Endnote 5 – Who Returned First—Ezra or Nehemiah?

For example, those who place Nehemiah before Ezra will delete the references to the two being contemporaries as late glosses that are historically unreliable. Or they will emend the 7th year of Artaxerxes to the 37th year (the three Hebrew words in “37th year” all begin with the letter S, so, the theory goes, the “thirty” element was accidentally dropped). Other scholars suggest that the reference to Artaxerxes at the time of Ezra’s return is to Artaxerxes II (404–358 B.C.E.). For a summary of the different theories, see Widengren in Israelite and Judean History, pp. 503–509.