Which Artaxerxes was Contemporary with Ezra?

[Ged]

Okay, let’s look at the wider picture and stop whining about introducing information from other works. Here is the diagram again. It covers the overall period we are talking about.

• The first thing I would like to point out is that the High Priest Jeshua, who is referenced in the 2nd year of Darius, (Haggai 1:1) could not possibly have been alive during the reign of Darius 2! He was simply too old. We know this because his father, Jehozadak was captured 70 years earlier by the Babylonians. (1Chron. 6:14-15)
• Secondly, Darius 2 set up the records and annals of the next generation of priests after Jeshua. (Nehemiah 12:22) Therefore Darius 2 was later than Haggai who prophesied during Jeshua and Darius 1. The construction of the temple must have been in the first Darius reign!
• Thirdly, one of the Elephantine papyri dated in the 17th year of Darius II (408bc) record the Jewish priests of Elephantine making an application to the sons of Sanaballat at Samaria. Now Sanaballat was a contemporary of Nehemiah, but his sons were contemporaries of Darius 2. Obviously Ezra and Nehemiah’s trips to Judea belong to an earlier time.
• Fourthly, the majority of commentaries and Encyclopedias show Ezra and Nehemiahs expeditions to Judea during the reign of Artaxerxes 1. Examples given on my O.P.

I rest my case.

[spin]

You have no case. You keep trying to change the topic. We are dealing with the Persian kings in the book of Ezra, not whatever obfuscation takes your sorry fancy. By running away you abandon all hope of understanding what you are dealing with because you are too busy believing you can use external questionable sources before you know what the text itself indicates. In fact you hide like you haven't got the guts to face the text itself. After eight attempts at trying to get you to deal with the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we can all see that you are incapable of the simple tasks you were asked to confront. Talk about whatever bullshit your cowardice requires you to.

Prove me wrong and deal with the plain evidence within Ezra. This will be the ninth time you have run away and hidden your light under a rock.

Here is the end of the reign of Cyrus onward in chapter 4: Ezra 4:5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. 7 And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language. 8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king... All these kings are in order, Cyrus, Darius I, Xerxes I and Artaxerxes I with the few minor rulers not mentioned. All is clear. At the end of the letter of Artaxerxes I Ezra continues: Ezra 4:23 As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop. 24 Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. When the letter of Artaxerxes arrived, work by the Jews was forced to stop until the second year of the reign of Darius, so Artaxerxes preceded a Darius, who can only be Darius II. And just in case you missed that, there is a repeat of the royal acts toward the Jews in 6:14-15, Ezra 6:14 So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. which provides the king names Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes and another Darius, so in fact there are two indications that we have Darius II before the Artaxerxes in 7:1. This is Artaxerxes II. During the reign of Artaxerxes I—according to his letter, see 4:24—the work on the temple was forcibly stopped and only finished in the 6th year of Darius II.

If you cannot deal with this, you know that all the rest of your rubbish falls with it and you are just mumbling nonsense when you try to make sense of any text, such as Daniel 9.