The document summarizes the Post-Exilic period following the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. It discusses several key events: 1) Cyrus the Great of Persia issued a decree allowing exiled Jews to return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. 2) The temple was rebuilt, though it faced some opposition, and was finally completed with support from Darius I of Persia. 3) Jewish exclusivism and separation from other groups like Samaritans became a dominant practice during this period.

1. Lesson 6 The Post Exilic Period – The Persians
11/29/15 1© John R. Wible

2. • 740 BC – Northern Kingdom Falls
• 586 BC – Southern Kingdom Falls
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Province of Yehud – Two Steps

3. Mene, mene, tekel, u pharsin
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The “Prince of Persia” & The Handwritten Wall

4. • Cyrus issues a Decree: “Go home”
• Recorded on the “Cyrus Prism”
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The Cyrus Prism

5. • I am Cyrus, King of the World. . .
• King of the four rims of the earth.
• I returned to these sacred cities on the
other side of the Tigris the sanctuaries. . .
the images which used to live therein
• I gathered their inhabitants and to return
• I resettled upon the command of Marduk,
the great lord, all the gods of [the Kurds]
and Akkad whom [the Babylonian King]
had brought into Babylon
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What the Prism Said:

6. • This was a process that we’ll see.
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The Temple was [Finally] Rebuilt

7. • Darius I Issues a Second Decree to the
Satraps to allow the completion
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Darius I Issues a Second Decree

8. Possibly the single most important
development in the post-Exilic period
was the promotion and eventual
dominance of the idea and practice of
Jewish exclusivity, the idea that the
Jews . . . were, or should be, a race
apart from all others. – Levine.
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Jewish “Exclusivity”

9. • Local Canaanites excluded
• All Gentiles excluded
• Samaritans excluded
• Eventually, “anyone the rulers did not
like was excluded
• The last bullet Paul and Jesus oppose
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From Purity to Zionism

10. • By the end of the Post-exilic period,
Judah had deep contempt for the
Samaritans.
• Reticent to even say the word
“Samaritan” or
• Travel through Samaria,
• Walking to the Galilee by making a
double cross of the Jordan River to
their East.
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“Bad” Samaritans

11. • Persia was not a nation in the post-
modern sense of the word.
• Rather, a city-state that expanded
by war
• That’s the way it was done.
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Persia ≠ “Nation”
v

12. • Cyrus was Mede
• Medes were Aryans
• Had their own language (now gone)
• Worshipped Ahura-Mazda
• Hitler, too loved “Aryans.”
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Cyrus “Created” Persian Empire

13. • Some did not leave Babylon
• Jeremiah’s prophesy:
– Build houses and settle down;
plant gardens and eat what they
produce.
– Seventy year long exile
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Exiles Returned in Stages

14. • The Temple was finished
• Not everyone liked it
• But, Darius I, Cyrus grandson
decreed its completion
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Temple Finished

15. • Not a “sappy love
story”
• A Picture of anti-
Semitism in Susa
• Esther rises to
the occasion
• Mordechai advises her
• Jews are saved.
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The “Esther Interlude”

16. • Ezra Returns
• People have abandoned the faith
• Married local women
• Ezra makes them “un-marry.”
• Ezra reads all the Torah
• People agree to be faithful
• This probably settled the issue
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Ezra Return to Find an Unholy Mess

17. • Despite opposition the Wall is finished
• Judah is once again a nation
• Unity prevails . . . For a while
• Old politics takes over
• Since they cant’ have “king,”
High Priest increasingly assumes control
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Nehemiah on The Wall (And Won’t Come Down)

18. 11/29/15 18© John R. Wible
“The God of Heaven?”

19. 11/29/15 19© John R. Wible
“The God of Heaven?”
To whom was Cyrus referring in his
decree? Could it be Ahura Mazda?

20. 11/29/15 20© John R. Wible
You May Recognize the Ahura Mazda Symbol

21. • End of Davidic Monarchy (until Jesus)
• Kings replaced by High Priests
• Traditional 12 tribe organization
changed to smaller family units
• (Except Levi and the Priesthood)
• Concept of YHWH solidified as the
“only God”
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Effects of the Captivity on the Nation

22. • Hedges kept one back
from the edge
• Therefore not even
close to violation
• Hedges warn of
nearness to sin
• Scribes and Pharisees
as chief enforcers
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Institution of Regulatory “Hedges” (Khumra)

23. 11/29/15 23© John R. Wible
Hedge System’s Abuse
• 613 “Words”
• Volumes of Rules
• Oral and written tradition
• Paul says it points out that no one is
good enough to keep from sin.
– Romans 3:9-12, 21-23
• Thus the need for the Messiah

24. • Aramaic overtakes Classical
Hebrew as the common
language
• God’s destruction of temple was
demonstration of His power
• Restoration of temple was
demonstration of His grace
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A “New World Order”

25. • We’ll see him next time as we
discuss Hellenism.
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What about Daniel?

26. Let’s Pray About It
11/29/15 26© John R. Wible© John R. Wible