In this publication, we will consider chapters 6 and 4 of the book of Ezra that will help us understand one of the reasons why it has been believed that the prophecies of the 70 weeks began in the year 457 BCE. To begin with, it is important to highlight that the interpretation that the 70 weeks began in the aforementioned year is not ours, because at the beginning of the 19th century, that interpretation was accepted by a good number of Protestant denominations, of which we adopted and have maintained it, while other churches, over time, abandoned it for lack of biblical and historical support.
This interpretation is based on Ezra 6:14, which records: “And the elders of the Jews built and prospered … so they built and finished it, according to the command of the God of Israel, and by the command of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia.” Based on the previous text, we find in our literature the following quote: “These three kings, by issuing the decree and by confirming and completing it, placed it in the condition required by the prophecy to mark the beginning of the 2,300 years… that decree is found in the seventh chapter of Ezra (ver. 12-26). The problem with the previous declarations is that in Ezra 6:14 it is not referring to the building of the city of Jerusalem, which fulfills Daniel 9:25, but specifically to the building of the temple, as we corroborate in the following verse, which reads: “This house was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.” At this point, some may wonder: How is it that Artaxerxes issued a third decree to finish the House of God when it was finished in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, who ruled approximately 58 years before Artaxerxes came to power? Did Ezra or the scribes make a mistake in this text? It is possible, but it is also possible that Ezra, who wrote primarily for the Jewish people, in a gesture of gratitude towards the king for what he did for the House of God, sending not only the voluntary offerings of gold and silver that he and his counselors offered for the sanctuary, but also the last temple utensils that remained in Babylon; and wanting to give relevance to the House of God in the eyes of his own people, recorded that this pagan king, sovereign of a great empire, who acknowledged the God of the Hebrews, participated in the temple’s completion. Therefore, it is evident that there is not a third decree issued by Artaxerxes for the construction of the city of Jerusalem fulfilling Daniel 9:25, but an “honorary” decree given to Artaxerxes as a participant in the temple’s completion.
Regarding chapter 4 of Ezra, some scholars argue that in verses 11-23, and particularly in verse 12, we find that in the letter sent to Artaxerxes by the enemies of Judah, they denounced that the Jews were building the rebellious and evil city and raising the walls, which “irrefutably” demonstrates that in the year 457 BCE, the Jews were building Jerusalem. The previous interpretation presents the following inconveniences: 1 – That the Artaxerxes of chapter 4 ruled before King Darius, and the Artaxerxes of chapter 7, over 50 years later. 2 – That the Artaxerxes of chapter 4 – who supposedly is the same as the one in chapter 7, who permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem – was ignorant of the Jewish nation, so he ordered to search in the annals of history who they had been; quite the opposite of the Artaxerxes of chapter 7 who not only knew about the Jews but also recognized the God of the Jews as the one true God. 3 – That the accusation made by the enemies of Judah, that they were building Jerusalem and raising its walls, was a false accusation to turn the Jews against the Persian king, which is confirmed when we review the last verses of that chapter, where it is stated that when Artaxerxes’ order to cease construction arrived – which the enemies of Judah did with power and violence – the work that stopped was the construction of the House of God, which was being carried out in the times of Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Ezra 4:24 and 5:2).
History reveals that the Artaxerxes of chapter 4 ruled before Darius, and his Persian name was Cambyses, and his Greek name was Artaxerxes, which was more of an honorary title; the reason we find at least three Artaxerxes in Persian history. It is interesting to note that one of our scholars, who claims that the Artaxerxes of chapter 4 is the same as the one in chapter 7, in order to establish that Jerusalem was being built in 457 BCE, on the other hand, states the following in the same work: “When Cyrus died, Cambyses succeeded him on the throne… (Cambyses) was very opposed to foreign religious cults… Undoubtedly, it was not a coincidence that the Jews achieved nothing, in terms of the reconstruction of the temple of Jerusalem, throughout the rule of Cambyses… for all this, if some advisors hired by the Samaritans came to Babylon and met Cambyses, he would probably have been pleased to grant their request. The Jews were not able to rebuild the temple during the remainder of Cyrus’s reign and throughout Cambyses’s reign. It was only when a new king, Darius I, came on the scene with a new policy, that the Jews were able to make progress in the temple’s reconstruction (Ezra 4:5).
We conclude by asking: Do we find in Ezra 6 the order or command to build and finish Jerusalem, or only the order to finish the temple? Do we find in Ezra 4 that the Jews were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, or only that they were building the house of God? Blessings.
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