דמותה של תקופת שיבת ציון בעזרא החיצוני

For many years research on 1 Esdras has focused on its literary and textual aspects, paying scant attention to its objectives and historical views. The various definitions of the book, describing it as a "fragment" of a larger literary corpus, a "revision" of an earlier work, or a "compilation" of biblical and nonbiblical excerpts, prevented recognition of its true nature and goals. This is the purpose of the present article. It regards 1 Esdras as a historical work in its own right, composed in line with the method common in its day: the "rewritten Bible". The purpose of 1 Esdras is to offer a different picture of the Restoration period than the one provided by Ezra-Nehemiah. Its historical description focuses on three themes and periods: the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, the restoration in the time of Zerubbabel, and the spiritual and religious consolidation in the time of Ezra. It thus serves the interests of the author in his day, the third century B.C.E.