Unit 3C of CST100 surveys the books of the Hebrew Bible known as the Writings. The main sections for Unit 3C are:
The recommending readings from the Bible for this unit of material are the following chapters: Job 1-2; 10; 42; Psalms 1-2; 8; 19; 22-23; 51; 100; 139; Proverbs 3; Ruth.
Kethuvim: The Writings
The Writings are the third and final part of the Hebrew Bible. In terms of genre, they are the least unified section of the Hebrew Bible. The Torah is mostly narratives and law codes. The Former Prophets are mostly narratives. The Latter Prophets are mostly oracles. The Writings, however, are a mixture of many types of genre. Psalms and Lamentations are collections of songs or poems. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs are considered wisdom literature--albeit different forms of it. Ruth and Esther are short-story narratives (that is, they are self-contained units). Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles are mostly narratives. Daniel is an apocalypse.
In terms of the canon, the Kethuvim was the last section of the Hebrew Bible to become a closed collection of scripture. This officially occurred in AD 90 with the Academy of Jamnia (or Javneh), however, most of these works (such as the Psalms as seen in Luke 24:44) had been used in worship for quite some time before this.
The Hebrew people did not have a formal philosophical movement like other cultures such as the Greeks. The Hebrew people did wrestle with difficult questions about life in texts that are categorized as the "wisdom literature." Wisdom literature did not focus on national aspects such as conquests, kingship, the Temple, or even the covenant. Instead, wisdom literature focuses on individual experiences and how those relate to divine approval and disapproval. Wisdom was considered to be a divine gift and was even personified as the Lord’s companion during Creation (see Proverbs 8:22-31). Wisdom sought to define what is a "good life."
Since Solomon was renowned for his wisdom (see 1 Kings 3:1-28; 4:29-34), he was considered to be the fountainhead of the wisdom movement. Much of the Jewish wisdom literature is attributed to Solomon--works such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon in the Hebrew Bible, Wisdom of Solomon in the Apocrypha, and Psalms of Solomon and Odes of Solomon in the pseudepigrapha. The vast majority of the wisdom literature is anonymous.
Hebrew wisdom was conveyed in a number of different forms such as songs (called by the Greek term "psalms"), poems, riddles, fables, and proverbs. The wisdom movement often encompassed different perspectives on life. Proverbs teaches that the righteous should expect rewards and divine blessings while the book of Job questions whether that is always true. Proverbs esteems wisdom in high regard (see especially Proverbs 7:1-9:18) while Ecclesiastes is deeply skeptical regarding the usefulness of wisdom.
The sages who inspired the wisdom literature reflected on life and wrestled with the significance and meaning of ordinary life in terms of prosperity, misfortune, and unexpected calamities. Wisdom literature can be divided into two broad categories. Proverbial wisdom (or practical wisdom) conveys the wit and wisdom of commonsense, practical advice (such as is seen in much of the book of Proverbs). Speculative wisdom (or skeptical wisdom) examines vexing problems and issues about life, often without any definite resolutions (such as in Ecclesiastes and Job).
Hebrew poetry is found throughout the Bible. Poetic forms are found in songs and speeches of Hebrew narratives, the oracles of the prophets, the psalms, the proverbs, as well as parts of the New Testament. Most modern translations of the Bible indicate Hebrew poetry by indenting the lines of poetry while prose is left in paragraph form.
Every culture expresses its poetry in different forms (compare, for example, the iambic pentameter, the haiku, or the sonnet). The most common characteristic of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. Parallelism is the correspondence between successive lines of poetry and is usually categorized into three major types.
(1) In synonymous parallelism, the same thought is expressed in successive lines with slightly different terms. The second line repeats the sense of the first using synonymous words and phrases.
The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib (Isaiah 1:3a)
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever flowing stream (Amos 5:24)
Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking deceit (Psalm 34:13)
In each of these verses, notice that the second line essentially repeats the first line by using synonymous terms. Often some words are not even repeated in the second line; they are merely assumed (see "knows" in Isaiah 1:3a; "let . . . roll down" in Amos 5:24; "keep" in Psalm 34:13). Synonymous parallelism is the most common form of parallelism in the Hebrew Bible. A reader would think that Hebrew poetry is incredibly redundant if one was not aware of synonymous parallelism. Synonymous parallelism is important to recognize because it can shed light on a line of poetry that otherwise might seem obscure.
(2) In antithetic parallelism, the same point in two or more successive lines is made in opposite ways. The second line contrasts the thought of the first line, often employing antonyms.
For the Lord watches over
the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish (Psalm 1:6)
A wise child makes a glad father,
but a foolish child is a mother’s grief. (Proverbs 10:1)
Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses. (Proverbs 10:12)
In each of these verses, notice the same point is made in both lines but in contrasting ways. Much of Proverbs chapters 10-15 is in the form of antithetic parallelism.
(3) In synthetic (or "formal") parallelism, the second line carries the thought of the first line further or completes it. Synthetic parallelism does not use repetition or contrast. The ensuing line(s) often expresses purpose, cause, or an address.
The Lord looks down from
heaven on humankind
to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God. (Psalm 14:2)
Blessed be the Lord,
for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me (Psalm 31:21)
How can young people keep their way pure?
By guarding it according to your word. (Psalm 119:9)
In each of these verses, notice that the second line develops the thought of the first line further.
Hebrew poetry employed other stylistic features besides parallelism. Some passages are acrostics in Hebrew. In these passages, each verse or line of text begins with a word beginning with each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet in consecutive order. Acrostics are the structure behind Psalms 9-10, 25, 34, 111, 112, 119, 145; Lamentations 1, 2, 3, 4; and Proverbs 31:10-31. Psalm 119 is noteworthy because it is the longest acrostic since every eight verses begins with the same letter. It is virtually impossible to translate an acrostic across into another language while retaining the meaning and the letter sequence.
The book of Psalms (Greek, "songs" or "hymns") is a collection of 150 songs that the Jewish people sang in worship of Yahweh. Essentially, Psalms was the hymnal or songbook of ancient Israel. Many of the Psalms are attributed to David who was considered the fountainhead of the music movement in ancient Israel. The original context and purpose of many of the Psalms is difficult to determine. Most of the Psalms were probably composed to accompany worship in the Temple. Since Psalms is the longest book of the Hebrew Bible and would be nearly impossible to encompass in a single scroll, the Hebrew text of the book of Psalms was divided into five "books" or sections: 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; and 107-150.
Like any collection of songs today, the book of Psalms reflects many types of songs used for different purposes and occasions. There are different ways in which the Psalms are categorized, but some of the main types of Psalms are described below.
(1) Songs of Praise are psalms in which God is worshiped and exalted. Some of the more famous examples of this type include Psalms 8 and 100 among many others. Psalm 146-150, for example, are the five "hallelujah psalms" which all begin and end with the Hebrew word "hallelujah" which simply means "praise Yahweh." Psalm 150 mentions numerous musical instruments such as the trumpet, lute, harp, tambourine, strings, and cymbals that were used in the worship of Yahweh.
(2) Songs of Lament are psalms in which the Psalmist cried out for deliverance from adversity during a crisis. Some of these (such as Psalms 79 or 137) are called "national laments" because the psalm expresses despair during a national crisis. Others (such as Psalms 13, 22 or 51) are "individual laments" because the Psalmist expresses despair in the face of overwhelming personal problems such as illness or false accusations. Some Old Testament specialists describe the laments as a Hebrew version of the "blues" because these Songs of Lament often complain about the adversity being suffered.
(3) Songs of Trust are psalms that express confidence in God’s readiness to help during times of trouble. Psalm 23 expresses trust in Yahweh as the Psalmist's shepherd. Psalm 27 expresses confidence that the Lord would deliver the Psalmist from the most intimidating of enemies. Psalm 121 expresses confidence that the Lord is the never-sleeping Protector who oversees his people at all times.
(4) Songs of Thanksgiving are psalms that express gratitude for deliverance. In Psalm 103, the Psalmist thanks the Lord for being delivered from sickness (103:3-5) which was seen as God's forgiveness of his disobedience (103:3a, 9-10). Psalm 107 is a group thanksgiving that expresses gratitude for such things as God's provisions for weary travelers (107:4-9, 23-32), release from prison (107:10-16), and healing from sickness (107:17-22).
(5) Songs of Sacred History are psalms that celebrate the intervention of Yahweh on behalf of his covenant people. These psalms frequently mention important events in Israelite history. Psalm 78, for example, celebrates many of the events described in Old Testament narratives about the exodus from Egypt (78:12-16), the wilderness wandering (78:32-41), the Judges (78:54-64), the conquest of the Philistines (78:65-66), and the eventual split of the northern and southern kingdoms (78:67-72). Psalm 105, on the other hand, celebrates Yahweh's interactions with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (105:12-15) and the deliverance from Egypt including the ten plagues (105:23-38).
(6) Royal Songs are psalms associated with the kingship in Jerusalem. Psalms 2 and 110 (and possibly Psalm 72) were sung for the coronation of a new king on the throne in Jerusalem. Psalm 20 is a prayer for the king to be victorious in battle while Psalm 21 is a thanksgiving song after such a victory. Psalm 45 is a royal wedding song.
(7) Wisdom Songs are psalms that offer instruction for a good life. Psalm 1, for example, teaches that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. Psalm 73, on the other hand, questions why the wicked seem to enjoy prosperity. Other Wisdom Songs, such as Psalm 119, taught the importance of God's law to the covenant people.
Some psalms contain a mixture of two or more categories. Psalm 19, for example, is both a Song of Praise glorifying God as Creator (19:1-6) and a Wisdom Song teaching the importance of Yahweh's law (19:7-14).
The book of Job is a classic example of Hebrew speculative (or skeptical) wisdom literature because it raises unanswerable questions. Job's story is told in the narratives in chapters 1-2 and 42. In between, Job struggles to understand the meaning of the seemingly unjust calamities that he had suffered through a series of dialogues with his friends.
Job is presented as being impeccably righteous (Job 1:1, 5) and immensely prosperous (1:2-5). In a heavenly court scene in which heavenly beings (Hebrew, "the sons of God") assembled before Yahweh (1:6-12), the adversary (Hebrew, hasatan = "the adversary") enters and challenges the Lord by accusing Job of being righteous only for the sake of divine rewards. To answer the challenge, the Lord allows the adversary to attack Job’s wealth. Consequently, Job quickly suffered the loss of all his livestock and children in four consecutive catastrophes (1:13-19). Despite these calamities which would seem unexpected and undeserved, Job did not curse God (1:20-22).
In a second heavenly court scene similar to the first (2:1-6), the Lord allows the adversary (Hebrew, hasatan) to attack Job’s health. Consequently, Job quickly suffered from a debilitating skin disease (2:7-8). Despite Job’s wife who urged him to curse God and die (2:9-10), Job did not blame God and remained innocent and undeserving of the calamities he had suffered (2:10).
Job was then visited by three "friends": Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite (2:11-13). Job complains about the catastrophic injustice he has suffered and curses the day of his birth (3:1-26). Each of his three friends then take turns interpreting Job's calamities. Essentially, Eliphaz (chapters 4-5, 15, 22), Bildad (8, 18, 25), and Zophar (11, 20) keep insisting that Job must have blatantly sinned to cause such divine retribution. Job, however, keeps responding by insisting that he is completely innocent and hoping that he will be vindicated against their accusations (chapters 6-7, 9-10, 12-14, 16-17, 19, 21, 23-24, 27).
Another individual named Elihu suddenly appears in chapters 32-37 and adds four additional speeches to the arguments (Job 32-37). Finally, the Lord speaks from a whirlwind and challenges Job with a series of rhetorical questions (38:1-42:6). Essentially, the Lord states that humans are unable to completely comprehend the ways of God. Even though Job receives no explanation for his predicament, ultimately Job was vindicated by being blessed with twice as much as he originally possessed (42:10-17) while his friends were rebuked (42:7-9).
Overall, the book of Job wrestles with the ageless question of suffering, calamity, and misfortune in life and the Lord's role in it. Essentially, the book of Job challenges the whole notion that righteousness always results in prosperity and disobedience always results in calamity. In the context of the ancient world, no one could have been more righteous and yet suffered more than Job. Job's friends are shown to err when they see Job's calamity and assume his sinfulness.
It is important to note that at this point in Hebrew history, there was no elaborate concept of afterlife. Early on, the Hebrew people had a shadowy concept of what happened to a person after death. According to the Hebrew Bible, people died and became "shades" (Hebrew, rephaim) in an underworld called sheol. Sheol was neither a place of reward or judgment nor was it described with much detail in the Hebrew Bible. It was simply the grave or the nebulous underworld where everyone (whether good or bad) went after dying. Basically, people expected God to reward the righteous and punish the wicked in this lifetime, not after death. There was no concept yet of the Christian doctrine of heaven as the place of reward for the righteous or hell as the place of punishment for the wicked. This is much of Job's predicament -- in his mind there was no way of "evening the score" beyond his mortal existence.
Interestingly, no where in the book is Job ever provided with a divine explanation to his calamity. Even when the Lord himself speaks in 38:1-42:6, there is no explanation for Job's calamities or any mention of the challenges from the adversary described in chapters 1 or 2. Instead, Job is left without an explanation, which very well may be the point of the whole book regarding suffering and calamity -- there isn't any adequate explanation. Even though the closing scene (42:10-17) in some ways reinforces the very thesis that the entire book of Job is challenging (that is, the thesis that righteousness always leads to prosperity and disobedience always leads to calamity), the scene is important because it provides divine validation to Job's claim throughout the book that he indeed was innocent and had suffered undeservedly.
Proverbs is a loose collection of sayings of practical wisdom. The work is traditionally attributed to Solomon (Prov. 1:1; 10:1; 25:1) since he was considered the pre-eminent sage in Israel (1 Kgs. 4:29-33), but the book of Proverbs evinces the work of several contributors as seen in Proverbs 24:23-24; 30:1; 31:1.
Proverbs contrasts wisdom that brings success to foolishness that brings destruction. Wisdom and foolishness are not intellectual categories related to i.q. or smartness. Instead, wisdom and foolishness are moral categories relating to obedience and the fear of the Lord (see 1:7; 9:10; 15:33). Throughout Proverbs, wisdom is esteemed and even personified as "Lady Wisdom," the Lord’s companion (Prov. 1:20-33; 3:15-20; 8:1-9:18).
In many ways, the book of Proverbs is a collection of smaller collections of proverbs (for example, 1:8-9:18; 10:1-22:16; 22:17-24:34; 25:1-29:27; 30:1-33; etc.). Many subjects recur topically throughout the book:
Five books in the Kethuvim were collected together and called the "Megilloth" which in Hebrew means, "the scrolls." These five scrolls were read at specific annual festivals on the Jewish religious calendar:
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The "Megilloth" and Jewish Religious Festivals |
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Hebrew Book to Be Read: |
Religious Festival: |
Season: |
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(1) Ruth |
Weeks |
May/June |
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(2) Song of Songs |
Passover |
March/April |
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(3) Ecclesiastes |
Tabernacles |
September/October |
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(4) Lamentations |
Ninth of Ab |
August |
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(5) Esther |
Purim |
February |
The book of Ruth is a short-story narrative about a Moabite woman’s new life in Israel during the time of the Judges. In the Hebrew Bible the book of Ruth is found among the Writings. The editors of the Septuagint transplanted the book to its placement between Judges and 1 Samuel since its narrative context was in the times of the Judges (see Ruth 1:1). This is an unfortunate placement because the book of Ruth then interrupts the intended narrative flow from Judges into 1 Samuel. Outside the book itself, Ruth is never mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
Basically, the story of Ruth is the story of her family relationships. An Israelite husband and wife named Elimelech and Naomi and their two sons migrate to the country of Moab due to a famine (1:1-2). While there, the sons married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. After several years, Elimelech and his two sons passed away leaving all three women as widows. Naomi wants to return to Israel and she encourages her daughters-in-law to return to their parents in Moab. Orpah chose to remain in Moab (1:6-14), but in a poignant statement of loyalty (1:15-18) Ruth insisted on accompanying Naomi back to Bethlehem.
As poor widows, Naomi and Ruth glean from the field of Boaz, a wealthy landowner and distant kin of Elimelech. Boaz notices Ruth and provides extra grain for her and Naomi (2:1-23). Naomi instructs Ruth to approach him privately so that he might be her husband (3:1-18). After a closer relative does not choose to marry Ruth, Boaz and Ruth marry (4:1-12). Through Boaz, Ruth bears a son and Ruth is described as being the great-grandmother of King David (4:13-18).
The story of Ruth (like that of Jonah) made its greatest impact in the times after the Exile when some Jewish people became increasingly exclusive and ethnocentric. The book of Ruth would have been especially important during the times of Ezra (400s BC) when he instituted widesweeping religious reforms on the post-exilic people of Judah. Among other policies, Ezra decried the intermarriage of Jews with foreigners. Jewish men were supposed to divorce their foreign wives and Ezra insisted that Jews ought to be able to trace their heritage back through several generations of Jewish ancestors. These policies seemed harsh and inflexible to many in post-exilic Judah. According to the book of Ruth, even the great King David himself could not meet such high standards since the book of Ruth described his great-grandmother as being from Moab.
The Song of Songs (or also known as "Song of Solomon" or "Canticles") is a collection of poems celebrating romantic love. It is unclear whether the book is intended as a single unified poem or a collection of separate shorter poems. The poems express the love of an unnamed man and woman for each other. The language is often sensuous and full of erotic imagery -- so much so that Jewish rabbis taught that a man should be thirty years old to read the book! For use in worship (whether the synagogue or churches), the book came to be interpreted allegorically as depicting the love between God and his people. For the Jewish people, this would be the love between Yahweh and Israel while for Christians this would be the love between Christ and the church (see Ephesians 5:25-33).
(3)
Ecclesiastes (or Qoheleth)
"Ecclesiastes" (the Hebrew equivalent is Qoheleth) is a Greek term which refers to a "leader of an assembly." The term is usually rendered as "Teacher" or "Preacher" in English translations of the Bible (see Eccl. 1:2, 12; 7:27; 12:8-10). In the book, the "Teacher" is an unnamed sage who searches for meaning to life. Traditionally, the Teacher in the book has been identified as Solomon (especially due to Eccl. 1:1) but the book reflects a post-exilic setting due to the presence of Persian and Aramaic terms. Ecclesiastes is a classic example of speculative (or skeptical) wisdom since many issues raised in the book are left open-ended and unresolved.
The Teacher records his search for meaning in life but inevitably declares that life is "vanity of vanities" (Eccles. 1:2 and 27 other times in the book) or utterly futile and seemingly meaningless. The Teacher sought fulfillment in life through wisdom (1:12-18; 2:12-23), wealth (2:1-7), entertainment (2:8), success (2:9), and hard work (2:24-26), but repeatedly the Teacher complains that all these pursuits ended in meaninglessness (1:14, 17; 2:1, 11, 21-23, 26). The Teacher poetically expresses that there are various seasons to life (3:1-8) -- the text of which became the basis for "Turn, Turn, Turn" sung by the Birds in 1965. The Teacher beautifully recognized the importance of friends and living in community (4:9-12). Ultimately, the Teacher urges people to enjoy every day of life (11:8-12:8) because old age comes quickly (12:1-7).
The book of Lamentations is a collection of grief poems (or "Songs of Laments"; see types of Psalms above) lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians in 587 BC. In the Hebrew Bible, this book was placed in the Kethuvim as the fourth of the five festival scrolls, "The Megilloth." Lamentations was read on the Ninth of Ab (in the beginning of August on the Gregorian calendar) to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem by both the Babylonians in 587 BC and eventually the Romans in AD 70. The Septuagint (and thus English translations of the Bible) places the book after Jeremiah since traditionally Lamentations was attributed to him. Lamentations contains five poems grieving the catastrophic destruction of Jerusalem. The first four poems are in the form of acrostics based on the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The poems are bleak with little mention of hope or any restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple.
The book of Esther is a short-story narrative about the survival of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire. The book of Esther has been the subject of much debate because it never mentions the Lord, the covenant, the Law, prayer, dietary regulations, or Jerusalem. Furthermore, the Jewish heroine Esther is married to a gentile king. The Greek version of Esther includes six additional passages beyond the Hebrew version that are thus part of the Apocrypha. The additional passages in Greek correct some of these difficulties by repeatedly mentioning God (over fifty times!) and expressing Esther's disgust at being married to the Persian king (14:1-9). Nevertheless, the Hebrew version of the book expresses confidence in God’s providence over his people even though the Lord is never specifically mentioned (see especially 4:14).
The story of Esther revolves around four main characters. Ahaseurus (otherwise known as Xerxes 1) was king of Persia in the 400s BC. Esther (whose name is Persian for the goddess Ishtar) is a young Jewish maiden who wins a beauty contest to become the new queen of Persia. Mordecai (whose name is Persian for the god Marduk) is Esther's cousin and guardian who advises Esther how to use her role to preserve her people, the Jews. Haman is a royal advisor to the king who plots maliciously against the Jews and attempts to annihilate them. The story ends ironically as Mordecai's wins Haman's position in the royal court (8:1-17) while Haman ends up dying on the gallows originally intended for Mordecai (9:1-19). The Jewish people then celebrate their deliverance by instituting the festival of Purim (Hebrew, "lots"; see 3:7; 9:20-32).
The story of Esther is the fifth of the five festival scrolls known as the "Megilloth." The book of Esther is read aloud at the festival of Purim usually in February to commemorate the preservation of the Jewish people.
The book of Daniel is found after Esther and before Ezra-Nehemiah in the Kethuvim of the Hebrew Bible. It is usually studied in light of the Maccabees (ca. 160s BC) due to its literary genre as an apocalypse (see notes on "New Testament Backgrounds" for a discussion of Daniel).
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book in both the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint. The books narrate the return of the Jewish people after the Exile, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the renewal of the covenant. The books continue the story where 2 Chronicles ends (compare 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:1-3).
Ezra-Nehemiah describes the return of the Jewish people from the Exile that seems to have occurred in four major waves.
(1) 538 BC - After Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon, he allowed deported peoples to go home (see "the Cyrus Cylinder"). For the Jewish people who had been in Babylon for nearly sixty or seventy years, this made Cyrus seem like Yahweh's chosen servant (see Ezra 1:1-4; Isaiah 44:28; 45:1, 13). Under the leadership of a Jewish leader named Sheshbazzar, an initial wave of exiles made their way back to Jerusalem (see Ezra 1:1-2:70). Several thousand returned but many remained behind in Babylon since that area had become home to them.
The area of Palestine became known as the Persian province called "Beyond the River" (west of the Euphrates River, that is) with two areas, Yehud (Judah in the south) and Samaria (in the north). Once the exiles returned to Jerusalem, attempts were made to restore the city. Reconstruction of the Temple began but was not completed (see Ezra 5:14-16).
(2) 520 BC - Under the leadership of both Zerubbabel, the governor of Jerusalem, and Jeshua, the Jewish high priest, efforts were renewed to rebuild the Temple (3:1-13). The prophets Haggai and Zechariah urged the project to continue (Ezra 5:1; 6:14). The Jewish exiles who had returned to Jerusalem rejected any help from people (eventually known as Samaritans) who had lived in the land during the Exile (4:1-23). Despite opposition from them, the Temple was completed in 515 BC (6:13-15). Soon thereafter, the covenant community in Jerusalem reestablished worship practices such as making sacrifices, appointing priests, reading the Law, and celebrating festivals (6:16-22). (Note: Ezra 3:8 suggests a date for these events around 537 or 536 BC, but Haggai 2:18 dates this to 520 BC.)
(3) 458 BC - Under the leadership of Ezra who was highly esteemed as a Jewish priest in Babylon and a scribe who interpreted and taught the Law (7:6, 10), several hundred Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon (Ezra 7:1-8:29). Ezra resolved to restore national purity among the covenant people by dealing with the problem of religious intermarriage (9:1-15). Ezra and leaders in Jerusalem decreed that Jewish men should divorce their foreign wives and send them and their children away (10:1-44). Ezra feared that such intermarriage would incur judgment from the Lord for their disobedience to the covenant. (Note: some scholars date the leadership of Ezra to 398 BC instead of 458 BC.)
(4) 445 BC - Under the leadership of Nehemiah, a Jewish official for the Persian King Artaxerxes 1 (Neh. 1:11), another wave of Jews returned from Babylon to Jerusalem. Nehemiah was appointed governor of Jerusalem with the main task of rebuilding the city walls (1:1-2:20). Within two months, the task was successfully accomplished (6:15-19) despite opposition from the Samaritans (3:1-4:9).
Afterward, religious celebrations were held to commemorate the event. Ezra read the Law publicly to all the people (Neh. 8:1-12) and the festival of Tabernacles was celebrated (8:13-18). The people signed a national pledge committing themselves to obey the covenant (9:1-10:39).
Nehemiah served as governor of Jerusalem for twelve years until 433 BC and he then returned to Babylon (13:6). Soon thereafter, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem and instituted new religious reforms because the covenant had been disregarded (13:1-29).
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History of the Jerusalem Temple |
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ca. 965 BC |
First Temple of Yahweh built in Jerusalem by Solomon |
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587 BC |
Destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians |
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515 BC |
Second Temple of Yahweh built in Jerusalem. The foundations were laid under the leadership of Sheshbazzar in the 530s BC. The project was renewed under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the urging of Haggai and Zechariah. |
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20 BC |
Renovation of the Second Temple by King Herod the Great. Renovations were not completed until AD 64, although most of the work was done within a few years. |
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AD 70 |
Destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans during the First Jewish Revolt against Rome (AD 66-73). |
First and Second Chronicles were known in the Hebrew Bible by the title, "The Book of the Events of the Days." The Septuagint entitled the books, Paralipomena (Greek, "the things left out"). These titles imply that Chronicles is the long lost work frequently referenced in 1-2 Kings as "The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah" (see 1 Kings 14:29, for example). Since some English versions of the Bible translate that title as "The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah," many uninformed readers assume that 1-2 Chronicles is that work. It's not. First and Second Chronicles was written a century or two after 1-2 Kings and is dependent on 1-2 Kings for episodes and wording. The development of thought in Chronicles beyond the Deuteronomistic History can be seen in a comparison of passages such as 2 Samuel 24:1 to 1 Chronicles 21:1.
The books of Chronicles essentially contain four major sections of material. First, Hebrew history from Adam until David is recorded in a series of seemingly never-ending genealogies (1 Chronicles chapters 1-9). Second and third, the stories of David (1 Chronicles 10-29) and Solomon (2 Chronicles 1-9) are told since they represent the "golden age of Israel" in terms of the city of Jerusalem, the worship of Yahweh, and the building of the first Temple. Finally, the history of the Southern Kingdom of Judah is told while the Northern Kingdom of Israel is completely neglected (2 Chronicles 10-36).
The author of 1-2 Chronicles is typically described as "the Chronicler" and is usually dated to the fifth or fourth century BC. The narratives of Ezra-Nehemiah continue the story at the end of 2 Chronicles but are generally considered to be the work of a different author. The Chronicler typically writes from a priestly perspective in the narratives emphasizing worship rituals.
Theology Associated with the Persian Period
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