Darius, Artaxerxes, and Ahasuerus in the Bible

The thesis of this study is that the Persian kings named Darius, Ahasuerus, and Artaxerxes in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are one and the same.

This is not a new understanding, but an examination of recent commentaries on these books shows that this possibility is not even entertained, so certain are these expositors that “Ahasuerus” is the king the Greeks called Xerxes and that “Artaxerxes” is Artaxerxes Longimanus.

James B. Jordan demonstrates, however, that the common identifications of these kings is problematic and that understanding their common identity sheds considerable light on the nature of the texts under consideration.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James B. Jordan was born in 1949. His father was a professor of French Literature and his mother a piano teacher and a poet. He served as a Military Historian in the U.S. Air Force for four years. He began seminary training at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS, and graduated with an M.A.R. and a Th.M. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, majoring in Systematic Theology. In 1987, he founded Biblical Horizons in Niceville, FL.

Beginning in 1999, Jordan served part time as Professor of Biblical Studies at the Reformed Theological Seminary of St. Petersburg, Russia. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including From Bread to Wine: Creation, Worship and Christian Maturity, Through New Eyes: Developing a Biblical View of the World, and The Handwriting on the Wall: A Commentary on Daniel, as well as scores of monographs and short essays.