Page 93 - Biblical Backgrounds

sixth year of Darius’ reign. Chapter seven picks up the account in the seventh year of Artaxerxes (458
BCE).

Between the two chapters occurred the reign of Xerxes. Since Esther was married to Xerxes, the story of
Esther is likely placed between Ezra 6 and 7. The events of the book of Nehemiah occurred later in the
reign of Artaxerxes. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, or 444 BCE, to
rebuild the walls (Nehemiah 2:1) and made a second visit to Jerusalem in the thirty-second year of
Artaxerxes, or 433 BCE (Nehemiah 13:6). 134

The Persian Empire entered a period of gradual decline after a failed invasion of Greece by Xerxes in 480
BC. The costly defense of Persia’s lands depleted the empire’s funds, leading to heavier taxation among
Persia’s subjects. These heavy taxes led to the subjects’ detestation of Persia, bringing about internal
weakening. Notably, when Alexander the Great reached Egypt in his conquest, the Egyptians thought of
him as a liberator.

In less than a century after Artaxerxes’ death, the battle of Issus between Alexander the Great and
Darius III in 333 BC marked the beginning of an unstoppable invasion of Persia by the Greeks.

Religion

By the time of the Jewish restoration, Zoroastrianism was largely influencing religious life in Persia.
There are debates regarding the development of this religion. What is certainly known is that it was
named after a Persian prophet, Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra). It is widely accepted that
Zoroaster emerged from the Indus Valley and lived sometime between 1500 and 500 BCE. There is an
evident connection between the Persian Kings and Ahuramazda, the god of Zoroaster. However,
scholars have widely differed on whether or not all of the Persian kings were devout Zoroastrians or to
what degree each of them devoted himself to it.

By most accounts, Cyrus the Great was a tolerant ruler who allowed his subjects to speak their own
languages and practice their own religions. Though he might have paid tribute to Ahuramazda, his
religious belief is not clearly known, leading to a widespread conclusion that he was a polytheist.
Darius and Xerxes exalted Ahuramazda, the god Zoroaster preached, but they do not mention Zoroaster.
In his inscriptions, Darius mentions Ahuramazda dozens of times and claims to be under that god’s
protection. Though Darius calls him the “greatest of gods,” he did not describe Ahuramazda as the only
god. In Darius’ tomb, the king is pictured as facing a fire altar—a Zoroastrian symbol. It appears, then,
that Darius may have been a Zoroastrian, but he was not an intolerant worshiper of the god. Likewise,
Xerxes in his inscriptions claimed to be under the favor of Ahuramazda and in opposition to the demons.
Presumably, Zoroaster’s preaching about the god influenced the worship of Ahuramazda in the days of
Darius and Xerxes.

Some have claimed that Zoroastrianism influenced Judaism. They see this connection in judgments by
fire found in numerous Old Testament passages. But this assertion is founded on extremely late Persian

134 Ibid., pp. 328–329.

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