Person Old Testament
Artaxerxes
Artaxerxes was the Persian king who allowed Ezra and Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:1,11-12,21; Neh.2.1; 5:14). Mentioned in 14 verses across 2 books, first at Ezra 4:7.
Why it matters. Persian king during Ezra and Nehemiah's time
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Artaxerxes
Artaxerxes was a Persian king who ruled during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. In the seventh year of his reign, he authorized Ezra the priest and scribe to lead a group of Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes gave Ezra a letter granting him authority to teach the law, appoint magistrates and judges, and requisition supplies from the provincial treasuries. In Artaxerxes' twentieth year, his cupbearer Nehemiah learned that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and asked the king for permission to return and rebuild them. Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah to Judah as governor, with letters authorizing him to obtain timber for the walls. He is probably to be identified with Artaxerxes I Longimanus, who ruled the Persian Empire from 465 to 424 BC.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Siblings
- Darius
Appears in Scripture
Named in 14 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.