Seder Olam: C28- Esther
- Albert Benhamou
- Mar 18
- 33 min read
Updated: Mar 20
BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY
Generation 28: Hebrew years 3240 to 3360 (520-400 BCE)
Introduction
This generation falls into the cycle of 7 chronological generations which started with the 7th Generation of Lamech (see document C07), followed by the 14th Generation of the Flood (see document C14), then the 21st Generation of the Exodus (see document C21a in Hebrew year 2455 where more details are given on the recurrence of 7 generations), which represented the first "return to Sion" (the Promised Land), and now this 28th Generation is the one that triggered the Return to Sion of the Israelites who finally abandoned their life of exiles in the Persian Empire.
Year 3244 – 516 BCE – The Second Temple is completed
The construction of the Second Temple was completed 4 years after Darius’ decree, in the 6th year of his reign, in the last month of the year (Adar):
And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. And they offered at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem as it is written in the book of Moses. (Ezra 6:15-18)
Darius had asked that a memorial plaque of the city of Susa be placed towards the east, facing his empire. This was done at the eastern gate of the Temple which was then named "Shushan Gate" (the Gate of Susa), (see also document C27b, Hebrew year 3187).
A few weeks later, in the month of Nisan, the Israelites of Judea followed the festival of Passover. There had not been such celebration in the Temple since the end of the reign of King Josiah, some 92 years before. The first High Priest after this return from Babylon was Jeshua, the son of Jehozadak, the High Priest who went into captivity. Jeshua held this role until 490 BCE and was then followed by his son Joiakim until 470 BCE. Joiakim was succeeded by his son Eliashib until 433 BCE, who was himself followed by Joiada. But one son of the latter married a Canaanite woman. The chronological details are given in Nehemiah 12, but the dates are approximate. The erection of the Second Temple, in a time when there was no more kingship in the Jewish nation, meant that the most important authority among Jews was now the High Priest. Meanwhile, in Persia, the Jews started to assimilate and live comfortably under the Persian rulers who were tolerant to religions.
About Year 3260 – 500 BCE – The Pseudo-Scylax
During the reign of Darius, a Greek named Scylax of Caryanda made a journey by boat through several ports of the Mediterranean Sea, and this included ports along the coast of the Levant. His narrative titled Periplus of the sea of inhabited Europe, of Asia, and of Libya is interesting concerning the coast of the Land of Israel because it confirms that the ports at that time were ruled by the Sidonians from Phoenicia. This situation was part of an agreement made with the Persians with the aim to compete against the expansion of the maritime power of Greece.
The author specifically mentions the ports of Joppa (Jaffa), Doris (Dora), and Ascalon (Ashkelon), and also distances between the locations that he described.
Here is the corresponding extract, with some parts missing from the original text:
Travellers can notice in this country the city of Paleotyre [Tyre], at the middle of which flows the river of the same name, and the city of Ecdippa [Achziv], with its river [...], and the cities of Ake [Akko], of Belos [probably present-day Ashdod] and Askelon [Ashqelon] of the people of Tyre, and the cities of Arados [probably present-day Atlit] and Doros [Dor], inhabited by the people of Sidon, and the cities of Sycaminon and Joppe [Jaffa], the Carmel mountain and the temple of Jupiter.
It is said that it is in Joppe that Andromeda was exposed.
It is in Ascalon that are the arsenals and the shipyards of the Syrian court, [...] of [...] Until Ascalon, there are 1700 stadia. (Pausanias ou Voyage Historique, etc. Nouvelle édition [...] augmentée du Voyage autour du Monde par Scylax, traduit du grec en français par J. Ch. Poncelin, Paris, 1797; translation into English by Albert Benhamou)
Notes for the above underlined words:
Sycaminon was a fig-grove settlement that was close to present-day Haifa, on the coast near the Carmel Mount. It is actually different from the ancient site called Shiqmona, although the names sound similar.
Mount Carmel has often been the place for pagan cult, even at the time of the Israelite Northern Kingdom when Elijah confronted the priests of Baal during the reign of Ahab; Mount Carmel, with its cliff nearly reaching the sea, is noticeable for sea travelers of all times.
In Jaffa, there is a rock formation at sea called the Rock of Andromeda.
The stadia was of 600 feet according to Herodotus, but the length of a foot varied according to a region; so, in Greece a stadia was about 180 meters while in Egypt and in the Persian Empire it was about 200 meters; in the text, the part is missing from which to count the distance of 1700 stadia, which corresponded to about 300 km for a Greek traveler; the distance mentioned was probably the distance either from Beirut to Ashqelon or from Ashqelon to the Nile Delta.
Year 3274 – 486 BCE – Death of Darius
Darius was the first Persian ruler to extend his reach to the European continent. He crossed from Asia Minor onto Northern Greece and invaded most of the Greek regions, including Thrace and Macedonia, but failed to reach Athens after his defeat at Marathon in 490 BCE. This saved Greece. Being already old at that time, he left to his son Xerxes the task to continue his work and conquer the rest of Greece as he would have liked to achieve. But this will not happen.
Darius died in 486 BCE (Hebrew year 3274) and was buried in the necropolis of the Persian kings in Naqsh-Rostam near Persepolis in modern-day Iran.
Year 3274 – 486 BCE – Xerxes becomes king of Persia
Xerxes, who is called Ahasuerus in the Bible, had been nominated by his father to become the Achaemenid heir, so he naturally came to rule over the empire after his father’s death. He was 36 years old when he started to reign. His first task was to suppress some revolts in Egypt and also in Babylon. As a result, he refused the title of king of Babylon unlike his father Darius.
Year 3276 – 484 BCE – Ahasuerus and Vashti
The Book of Esther in the Bible opens with the following details:
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus -- this is Ahasuerus who reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces -- that in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the castle, in the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the army of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him. (Esther 1:1-3)
Xerxes started his reign with 127 provinces. When his father came to power, he ruled over 120 provinces (Daniel 6:2) and added 7 new conquests to the Persian empire. The Biblical expression sat on the throne of “his” kingdom is a reminder that Xerxes had already been chosen as the heir of the Persian Empire, although the succession had been a matter of dispute in the lifetime of Darius because Xerxes had an older half-brother, Artabazanes. But this son had a commoner mother, so Xerxes claimed that the throne was his because he came from a princely lineage from his mother. The reason for this feast that lasted several months, in which all the army participated, was because Xerxes was preparing to raise the spirit of his nation before engaging in the future military campaign against Greece. His father had been defeated at Marathon and he left the task to Xerxes to complete the conquest.
Xerxes was married to Vashti, the daughter of a high dignitary, Otanes, who was one of the 7 conspirers who brought Darius to the throne. Vashti has been identified as Amestris (for more details, click here). At the feast, the king wanted to show her to his guests because of her beauty but she refused to obey his order. He had to punish her in order to ascertain his authority in front of all the important guests:
Also, Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Bizzetha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was fair to look on. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the chamberlains; therefore was the king very wroth and his anger burned in him. (Esther 1:9-12)
The Biblical text contains names of officials who have been known to historians. Bizzetha was Megabyzus who would later conspire against Xerxes but would eventually switch sides again. Abagtha was Artabanus who oversaw the harems and who would later assassinate Xerxes.
Instead of using authoritative power, as the king of the biggest empire of the times would have done, Ahasuerus played cautiously against Vashti, as he was too new a king and she was the daughter of a dignitary, one of his army commanders. Also, the feast was to achieve union among his empire in view of the campaign to Greece, so it was not appropriate to cause chaos at the head of the state and the army. Xerxes need to first achieve success in a major military campaign to strengthen his power. So, he used the advice of high dignitaries to decide what should we do:
Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times -- for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment; and the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat the first in the kingdom: 'What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, forasmuch as she has not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?' (Esther 1:13-15)
Among the list of princes of Persia, Marsena was Arsamenes who, according to Herodotus, was a son of Darius (Herodotus, The History, chapter Polymnia, section LXVIII). Some of these names refer to the names of provinces that formed the Persian Empire, such as Shethar for Scythia, Tarshish in Asia Minor, Pakshish which was Bactria, Meres for Media, Marsena for Margiana. The names of these provinces are mentioned in Behistun inscription (Darius, column 2, section [2.2]).
Memucan was the last of the list to be mentioned, because he was probably a lesser dignitary compared to the other “princes”, and yet he was the only one to speak up:
And Memucan answered before the king and the princes: 'Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the peoples, that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will come abroad unto all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it will be said: The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.’ (Esther 1:16-17)
According to the Talmud, this Memucan was eager to get promoted, and he will be for the good advice that the king really wanted to hear:
A Tanna taught: Memucan (מְמוּכָן) is the same as Haman. And why was he called Memucan? Because he was destined [mucan מוּכָן] for punishment. R. Kahana said: From here we see that an ordinary man always pushes himself in front. (Talmud, Megillah, 12b)
Vashti was disgraced but not executed due to her aristocratic lineage. Then Xerxes prepared for war.
Year 3276 – 484 BCE – The "70 years"
The Jewish Sages have argued about the counting of 70 years of the Babylon exile: did the prophecy of Jeremiah apply to Babylonian rulers, or to the captivity in Babylonia? When was it supposed to end? The question had puzzled Daniel in his days (see document 27c, Hebrew year 3238), and the following text gives an idea of the difficulty met by the Sages at the time of the Talmud in building the chronology of events:
In those days, when the king [Ahasuerus] sat [on his throne]. [How can this be] seeing that it says just afterwards, in the third year of his reign? — Raba said: What is meant by ‘when he sat’? After he began to feel secure. He reasoned thus: ‘Belshazzar calculated and made a mistake; l have calculated and made no mistake’ — What is the meaning of this? — It is written: After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon I will remember you, and it is written, That He would accomplish for the desolations of Jerusalem seventy years. He reckoned forty-five years of Nebuchadnezzar and twenty-three of Evilmerodach and two of his own, making seventy in all. He then brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them [during his great feast].
And how do we know that Nebuchadnezzar reigned forty-five years? — As a Master has said: ‘They went into exile in the seventh year and they went into exile in the eighth year; they went into exile in the eighteenth year and they went into exile in the nineteenth year’ — [That is to say], in the seventh year after the subjection of Jehoiakim they underwent the exile of Jeconiah, this being the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar. In the eighteenth year from the subjection of Jehoiakim they underwent the exile of Zedekiah, this being the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, as a Master has said, In the first year [of his reign] he [Nebuchadnezzar] overthrew Nineveh; in the second year he conquered Jehoiakim and it is written, And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month in the seven and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach King of Babylon, in the year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him forth out of prison. Eight and thirty-seven make forty-five of Nebuchadnezzar. The twenty-three of Evilmerodach we know from tradition. These with two of his own [years of reign] make seventy. He [Belshazzar] said to himself: Now of a surety they [the Jews] will not be redeemed. So, he brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them. Hence it was that Daniel said to him, “but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven, and they have brought the vessels of His house before you.” It is further written: In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain, and it is written, And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
He [Ahasuerus] said: He [Belshazzar] calculated and made a mistake. I will calculate and make no mistake. Is it written, ‘seventy years for the kingdom of Babylon?’ It is written seventy years for Babylon. What is meant by Babylon? The exile of Babylon — How many years [is this reckoning] less [than the other]? Eight. So, in place of them he inserted one of Belshazzar, five of Darius and Cyrus, and two of his own, which made seventy — When he saw that seventy had been completed and they [the Jews] were not redeemed, he brought out the vessels of the Temple and used them — Then the Satan came and danced among them and he slew Vashti. But did he reckon correctly? — He also made a mistake since he ought to have reckoned from the destruction of Jerusalem. Granted all this, how many years are short? Eleven. How long did he reign? Fourteen. Consequently, in the fourteenth year of his reign he ought to have rebuilt the Temple. Why then is it written, “Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem”? — Raba replied: The years were not full ones. (Talmud, Megillah, 11b)
Furthermore, Raba also believed that Daniel had the numbers wrong as well:
Raba said: Daniel also made a mistake in this calculation, as it is written: In the first year of his reign, I Daniel meditated in the books [etc.]. From his use of the words ‘I meditated’ [which can also be read as ‘I revised’] we can infer that he [at first] made a mistake. (Talmud, Megillah, 12a)
The task of setting a correct chronology has been arduous in these times and still is today! In this particular case, the 70 years applied to the divine punishment of the Babylonian kingdom: it was destroyed by the Persians 70 years after Jeremiah’s prophecy. But the Babylonian captivity was said to end after these 70 years would be accomplished. The collapse of Babylon had indeed opened the door to the end of captivity with Cyrus’ decree. But the end of captivity did not imply the end of the exile, because most of the Jews remained in Babylon as free men, and even moved to key Persian cities such as Susa, rather than returning to Sion as expected and wished by God.Raba’s attempt to place the end of the 70 years period at the time of Ahasuerus was wrong. He surely wanted to match this period with the group of Israelites who were the first to return to Sion. But this first return did not mark the end of the exile. The captivity had indeed (officially) ended with Cyrus’ decree, thus correctly after the accomplishment of the 70 years prophecy. But most of the Jews preferred to remain exiled in the vast Persian empire and enjoy their new status of free citizens. The clear risk was the end of the Jewish nation by assimilation, as it had happened with their ancestors in Egypt where they took high positions and adopted local customs.To get the Jews to return in great numbers and rebuild Sion, God had to design a succession of events that would cause the return to their ancient faith and the binding to the Covenant made with their forefathers.
Year 3280 – 480 BCE – Xerxes’ campaign against Greece
Xerxes started to attack Greece in spring 480 BCE with a very large army. He was challenged by Leonidas and a small force of Spartans at the battle of the Thermopylae, but he succeeded in this campaign and even captured Athens. But the war was not over. The Greeks had retreated to nearby Salamis and defeated the entire Persian fleet in the straits. Xerxes, fearing to be cut off from Asia on the European continent, decided to return back to Persia in the winter of 480 BCE thus ending his campaign with mixed results as he could not consolidate his temporary success.
Back in Susa, Ahasuerus wanted to assure his dynasty with a descendance. To do so, and because he had no official wife, he thought of restoring Vashti to her former status. The matter was urgent especially after his difficult campaign against Greece which could cost him his life. But his dignitaries wanted to prevent this reconciliation from happening and rather sought after young virgins to occupy the king’s mind (Esther 2:1-4).
Hadassah, an Israelite orphan girl, was noticed by the chamberlain of the king in charge of the harem. She was the niece of Mordechai, a Benjamite who had Kish as an ancestor, as King Saul did. Mordechai participated to the first Return to Sion, after Cyrus’ decree, but later returned to Persia.
Hadassah was brought to the castle of Susa to be raised as a concubine. But she concealed her Jewish origin and called herself Esther, which was derived from the name Ishtar, the goddess of Babylon. The name of Mordechai himself was also made up for the same reason because Mordechai means Marduk, the god of Babylon.
Year 3282 – 479 BCE – Queen Esther
Esther was introduced to Xerxes/Ahasuerus towards the end of the year 479 BCE:
So, Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.
Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the bounty of the king. And when the virgins were gathered together the second time; and Mordechai sat in the king's gate. Esther had not yet made known her kindred nor her people; as Mordechai had charged her; for Esther did the commandment of Mordechai, like as when she was brought up with him. (Esther 2:16)
Mordechai later discovered that two conspirers from the king’s palace wanted to assassinate him, surely as a result of his failed campaign. In these days, a king would win legitimacy by winning wars. Mordechai informed Esther of the conspiracy and she informed the king. The conspirers were hanged. The circumstance was recorded in the annals of the reign but got quickly forgotten at the time.
Year 3285 – 475 BCE – The festival of Purim
Ahasuerus appointed a man called Haman to a rank above all other dignitaries. Haman was from the tribe of Agag, from the people of Amalek. Agag had been spared by King Saul against the divine orders (see document C23b, Hebrew year 2699):
And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is in front of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, even the young of the second birth, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but everything that was of no account and feeble, that they destroyed utterly. (I Samuel 15:7-9)
Through the voice of Samuel the Prophet, God had commanded to Saul to kill all the Amalekites, but Saul did not obey. In doing so, by a reverse of fortune, the survivors ended up years later at the service of the Persian Empire while cultivating hatred towards the Israelites.
Haman conspired to organize a genocide against the Israelites, using the tactics to raise awareness to the king that this people would not show respect to him nor prostrate:
And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus: 'There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws; therefore, it profits not the king to suffer them. If it please the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those that have the charge of the king's business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.’ (Esther 3:8)
Haman was given a free hand by the king. So, he sent a decree throughout the empire to order the execution of all Israelites in a single day. With the help of fortune-tellers, he set the date for the 13th day of the month of Adar, which is the 12th month of the Hebrew year. In the Hebrew calendar, the years are counted from the New Year festival (Rosh Hashanah) while the months are counted from Nisan, which follows Adar; so, Adar is the 12th and last month of the count of months. In Hebrew calendar, there is no correlation between the count of years and the count of months.
And to make the matter even more attractive to the executioners, he decreed that they could seize all the properties of the ones they would slain. He surely thought that greed would guarantee the job to be done with expediency. In the 20th century, Hitler acted in the same way: to engage German people to act violently against the Jews, he allowed them to take whatever pleased them from their victims.
Consternation fell upon the Israelites and Mordechai called upon Esther for help. After fasting for three days, she invited the king and Haman to a private dinner she intended to prepare for the next day and to present her petition to him. The entire procedure intrigued the king:
On that night the king could not sleep; and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written, that Mordechai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, of those that kept the door, who had sought to lay hands on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said: 'What honor and dignity has been done to Mordechai for this?' Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him: 'There is nothing done for him.' And the king said: 'Who is in the court?'
Now Haman came into the outer court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordechai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king's servants said unto him [the king]: 'Behold, Haman stands in the court.' And the king said: 'Let him come in.' So, Haman came in. And the king said unto him: 'What shall be done unto the man whom the king delights to honor?' -- Now Haman said in his heart: 'Whom would the king delight to honor besides me?' -- And Haman said unto the king: 'For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal apparel be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides upon, and on whose head a crown royal is set; and let the apparel and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man therewith whom the king delights to honor, and cause him to ride on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him: Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.' Then the king said to Haman: 'Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as you have said, and do even so to Mordechai the Jew, that sits at the king's gate; let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.' (Esther 6:1-10)
After executing this paramount royal honor for Mordechai, Haman was in doubt that his plan to kill all the Israelites would succeed.
Haman was soon called to attend the dinner arranged by Esther and could not have time to change the course of events, as he had already informed all the provinces of the empire to annihilate the Jews on the next day, the 13th of Adar. At the end of the dinner, Esther accused Haman to have ordered to kill all her people, which would de facto include her, as she was Israelite herself.
Her Jewish faith had not been known to neither Ahasuerus nor Haman. Haman was hanged at the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai. Then the king ordered to reverse the evil decree of Haman against the Israelites so that they could defend themselves and kill those who attempted evil against them and take their properties as a spoil. Killing their enemies they did, but taking their properties they did not. The Biblical text takes great length in emphasizing this detail (Esther 9:10, 9:15 and 9:17).The Biblical text also mentions the death of the 10 sons of Haman. Many modern commentators have made a parallel between Haman and Hitler. The circumstances of the festival of Purim indeed share several details with the Holocaust. For example, the hanging of the 10 sons of Haman was echoed by the hanging, after the Nuremberg trials, of 10 ministers and high dignitaries of the Nazi regime. Also, and maybe more importantly, both events resulted in a return of Jews to Sion.
The judges and the prophets had often repeated the divine voice: God will punish His people when they would deviate from His covenant, but He will not allow their complete annihilation. The past 2500 years of Jewish history seem to have proven this divine promise, because of the unlikely survival of the Jews despite the persecutions, the forced conversions, the evil decrees, and the rest that nations had in turn orchestrated against them.
The same divine protection applies to the Arabs to some extent because both Israelites and Arabs are the legacy of Abraham. It is a tragedy that the two people are today in conflict one against the other which, surely, is against God’s and Allah’s will. Mutual acceptance and cooperation would transform a war zone into a true beacon for humanity because this is where civilization and faith had started, and would restore world peace.
After these fateful events, Mordechai has decreed that the Israelite people should commemorate their survival every year on the 14th and 15th of the month of Adar, as this is when it took place in the Persian Empire: this became the Jewish festival of Purim. Strangely or not, the Book of Esther is the only book of the Bible where there is no mention of God, although God’s divine designs can be perceived throughout. This is to remind that the Israelites, by their own merit and actions, brought upon themselves divine salvation from their enemy. In this context, Purim is considered the most important festival as the Jews restored their faith by themselves, without being openly guided by any prophet to tell them God’s word.
Mordechai became a close advisor to the king:
And King Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account of the greatness of Mordechai, how the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordechai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his seed. (Esther 10:1-3)
Year 3295 – 465 BCE – Artaxerxes, the “king of kings”
Xerxes was ultimately assassinated by military conspirers who also killed his heir. His failure in Greece was the root cause of his demise. Artaxerxes, his eldest son, seized power and avenged his father by executing the conspirers.
Artaxerxes was the first son of Xerxes but from his wife Amestris/Vashti. So, he had been banished from the royal court along with his mother. This certainly saved his life from the conspirers who did not expect his return to power. He had cultivated profound respect for Esther who probably protected him after his mother died because she, herself, had been an orphan. Artaxerxes married Damaspia who, according to sources, was Esther’s only daughter with Xerxes: Damaspia was known to follow the Jewish faith, like her mother. Artaxerxes adopted the title of “king of kings” instead of using one such as “king of Babylon”.
Year 3296 – 464 BCE – The dream of Mordechai
Some chapters of the Book of Esther were included in the future Septuagint, the first translation of the Bible in Greek, but are not part of the Jewish Torah. One of these texts concerns a dream that Mordechai had in these times:
In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great, in the first day of the month Nisan, Mordechai the son of Jair, the son of Semei, the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew who dwelt in the city of Susa, a great man and among the first of the king's court, had it dream. (Apocrypha, Esther, chapter 11, 2-3)
This detail shows that Mordechai became advisor to Artaxerxes, among the first of the king's court, and that, consequently, the Ahasuerus of the Bible was indeed Xerxes, the father of Artaxerxes. As for his dream, Mordechai had not been able to understand it and it is still unexplained as it probably relates to future times.
It is not known when Esther and Mordechai died, but they seem to have both been buried in Hamadan, Iran, where there is where a mausoleum still standing today. But there are alternative locations for their tomb such as the one in Baraam, Northern Galilee, with a Jewish tradition that Esther and Mordechai asked to be buried in the Land of Israel.
Year 3302 – 458 BCE – Ezra the Scribe
In the 7th year of Artaxerxes’ reign, Ezra, a Levite who descended from Zadok the high priest, was authorized to arrange for the return to Sion of a number of Israelites from Babylon. They left the city on the 1st day of the 1st month (Nisan) and arrived to Jerusalem on the 1st day of the 5th month. His goal was to revive the faith among his brethren as the text suggests it:
For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances. (Ezra 7:10)
Artaxerxes had given his approval with a strong worded decree which shows the level of respect he had for the “God of heaven”:
Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, and so forth. And now I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, that are minded of their own free will to go with you to Jerusalem, go. Forasmuch as you are sent of the king and his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand; and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold that you shall find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shall offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. And whatsoever shall seem good to you and to your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold that do you after the will of your God. And the vessels that are given you for the service of the house of your God, deliver you before the God of Jerusalem. And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house.
And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers that are beyond the River, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? Also, we announce to you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, impost, or toll, upon them.
And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach you him that knows them not. And whosoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. (Ezra 7:12-26)
As a first step of applying the law of God, Ezra endeavored to remove from the Israelite congregation all foreign spouses. Inter-marriage had been the norm among the first Israelites who returned from exile, even among the Levites. It was agreed that separation would need to be done, however painful it might be:
And Ezra the priest stood up and said unto them: 'You have broken faith, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.' Then the entire congregation answered and said with a loud voice: 'As you have said, so it is for us to do.’ (Ezra 10:10-12)
One of the sons of the High Priest Joiada was married to a Canaanite woman and was thus excluded from the Temple service by Nehemiah (see below for Hebrew year 3326); this exclusion was in line with the commandments about maintaining the priesthood.
It is from the time of Ezra that the Jews stopped being proselyte and generally refrained from marrying outside their community, thus keeping one of God’s main commandments. Ezra also established several reforms of the Jewish life to increase participation of the people in the religious service and thus strengthen the faith. For example, he established weekly readings of the Torah: in his times, the sections of the Torah were smaller, so the complete cycle of reading took about 5 and a half years, as compared as one year today. Also, with Ezra the learning of the Torah started for the masses, while before him only the priests were involved in reading and learning the Torah.
Year 3315 – 445 BCE – Nehemiah, Governor of Yehud
In the 20th year of Artaxerxes’ reign, Nehemiah, who was Cupbearer in the castle of Artaxerxes in Susa, received the visit of an Israelite who came from Jerusalem. The visitor told him about the affliction of their brethren, and about the fact that the city was no longer protected by walls. Nehemiah was deeply moved by what he heard, and prayed to God that He would keep His covenant if His people would repent, as those in Jerusalem did.
There is a tradition that this visitor from Jerusalem was Ezra himself, who came to Susa to plead to the king for help in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He would have found in Nehemiah the right person to address himself as a royal intermediary. And on his way back to Jerusalem, because Ezra died in that year. A tomb which was known to be his since the Middle Ages has been a site of pilgrimage, for both Jews and Muslims for centuries.
A few months later, when Nehemiah was serving the king with wine, he asked for his authorization to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and the gates of the city. Artaxerxes granted his approval and even made him Governor of the province of Yehud (the Persian Judea) to have authority about this mission (Nehemiah 5:14).
Year 3316 – 444 BCE – Compilation of the Tanakh
In his endeavor to teach the Israelites about the laws and ordinances given by God, Ezra and the assembly of the Elders compiled most of the contents of the Tanakh, otherwise called the Hebrew Bible which is different than the Old Testament (Septuagint). See document C30, year 230 BCE. And Nehemiah wrote the last book, concerning Ezra’s and his own deeds.
And who wrote all the books? Moses wrote his book and a portion of Balaam [Numbers, xxii.], and Job. Joshua wrote his book and the last eight verses of the Pentateuch beginning: "And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died."
Samuel wrote his book, Judges, and Ruth. David wrote Psalms, with the assistance of ten Elders, viz.: Adam the First, Malachi Zedek, Abraham, Moses, Hyman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korach.
Jeremiah wrote his book, Kings, and Lamentations.
King Hezekiah and his company wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, [Song of] Songs, and Ecclesiastes.
The men of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Daniel, and the Book of Esther.
Ezra wrote his book and Chronicles – the order of all generations down to himself. [This may be a support to Rabh's theory, as to which R. Jehudah said in his name, that Ezra had not ascended from Babylon to Palestine until he wrote his genealogy.]
And who finished Ezra's book? Nehemiah ben Chachalyah. (Talmud, Baba Bathra 14b-15a)
Before Nehemiah endeavored to rebuild physical walls to protect Jerusalem, he felt compelled to first complete the "spiritual walls" surrounding the Written Law, the Tanakh. This was done to complete the great work started by Ezra and to provide the needed spiritual protection for future generations. Nothing has altered the content, nor of course the text, of the Tanakh since these days for the past 2500 years. It is about these spiritual walls and gates that a Psalm compares to the physical dwellings:
The Lord loves the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. (Psalms 87:2)
This verse may also be interpreted as the return to Sion should be more important for a Jew than the [comfort of his] dwellings in Diaspora.
The Tanakh (or "Hebrew Bible") is composed of 39 books:
the 5 books of the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
the 21 books of the Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel I & II, Kings I & II, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
the 13 books of Writings (or Hagiographa): Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra & Nehemiah, Chronicles I & II
The word Tanakh is simply the acronym T”N”K of Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets), Ketubim (Writings) which represents the three portions of the Hebrew Bible.
Year 3326 – 434 BCE – Nehemiah settles in Jerusalem
Once he came to Jerusalem, Nehemiah had to survey the walls of the city by night (at the time, Jerusalem was the modern-day area called City of David, south from the Temple Mount), because of the suspicion and the enmity of the foreign people who ruled over the Jews in these times. He followed a path descending along the creek on the Western side and then going uphill along the Kidron riverbed on the Eastern side:
And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
And I went out by night by the creek gate, even toward the dragon's well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king's pool; but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night in the valley, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the creek gate, and so returned.
And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. (Nehemiah 2:12-16)
Note from above underlined text:
The creek was the Tyropoeon valley which used to exist on the western side of the Temple Mount.
The Dung’s Gate still exists today, as one of the gates in the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The King's pool is the pool of Shiloah (or Siloam), created by King Hezekiah when he deviated the waters of the Gihon Spring. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus cured a blind man at this pool.
The valley of the Kidron, which is the border between the Temple Mount and the Mount of the Olives.
Nehemiah then engaged each important Jewish family to repair the walls and gates of the city. The foreigners of the region got angry, conspired against the Israelites, and threatened to attack the remains of their city of Jerusalem. The coalition against the Jews was composed of five nations:
But it came to pass that, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein. (Nehemiah 4:1-2)
However, Nehemiah organized a method of defense while keeping the restoration works to continue despite the threats:
And it came to pass from that time forth, that half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.
They who built the wall and they who bore burdens laded themselves, everyone with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other held his weapon; and the builders, everyone had his sword girded by his side, and so built.
And he who sounded the horn was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people: 'The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another; in what place whenever you hear the sound of the horn, resort you towards us; our God will fight for us.’ (Nehemiah 4:10-14)
With all the Israelites joining forces together, the works were completed swiftly:
So, the wall was finished on the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. (Nehemiah 6:15)
Obviously, a work in 52 days could not be enough to rebuild the walls entirely, but it was surely enough time to repair what was broken or in bad state. Multiple families worked in parallel in all parts of the walls, so that all could be finished in a short time.
After completion of the works, Nehemiah also set an annual fee for the Jews to pay towards the Temple service. The amount was one third of a shekel:
Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God; for the showbread, and for the continual meal-offering, and for the continual burnt-offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the appointed seasons, and for the holy things, and for the sin-offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. (Nehemiah 10:33-34)
This annual fee was later increased to half a shekel by the Hasmonean rulers. The Hasmonean dynasty was established in 142 BCE (see document C31). And, after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Romans made the Jews to pay it to the emperor instead: it was called the Fiscus Judaicus after 70 CE. It was abolished in year 98 CE (see document C33).
Nehemiah also drew cast for each family to be responsible to bring the necessary wood to burn the eternal flame of the Temple for one year. In short, while Era had restored the spiritual duties of the Jewish people, by means of faith and study, Nehemiah focused on the practical deeds of the people to keep their adherence to the faith. This reform tied each family to the duties in Jerusalem and, although some lived far from the Temple, they always maintained a son or a member of their family to represent them in Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem became holy, and Nehemiah imposed to shut its gates every Friday before Shabbat would start. The holiness of Jerusalem and the maintenance of the Temple service became a duty for all the people at unison. Jerusalem was established as the center of Judaism in these times. Consequently, a Jew could not fully perform his duties as a Jew outside Jerusalem.Nehemiah continued in his task of governor of Yehud for 12 years. In the 32nd year of the reign of Artaxerxes, he returned to Susa to ask formal permission from the king to return definitively to Jerusalem, which was granted.
But, when he returned, he could only see that evil ways were already coming back to the community while it was left without a leader:
But in all this time I was not at Jerusalem; for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went unto the king, and after certain days I asked leave of the king; and I came to Jerusalem and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore; therefore, I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers; and there I brought again the vessels of the house of God, with the meal-offerings and the frankincense. (Nehemiah 13:6-9)
The lessons taught by Ezra the Scribe were also quickly forgotten:
In those days, I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' [Hebrew] language, but according to the language of each people.
And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God: 'You shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless even to him did the foreign women cause to sin. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to break faith with our God in marrying foreign women?'
And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite; therefore, I chased him from me. (Nehemiah 13:23-28)
The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah bring to a close the books that compose the Hebrew Bible. Conveniently, it is at this same time that History made its appearance in human investigation because it is at this period, around 440 BCE, that the first ever historical work was created: The Histories by the Greek Herodotus who is considered the “Father of History”.
About Year 3333 – 427 BCE – Death of Nehemiah
Nehemiah died when Joiada was still officing as the High Priest, but when both his son Johanan and grandson Jaddua were already born, because they were the only descendants of the High Priest mentioned in Nehemiah's chronology in chapter 12 of his book. We can suppose that Nehemiah died about the Hebrew year 3333, just about when Jaddua was born and was thus mentioned in this chronology. The Hebrew year "3333" is composed entirely of the number "3" which denotes a "completion" or entireness in Hebrew scriptures (for Jewish symbolism of the numbers, click here).
The years that followed Nehemiah’s death were plagued by dissensions between the Israelites and their neighbors, especially the Samaritans who opposed the return of the Jewish faith in the region. The Samaritans would intrigue and petition the local or regional rulers to stop the Israelites from practicing their faith and they even conspired to destroy the rebuilt Second Temple of Jerusalem.
To return to the list of chronological generations from Seder Olam Revisited, click here.
Albert Benhamou
Private Tour Guide in Israel
Adar 5785 - March 2025