qowl, voice] throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. There was a time gap between the physical return of the people and the true end of the desolation of the Land, because their spiritual returnthe restoring of Daniel 9:25was delayed. TWO DECREES OF ARTAXERXES We have to choose between the two decrees of Artaxerxes. Artaxerxes I was the King of Persia during the time of Nehemiah and Ezra. motza'] of a decree [Heb. Sabbatical and Jubilee years therefore started in Tishri, the month in which the Jewish Rosh HaShanah or New Years Day was celebrated in the past and is celebrated in our own day. Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. Is there any evidence this was the case? Haman Understanding of ezra when did antaxesex gave decree to rebuild jerusalem in. Observations: This passage quotes the original decree as issued by Cyrus. They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading. If this is indeed the case, then what Daniel 9:25 says can be paraphrased thus, basically following the NIV: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a ruler, comes, there will be seven sabbatical year cycles (one Jubilee) plus sixty-two sabbatical year cycles. This is consistent with the text of Leviticus 25, which for both Sabbatical and Jubilee years speaks of sowing before mentioning reaping. Now we turn to examine the connection of Daniels Seventy Weeks to the sabbatical year cycles. Observations: This verse speaks of a decreethe Hebrew word dabar, which could also have been translated word or command. It is not one of the usual terms for a royal edict (cf. 53BC King Cyrus issued a decree that the Jewish exiles were free to. Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a rulerthe Anointed Onecomes. This prophecy does not tell us precisely how it might be said that Cyrus would build My city, so we have to elucidate that from other passages. Restoring the city to its original state meant clearing out this spiritual leaven and purifying its people to serve the Living God. The one who sent out the word to begin the reconstruction of Jerusalem was Ezra. In 460 BC, Inaros II revolted against the Persians with the help of his Athenian allies, and defeated the Persian army commanded by satrap Akheimenes. Ezra 10:9, Neh 8:1, 3, 16). Deuteronomy 31:1012 reads: Then Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place which He will choose, you shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. The three main leaders of this time were Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Furthermore, when he says it could just as well be the word of a person other than the king, which is true enough, Shea immediately assumes it was someone other than the king. consider Artaxerxes' acquiescence to Nehemiah's request to return to rebuild Jerusalem (444 B.C., Neh. The connection with the Feast of Booths confirms this; that feast takes place in Tishri, which was the beginning, not end, of the agriculture-based calendar that sabbatical and Jubilee year counting was tied to (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1a). Toward a Biblical Understanding of Cyrus Decree. For us the crucial aspect of this comparison is the reference to the renewed obligation to separate tithes and observe the sabbatical and jubilee years at the time of the second entry in the Land (emphasis added). shuwb) and build (banah). In his 7th year this monarch issued a decree to . A Christian Apologetics Ministry Dedicated to Demonstrating the Historical Reliability of the Bible through Archaeological and Biblical Research. How to Sell Decree To Rebuild Jerusalem Artaxerxes to a Skeptic. If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. We will look at the latter term first. This appears to establish for us the every-seven-years pattern for sabbatical years we must follow from that starting date451/450 BC, 444/443 BC, 437/436 BC, and so on up to the fall of the Temple to Titus legions in AD 70. Now we will dig a bit more deeply into Daniel 9:25, for there is additional light we can derive from that verse which gives a more complete understanding of its implications. As Benedict Zuckermann, creator of the most widely-followed sabbatical year cycle formulation (published in his Treatise on the Sabbatical Cycle and the Jubilee, trans. Cyrus' decree had permitted them to rebuild the temple, not the city. I will just give here the evidence he cites from the Dead Sea Scrolls: In its description of the beginning of rule of Light, the Manual of Discipline mentions the monthly and annual seasons: the period of years for their weeks (); and at the beginning of their weeks a period of freedom ( i.e., jubilee). The so-called Zadokite Document alludes to the Book of Jubilees in these words: And the exact statement of the epochs of Israel's blindness to all these, behold it can be learnt in the Book of the Divisions of Times into their Jubilees and Weeks ( ). Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon Ezra 7:1,8,11-26 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, restore and to build Jerusalem. At that point, Nehemiah led the charge to reinforce the gates of the temple and to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which took 49 years and equates to the first 7-week period. You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. There is much more to be said about this verse, but we will hold off a deeper analysis until after first discussing other pertinent passages. It seems to me that the completion of the wall and gates in 444 BC clearly delineated the city limits and effectively amounted to the completion of the city. 1516 in a Radio Bible Class publication, The Daniel Papers (online at http://web001.rbc.org/pdf/discovery-series/the-daniel-papers.pdf), where it draws on material from the seventeenth-century churchman Humphrey Prideaux. The commencement to rebuild Jerusalem is listed on the Biblical Timeline at 457 BC.The enemies of Judah did not want the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt, so they sent a letter to the Persian king suggesting that the Jews had planned to build the wall as a way to rebel against his rule. Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem, illustration by Adolf Hult, 1919 Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. Daniel 9:25 states that the 'seventy weeks' (generally interpreted as 490 years according to the day-year principle) is to begin "from the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem," which is when the Persian king Artaxerxes I, gave the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to Ezra, so the 490 years point to the . 15:12), when debts were canceled and land lay fallow. Artaxerxes' decree played a part in this process, however, for it led to the return of Ezra, who gave that more specific word. Thus the going forth of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in Dan 9:25 was Ezras word, not the decree of Artaxerxes. And the verse from Nehemiah 10 ties together the start of each seventh (sabbatical) year with the remission of debts. 18Whatever seems good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do according to the will of your God. 25You, Ezraappoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the River, even all those who know the laws of your God; and you may teach anyone who is ignorant of them. For this reason it appears Shea is mistaken here. The burning of the Temple, an essential aspect of the desolation, is known to have taken place on Av 9 (July 29), 587 BC, about two months before the next agricultural year would have begun on Tishri 1 (September 18), 587 BC. Sabbatical Year Cycles were Reset After the Exile. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. Artaxerxes gave the degree to rebuild Jerusalem on March 5, 445 B.C., . If the Sabbatical and Jubilee years started in Nisan, then the crop sown in the preceding fall could not be harvested, after which the fall sowing would be missed, thus resulting in two years without harvest rather than the one year that is intended in the legislation. No matter what your level of interest, from keeping abreast of the fascinating research that comes out of the field work, to actively participating in an archaeological dig, you can become an integral part of our ministry. We find the people promising in Nehemiah 10:31 to forego the crops the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. (The NIV is clearer: Every seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts.) This shows that by Nehemiahs arrival in 444 BC the people had been made quite aware of these sabbatical year requirements, and strongly implies that Ezra and his Levites had made their faithful observance a live issue from the time they arrived in 457. For instance, on pp. Sabbatical Years Began in the Month of Tishri. Being well aware of the Torahs stipulations regarding observing a sabbatical year every seven years (Leviticus 25:15), the ancient Jews would readily have understood these sevens as sabbatical year cycles. If king came: and restore and . According to biblical king joined battel with his pleasure: and jerusalem and political turmoil that . Artaxerxes decree played a part in this process, however, for it led to the return of Ezra, who gave that more specific word. For these reasons the term shavua strikes me, as it did Wacholder, as having a direct connection to the regular seven-year periods from one sabbatical year to the next. Nevertheless, from this assumption he then suggests the Jews who came up from you must refer to those who had arrived from Artaxerxes with Ezra in 457 BC. There is a good picture of one at https://picryl.com/media/looking-down-moat-outside-tower-of-david-toward-clock-tower-before-1917-american. The latter, in his 171618 work The Old and New Testament connected in the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations, vol. Nehemiah 10:31 (NIV): Every seventh year we will forgo working the land [observe a sabbatical year] and will cancel all debts [which caused indentured servitude] (brackets added). From this point forward, there would be another 434 years as Israel waited for the coming of the Messiah. Besides, if the creditor had waited until the end of the seventh year, the debtor would have given him seven years of service, not six! (see Nehemiah 2:1-8). Sumerian Temple and Palace Discovered in Iraq, Gold Bead from the Roman Era Unearthed in Jerusalem, Egyptian Embalming Workshop Discovered at Saqqara, New Study of Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone) Affirms that the Inscription Includes the Phrase House of David, Cuneiform Tablets from 1800 BC Translate Canaanite Phrases into Akkadian, Amazing Discoveries in Biblical Archaeology, Ancient Manuscripts, Translations, and Texts, Khirbet el-Maqatir Excavation 1995-2000 & 2008-2016, Inspiration, Authority, Biblical Criticism and the Documentary Hypothesis, People, Places, and Things in the Hebrew Bible, People, Places, and Things in the New Testament, Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Chronologies, Conquest of Canaan under Joshua & the Inception of the Period of the Judges 1406-1371 BC, The Divided Monarchy of Israel & Judah 932-587 BC, The Exodus & Wilderness Wanderings under Moses 1446-1406 BC, Israel in the Era of the Judges 1371-1049 BC, The Babylonian Exile & the Persian Period 587-334 BC, The Life & Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ & the Apostles 26-99 AD, https://biblearchaeology.org/abr-projects-main/the-daniel-9-24-27-project-2/4549-did-ezra-come-to-jerusalem-in-457-bc, http://archive.atsjats.org/JATS12.1-09Shea.pdf, http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H1129&t=NASB, https://picryl.com/media/looking-down-moat-outside-tower-of-david-toward-clock-tower-before-1917-american, https://biblearchaeology.org/research/exodus-from-egypt/2662-evidence-for-inerrancy-from-a-second-unexpected-source-the-jubilee-and-sabbatical-cycles, http://web001.rbc.org/pdf/discovery-series/the-daniel-papers.pdf, https://archive.org/details/oldnewtestaments02prid/page/550, http://www.emishnah.com/moed2/Rosh_HaShanah/1.pdf, https://www.academia.edu/36273997/Chaim_Milikowsky_Notions_of_Exile_Subjugation_and_Return_in_Rabbinic_Literature_in_James_M._Scott_ed._Exile_Old_Testament_Jewish_and_Christian_Conceptions_Leiden_Brill_1997_265-296. Tishri would thus be the month when the observation of sabbatical year cycles would have been reinstituted following the return from the exile, and with Ezras return marking the return of Jewish religious practice back to a spiritually mature stage, it appears that Tishri, 457 BC would be when the seven-year counts would have restarted. In his 7th year this monarch issued a decree to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Nehemiah was a high official in the Persian court of King Artaxerxes I at the capital city of Susa, which lay 150 miles east of the Tigris River in what is now modern Iran. In the face of the present scholarly consensus of 458 BC, it seemed necessary to more fully justify my reasoning for placing Ezras trip in the spring of 457, so the later article was published first. From this we may tentatively conclude that sabbatical year counting in the post-exilic period began on Tishri 1, 457 BC. Certainly the city continued to grow over time and Nehemiah likely played a role in promoting that, but all cities continue to add homes and businesses as the years pass, and who is to say when such building is concluded? The Jews were in exile. Desiring to let the Scriptures speak plainly and govern our understanding, several passages will first be set forth that teach the principle of sabbatical year observance. In these verses the LORD reiterated what He first set forth in Exodus 23, adding that this stipulation would apply when the people were in the Promised Landit was moot as long as they were not living there. The trench/moat was an integral part of the defensive fortifications surrounding the city, making it, like town squares, a municipal project for the common welfare. 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