The fifteenth book of the Old Testament is Ezra and was
written by the prophet Ezra, recording the return to Palestine under Zerubbabel
of a Jewish remnant that laid the temple foundations (536 BC).
The Scriptures record the return of three groups of exiles
to Jerusalem from Babylon. The first group came in 536 BC, the second in 457 BC
under Ezra and the third in 444 BC under Nehemiah. The book of Ezra tells of
the first two groups. At the time of the writing, for historical perspective,
Confucius and Buddha were alive and within a century Sophocles and Socrates would
be alive.
A quick look at chapter 1 tells us some interesting things: first,
