The vision, taking place In the third year of King Cyrus, comes during the time described in the
Book of Ezra when the initial construction of the Second Temple had begun (Ezra 3:8) but was subsequently halted (Ezra 4:24).
The first explicit references to yiches in Hebrew (from the root yud-hey-sin, meaning "relation to" or "related to") appear in the
Book of Ezra, which discusses the unsuccessful search by the descendants of Barzillai for their genealogical record to prove they were members of the priestly tribe, and in the Book of Nehemiah, in which the author states, "I found the Book of Lineage (sefer ba-yachus) of those who had ascended first to Jerusalem (from Babylon)." Both the Talmud and the writings of first-century historian Josephus refer to scrolls of yiches that were scrupulously kept in the Temple, prior to its destruction, which traced the ancestry of Israelite women eligible to marry the High Priest.
The Old Testament
Book of Ezra reports: "The Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his realm by word of mouth and in writing as follows: Thus said King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has charged me with building Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
The story traditionally goes back to the decision of King Cyrus the Great (600-530 B.C.), recorded in the Biblical
book of Ezra, to allow Jews exiled in Babylon to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.
His topic was the Old Testament
book of Ezra. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed.
Speaking to Channel 2 news on Sunday night, he noted that at the time of his Florida church appearance he wasn't speaking as a politician running for office but was giving an "innocent lecture" on the
Book of Ezra. "What I said it was some sort of parody of the fanatics who do want to blow up the Temple Mount.
So has the
Book of Ezra (not quoted at all in the lectionary); so have Judges, Leviticus, and Nehemiah (each represented by one meager passage).
Many of the codices are sealed which suggests that they could be secret writings referred to in the apocryphal
Book of Ezra - an appendage to some versions of the Bible.
The first is found in the
book of Ezra. After those living in exile returned and worked to put their lives back together, they also tried to make sense of what had happened to them.
The content of 2 Esdras and its alleged relationship to the
Book of Ezra is summarized (15-21) as an introduction to Chapter 2 which sketches the medieval treatment of 2 Esdras.