And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
The return from Babylonian captivity was completed when Ezra and his company arrived in Jerusalem and remained there three days, marking the end of their journey. That journey ran from Babylon to Jerusalem, beginning with a gathering at the river Ahava where Ezra consulted with the assembled Jewish exiles about the journey. It was made from Babylon with the decree of Artaxerxes to restore Jerusalem, and falls within the account of carrying out that decree. That decree stood after the decree of Cyrus renewed by Darius the son of Hystaspes and then renewed and greatly enlarged by Artaxerxes Longimanus in chapter 7.
The book containing this account was written by Ezra the priest and belongs to Babylonian life in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. It records part of the experiences of the Jews at Jerusalem, covering their backsliding, their humility, their seeking of God, and the faithful reproofs given by Ezra and others. Its narrative is confirmed by discoveries in ancient lands that had dealings with Israel, with archaeology giving much information about that background and its rapid development. The coming to Jerusalem occurred in B.C. 458, at the end of a fifty-eight-year interval beginning in B.C. 515, about threescore years after the first return and two-score years after the completion of the temple. It followed the story of Esther, which falls in the middle of the reign of Xerxes from B.C. 485 to 474, with the third year of Xerxes in B.C. 482, Esther made queen in his seventh year in B.C. 478, and Haman's plot in his thirteenth year in B.C. 472.
Before setting out in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, they fasted and sought God's protection to humble themselves and seek a straight way for themselves, their children, and their goods. They refused to ask the king for soldiers because they had testified that God's hand is for good on those who seek him. When they fasted and besought God for safe passage he was entreated of them, so his hand was upon them to deliver the helpless band safely from enemies and ambush through the dreaded land of robbers. God especially honors united and whole-hearted seeking with great blessing, for his hand is upon all them for good that seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
The return from Babylonian captivity was completed when Ezra and his company arrived in Jerusalem and remained there three days, marking the end of their journey. That journey ran from Babylon to Jerusalem, beginning with a gathering at the river Ahava where Ezra consulted with the assembled Jewish exiles about the journey. It was made from Babylon with the decree of Artaxerxes to restore Jerusalem, and falls within the account of carrying out that decree. That decree stood after the decree of Cyrus renewed by Darius the son of Hystaspes and then renewed and greatly enlarged by Artaxerxes Longimanus in chapter 7.
The book containing this account was written by Ezra the priest and belongs to Babylonian life in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. It records part of the experiences of the Jews at Jerusalem, covering their backsliding, their humility, their seeking of God, and the faithful reproofs given by Ezra and others. Its narrative is confirmed by discoveries in ancient lands that had dealings with Israel, with archaeology giving much information about that background and its rapid development. The coming to Jerusalem occurred in B.C. 458, at the end of a fifty-eight-year interval beginning in B.C. 515, about threescore years after the first return and two-score years after the completion of the temple. It followed the story of Esther, which falls in the middle of the reign of Xerxes from B.C. 485 to 474, with the third year of Xerxes in B.C. 482, Esther made queen in his seventh year in B.C. 478, and Haman's plot in his thirteenth year in B.C. 472.
Before setting out in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, they fasted and sought God's protection to humble themselves and seek a straight way for themselves, their children, and their goods. They refused to ask the king for soldiers because they had testified that God's hand is for good on those who seek him. When they fasted and besought God for safe passage he was entreated of them, so his hand was upon them to deliver the helpless band safely from enemies and ambush through the dreaded land of robbers. God especially honors united and whole-hearted seeking with great blessing, for his hand is upon all them for good that seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.