Ezra comes to Jerusalem to teach the Law
Ezra, a priest and skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, led a second group back to Jerusalem with the king's authority to teach and enforce God's law.
For Ezra had set his heart to seek Yahweh’s law, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Ezra 7:10 (World English Bible)
Ezra was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers after telling him that God protects those who seek him, so the group fasted and prayed and made the four-month journey safely. In Jerusalem he found that many, including leaders, had married foreigners who worshiped other gods. His public prayer of confession led the people to put things right.
Places
JerusalemBabylonPersiaBeyond the RiverBabyloniaAhavaCasiphia
Ancient witnesses outside the Bible
Historical sources, not Scripture.
- 1 Esdras 8:1–7 — as 1 Esdras retells it
Dating notes
The seventh year of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:7). Ussher dates it 467 BC; conventional dating of Artaxerxes I gives 458 BC.