And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.
Ezra 8:7 lists Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah with seventy males of the sons of Elam among those gathered to return from Babylon to Jerusalem. It belongs to the list of the second company that went up under Ezra the priest and scribe, numbering about 1,800 Israelite men. The verse was written by Ezra the priest and stands in the latter part of the book after the renewed and greatly enlarged decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in chapter 7. That latter part records the experiences of the Jews at Jerusalem, their backsliding, their humility, their seeking of God, and the faithful reproofs given.
Ezra consulted the assembled exiles at the river Ahava before beginning the journey. That consultation places Artaxerxes' decree around January of 457 B.C., in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, when the company left Babylon for Jerusalem. The journey carried up the third and last portion of the great decree to restore and build Jerusalem. It came at the close of seventy-nine years from the first year of Cyrus in 536 B.C., in whose earlier history Ezra had no personal part until these last days.
On another reckoning the chapter belongs in B.C. 458, fifty-eight years after chapter 7 in B.C. 515. The story of Esther falls in the years between, nearer the middle of the reign of Xerxes from B.C. 485 to 474, about sixty years after the first return and forty years after the completion of the temple. On this reckoning Xerxes' third year was B.C. 482, his seventh year when Esther was made queen was B.C. 478, and Haman's plot was in his thirteenth year, B.C. 472. The decree under which the company traveled for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of the commonwealth is the decree of Daniel 9:25 where the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14 begin.
By the river Ahava the helpless travelers fasted and prayed before passing through land threatened by robbers. God heard and brought them safely through. His hand is for good toward those who seek Him, and united, earnest prayer may be met with His protection. As one of the lists of names of persons who went up from the captivity, the verse is simply names rather than an expressed, precious promise relating to the present state or to the future. Not every verse is a direct promise.
Ezra 8:7 lists Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah with seventy males of the sons of Elam among those gathered to return from Babylon to Jerusalem. It belongs to the list of the second company that went up under Ezra the priest and scribe, numbering about 1,800 Israelite men. The verse was written by Ezra the priest and stands in the latter part of the book after the renewed and greatly enlarged decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in chapter 7. That latter part records the experiences of the Jews at Jerusalem, their backsliding, their humility, their seeking of God, and the faithful reproofs given.
Ezra consulted the assembled exiles at the river Ahava before beginning the journey. That consultation places Artaxerxes' decree around January of 457 B.C., in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, when the company left Babylon for Jerusalem. The journey carried up the third and last portion of the great decree to restore and build Jerusalem. It came at the close of seventy-nine years from the first year of Cyrus in 536 B.C., in whose earlier history Ezra had no personal part until these last days.
On another reckoning the chapter belongs in B.C. 458, fifty-eight years after chapter 7 in B.C. 515. The story of Esther falls in the years between, nearer the middle of the reign of Xerxes from B.C. 485 to 474, about sixty years after the first return and forty years after the completion of the temple. On this reckoning Xerxes' third year was B.C. 482, his seventh year when Esther was made queen was B.C. 478, and Haman's plot was in his thirteenth year, B.C. 472. The decree under which the company traveled for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of the commonwealth is the decree of Daniel 9:25 where the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14 begin.
By the river Ahava the helpless travelers fasted and prayed before passing through land threatened by robbers. God heard and brought them safely through. His hand is for good toward those who seek Him, and united, earnest prayer may be met with His protection. As one of the lists of names of persons who went up from the captivity, the verse is simply names rather than an expressed, precious promise relating to the present state or to the future. Not every verse is a direct promise.