Ezra and the Law in History and Tradition
Lisbeth S. Fried
The historical Ezra was sent to Jerusalem as an emissary of the Persian monarch. What
was his task? According to the Bible, the Persian king sent Ezra to bring the Torah, the
five books of the Laws of Moses, to the Jews. Modern scholars have claimed not only
that Ezra brought the Torah to Jerusalem, but that he actually wrote it, and in so doing
Ezra created Judaism. Without Ezra, they say, Judaism would not exist.
In Ezra and the Law in History and Tradition, Lisbeth S. Fried separates historical fact
from biblical legend. Drawing on inscriptions from the Achaemenid Empire, she presents the historical Ezra in the context of authentic Persian administrative practices and
concludes that Ezra, the Persian official, neither wrote nor edited the Torah, nor would
he even have known it. The origin of Judaism, so often associated with Ezra by modern
scholars, must be sought elsewhere.
After discussing the historical Ezra, Fried examines ancient, medieval, and modern
views of him, explaining how each originated, and why. She relates the stories told
about Ezra by medieval Christians to explain why their Greek Old Testament differs
from the Hebrew Bible, as well as the explanations offered by medieval Samaritans
concerning how their Samaritan Bible varies from the one the Jews use. Church Fathers
as well as medieval Samaritan writers explained the differences by claiming that Ezra
falsified the Bible when he rewrote it, so that in effect, it is not the book that Moses
wrote but something else. Moslem scholars also maintain that Ezra falsified the Old
Testament, since Mohammed, the last judgment, and Heaven and Hell are revealed in
it. In contrast Jewish Talmudic writers viewed Ezra both as a second Moses and as the
prophet Malachi.
In the process of describing ancient, medieval, and modern views of Ezra, Fried
brings out various understandings of God, God’s law, and God’s plan for our salvation.
Studies on Personalities of the Old Testament • James L. Crenshaw, series editor
April 2014, 248 pages, 8 b&w illus.
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Lisbeth S. Fried is a visiting scholar
in the Department of Near Eastern
Studies at the University of Michigan,
an emeritus program lecturer at Washtenaw Community College, and an associate editor for ancient Near Eastern
religions for the forthcoming Routledge
Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean
Religions. Fried is the author of The
Priest and the Great King: Temple-Palace
Relations in the Persian Empire and
editor of Was 1 Esdras First? An Investigation into the Priority and Nature of 1
Esdras.
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