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On the Meaning of the Term Rwça ˚Lm “The King of Assyria” in Ezra 6:22 JOSEPH FLEISHMAN Bar-Ilan University

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On the Meaning of the Term Rwça ˚Lm “The King of Assyria” in Ezra 6:22 JOSEPH FLEISHMAN Bar-Ilan University On the Meaning of the Term rwça ˚lm “The King of Assyria” in Ezra 6:22 JOSEPH FLEISHMAN Bar-Ilan University The completion of the building of the Second Temple that took place in the sixth year of Darius I, King of Persia1 (Ezra 6:15), was marked by a dedication cer- emony which is brie˘y described in Ezra 6:16–18. One could have expected the same display of joy as occurred at the dedication of the First Temple in the time of Solomon or at least similar to that which took place at the time they laid the foun- dation of the Temple,2 at the festival of Tabernacles or at the time of the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah.3 The text (Ezra 6:16–18) describes the dedication brie˘y in a schematic manner which seems to hint that the joy was not complete or that it was very restrained.4 However, the reader of Ezra 6:19–22 gains the impression that the narrator wishes to describe a feeling of optimism which was current among the celebrants. This Hebrew5 text, which apparently derived from the pen of one who described the dedication of the Temple6 reads: The returned exiles celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the ˜rst month, for the priests and the Levites had puri˜ed themselves to a man; they were all pure. They slaugh- tered the passover oˆering for all the returned exiles, and for their brother priests and for themselves. The children of Israel who had returned from the exile, together with all who joined them in separating themselves from the uncleanliness of the nations of the lands to 1.ÙOn the date of the building of the Temple see M. A. Dandamayev, A Political History of the Achae- menid Empire, trans. W. J. Vogelsang (Leiden, 1989), 352. 2.ÙFor the dedication of the First Temple, see 1 Kgs. 8:65–66. On laying the foundation of the Temple, see Ezra 3:5–13. 3.ÙOn the feast of Tabernacles, see Neh. 8:16–18. The text emphasizes there “that there was a very great rejoicing” (8:17). On the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, see Neh. 12:37–42, esp. v. 43. It should be noted that the word “joy” occurs ˜ve times in this verse. 4.ÙThe narrator is satis˜ed merely to note the word hedwa and so to describe the feeling of the people at the time of the Temple dedication. It is important to note that in I Esdras 7:5 this phrase is lacking. It is possible that the people were sad and disappointed because they did not see the return of the Shekinah to the Temple as it was seen at the dedication of the Tent of Meeting and the First Temple; see S. Hakohen, “The Building of the Second Temple as Re˘ected in Biblical Sources” (unpublished M.A Thesis, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 1975), 138–42. One can likewise posit that the joy of the celebrants was not complete because they were afraid of bloody attacks similar to those that took place at the time of laying the foundation of the Temple; see Ezra 4:1–5. 5.ÙFrom 4:7 until 6:18 the language of the text is Aramaic. 6.ÙSee L. W. Batten, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, ICC (Edinburgh, 1913), 52; J. M. Myers, I and II Esdras, AB (Garden City, 1974), 80; D. J. Clines, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, NCBC (Grand Rapids, 1984), 96. For a discussion of the problem of the blending of Hebrew and Aramaic in the Book of Ezra, see D. C. Snell, “Why is there Aramaic in the Bible?” JSOT 18 (1980), 32–51. 37 38 JANES 26 (1998) worship the Lord God of Israel, ate of it. They joyfully celebrated the Feast of the Unleavened bread for seven days, for the Lord had given them cause for joy by inclining the heart of the Assyrian king toward them so as to give them support in the work of the House of God, the God of Israel (Ezra 6:19–22). Verse 22 begins by recording the fact that the celebrants who ate of the Paschal sacri˜ce continued to celebrate the Festival of Matzot7 for seven days. The narrator was not satis˜ed merely to record this fact but added that the festival was celebrated “joyfully.” In the passage in the Book of Leviticus the matter of “joy” is mentioned in connection with the Festival of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:40) as well as in Deuteron- omy 16:11, 14, in connection with Pentecost and Tabernacles; but nowhere is joy mentioned in connection with Passover. One can therefore understand that by means of this additional word the narrator wanted to emphasize the atmosphere and the feeling that were current among the celebrants. The author does not leave the reader in doubt as to the reason for the joy, but explains that “the Lord had given them cause for joy.” Furthermore, lest the reader think that the joy arose out of the festival of Passover alone, the narrator emphasizes that the joy is a result of the fact that the Lord inclined “the heart of the Assyrian king toward them so as to give them sup- port in the work of the House of God, the God of Israel.”8 One may understand that this verse, which concludes the description of the festival of Passover in the new Temple and the history of the returnees from the time of the declaration of Cyrus until the celebration of the festival, contains elements by means of which the author wished to give the reader the feeling of raised spirits and of the hope which suˆused the people who returned. Since historically the building of the Temple and the celebration of the festival of Passover took place in the days of Darius I, the King of Persia, about whom it is said that God “turned his heart towards them to strengthen them in the work of God, the God of Israel,” many scholars have maintained that the term “King of Assyria” mentioned in this verse is a scribal error.9 Brockington,10 for example, maintained that the reason for the error is, “owing to the familiarity of Biblical literature with the phrase ‘king of Assyria’ which occurs some ninety times (although ‘King of Babylon’ is more frequent with one hundred and twenty seven times).” Others main- tain that the phrase was used deliberately and is not a mistake.11 Thus Blenkinsopp12 7.ÙSo it was at the celebration of the Passover in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 30:21). On the link be- tween Passover and the Festival of Massot see, e.g., Batten, Ezra, 95; L. H. Brockington, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Greenwood, 1969), 75; F. C. Fensham, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Grand Rapids, 1982), 96. 8.ÙThe term “joy” is used to describe the feeling of the celebrants of the Passover in the time of Hezekiah; see 2 Chr. 30:21, 23, 25, 26. This term is not used in the description of the celebration of the Passover in the time of Josiah. For an extended discussion of the term “joy” and its congeners in the available ancient Near Eastern sources, see Y. Muˆs, Love and Joy: Law, Language, and Religion in Ancient Israel (New York, 1992), 121–38, 184–86. 9.ÙSee, e.g., Brockington, Ezra, Nehemiah, 76; Myers, Esdras, 77. 10.ÙIbid. 11.ÙSee the various possibilities enumerated by H. E. Ryle, Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge, 1923), 86. According to R. J. Coggins, Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge, 1976), 41, it is di¯cult to know the rea- son for the change, because the Chronicler does not use the term Assyria as a general term to denote the polytheistic empire as did the author of the Book of Jonah. 12.ÙJ. Blenkinsopp, Ezra-Nehemiah, OTL (London, 1988), 133. spread one pica long Fleishman: On the Meaning of the Term rwça ˚lm “The King of Assyria””39 argues that the kings of Persia were the heirs of the Assyrians so that it is possible to describe Mesopotamia as “Assyria,” and that the phrase “King of Assyria” would be understood to mean King of Mesopotamia. In his view it also possible that the phrase “King of Assyria” re˘ects a later use of the term and refers to the Seleucid empire. Blenkinsopp also proposed other possibilities in the light of parallels between this passage and the story of the Passover of Hezekiah: “The allusion in the latter to the remnant which has escaped from the hand of the king of Assyria (2 Chr. 30:6) may well have been in the writer’s mind as he brought his story of the return and res- toration to a close.” According to Fensham:13 The title “king of Assyria” might not be so far fetched as some scholars believe. We have evidence from the ancient Near East that new rulers or foreign rulers were incorporated in the king list of a particular country. Because Darius was also the sovereign of Assyria, he could easily been called “king of Assyria.” The choice of this title might seem awkward. It is possible that the author wanted to refer to a title which had for a long time in history in- spired fear in the hearts of the Jews. The Assyrian kings were used by the Lord to chastise his people (Neh. 9:32). We are of the opinion that the proposal of Fensham, that “the author wanted to refer to a title which had for a long time in history inspired fear in the hearts of the Jews,” is the correct explanation.
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