In the Jewish return from the Babylonian exile, a new phase of covenant history was inaugurated in preparation for Christ. In the past, I have suggested that a very close analogy can be drawn between the period after the Jewish exile and the period of the Hebrew patriarchs. The story of Abraham begins with the fall of the tower and city of Babylon. Abram’s calling is given in the context of the story of the rebirth of idolatry in the culture and cult of Babylonia. Abram’s journey to the land of Canaan anticipates Israel’s later journey to Canaan. In Israel’s story, the people were redeemed from Egyptian bondage, settled temporarily in the wilderness as the old generation died off, and entered the land to possess it. Likewise in the story of Abram’s journey, Terah and his family begin their journey towards Canaan, but are waylaid between their place of origin and their destination. Terah takes his family “to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there” (Genesis 11:31). While in Haran, Terah (the older generation) dies, and Abram completes his joruney towards Canaan. As David Forhman has noted, the reference to “settling” in Haran in the middle of a journey from the east to the west seems to refer to Genesis 11:2, where people “from the east” decide to “settle” in Shinar and build a tower and a city. In the exodus from Egypt, it is the determination of many in the older generation to not complete the journey from Egypt to Canaan that leads to their being waylaid for thirty-eight more years (Numbers 14:3ff). When Abram does complete his journey, he dwells in a land that he does not possess. The patriarchal period is a preparatory period. It lays the foundations for the inheritance that comes in the days of Moses and Joshua. During this period of preparation, the patriarchs act as prophets and bear witness to the gentiles- culminating in Joseph’s divine witness to Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
In the return from exile, God inaugurates a phase of history not unlike the first patriarchal age. Like the times of Abraham, the Jewish people come out of Mesopotamia to establish worship in the land. When Abraham comes into the land, he begins to establish worship, building an altar (Genesis 12:8) as the Jewish nation does in the first wave of their return (Ezra 3:3ff.) The period after the exile features a number of characters who resemble characters in Genesis. The most obvious example is Daniel, who is part of the first wave of Jewish exiles taken (Daniel 1:1) when Nebuchadnezzar first subdues Jerusalem without sacking it (2 Kings 24:1, in 605 BC)- and lives throughout the entirety of the exile- living into the return from exile. The decree of return happens in the first year of King Cyrus of Persia (Ezra 1:1), and Daniel’s last vision is dated to the third year of his reign (Daniel 10:1). Like Joseph, Daniel is taken as a youth into the court of the gentile hegemon, but bears witness by the Spirit of wisdom to this king, bringing him to an awareness of the true God and creating a space within which the people of God can live (compare Daniel 4:9 to Genesis 41:38). In Daniel 6, what happens to Joseph at the beginning of his career happens to Daniel at the relative end of his- he is thrown into a pit and drawn out again.
Today and in the near future, I want to post some exploratory thoughts on the chronology of the Persian period of Jewish history. I have very little that is original to share. But as I reflect on these texts, there is the fundamental problem as to the identifications of the contexts of the events in the return from Babylon. There is no question that Cyrus the Great of biblical history is the person known as Cyrus in secular history. Likewise, the King Darius of Ezra 1-6 is undoubtedly “Darius the Great” of secular history. However, the chronology of Ezra 1-7 is actually quite challenging, as it is not clear whether the events narrated are in precise sequence. Conventionally, the events of Ezra 1-7 are interpreted as dischronologized: the early chapters of the book narrate the decree of Cyrus and the sponsorship of Darius of the rebuilding of the temple. Cyrus’ son Cambyses had inherited the Persian Kingdom from his father and reigned for about eight years. After Cambyses’ death, Persian history takes a bizarre turn: according to the Greek historians and Persian inscriptional evidence, Cyrus’ other son and Cambyses’ brother Bardiya had been killed. Upon Cambyses’ death, a magus named Gautama posed as Bardiya and took the throne. Upon discovering the plot, Darius the Great, descended from a different branch of the royal family, killed Gautama and assumed the throne himself. He then spent the first two years of his reign putting down rebellions in virtually all his territories, securing the Persian Empire in his third year. Intervening between the reign of Cyrus (the Empire builder) and Darius (the Temple builder) is thus a large civil war. Typologically, we might see Cyrus as analogous to David and Darius as analogous to Solomon, with the civil war that intervenes between the conquests of Cyrus and the secure reign of Darius analogous to David’s war with the rebels under the command of Absalom. The type is not exact: I do not know of a reasonable candidate in the history of the Monarchy whom we might see as analogous to Cambyses. But I offer you this sketch for your consideration.
The difficulty which confronts the interpreter is that while Ezra 1-3 clearly pertains to Darius the Great, Ezra 4 presents us with letters of Artaxerxes king of Persia in an explanation of a narrative reference to events which spanned the period from Cyrus to Darius. However, the king known to secular history as Artaxerxes Longimanus lived many decades after the reign of Darius the Great. Moreover, Ezra 6:14 refers to the decree of God, Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia to build the temple - but the only decree associated with a king named Artaxerxes in the text thusfar is the decree in Ezra 4 to cease work on the temple.
In future posts, I wish to explore the identity of the “Artaxerxes king of Persia” in Ezra and Nehemiah. Most commentators identify him with Artaxerxes Longimanus. My own opinion is not settled. I want to post exploratory reflections on the biblical data concerning Persian history in order to help me consider in my own mind the best account of these things.