Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Scope
  The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
• Writer and Date
  Due to the ancient tradition that the same writer composed both parts of the book (chapters 1-6 and 7-10), many scholars believe Ezra produced all of it.5A passage in the Talmud credits Ezra with the authorship of Ezra-Nehemi...
• Scope
  The earliest historical reference in Ezra is to the decree of Cyrus that he issued in his first year on the throne (1:1), 538 B.C.12The latest historical reference was just prior to Nehemiah's first trip to Jerusalem (4:21-23...
• Outline
  I. The first return under Sheshbazzar chs. 1-6A. The return from Babylon chs. 1-21. The edict of Cyrus and its consequences ch. 12. The exiles who returned ch. 2B. The rebuilding of the temple chs. 3-61. The beginning of cons...
• I. THE FIRST RETURN UNDER SHESHBAZZAR chs. 1--6
  "This whole section (Ezra 1-6) emphasizes God's sovereignty and his providence; God works in history to fulfill his will."15
• Cyrus' edict 1:1-4
  "It is not strange according to the Semitic style to start a book with a waw["And"or "Now"], especially when the author intended to write a continuation of the history of his people. He connects the history which he wants to ...
• The erection of the altar 3:1-6
  The text does not record exactly when the exiles arrived in Jerusalem, but it was probably sometime in 537 B.C. since Cyrus issued his decree in 538 B.C. The "seventh month"(v. 1) of the Jew's sacred calendar was Tishri (late...
• The Jews' celebration 6:16-22
  Compared with the dedication of the first temple this one was very modest. Solomon had offered more than 200 times as many animals.96The Jews offered one sin offering, which involved slaying a goat, for each of the 12 tribes ...
• Ezra's background 7:1-10
  "These things"(v. 1) refers to the events of the first return that the writer described in chapters 1-6.Ezra's genealogy (vv. 1-5) shows that he was a man of importance whom his fellow Jews would have respected. He was a desc...
• Conclusion
  The Book of Ezra records two major Jewish returns to the Promised Land from Babylon.The first of these took place in 537 B.C. under the leadership of Sheshbazzar and then Zerubbabel. About 50,000 Jews returned, rebuilt the te...
• C. The Record of Those who Returned 7:5-73
  This is not a list of the people who accompanied Nehemiah to Jerusalem in 444 B.C. but a record of those who returned with Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, and Jeshua in 537 B.C. (v. 7). It is almost identical to the list in Ezra 2.W...
• Scope
  The events of the Book of Esther took place during the Persian period of ancient history (539-331 B.C.) and during the reign of King Ahasuerus in particular (486-464 B.C.).Chronology of the Book of Esther483Ahasuerus' militar...
• Historical Background
  The Babylonians, led by King Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the city of Jerusalem, including Solomon's temple, in 586 B.C. and took most of the Jews captive to Babylon. There the Israelites could not practice their formal worship ...
• Historical Background
  Zechariah began ministering among the Jews who had returned from captivity in Babylon (i.e., the restoration community) two months after Haggai began preaching (1:1; 7:1; cf. Neh. 12:10-16; Hag. 1:1). In a sense, Zechariah's ...
• Historical Background
  Malachi was one of the three post-exilic writing prophets along with Haggai and Zechariah, and he was quite certainly the last one chronologically, even though we cannot be dogmatic about a date for his writing.The first grou...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Altar And Temple
  And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. 2. Then stood up Joshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, an...