Hebrew Bible

The Book of Ezra, named after its main character, narrates a new chapter in the history of the Jewish people. Ezra takes the reader to the next major epoch in Jewish history, the return from exile. The Book of Ezra is divided into two main parts, narrating discrete periods in Jewish post-exilic life. The first period (Chapters 1-6) occurs in the late sixth century, covering the initial return from exile and the dedication of the temple under a leader named Zerubbabel. The second period (Chapters 7-10) occurs decades later and tells of the arrival of Ezra the priest and his temple reforms in the mid-fifth century. This second part of the book is roughly contemporary with Nehemiah, who arrives in 445 BCE, and in some manuscript traditions, the two books appear as a single text. The style of Ezra (as well as Nehemiah) consists of a combination of lists, memoirs, and letters (Ezra, in particular, is notable for the extensive political correspondence it records, including letters in Aramaic).

The initial group of returnees travels back to the area of Jerusalem, which now lies in ruins. These returned exiles work to reinstate the worship of G-d, encouraged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. To do this, they must rebuild the temple. They successfully put a temple up on the spot where Solomon’s temple had stood, but it does not match the grandeur of the former temple. Later, during Ezra’s period, the priests and leaders need to address several further problems, including a widespread practice of intermarriage with people who had not been under G-d’s covenant. Intermarriage is contrary to G-d’s law, a rule meant to ensure that the pagan practices of other nations do not infiltrate Israel’s worship. The returned exiles confess their failure to keep G-d’s law, and Ezra leads them in a process of recommitting themselves to the stipulations of the covenant.

The Book of Nehemiah, like the Book of Ezra (with which it is sometimes grouped as a single text), relates the history of post-exilic Jews who transition back from Babylon to Israel after the rise of the Persian Empire. Nehemiah is composed of three main sections: Chapters 1-7, which give portions of Nehemiah’s memoir, narrating his arrival and rebuilding of the walls; Chapters 8-10, which relate a series of religious ceremonies and which some scholars identify as being a portion of Ezra’s memoirs; and Chapters 11-13, which offer substantial lists relating to post-exilic Jerusalemite society before returning to a final installment of Nehemiah’s memoirs.

Nehemiah is a Jew serving as a court official in the Persian administration under King Artaxerxes, and he learns about the devastated condition in which the city of Jerusalem still lies. Moved by this report, Nehemiah begs for permission to go and rebuild the city’s walls. The king gives his approval, and Nehemiah leads a group of Jews out of exile and back to the land of Israel. Once there, they begin work to restore the walls of the city. Their progress is troubled by opposition from the leaders of nearby populations, and because of this threat, Nehemiah’s workers must labor with weapons in one hand and tools in the other. With the walls restored, the priests lead the people of Jerusalem in a service of worship, including a reading of the law and a recommitment to the covenant. Nehemiah closes his book with an account of his further reforms, including efforts to deal with the problem of intermarriage and details regarding the functions of the temple.

The Book of 1 Chronicles covers much of the same period of history as 1 and 2 Samuel, and it stands in relation to the earlier historical books in much the same way that Deuteronomy stands in relation to the previous books of the Torah, offering a summary and synopsis from a slightly different perspective. The Book of 1 Chronicles is a look back at the history of the early monarchy from the viewpoint of a writer in the post-exilic period, and it begins with the most significant genealogical records in the entire Hebrew Bible, encompassing the first nine chapters. The overwhelming focus of 1 Chronicles, however, is on the kingship of David, offering only a single chapter (1 Chronicles 10) on the preceding reign of King Saul. The book offers a more unblemished portrait of David than that in 1 and 2 Samuel, making no mention of his affair with Bathsheba or the intra-family coup that nearly unseated him. Rather, it focuses on his organization of the political and religious life of Israel, and the only negative light in which David is cast comes from his act of taking a military census rather than putting his trust in G-d. This story is told in 1 Chronicles 21, and it offers an explanation for the location of the later temple in Jerusalem, marking the place at which David builds an altar and prays for relief from G-d’s judgment. This fits with the larger priestly theme of 1 Chronicles, which focuses attention on the elements of Israel’s religious life that anticipate the organized worship of the temple.

In the same manner that 1 Chronicles offers a summary of the period of 1 and 2 Samuel, 2 Chronicles offers a summary of the period covered by 1 and 2 Kings. Since the author is writing from a post-exilic context in which the returned exiles are descended from the southern kingdom of Judah, 2 Chronicles offers a more pointed focus on the monarchy of Judah than do 1 and 2 Kings, which devote significant attention to the northern kingdom of Israel. Despite their differences, however, 2 Chronicles has much in common with the parallel accounts of 1 and 2 Kings. In both sets of texts, kings are judged on the extent of their devotion to G-d and their willingness to follow his ways, and the final tragedy of Israel and Judah’s desolation at the hands of invaders is marked up to a root cause of sinfulness in both accounts.

The first nine chapters of 2 Chronicles are devoted to Solomon’s reign, with expansive sections on his construction and dedication of the temple. The centralized worship of G-d at the temple is presented as the foundational reality of Israel and Judah’s existence. In dealing with the remaining kings of Judah, the author of 2 Chronicles focuses primarily on the ones who undertake positive religious reforms, including Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Although the main narrative of 2 Chronicles closes with the exile and the fall of Jerusalem, a brief passage is appended to the end, which jumps ahead to the return from exile and thus brings the narrative swiftly up to the same endpoint as Ezra and Nehemiah.