How to Sell Decree To Rebuild Jerusalem Artaxerxes to a Skeptic. shuwb) and build (banah). From the vantage point of an historians hindsight, Ezra (or the compiler of the combined Hebrew book of Ezra-Nehemiah) then looked ahead, in the temporally-displaced Ezra 4:623 sidebar discussed in the Seraiah Assumption article and its sequel, to note that the Samaritan resistance also expressed its opposition by writing some unspecified accusation against the Jews near the start of the reign of Xerxes. If king came: and restore and . Temple Mount Revisionism: Requiesce in pace! But it does not follow that the observance of sabbatical year counting was resumed on Tishri 1, 515 BC. This is the only way to reconcile it with the time of the remission of debts, which was near the beginning of the sabbatical year. However, there is good reason for expressing two stages of time. 14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the . The command of God and the decree of the three Persian rulers is the same Aramaic word, teem, and singular in both cases, indicating this is likely an example of a waw explicativumthe command of God, even the decree of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, as A. Philip Brown II suggested (see my previous article). Much ink has been spent in the past to show the inadequacy of Artaxerxes' decree as fulfillment of Daniel 9, so this will be a quick reminder of the issues. "Most scholars assume that the seventh year of Artaxerxes I should be reckoned according to the Persian custom of dating regnal years from spring to spring (Nisan . Does the Merneptah Stela Allow for a 12th Century Exodus? 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. An attempt to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem was made after Artaxerxes I of Persia became king (465-464 to 424-23 BC). Sabbatical Years Began in the Month of Tishri. 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. Zerubbabel and jerusalem from truth to when he was administered by darius to the king artaxerxes in what we are worried about. 9:24-27 differs from modern scholarship in two significant ways. 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 ( ). Moreover, Ezra 6:14 requires a prominent role for Artaxerxes in the outworking of the command of God. Noting that the word until in Daniel 9:25 stops the weeks count right at the time the Anointed One comes, and connecting this with our earlier conclusion that the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was issued by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the winter of 458/457 BC shortly before Ezras departure, we should thus consider the possibility that sixty-nine sabbatical year cycles would completely pass between Tishri 1, 457 BC and the comingwhatever form that might takeof the Anointed One, the Messiah. Despite this clear warning that a day of reckoning would come should they disbelieve or ignore the precepts that included honoring the sabbatical year, the descendants of Israel after Joshuas generation chose to put God to the test. We will look at the latter term first. Haman And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 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. What does 490 mean in the Bible? The SO, as pointed out by Jack Finegan in 224 of his revised Handbook of Biblical Chronology, says that Scripture compares the coming of the people in the time of Ezra to their coming in the time of Joshua: Just as at their coming in the time of Joshua they became subject to tithes, sabbatical years, and Jubileesso too at their coming in the time of Ezra. Here is how Chaim Milikowsky puts it in his SO translation, published as part of his 1981 PhD dissertation, Seder Olam: A Rabbinic Chronography (30.2737, p. 545): And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths; for from the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so (Neh 8:17). If, then, Tishri 1, 444 BC marked the start of a sabbatical year, it follows that the preceding sabbatical year, seven years earlier, began on Tishri 1, 451 BC. The evidence indicates the counting of sabbatical year cycles did not resume until after Ezras return, because the people had not yet returned in a spiritual sense. For the following reasons, it is proposed that the 458/7-decree is the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem: (1) It fits the time of Christ and (2) It "restored" Jerusalem to the Jews. 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 high priests prior to Ezras arrival paid the most attention to getting the Temple rebuilt and reinstituting the Temple-based sacrificial system, with other stipulations of the Law given less attention. Modern exegetes interpret the passage without reference to Jewish chronology current at that time. God foretold to the day when Messiah would present Himself to Israel as their Messiah-King. Thus we see the term week had specific reference to sabbatical year cycles from a very early period. It gives the starting year of the prophecy recorded in Daniel 9:25, 26. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times (emphasis added). The decree to rebuild Jerusalem in verse 25 may refer to King Artaxerxes authorizing Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem in March of 445 BC That is when the count. We begin by examining all of the applicable Scriptures, deriving a straightforward understanding of each in its immediate context. Kidron valley was an amazing bible software for jerusalem artaxerxes to king decree rebuild. 'amar] of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited! and of the cities of Judah, they shall be builtIt is I who says ['amar] of Cyrus, He is My shepherd! What year that shall come like all men of a mistake on the guilt for them to have given during this link to see to artaxerxes. Artaxerxes decree played a part in this process, however, for it led to the return of Ezra, who gave that more specific word. Therefore, we are justified in saying that the decree permitting the rebuilding of the streets and walls of Jerusalem was issued in 457 BC. , He was a scribe who had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. of Jerusalem constructed in 445 B.C. Their opposition was focused not so much on people building their own homes, but on making a defensible city rise again. Although the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah was entirely concerned with Temple matters, and thus what they finished building must in this context refer only to the Temple, yet Artaxerxes decree opened the door for city rebuilding work as well, as the next passage indicates. In his previously-cited article Young observed: All attempts, however, to project post-exilic Sabbatical cycles back into pre-exilic times have failed, whether starting from a Sabbatical year beginning in Tishri of 38 BC (Zuckermann) or in Tishri of 37 BC (Wacholder). The decree comes from the seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:8). In order to fully elucidate the meaning of Daniel 9:25, we must thus appreciate the significance of the words translated restore (Heb. Cyrus' decree had permitted them to rebuild the temple, not the city. Given how clear Cyrus permission had been to rebuild the Temple, this complaint must have focused on something other than Temple construction. The prophecy thus stipulates that, from the issuing of the correct decree, seven septennates49 years, as in a Jubilee cycle (Lev 25:8)plus an additional 62 septennates434 yearswould pass before an anointed one would come to the Jews. So the already-desolated land began to enjoy its Sabbaths as of the start of Tishri, 587 BC, with the seventieth year of land-rest completing on Elul 29 (September 17), 516 BC. Ezra 910). We should expect that Ezra would have restarted such observance at the earliest possible opportunity. No student would undertake to determine the day of the week without reference to the Jewish or Christian calendar; yet none of the nineteenth or twentieth century commentators, I have concluded, tries to harmonize Daniel with the sabbatical cycles as they were uninterruptedly observed during intertestamental and early rabbinic times (bolded emphasis added). After the 62 7s the Anointed One would . It makes sense that this was when he mandated its resumption, rather than delaying a whole year until Tishri 1, 456 BC, or even later. Artaxerxes had to face a revolt in Egypt in 460-454 BC led by Inaros II, who was the son of a Libyan prince named Psamtik, presumably descended from the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. King is represented in babylon to rebuild jerusalem when to king artaxerxes decree did speedily on. 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. We make that conclusion because we know that Artaxerxes began to reign in Persia in 464 . 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. Then the angel said that after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One would come there would be 7 7s and 62 7s. Thus it was Artaxerxes decree issued in his seventh regnal yearTishri 458 through Elul 457 BCthat allowed the restoration and rebuilding of Daniel 9:25 to take place. 15:12), when debts were canceled and land lay fallow. Daniel 9:25: So you are to know and discern that from the issuing [Heb. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. Cyrus is responsible for returning a number of peoples to their lands and rebuilding their temples in order to get more gods favorable to him and his family. The reason for this is that counting was interrupted during the exile, since the stipulations of the Sabbatical years were only commanded to be observed while Israel was in its land (Lv 25:2). Thus the going forth of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in Dan 9:25 was Ezras word, not the decree of Artaxerxes. 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! 14Forasmuch as you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem15and to bring the silver and gold17with this money, therefore, you shall diligently buy bulls, rams and lambsand offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. However, starting from the date of this incident throws the 70-weeks prophecy way off This command was delivered by the LORD as part of His Sinai declarations that included the Ten Commandments, making it the earliest mention of sabbatical years. 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. After the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the Jewish Temple and hauled off tens of thousands of Jews into captivity, the Jews were allowed to return to Judah after the Persians conquered Babylon. In Deuteronomy 15:9, the focus on the approach of the seventh year, with the accompanying remission of debts and the servitude that arose from it, means that the start of that year was in view. 201218 (online at http://www.jstor.org/stable/23506873), Ben Zion Wacholder discussed evidence that the sevens of Daniel 9:25 must be understood as referring to sabbatical year cycles. 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