Jehovah had foretold, his ships being wrecked.—1 Ki. 22:48, 49; 2 Chron. 20:36, 37; see AQABAH, GULF OF.

It may be noted that both in Solomon’s case and in that of Jehoshaphat some of the ships were intended to go, not only to Ophir, but also to Tarshish. (2 Chron. 9:21; 20:36, 37) Since the evidence is strong that Tarshish was in Spain, some have doubted that ships sailing from Ezion-geber could have made such a trip in ancient times. As to this, see the article on TARSHISH, where, as one possibility, historical testimony to the existence of a Nile-Red Sea canal is presented. Such a canal might also explain how King Hiram could send not only men but “ships” to Ezion-geber and Eloth (Elath) for Solomon’s use. (2 Chron. 8:17, 18) On the other hand, the suggestion is also made that these ships may have been sent to a point on the Philistine coast, dismantled and transported overland to the Gulf of Aqabah, where they were reconstructed. Those holding this view point out that the Crusaders later used a similar method. Whether by some Nile-Red Sea canal or by an overland route, it seems likely that at least timber was supplied from forest lands elsewhere, since the region around Ezion-geber has palm groves but no trees suitable for ship construction.

LOCATION

Just where ancient Ezion-geber stood cannot be determined with certainty. Most current geographers accept Tell el-Kheleifeh, some 550 yards (c. 503 meters) from the Gulf of Aqabah and three miles (4.8 kilometers) NW of the modern village of Aqabah, as the most likely possibility. Excavations there have uncovered five major periods of occupation, the oldest conjectured to date back to Solomon’s time. However, the archaeologists found nothing that they would date beyond that period, hence nothing dating back to the time of the Exodus. For this reason some conclude that the Ezion-geber of Moses’ day was either at another point, or that, because the native buildings were simple structures of mud brick, the early settlement has dissolved into the earth, leaving no trace behind.

Storage depot

The excavators at Tell el-Kheleifeh found the remains of a massive city gate and also a structure that was confidently declared to be the center of a large copper-mining and smelting industry, attributing its operation to King Solomon. More recently it was acknowledged that this identification was incorrect and, while some copper smelting was evidently done in that area, archaeologists now hold that the building was undoubtedly a storage depot. Such a fortified depot would be convenient at this point where important sea and land trade routes intersected, to house the gold, precious stones, and almug wood from Ophir till their being transported by caravans to their point of destination. (1 Ki. 9:26; 10:11, 12) For further details on this site, see ARCHAEOLOGY.

The words “From Ophir,” found on a fragment at Tell el-Kheleifeh, harmonize with the Biblical report of trade carried on with that land.

EZNITE

See JOSHEB-BASSHEBETH.

EZRA

(Ezʹra) [the help].

1. An Aaronic priest, a descendant of Eleazar and Phinehas, a scholar and expert copyist and teacher of the Law, skilled in both Hebrew and Aramaic. Ezra had genuine zeal for pure worship and “prepared his heart to consult the law of Jehovah and to do it and to teach in Israel regulation and justice.” (Ezra 7:1-6, 10) In addition to writing the book bearing his name, Ezra most likely wrote the two books of Chronicles, and Jewish tradition credits him with beginning the compiling and cataloguing of the books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Moreover, Ezra was an outstanding researcher, citing at least fourteen sources of information in the two books of Chronicles. Since many of the Jews were scattered far and wide in Ezra’s day, it necessitated the making of many copies of the Hebrew Scriptures, and likely Ezra pioneered this work.

No details of Ezra’s early life are given in the Bible. He lived in Babylon. He was from a family of high priests, but not of the particular branch that held the high priesthood immediately after the return from captivity in 537 B.C.E. The last of Ezra’s ancestors to hold that office was Seraiah, who was high priest in the days of King Zedekiah of Judah. This Seraiah had been put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at the capture of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. (Ezra 7:1, 6; 2 Ki. 25:18, 21) In Babylon the Jews retained respect for the priesthood and, therefore, the priestly families maintained their identity. Moreover, the Jewish community organization, with the older men as heads, continued functioning. Ezra’s family likely was interested in seeing that Ezra was equipped with a knowledge of God’s law, as was Ezra himself. Accordingly he was well educated.—Ezek. 20:1.

If, as some scholars believe, a man could not become a scribe until reaching the age of thirty, Ezra may have been more than thirty years old in 468 B.C.E., when he went to Jerusalem. This would mean that he undoubtedly lived during the rule of Ahasuerus, in the time of Mordecai and Esther, and may have been twenty or more years of age at the time the decree went out to exterminate the Jews throughout the Persian Empire. There were many Jews living in Babylon, so this national crisis must have made an indelible imprint on Ezra, strengthening him in faith in Jehovah’s care for and deliverance of his people and serving as training, maturing him in judgment and competence to accomplish the tremendous task later set before him.—Esther 1:1; 3:7, 12, 13; 8:9; 9:1.

TO JERUSALEM

It was in 468 B.C.E., sixty-nine years after the return of the faithful Jewish remnant from Babylon under the leadership of Zerubbabel, that the Persian king Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) granted to Ezra “all his request” with respect to going to Jerusalem and advancing pure worship there. According to the king’s official letter, those Israelites who of their own free will desired to go with Ezra to Jerusalem were to do so.—Ezra 7:1, 6, 12, 13.

Many of the Jews had become prosperous in Babylon, and the prospects offered in Jerusalem were not attractive from a material viewpoint. Jerusalem was sparsely settled. The fine start made by the Jews under Zerubbabel seems to have deteriorated. One commentator, Dean Stanley, says: “Jerusalem itself was thinly inhabited, and seemed to have stopped short in the career which, under the first settlers, had been opening before it. . . . It is certain that, whether from the original weakness of the rising settlement, or from some fresh inroad of the surrounding tribes, of which we have no distinct notice, the walls of Jerusalem were still unfinished; huge gaps left in them where the gates had been burnt and not repaired; the sides of its rocky hills cumbered with their ruins; the Temple, though completed, still with its furniture scanty and its ornaments inadequate.” (Ezra and Nehemiah: Their Lives and Times by George Rawlinson, pp. 21 and 22) So to return to Jerusalem meant loss of position, disruption of ties, the denial of a more or less comfortable way of life and the building of a new life in a distant land under trying and difficult and possibly dangerous circumstances, not to mention a long and hazardous journey, since many hostile Arab tribes and other enemies might be encountered. It called for zeal for true worship, faith in Jehovah and courage to make the move. Only some 1,500 men and their families were found willing and able to go, perhaps six thousand or so in all. Ezra had a difficult task as their leader. But Ezra’s past course of life had