World English Bible · The Persian return
Nehemiah 11
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The princes of the people lived in . The rest of the people also cast lots to bring one of ten to in , the city, and nine parts in the other cities. The people all the men who willingly offered themselves to in . Now these are the chiefs of the province who lived in ; but in the cities of Judah, everyone lived in his possession in their cities—Israel, the priests, the , servants, and the children of servants. Some of the children of Judah and of the children of lived in . Of the children of Judah: Athaiah the son of , the son of , the son of , the son of Shephatiah, the son of , of the children of ; and the son of , the son of Colhozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of , the son of , the son of , the son of the Shilonite. 6All the sons of who lived in were four hundred sixty-eight valiant men. These are the sons of : Sallu the son of , the son of Joed, the son of , the son of Kolaiah, the son of , the son of , the son of . 8After him Gabbai and Sallai, nine hundred twenty-eight. Joel the son of was their overseer; and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city. Of the priests: the son of , , the son of Hilkiah, the son of , the son of , the son of , the son of , the ruler of house, and their brothers who did the work of the house, eight hundred twenty-two; and the son of , the son of Pelaliah, the son of , the son of , the son of , the son of , 13and his brothers, chiefs of fathers' households, two hundred forty-two; and Amashsai the son of , the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of , 14and their brothers, of valor, one hundred twenty-eight; and their overseer was , the son of Haggedolim. Of the : the son of , the son of Azrikam, the son of , the son of ; and and , of the chiefs of the , who had the oversight of the outward business of house; and the son of , the son of , the son of , who was the chief to begin the in , and , the second among his brothers; and Abda the son of , the son of , the son of . All the in the city were two hundred eighty-four. Moreover the gatekeepers, , , and their brothers, who kept watch at the , were one hundred seventy-two. The residue of Israel, of the priests, and the were in all the cities of Judah, everyone in his . But servants lived in ; and and Gishpa were over servants. The overseer also of the at was the son of , the son of , the son of , the son of , of the sons of , the singers responsible for the of house. For there was a from the king concerning them, and a settled provision for the singers, as every day required. the son of , of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people. As for the villages with their fields, some of the children of Judah lived in and its towns, in and its towns, in Jekabzeel and its villages, in , in Moladah, Beth Pelet, in Hazar , in and its towns, in , in Meconah and in its towns, in En , in , in , , , and their villages, and its fields, and and its towns. So they encamped from to the . The children of also lived from onward, at and Aija, and at and its towns, at , , Ananiah, , , Gittaim, Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, , and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. Of the , certain divisions in Judah settled in territory.
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The world at this moment · The Persian return, 539 BC to 332 BC ›
Persia takes Babylon and reverses its policy, sending exiled peoples home to rebuild their temples. Judah returns as a small province, rebuilding under imperial permission rather than independence.
- Persia
- The largest empire the world had yet seen, from the Indus to the Aegean, run through provinces, a royal road, and a postal system. Its policy on conquered peoples was to send them home and fund their temples, in exchange for loyalty and prayers for the king. The Cyrus Cylinder states the policy in Cyrus's own words, and Ezra opens with the same policy applied to Judah.
- Judah
- A small, poor province called Yehud, a fraction of the old kingdom, with a rebuilt temple that made the people who remembered the first one weep. No king, and no prospect of one. Leadership passes to priests and scribes, which shapes everything afterward.
- Greece
- Persia and Greece collide at Marathon and Salamis, Persia loses, and Athens spends the following decades on the Parthenon, tragedy, and Socrates. Herodotus writes the first history in order to explain that war. Then Plato and Aristotle, whose vocabulary the church will still be using at Nicaea eight centuries later.
- Further afield
- Rome throws out its kings and becomes a republic. In India and China this is the age of the Buddha's early followers and of Confucian teaching taking hold. More of what the world still thinks with was invented in this era than in almost any other.