Better known by Gr. Thus it makes much more sense here to see Nehemiah identify Darius as “Artaxerxes king of Babylon” than it does to try and apply that titulature to the Persian king Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) long after the kingdom of Babylon had been subsumed into the Persian empire. 18 Then [אֱדַיִן] the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Ezra 6 describes Darius I ‘The Great’ as an “Artaxerxes”, because this name was used as a throne name by Darius’ grandson Longimanus we assume this must be the only way this word was used in Persian history. Xerxes or their aftermath: the Kedor-Laomer texts, for instance, have been explained as a literary reaction to repression in the later Persian period (Foster 2005, 369). The second person in the list, the judge Mušēzib-Bēl of the Aḫu-bāni family is, to my knowledge, unattested elsewhere in the published contemporary court documents. As the authors note, there is no way to determine the identity of the Artaxerxes king of Babylon mentioned in these inscriptions. 10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. 38 Especially line 9 is strongly influenced by Persian-Babylonian legal phraseology. Here is the bottom line. This did I by the grace of Ahuramazda, I labored until I had established our dynasty in its place, as in the days of old; I labored, by the grace of Ahuramazda, so that Gaumâta, the Magian, did not dispossess our house. His filiation seems to have been skipped, which could indicate that he was a man of high standing, whose identity was obvious. 1 A misinterpretation of the Hebrew led to the misidentification of Ahasuerus as Artaxerxes in the Septuagint, Josephus, and the Jewish Midrash. Furthermore, the Daiva inscription was used as evidence of Xerxes’ supposed policy of intolerance. The book of Ezra opened with Cyrus’ decree and Jewish people’s return to Jerusalem under the leadership of Joshua and Zerubbabel. "A book that will forever change how you understand the Bible's greatest Messianic prophecy. (Leiden University)*, How did the debate about Xerxes’ Babylonian policy develop? 21 Then [אֱדַיִן] said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. Eliashib, Artaxerxes, & Sir Robert Anderson, $500 Reward to Help Solve the Artaxerxes Assumption, The Curse of Coniah & the Promised Messiah, The Flood, the Exodus of Israel, and the Coming Messiah, Anti-Semitism, Ancient Persia, & April Fools, The Congruency of the Bible’s Messianic Message, Christmas and the Course of Abia (Abijah), The Flood, the Exodus, and the Coming Messiah, Finding Halloween in the Graveyard of Biblical History. Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer. This individual’s name was Shimshai the scribe. Artaxerxes II year x “…Baby]lon and Lands” (OECT X 229) In the appendices of this article I’ve included an interesting discussion of the only known occurrences of the title “king of Bayblon” used in conjunction with an unidentified “Artaxerxes”. However, according to Thucydides, a historian renowned for his high chronological accuracy, Themistocles met Artaxerxes, Next Time It is not, it is grammar-based, and I think the grammar rules should carry the argument. Hello, Sign in. Thus, the Scriptural accession year of Artaxerxes II is found to have begun Tishri 22, 405 BCE going through Tishri 21, 404 BCE. Darius the Mede is a Title for Cyrus, King of Persia . Both Šamšāya and Shimshai belonged to the elite of local Persian administration: Šamšāya stood close to the governor of Babylon and Acrossthe-River, while Shimshai, along with his colleague Rehum, addressed the king directly and implemented his orders. Post-exilic Bible Chronology & Identifying Esther's Husband. Artaxerxes was the second son of Xerxes, who was murdered in the summer of 465 by his all-powerful vizir Artaban. 89).26 The official’s name is damaged, but he is described as “a Median, bēlṭēmi, who discussed the issue of sheep with Gūbaru.”27 He received a large sum of silver (0.5 mina), exceeding by far the allotments of other men. I’ll try to untangle the confusion this causes. Herodotus 7:9), deposed Vashti as queen in 483 b.c., and chose Esther in 478 b.c. In that case, Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes refer to the same person—the king who immediately preceded Darius. 1 (BM 74554), a receipt for barley issued at the order of the governor of Babylon and Across-the-River, and Libluṭ and Gadalâma, two men described as sepīru bēlṭēmi (‘Aramaic scribe [and] chancellor’). Also his argument that bēlṭēmi is never preceded by the determinative lú (2000, 192–193) is no longer standing: such writing (lúen ṭè-mu) is found in BM 67669. This Persian king did in fact listen to Jewish people’s enemies and he ordered the construction of Jerusalem stopped. The thesis of this study is that the Persian kings named Darius, Ahasuerus, and Artaxerxes in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are one and the same. Darius, Artaxerxes, and Ahasuerus in the Bible: Jordan, James B: 9780984243952: Books - Amazon.ca Xerxes I/Ahasuerus : 486–465 BC Artaxerxes I : 465–425 BC Xerxes II : 425–424 BC Darius II : 424–405 BC Artaxerxes II : 405–359 BC Artaxerxes III : 359–338 BC Arses 338–336 BC Darius III : 336–330 BC The only Darius listed in the Achaemenid dynasty is far too late to fit with the book of Daniel. King Xerxes (Ahasuerus), ruled as king of Persia from 486 to 465 BC. (For more context on the Persian word Artaxerxes please see last week’s article, For those just joining this exploration of Biblical history, this is part V in a series in which I am attempting to answer the challenges and criticisms raised by Rich Lanser of the respected organization Associates for Biblical Research in his article. Hence “King of Babylon, King of Lands.” Towards the middle of the reign Babylonian scribes shifted back to putting the main Persian title “King of Persia” or “King of Lands” immediately after the nomen. This in fact agrees with Persian history. [i.10] King Darius says: The following is what was done by me after I became king. The meanings are not identical. "A book that will change how you look at the Bible's Messianic Symbolism. Shimshai the Scribe Bēlṭēmi is possibly a Neo-Assyrian term that entered Aramaic and consequently Persian chancellery parlance. Per this understanding, the Artaxerxes in these verses isn't Artaxerxes I 1, who still lived after Achashverosh/Xerxes I, but Kanbuzi/Cambyses, son of Koresh/Cyrus. ), eleven years after the Kessler text was published, that the title “King of Persia, Media, King of Babylon and Lands” (LUGAL. The later horn (Persia) superseded the earlier one (Media), and the Media-Persian Empire became the Persian Empire. Heb. 17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Bēlṭēmi is possibly a Neo-Assyrian term that entered Aramaic and consequently Persian chancellery parlance.28 It is found in the Arsames correspondence from Egypt, where similarly to Stolper 1989 no. Mr. Struse’s statement, “There is simply no other reasonable way to see ‘edayin’ other than a chronological synchronism which connects successive events,” does not match up with the objective grammar-based evidence. 404-359 BC. Combining the statements within the last two paragraphs above it follows that the reign of Darius II began between Thoth 1, 405 BCE and the beginning of Tishri 22, 404 BCE. HAMAN. 9. Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. This is another instance where a Biblical author is using a title, in this case “king of Assyria” to emphasize a symbolic point relating to the history of the Jewish people. Equating Ahasuerus with Darius I, rather than with Xerxes I, is supported by the association of the name Artaxerxes with Darius I in Ezra 6:14. Part VI – Mordecai & the Chronological Context of Esther Using this as our premise let me show just how accurately the Bible describes the titles by which Darius is known from his own royal inscriptions. Part III – Darius the great Persian Artaxerxes: A Contextual Look at the Book of Ezra in the Light of Persian History The identification of Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I. Longimanus, the son and successor of Xerxes, though countenanced by Josephus, deserves little consideration. Articles related to this series: Caroline Waerzeggers It is interesting to note that the Inscription of Xerxes at Persepolis reads in part as follows: “I am Xerxes the great King, the King of kings, the King of the land where many languages are spoken; the King of this wide earth, far and near, the son of King Darius the Achaemenian. Darius, Artaxerxes, and Ahasuerus in the Bible - Kindle edition by Jordan, James B.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. A Divine “Command” to Return and Build Jerusalem, Calendar Confusion & the Bible’s Prophetic Record, Calendar Confusion & the Basics of Biblical Time, Passover & the Bible’s Sacrificial Symbolism, Douglas Woodward Tackles Daniel’s 70 Weeks, The Seventy Weeks of Walid Shoebat & Joel Richardson, Blood Moons & the Biblical Context of Time, The 13th Enumeration: Key to the Bible’s Messianic Symbolism, Blood Moons: Changing How We View Bible Prophecy, Generational Comparative of the 2nd Temple Era, The Messiah Factors (Part I): Decoding 13 & 14, Open Letter to Prophecy Teachers – RE: Daniel 9, Joseph Farah – The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament. Had he done so, he would have realized that in each and every case in which ‘edayin with the preposition bĕ is used, it clearly describe a natural and chronological succession of events. It is much more inviting to identify Šamšāya with Shimshai the spr᾿, the colleague of Rehum b῾lṭ῾m of Ezra 4. I found that EBDB on page 23 observes the word does not always have a strictly temporal significance; point 2 on that page shows it is also used for expressing logical sequence, i.e., “since A, then B.” Then I went to the Biblical Aramaic appendix to EBDB and checked the entry for ʼedayin. 31 Tavernier 2008, 73. Less commonly some commentators prefer, for the identification of “Artaxerxes”, the usurper, Gaumata, sometimes equating him with the obscure Bardiya. 1 (BM 74554) and the Aramaic material show that the two titles were occasionally combined. For those just joining this exploration of Biblical history, this is part V in a series in which I am attempting to answer the challenges and criticisms raised by Rich Lanser of the respected organization Associates for Biblical Research in his article The Seraiah Assumption. 22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. His filiation seems to have been skipped, which could indicate that he was a man of high standing, whose identity was obvious. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. In the Bible ‘edayin with the prepositions bĕ [בּ] is not used exceptionally at all. I’d encourage you to read that information. For instance here is an occurrence of ‘edayin with the preposition bĕ where it is used to described events that took place after Yahweh’s divine command to restore and build Jerusalem. Both of them are listed next to judges. Answer: Artaxerxes was king of Persia from c. 464 to c. 425 BC. 2 Then [בֵּאדַיִן] rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them. It’s interesting to note as Gerard Gertoux does in the quote below that the kingdom of Babylon became a Persian province (from the official Persian perspective) only after the death of Darius. As you can see this inscription by Darius provides really neat confirmation of the Biblical account. Cart All. So, between the chapters, there is the story of Esther. As you will see, this information will provide us with some of the final pieces of background context which will help us in our next article to determine the historical relationship between Darius I and the Biblical Esther. This, what I have shown in these articles to be a reasonable working assumption, informs us that the “Artaxerxes” of Ezra 6:14 onwards and the “Artaxerxes” of Nehemiah are in fact a reference to Darius I ‘The Great’. The only problem is the tablet in which he is named is dated to the reign of Cambyses not the reign Artaxerxes I (Longimanus).