Keraia
People

Artaxerxes

Artaxerxes was the Persian king who allowed Ezra and Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem.

The name Artaxerxes means “the silence of light; fervent to spoil”

MaleArtaxerxes Longimanus, an emperorPersiaExile and Return eraOld Testament2 books15 verses

Summary

A king living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezra 4:7 (though some think this is another Artaxerxes); referred to as Artaxerxes (אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתָּא, Aramiac אַרְתַּחְשַׁשְׂתְּא); son of Xerxes I or Ahasuerus and Vashti; brother of Darius.

Glossary entries

Artaxerxes

Family members

Father

Ahasuerus

Mother

Vashti

Siblings

Darius

Alternative names

Mentions

Includes 1 verse that refer to Artaxerxes without naming them, as “he”, “she”, or the subject of a verb.

  1. Ezra 4:7
    And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in Aramaic and then translated.
  2. Ezra 4:8
    Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote the letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes as follows:
  3. Ezra 4:11
    (This is the text of the letter they sent to him.) To King Artaxerxes, From your servants, the men west of the Euphrates:
  4. Ezra 4:23
    When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
  5. Ezra 6:14
    So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
  6. Ezra 7:1
    Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
  7. Ezra 7:7
    So in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes, he went up to Jerusalem with some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants.
  8. Ezra 7:11
    This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in the commandments and statutes of the LORD to Israel:
  9. Ezra 7:12
    Artaxerxes, king of kings. To Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Greetings.
  10. Ezra 7:13Referred to, not named
    I hereby decree that any volunteers among the Israelites in my kingdom, including the priests and Levites, may go up with you to Jerusalem.
  11. Ezra 7:21
    I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all the treasurers west of the Euphrates: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it must be provided promptly,
  12. Ezra 8:1
    These are the family heads and genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
  13. Nehemiah 2:1
    Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,
  14. Nehemiah 5:14
    Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.
  15. Nehemiah 13:6
    While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to Artaxerxes king of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king