Hebrew Bible: Post-exilic history

Post-exilic History

Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 & 2 Chronicles

11/11/2011

Next short paper -- why is there a difference between stories written in Kings and those written in Chronicles?  Due Monday, 11/28.

Documentary Hypothesis

   (D) history -- possibly Josiah's time or even exilic

   (P) history -- probably exilic

Ezra-Nehemiah ~ 400 BCE compilation

• originally composed one book
• the last verse of Chronicles and the first of Ezra are exactly the same
• the work of one editor for Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles?
• probably not
• Structure
• Ezra 1-6 -- introduction
• King Cyrus's call for the Israelites to return to their homeland
• this was his custom--he also said that Marduk told him that the Babylonians could return to their land (encripted on the Cyrus Cylinder)
• his strategy made peoples easier to rule over since they were happy :)
• return from Babylon
• rebuilding of the Temple
• Ezra 7-10 -- Ezra Memoir
• meaning, this portion is Ezra speaking first-person
• Nehemiah 1-7 -- Nehemiah's Memoir
• Nehemiah speaks in first-person
• Nehemiah 8-13 -- Celebration of the rededication of worship to YHWH
• Ezra
• scribe and teacher
• Artaxerxes I was most likely the king who sent Ezra back to Yehud in the 5th century BCE
• Nehemiah was also sent to Yehud during his reign but after Ezra
• the Israelites had been back in their home country for about 70 years when the story takes place
• remember, the Temple was dedicated in 515 BCE
• Intermarriage, Ez. 9-10
• the point is made that Israelites had intermarried with practically every other nation
• hyperbolic marriages
• e.g. "Hittites" (who were no longer a nation)
• Ezra implements a mass-divorce system
• after spending days in the rain with no food, all the men had to finally give up and send away their wives and children
• **the focus was NOT on idolatry, but ethnicity
• Implementation of the Law of Moses
• meaning, first 5 books of the Bible
• the Persian kings wanted the Israelites' laws put together and followed
• in Rabbinic tradition, Ezra complied the Torah
• Nehemiah
• governor of Yehud for about 12 years
• Artaxerxes I sent him to Yehud around 445 BCE
• **rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem
• also addresses the intermarriage problem

Chronicles

    Composition

• originally, 1 and 2 Chronicles composed a single book
• 1 Chron 1-9 -- Geneaology, from Adam to David and the corresponding period
• 1 Chron. 10- 2 Chron. 9 -- David and Solomon (focus on the Temple)
• 2 Chron. 10-36 -- rest of the kings
• ends where Ezra begins
• since the chronology ends around 400 BCE, that date might also be the compliation date

David

• more Temple-focused compared to Samuel and Kings, esp. in David's advice to Solomon in 1 Chron. 23-29 (compare to 1 Kings 2)
• much material is omitted
• Bathsheba
• rape of Tamar by her brother (David's children)
• revolt of Absalom (son)

Solomon

• omitted material
• marriages with all the foreign women
• wisdom
• the temple is portrayed more extravagant

Note:  no Elisha mentioned and Elijah was only once mentioned in Chronicles

Hezekiah

• the "hero," in place of Josiah
• he reformed the nation and turned them from idolatry
• Hezekiah is responsible for bringing the people to Jerusalem for Passover

Kingdom Split -- not a labor disput as in Kings but a simple, non-controversial split (Absalom not mentioned?)

Manasseh

• he doesn't look as bad as he does in Kings
• he died peacefully (2 Chron. 33)

Key Elements of Chronicles:

1. everyone is justly punished (often seen in how they died)
2. "personal responsibility" is important
3. the Temple is unquestionably the focus
4. the unfavorable elements of "good" kings were often omitted.