Persian king during Ezra and Nehemiah's time
Artaxerxes
Named in 14 verses across 2 books, first in Ezra 4:7.
אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתָּאArtaxerxes
אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתְּאArtaxerxes
The name means “the silence of light; fervent to spoil.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869
About Artaxerxes Written by AI
Artaxerxes was a Persian king who ruled during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. In the seventh year of his reign, he authorized Ezra the priest and scribe to lead a group of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes gave Ezra a letter granting him authority to teach the law, appoint magistrates and judges, and requisition supplies from the provincial treasuries. In Artaxerxes' twentieth year, his cupbearer Nehemiah learned that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and asked the king for permission to return and rebuild them. Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to Judah as governor, with letters authorizing him to obtain timber for the walls. He is probably to be identified with Artaxerxes I Longimanus, who ruled the Persian Empire from 465 to 424 BC.
Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897
The Greek form of the name of several Persian kings. (1.) The king who obstructed the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 4:7). He was probably the Smerdis of profane history.
(2.) The king mentioned in Ezra 7:1, in the seventh year (B.C. 458) of whose reign Ezra led a second colony of Jews back to Jerusalem, was probably Longimanus, who reigned for forty years (B.C. 464-425); the grandson of Darius, who, fourteen years later, permitted Nehemiah to return and rebuild Jerusalem.
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.
Where the Bible names him
- Ezra 4:7
And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.
- Ezra 4:8
Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
- Ezra 4:11
(This is the text of the letter they sent to him.) To King Artaxerxes, From your servants, the men west of the Euphrates:
- Ezra 4:23
When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
- Ezra 6:14
So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
- Ezra 7:1
Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
- Ezra 7:7
So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants.
- Ezra 7:11
This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in the commandments and statutes of the LORD to Israel:
- Ezra 7:12
Artaxerxes, king of kings. To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings.
- Ezra 7:21
I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all the treasurers west of the Euphrates: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it must be provided promptly,
- Ezra 8:1
These are the family heads and genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
- Nehemiah 2:1
Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,
- Nehemiah 5:14
Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.
- Nehemiah 13:6
While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to Artaxerxes king of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king
From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.