Ezra-Nehemiah

The book of Ezra-Nehemiah is the only book of the Bible to narrate the events of the post-exile. With the rise of the Persian Empire, the Judeans return to Jerusalem with the intent of building the temple and repairing the city walls. This multigenerational repatriation undergirds the entire narrative. The Judeans find themselves in antagonism with neighbors who attempt to thwart the construction projects. The Judeans struggle to develop their own identity against assimilation by establishing lists and reinforcing Hebrew language. Most troublesome, in an effort to maintain the “holy seed” (Ezra 9:2), they banish the foreign women and children from the community. The migration setting allows for an expression of devotion to God that is appropriate for a diasporic existence. The migration setting nurtures a religious expression that can be lasting within the orbit of a large empire. Ezra-Nehemiah culminates not with the temple or the city walls, but with the rise of textual authority with priority to the written Torah over the specific geographic space of Jerusalem. In doing so, God is portrayed as transcendent and sovereign, but in a subtle way within the mechanics of empire. God no longer parts seas nor smites kings as in earlier narratives of the Bible. Rather, God uses the Persian Empire and the people as a means to execute his divine will. By the end of Ezra-Nehemiah, the temple is built, the walls are repaired, and the Torah is established as the authoritative voice of God. Both Early Judaism and Early Christianity would draw on these ideals in establishing lasting movements in the wake of multiple empires and diasporas.