Pilgrimage Imagery in the Returns in Ezra‪.‬

There are two different returns from Babylon recorded in the book of Ezra, one led by Zerubbabel and Jeshua (Ezra 1-2) and the other led by Ezra (Ezra 7-8). Many scholars have argued that these returns (or Ezra 1 at least) are deliberately modeled on the exodus from Egypt. The stories all recount a journey out of a foreign land and employ some similar motifs in the recounting. Probably the most frequently adduced parallels are the plundered Egyptians in Ezra 1 and the dates of Ezra's return in Ezra 7-8. But how strong are these parallels? Does the exodus motif fully realize the imagery of these journeys in Ezra? After examining some of the exodus parallels, I will argue that the accounts of the returns in Ezra also include the imagery of pilgrimage. Although the motif of the exodus is still present, the motif of pilgrimage may be a more comprehensive heuristic device by which to interpret the accounts. The returns in Ezra emphasize Jerusalem as the destination of the journey (and not the larger geographic region of the promised land); they are explicitly cultic (with priests, sacrifice, and cultic vessels specifically highlighted); and they involve several journeys of the nation (not one constitutive trip made by the people together). I. The Parallels to the Exodus