The first readings for the beginning of this week are taken from the Book of Ezra – a book that might not be familiar to you. Today’s post attempts to give you some background, content, and not overwhelm with arcane facts and details.  Here is the big picture: The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah are two of the historical books of the Old Testament. They tell the story of the return of the Israelites from exile in Babylon and the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.

The Book of Ezra begins with the decree of Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, allowing the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Others led the first group of Israelites back to Jerusalem in 538 BC. With the help of the king, they eventually rebuilt the temple and began to establish religious reforms.

The Book of Nehemiah tells the story of Nehemiah, a cupbearer to the king of Persia, who was granted permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah led the rebuilding project and also helped to establish religious and social reforms. In general, the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah are considered to be reliable historical accounts, providing valuable information about the history of the Israelites in the post-exilic period.

Some of the details

If you are familiar with Biblical Scholarship you know that there are always many views on authorship, sources, original unity, later redaction, theological intent, nuance of language and the correlation to non-Biblical sources of contemporaneous history. If you are interested in the scholarly details, almost any good commentary explores all those topics and more.

Rather than lead you through the milieu of views,  this overview of the Books of Nehemiah and Ezra is written with a view of what seems to be the predominant consensus. Namely:

• The author of Chronicles, using source materials from Ezra and Nehemiah, was the final author/editor of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, sometimes reproducing them verbatim and other times rendering them in his own words.
• The Chronicler wrote a pragmatic history, stressing certain religious themes and message conveyed by the underlying historical timeline.
• The fruit of the Chronicler as final editor gives us:
  • Ezra 1–6 describes the history prior to the arrival of Ezra
  • Ezra 7–10 constitutes the first part of the memoirs of Ezra.
  • Neh. 1:1–7:72a comprises part of the memoir of Nehemiah
  • Neh. 8–10 is the continuation of the Ezra memoir
  • Neh. 11:1–13:31 takes up again the memoir of Nehemiah

All three books tell the story of the return of the Israelites from exile and the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. However, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah provide more detailed information about these events than the book of Chronicles does.

Historical Background

The following is a summary timeline of the historical sequence of events mentioned in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah:

• 538 BC: Cyrus the Great decrees that the Israelites may return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Note: the second and final phase of the Babylonian Exile began in 587 BC with the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, with the captivity and exile of leaders and citizens to Babylon,
• 538-520 BC: The first group of Israelites return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the temple.
• 516 BC: Dedication of the Tempe
• 458 BC: Ezra leads a second group of Israelites back to Jerusalem. He helps to rebuild the temple and establish religious reforms.
• 445 BC: Nehemiah is granted permission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He leads the rebuilding project and also helps to establish religious and social reforms.

Material preserved in Ezra 1–6 provides a brief survey of the historical background of the books.

• Ch. 1 begins with the edict of Cyrus and reports the return to Jerusalem of the first group of Jews under Sheshbazzar (c. 538 B.C.).
• Ch. 3 describes the building of a new altar and the foundation of the temple, shortly after the arrival in Jerusalem of Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, (c. 537).
• In Ch. 4 we read of a resistance from the Samaritans to any rebuilding in Jerusalem, especially the city walls. Their political efforts were successful and results in the Kings of Persia suspending the work on the city walls for almost another 70 years.
• The description in Ezra 4:24–6:22 of the second attempt to rebuild the temple in the time of Darius (c. 519) shows that the overtures to Darius were successful and the temple was rebuilt and dedicated c. 516.

Thus it is clear that these chapters were not intended to provide a full account of post-exilic Jewish history. Rather, the author recorded only certain instances which he regarded as important for understanding Jewish religious development in this period. Of primary importance for his purpose are those selected facts which emphasize the continual Samaritan opposition to the reconstruction of Jewish religious life and the reorganization of the religious community by the building of an altar and the eventual reconstruction of the temple.

In the remaining chapters, Ezra 7-Neh. 13, more complete information is given about the activities of the two most important Jewish leaders of the fifth century, Ezra and Nehemiah.

The Presence of Ezra and Nehemiah in Jerusalem

Given the Chronicler’s editorial arrangement described above combined with the known historical timeline, Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in 458 BC, some 80 years after the edict of Cyrus the Great. Ezra was sent by Persian King Darius with the sole aim to promulgate a religious reform. He was at the head of a party of returnees who were typical of the various groups which had returned during the previous 80 years. Presumably, after his reforms Ezra returned to Susa (a city east-south-east of Babylon)

Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem in 445 as governor of Judah, appointed by Artaxerxes. As governor he had authority over all the Jewish activities, including all aspects of religious life. He succeeded in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem despite the hostility of neighboring nations; he reorganized Judah economically (Neh. 5) and restored the cultic activities which had fallen into disuse after the departure of Ezra.

During Nehemiah’s twelve-year stay in Jerusalem Ezra returned and supported Nehemiah’s attempts to carry through his reforms. This reconstruction then explains why Nehemiah is mentioned in the second part of Ezra’s memoir (Neh. 8–10) and why Ezra is mentioned in the second part of Nehemiah’s memoir (Neh. 12). What became of Ezra after this is nowhere stated. Perhaps he returned to Susa. He is not mentioned in connection with Nehemiah’s second arrival in Jerusalem, c. 430. Nor is what happened to Nehemiah after the reforms of his second term mentioned anywhere. The sources break off at c. 430. Nevertheless, the point is clear that the temple had been rebuilt, the wall of Jerusalem restored, the cultic activities properly organized, and the purity of the religion preserved.

Theological Background

In pre-exile Israel religious worship was organized around the temple in Judah. One of the most important functions of the temple was to provide an opportunity to atone for sins by sacrifice. As a religion with high ethical principles, Israelite religion, like Christianity, emphasized the guilt of the people. A sense of guiltiness developed that could only be removed by atonement of sins.

On the Day of Atonement the high priest was required to enter the Holy of Holies to atone for his own sins and for those of his people. Throughout these times, the Israelites were assured by this religious practice that their sins were forgiven by the Lord. The prophets warned against a mechanical execution of this cult, but still the people were satisfied that the burdens of sin were lifted from their shoulders.

With the destruction of the temple, this privilege of atonement had been taken away. This was a complete catastrophe for faithful Jews. Their whole religious life was disorganized by it. It is thus not surprising that the first act after the restoration was to build an altar and to begin reconstruction of the temple. For the first time since the Exile the Jews were able to atone properly for their sins. The rebuilding of the temple was not simply an act of restoration of a venerable old building, but was of the highest religious significance. Similar activity followed the destruction of the Second Temple. The emphasis of the author of Hebrews on the eternal atonement by Christ the High Priest opened up a totally new view for the Jews about atonement for sins, and it became one of the cornerstones of Christianity.

As the prophets had warned, the continuous atonement for sins could easily become mere custom and thus not a living reality. It was so easy to take a lamb to the altar as an offering yet live daily in disregard of all the religious principles implied in the religion of the Lord. The reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah, with their heavy emphasis on the law, should be seen as an attempt to counteract such a way of life. The reading and interpreting of the law confronted the people with their neglect of these principles. Certain festivals were reinstated, and the cult was reorganized to fulfill the requirements of the law. But this way of life organized by Ezra and Nehemiah was concerned not only with keeping legal prescriptions, but also with living in accordance with the ethical principles laid down by the Lord

Thus it is not surprising that the covenant relationship is so heavily stressed in the memoirs of both Ezra and Nehemiah. The covenant was the vehicle that had given expression to the relationship between the Lord and his people since the time of the patriarchs.

An important aspect of the covenant was its promissory character and the expectations it created. The covenant not only gave expression to a relationship with the Lord, but also described a relationship of the partners of the covenant, the Jewish people. It was therefore an important binding force. Love to God and love to one’s neighbor were equally important. At this stage the neighbor was regarded as the Jewish companion and not a member of any other foreign nation. It is in this light that the stern steps taken by Nehemiah against exploitation of fellow Jews must be understood (Neh. 5). The covenant relationship was clearly a living relationship, and the prescriptions of this covenant had to be kept in everyday life.

Against this background it is understandable that purity of religion is stressed in Ezra-Nehemiah. Contamination of their religion with foreign elements, which could alter the orthodoxy of Judaism, was regarded as such a danger that everything possible was done to combat it. The emphasis on purity concerned mainly those things from the world in which the Jews lived that were incompatible with the principles of their religion – notably the religions of the local surrounding people. Ezra-Nehemiah instituted strict laws against marrying foreign women, doing business with foreigners, and more – all this aimed at reducing the chance of foreign religious practices and ideas seeping into Judaism.

Primary Source material from Charles Fensham, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah in The New International Commentary on the Old Testament Series. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1982).

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