxes iv who only reigned two years, lasting from 338336bce. The persian kings and bible chronology ensign message. So there you have it, we have lopped off 57 years, and removed the necessity of. However, two persian kings went by this name and it seems that there is some split over which artaxerxes is being referenced here by ezra. In the book of ezra i have found mention of king artaxerxes i am guessing art i in chapter 4, and in this chapter he gives an order to stop the rebuilding in jerusalem.
His father was the former king xerxes and he ruled the persian empire from 465 b. Persian kings in the bible iran in the bible cyrus charter of human rights cyrus the great iran in the bible history of persia and cambysses, darius the great, xerxes, artaxerxes i persian kings according to the bible. When artaxerxes took the persian throne, the power of athens had been broken in the. Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the god of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
Artaxerxes i of persia was the fifth king of the achaemenid dynasty. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite reads in. I am darius daryavus, the great king, king of kings, the king of persia parsa, the king of countries, the son of hystaspes, the grandson of arsames, the achaemenid. Persian kings in the bible iran in the bible cyrus. To postpone his visit to the history book artaxerxes 1 would make it 57 years later and help to create two extra kings to accommodate him. Ezra and nehemiah both traveled from persia to jerusalem from the court of artaxerxes. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment also, decree, or word to restore and to build jerusalem unto the messiah the prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks. The third male child of his father, xerxes i or xerxes the great, his birth likely happened during the reign of his grandfather, darius i or darius the great. Artaxerxes of persia amazing bible timeline with world. Some of the israelites, including priests, levites, musicians, gatekeepers and temple servants, also came up to jerusalem in the seventh year of king artaxerxes. Apologetics press kingly chronology in the book of ezra.