Ezra and Nehemiah Figures

The identities of Ezra and Nehemiah have been endlessly debated. Were they real historical figures who helped restore Judah after the Babylonian captivity? Did they know each other? Were Nehemiah a...

Ezra leaves his nice home in Babylon and helps reassemble the shattered pieces of Israel into a new nation, personally instructing the people in the Laws of Moses. He's a stickler for the rules, ma...

Nehemiah's a cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes—actually a pretty high position at court. He works his way up to being the new Governor of Jerusalem/Judah, thanks to a series of savvy career moves, be...

These guys lead the first group of Jewish exiles back to Judah, lay the foundations for the second temple, and build the altar. However, their non-Israelite enemies temporarily disrupt the rebuildi...

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah present the Persian Emperor Artaxerxes in a fairly confusing and non-chronological way. For instance, Ezra says that Artaxerxes—thanks to the influence of some devi...

Like Cyrus, Darius is a benevolent Persian king. When the Jews start rebuilding their temple—thanks to the prophetic urging of Haggai and Zechariah—violating Artaxerxes earlier order against re...

Cyrus the Great, founder of the great Persian Empire, appears at the very beginning of Ezra in Chapter 1. He instructs the Jews to return to their homeland and begin rebuilding their temple, giving...

Asaph (not to be confused with another earlier Asaph who led the singers of Israel once upon a time) is the head of King Artaxerxes' forests. On Artaxerxes' orders, he supplies Nehemiah with the wo...

These guys are all enemies of Israel who write a letter accusing the Jews of attempting to rebuild Jerusalem only in order to have a place to launch a rebellion. The Emperor Artaxerxes is initially...

Eliashib's a high priest who helps rebuild Jerusalem's walls. His grandson, however, becomes an ally of Israel's enemies Sanballat and Tobiah, and Eliashib himself may have been tied up in this mur...

These prophets get everyone pumped to start rebuilding again after Israel's enemies temporarily stall the construction of the Second Temple. These guys are important prophets in their own right wit...

Hanani is Nehemiah's brother and Hananiah's the commander of the guard. Nehemiah leaves them both in charge of the city of Jerusalem while he goes back to Persia for a while because they're good, G...

Jehohanan is the son of the high priest Eliashib. He's portrayed as an ally of Ezra in Ezra 10; Ezra stays in his house while fasting in penance for his people's mixed marriages.

Jehoiada is also a son of Eliashib, the high priest. Jehoiada's son—an unnamed man—is pals with Tobiah (the Ammonite enemy of Israel). He's married to the daughter of Tobiah's ally Sanballat, a...

In Chapter 1 of Ezra, Cyrus tells Mithredath, the treasurer, to give Sheshbazzar the sacred vessels and other items that he will then return to the temple in Jerusalem.

This dastardly trio tries to totally disrupt the rebuilding of the temple. But they're foiled in the end. They continually attempt to intimidate the Jews, ridiculing the wall, and threatening them...

In Ezra 10:2-4, Shecaniah informs Ezra that people have sinned by taking foreign wives, urging him to take action (which he does).

Shemaiah is an Israelite secretly hired by Sanballat to try to persuade Nehemiah to run and hide from his enemies in the temple. Nehemiah sees through the ruse, however. So, he's a bad dude, basica...

Sheshbazzar is the Persian governor whom Cyrus entrusts with delivering the sacred vessels belonging to God and the temple. Sheshbazzar fulfills his duty, and along with Zerubbabel and Jeshua gets...

Tattenai is governor of "The Province Beyond the River," which includes Judah. He questions Darius about the Jewish effort to rebuild the temple, explaining that the Jews say they're only following...