The former kingdom of Judah, under Persian sponsorship, becomes Yehud, the Aramaic name of the province in the new Persian empire, and the Judahites become known as Yehudim, or Jews.
The Temple at Jerusalem has been rebuilt, but the Judahite community here is dispirited and defenseless against its neighbors.
Returning exiles—notably Nehemiah, an important official of the Persian court, and Ezra, a learned priest—provide leadership of the reviving Judaean center.
The currently most widely accepted period for arrival of Ezra in the "seventh year of Artaxerxes" is the second return of the exiles to Jerusalem (458 if the king is Artaxerxes I, or 428 if the year is read as his thirty-seventh instead of his seventh); whereas the mission of Nehemiah is generally considered to be 445-433 [return before the death of Artaxerxes]. An alternative period for the arrival of Ezra and a second return of exiles to Jerusalem is 398, if the king is Artaxerxes II).
Nehemiah, cupbearer to Persian king Artaxerxes I, had become distressed at news of the desolate condition of Jerusalem and obtained permission from Artaxerxes to journey to Palestine to help rebuild its ruined structures.
Provided with an escort and with documents that guarantee the assistance of Judah's Persian officials, he journeys to Jerusalem and arouses the people there to the necessity of repopulating the city and rebuilding its walls.
He encounters hostility from the local officials in neighboring districts, but in the space of fifty-two days the Judahites under his direction succeed in rebuilding Jerusalem's walls.
The exiles consolidate spiritual life by a public ceremony of allegiance to the Torah and by stringent rules against mixed marriage.
Thus do the historical Judahites morph into the people known as Jews, the practitioners of what becomes the Jewish faith.