Ezra

(586–539 B.C.E.) a priest important in shaping JUDAISM in the period after the Babylonian exile and the name of one biblical and two apocryphal books According to the BIBLE, Ezra the priest went from Babylon to Judah in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. There were two kings with this name and opinions vary on which Artaxerxes is meant. Ezra's arrival would date either 458 or 398 B.C.E. In Judah, Ezra opposed what struck him as the lax practices of the Jews, including intermarriage with non-Jews. He convinced Jewish men to divorce their non-Jewish wives; he organized Jewish life in accordance with the instructions given in the TORAH; and he conducted a ceremony of dedication in which the Torah was read. Some think that he was acting as an offi cial of the Persian state. Nevertheless, his activity exercised a profound infl uence on the formation of Judaism. As a result, some call him the "father of Judaism." He is also seen as a second MOSES, who would have received the Torah if Moses had not already done so. At least three different ancient books go by the name Ezra. The biblical book of Ezra-Nehemiah continues the history told in the books of Chronicles. It recounts in detail Ezra's reforms and NEHEMIAH's building activities. The apocryphal book known as 1 Esdras (Latin for Ezra) in effect summarizes— with changes—most of Ezra-Nehemiah as well as the end of Chronicles. The Book of 2 Esdras is probably a Jewish apocalypse with a later Christian overlay.