We are told in the text, “the children of the captivity kept the Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month!” (Ezra 6:19). Most scholars would place the time of the Jews’ return out of captivity under Cyrus around BC 539, which is configured according to Claudius Ptolemy’s unscientific Cannon of Kings. This would put the completion of the Temple at BC 516, configured by scholars according to Ptolemy’s Cannon, and the return under Ezra at BC 457, which is a long time after the dedication of the Temple, upon its completion in the 6th year of Darius the king (Ezra 6:15). However, according to the record found in the Book of Nehemiah, Ezra was in Jerusalem and participated in the ceremony of the dedication of the walls surrounding Jerusalem (Nehemiah 12:27) and led one group of celebrants eastward on the wall, while Zerubbabel, and the descendants of David, led the second group who went in the opposite direction, westward, on the wall (Nehemiah 12:31, 36) until both companies met at the House of God (Nehemiah 12:40).
This represents a 59-year gap between the completion of the Temple in BC 516 and the completion of the walls around Jerusalem in BC 457, if we account for these things according to the timetable of Ptolemy’s Cannon of Kings! This, also, demands a contradiction in the testimony of the angel, who told Daniel that the walls would be built within 49 years, vis-à-vis from the time they would be released from captivity and began the building process to the completion of the rebuilding process, that is, of both the city and the Temple (Daniel 9:24-25), and this would include the walls around Jerusalem. Yet, how many of the “children of the captivity” who, if they were 20 years old at the time of their release from captivity, would be alive 82 years later? Yet, both Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest, participated in the dedication of the walls (Nehemiah 12:1). I wonder how much of God’s word would be believable for us who claim to be his children, if we allow the world to interpret the word of God for us? All of the events recorded in books of Ezra and Nehemiah were completed within two generations of priests (Nehemiah 12:26).[1] Yet, the first generation was still alive to see the end of the matter.
What is the truth, and who gets to say? All things considered, the word of God, which we find in Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther, cannot be fitted into Claudius Ptolemy’s Cannon of Kings, without contradicting what is recorded in these books. Either Claudius Ptolemy is correct (but modern astronomers reject his legitimacy as an astronomer), or the word of God is correct. We need to choose one or the other.
So, the children of the captivity kept the Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month (Ezra 6:19), and the priests and Levites had purified themselves, so they could participate in the celebration of the Passover (Ezra 6:20), because no one, who is unclean, could lawfully partake of the Passover. In fact, a second Passover in the second month is provided for those who were unclean (Numbers 9:9-11; 2Chronicles 30:1-3, 15-17). However, in anticipation of the completion of the Temple, the priests and Levites had purified themselves so all things could be done according to the Law of Moses, which included separating themselves from the people around them, who were the heathen of the land, and they sought to be faithful to the Lord God of Israel (Ezra 6:21).
Having done all this, they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days, thus celebrating in symbol what they had done in their behavior by separating themselves from the heathen of the land (Ezra 6:22). Therefore, the Lord put joy in their hearts, and turned the heart of the king, here called the King of Assyria (cp. Ezra 5:13; Nehemiah 9:32), and strengthened their hands in their labor in the House of God.
[1] See my earlier study, a chart: The Chief Priests of Ezra and Nehemiah.
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