Theological perspectives on the concept of 'Yahweh's people' in Ezra and Nehemiah during the early post-exilic period (539-350 BC) - part II (original) (raw)
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A Biblical Theological Approach to Ezra & Nehemiah
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were recorded by one author and unified on a single scroll in the Hebrew Bible, which suggests that the two books should be read in tandem, at least with one another if not in light of all Scripture. This essay argues that the biblical theological approach to reading the books of Ezra and Nehemiah is absolutely crucial in comprehending their unique contribution to God’s big plans n redemptive history. In doing so, this essay seeks to show that such an approach is much more than an enriching methodology or supplemental hermeneutical option. In this regard, the essay considers how the disappointment of the Second Temple in Ezra vis-à-vis all other mentions of God’s Temple in Scripture distinguishes its unique role in God’s salvation plan. Further, I will also examine how the deflating conclusion of Judah’s covenant-breaking in Nehemiah suggests that the end of Israel’s physical exile at the close of Old Testament history changed little about their spiritual exile from Yahweh.
“Gentile Incorporation in Ezra-Nehemiah?” Biblica 90 (2009): 356-73.
In contrast to other texts dated to the post-exilic period, Ezra – Nehemiah is well known for its separatist policy towards gentiles. Two exceptions in EN are the possible participation of foreigners in the Passover ceremony (Ezra 6,19-21) and the community pledge to follow the Torah (Neh 10,29[28]). An examination of antecedent Passover celebrations reveals that participation in the Passover marks out those who are members of ‘true’ Israel. This article argues that these cases indeed exhibit an anomalous inclusiveness, and discusses how it can be understood within the wider ethno-theological thrust of EN.
2018
“Taking as his starting point the separation from foreignness in Neh 13:30, Benedikt Hensel finds the focus on separation to be a leading motif in the Ezra-story in Ezra 1– 10 and in Neh 8 – 10. Hensel addresses the particular notion of foreignness in the two books against the background of our present knowledge of the constitution of the population in the area. In so doing, he discovers an enigma, namely that there were not many foreigners to dissociate from. So what would have been the purpose of the injunction to separate from almost non-existent aliens? An answer to this question can be found by paying attention to the use of the term “Israel” in these books, a designation reserved for the returnees from exile. As “Israel” was a self-designation also of the emerging community around the Gerizim sanctuary, this usage in Ezra-Nehemiah attempts to redefine the relevant power relationships in the period, pro-Jerusalem and anti-Samaritan. Readers will be struck by a number of Hensel’s proposals, including the suggestion that the designation of the “foreigner” functions in the text as a cipher for a particular conflict, by which the “Israelite” authors of Ezra demarcate themselves from other post-exilic Yahwisms, specifically the Samarian YHWH worshipers. Hensel’s study thus revives suggestions of anti-Samaritan polemics in Ezra-Nehemiah, but with new material from Mount Gerizim and Delos as the impulse for a renewed attempt to understand the theological thrust of the book.” (Kartveit/Knoppers, Qumran, Mount Gerizim, and the Books of Moses, 12f).
Between the Traditional and the Innovative: Ezra-Nehemiah in Current Research
Religion Compass, 2009
This article attempts to bring together the main threads of Ezra-Nehemiah research undertaken during the past 15 years, locating it in the larger framework of biblical studies and identifying possible fruitful avenues of future research. Areas covered in this article include the text and interpretation of Ezra-Nehemiah, current issues in the discussion of the history and material culture of the Persian period, the impetus of sociology and anthropology for the study of Ezra-Nehemiah and studies dealing with the theology/ideology and religion portrayed in Ezra-Nehemiah.
The Belief System of the Book of Nehemiah
B. Becking and M.C.A. Korpel (eds.), The Crisis of Israelite Religion: Transformation of Religious Tradition in Exilic and Post-Exilic Times (OTS 42; Leiden), 276-87, 1999
In this paper, I will try to show that the final text of Ezra-Nehemiah cannot be regarded as a unity. Even the sub-sections of the composition (Ezra 1-6, Ezra material and the Nehemiah memoir) are the result of heavy editing and cannot be used in the final form for historical purposes. The only possibility to use the text for historical purposes is to try to identify the directions of textual development by a careful literary and redaction critical approach. Already the differences between the three main witnesses (the Masoretic text, Esdras a and Esdras b) imply considerable editorial activity. There is, therefore, ‘empirical evidence’ that the text was exposed to additions and reorganization of text in the early stages of its textual transmission. The merger of three originally unrelated texts (Ezra 1-6, Ezra material and the Nehemiah memoir) into one composition created even more tensions and confusion. The text of Ezra-Nehemiah can be characterized as a constantly expanding corpus, a “snowball”. Since the editors did not rewrite the older text, the final text contains conceptions from various authors and editors who were active in different periods and who primarily wrote to an audience in their own historical context. In the final text, these additions are mixed and remain partly in contradiction with one another.
The textual material of the book(s) of Ezra-Nehemiah has been approached from several viewpoints, from the historical to the redactional, and has been recently investigated through sociological and anthropological methods. The present paper, focusing rather on intertextual biblical relationships, aims to give an answer to the following question: should the return from the exile in Ezra-Nehemiah be read as a second exodus, as a re-conquest or as a re-establishment of the status quo ante? Which pattern fits better with the texts at our disposal? After a critical assessment of previous attempts to interpret these stories as a ‘second Exodus’, the re-conquest and re-establishment patterns in Ezra-Nehemiah will then be examined. For the sake of time and space, the focus of the paper will be on the main characters of the narrative, particularly on Ezra. In that connection, the post-biblical (rabbinical and apocryphal) traditions about Ezra as a ‘second Moses’, will be compared with other possible comparable paradigms, such as Joshua (Jos 1 and 8) or Josiah (2 Ki 22-23). The appreciation of intertextual relationships with other texts of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament could provide interesting hints on the socio-historical situation of the scribal circles responsible for the final redaction of the book(s). A particular emphasis will be laid on the issue of community-identity shaping as one of the implied aims of the analyzed narratives.