[Ezra 10:1] Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.
The marriage problems in 9-10 began in this way. In the seventh year of Artaxerxes (458 B.E.), Ezra led a second group of Jewish exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem, only to learn that a serious problem existed in the community that had developed previously under Zerubbabel. Influenced by leaders of the new community in Jerusalem, the priests and Levites along with others in the city had intermarried with the pagan population they had found living in the land. When Ezra learned this, he ripped his garments and pulled out his hair in horror and grief. He was dumbfounded as to what to do.
Ezra believes that if the apostasy is allowed to continue, it would threaten the existence of the community, so he prays after the evening sacrifice, confessing his shame and guilt on behalf of his nation. Others joined him in prayer and weeping. The implied answer is yes. Ezra’s drastic action in confronting mixed marriages must be understood in the light of this brief that the final end would come unless the coEven before Israel had entered into the land, they had been warned not to intermarry with the inhabitants in Ex. 34:11-16; and Deut. 7:1-5. Such intermarriage would inevitable result in idolatry.
Even before Israel had entered into the land, they had been warned not to intermarry with the inhabitants in Ex. 34:11-16; and Deut. 7:1-5. Such intermarriage would inevitable result in idolatry.
Ezra apparently agreed that this was the mind of G-d, and so an announcement was made that in three days the putting away would take place. Those who did not respond would have their property confiscated and they themselves would be banned from the congregation of the exiles.
He calls them to separate themselves from the foreigners – especially from their foreign wives.
According to the list in Ezra 10, only 113 had taken foreign wives (17 priest, 6 Levites, 1 singer, 3 porter and 86 laity). Since the total number of families was something like 29,000, the size of the problem shrinks under closer inspection to less than 4 men out of a 1000, or about 0.4 per cent. The issue was not size but the severing of Israel’s marriage covenant with G-d which forbade G-d’s people marrying persons outside the covenant.
To send away or to cause to go out is not the usual word for divorce. Nevertheless, that is what appears to have happened. Their solution is said to agree with the Law.
Divorce was permitted under certain circumstances in Deut. 24:1-4. Ezra unlocked the meaning of the phrase ‘for something unseemly, shameful,’ or another translated ‘he finds something indecent about her.’ This could not refer to adultery, as the Law provided the death penalty in that case (Deut. 22:28). What could bring greater shame than the breaking of the covenant relationship and the ultimate judgment of G-d on all the people? Ezra had this passage in mind when he observed the Law and provided for the divorce of these unbelieving wives.
Question that remains is where any attempt made to win them to faith in the one true G-d? No direct answers are given, because these matters were not germane to the main point of revelation.
The resistance has to do with the proposal that Jewish men separate from their foreign wives. In the past, these marriages had been accepted, or at least tolerated, in the community. Now mass divorce is commanded. Laxness concerning the CThe chapter ends with a touch of human feeling; it recognizes what a tragic experience this will be – especially for the wives who had children. No information is given concerning the care for those who have been set aside.
In a time of oppression Habakkuk 2:4 declares that the righteous shall live by his faithfulness. Paul quotes Hab.2: 4 in Gal. 2:11, 5; he has sharp words for those who try to live by faith but without faithfulness. The times called for faithfulness – for holding fast to traditions that had given life to the community.
While marriages with foreigners may have been tolerated in an earlier time, that kind of tolerance was too much to expect of the small Jewish community that was grasping for a future following the disaster of the exile. These marriages were undercutting the foundations of the community. For this reason, Ezra and the Jewish leadership chose the drastic action of divorce; it was a decision for the community even though it must have caused deep pain for individuals and individual families.
Ezra’s action also reminds us that marriage has implications for family, children, community, and faith. Those who participate in intermarriage are involving themselves not merely with the other person but with the interplay of primal forces and beliefs that may be in conflict with each other (concerning the meaning of life and the shape of the future). If Ezra’s solution was harsh and drastic, it was because the issue had to do with the continued life of the community of faith.
More than many realize, that issue is important to us today. Christian communities who have minority status in various parts of our world know how important it is to the life of the community to marry within the faith.
Ezra rendered a questionable decision when he took this tack point out that he lost his prestige and influence in the community as a result of this decision. However, when the chronology of Ezra and Nehemiah is restored to its proper sequence, according to the textual claims and the most recent studies from history, Ezra was once again before the public during the revival of Nehemiah 8.
Can we divorce unbelieving spouses today? No! 1 Cor. 7:12-16 says that if the unbeliever is willing to continue living with the believer, than they must not divorce, for the unbelieving partner is sanctified by the believer, should the unbeliever finally and irremediably desert the believer, the believer ‘is not bound in such circumstances; G-d had called us to live in peace’ (1 Cor. 7:150. When an unbeliever chooses to desert his or her partner and marriage vows, then reluctantly the believer may let that one go, sadly accept the divorce with the right to be married to another.
Malachi 2:16 Say G-d hates divorce and hates one who covers his garment with violence. The garment refers to the ancient custom of spreading a garment over a woman (prayer shawl). Thus to cover one’s bed with violence was to be unfaithful to the marital bed and one’s nuptial obligations. The symbol of wedded trust, much like our wedding ring, became the agent of violence toward these wives.
Sometimes preservation of a way of life dictates a policy, which disappoints the democratic, ecumenical spirit. Today we worry about gay marriages and the church acceptance of it and now it has come acceptable!
The old saying: ‘you made your bed now lie in it,’ was not from G-d
commandments had seduced even those who were at the center of Jewish leadership.
Showing posts with label Ezra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ezra. Show all posts
Times Of Crisis
[Ezra 7:26] And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
In times of crisis a community’s response is not always a normative one. Sometimes, in order to survive, a community may involve itself in contradictory policies. Such is the case with the postexilic community. On the one hand, separation from all that is foreign is emphasized; on the other hand, there is appreciation for and limited cooperation with, the Persian government. This twofold emphasis was an attempt to confront the community’s chide problem; survival. It was recognized that the community would survive only if absorption with peoples of other religious traditions was halted and if the community leadership cooperated with the Persian government. In normal times community leadership may have acted differently, but in a time when the life of the community was threatened, whatever promoted survival, short of repudiation of its basic beliefs was done.
Ezra acts principally as a religious leader, and some kind of official of the Persian ruler. The king decrees that severe punishment will be carried out (including execution) on those who will not obey the Law of G-d and the law of the king. Breaking the Law – whether Persian law or the Law of G-d – earned the same punishment.
A close relationship between the command of an Israelite king and those of G-d (Prov. 24:21), a new element has entered the Jewish community through the decree of Artaxerxes, namely, a foreign ruler who does not worship Yahweh nevertheless establishes a policy that demands obedience to Yahweh on pain of punishment. Religious and political disobedience is punished by the authority of the Persian government and with the same kinds of punishment.
Jewish cooperation with Persian rule has its dangers. It is especially dangerous when the state punishes people for disobedience to religious principles. This state policy of Persia treated the covenantal, ‘I-Thou’ relationship. Such is the danger today regarding any contemporary state policy that would exact fines or punishment on people who violate some Christian teaching. Ironically, by requiring everyone to obey G-d, the relationship between G-d and people is destroyed. State – sponsored religion attacks the core of faith.
The Ten Commandments are not part of an impersonal codex governing an association of men but they were uttered by an I and addressed to a Thou….nothing of its society’s vast machinery has anything to do with the situation of the human being who in the midst of a personal experience hears and feels himself addressed by the word ‘thou’.
In times of crisis a community’s response is not always a normative one. Sometimes, in order to survive, a community may involve itself in contradictory policies. Such is the case with the postexilic community. On the one hand, separation from all that is foreign is emphasized; on the other hand, there is appreciation for and limited cooperation with, the Persian government. This twofold emphasis was an attempt to confront the community’s chide problem; survival. It was recognized that the community would survive only if absorption with peoples of other religious traditions was halted and if the community leadership cooperated with the Persian government. In normal times community leadership may have acted differently, but in a time when the life of the community was threatened, whatever promoted survival, short of repudiation of its basic beliefs was done.
Ezra acts principally as a religious leader, and some kind of official of the Persian ruler. The king decrees that severe punishment will be carried out (including execution) on those who will not obey the Law of G-d and the law of the king. Breaking the Law – whether Persian law or the Law of G-d – earned the same punishment.
A close relationship between the command of an Israelite king and those of G-d (Prov. 24:21), a new element has entered the Jewish community through the decree of Artaxerxes, namely, a foreign ruler who does not worship Yahweh nevertheless establishes a policy that demands obedience to Yahweh on pain of punishment. Religious and political disobedience is punished by the authority of the Persian government and with the same kinds of punishment.
Jewish cooperation with Persian rule has its dangers. It is especially dangerous when the state punishes people for disobedience to religious principles. This state policy of Persia treated the covenantal, ‘I-Thou’ relationship. Such is the danger today regarding any contemporary state policy that would exact fines or punishment on people who violate some Christian teaching. Ironically, by requiring everyone to obey G-d, the relationship between G-d and people is destroyed. State – sponsored religion attacks the core of faith.
The Ten Commandments are not part of an impersonal codex governing an association of men but they were uttered by an I and addressed to a Thou….nothing of its society’s vast machinery has anything to do with the situation of the human being who in the midst of a personal experience hears and feels himself addressed by the word ‘thou’.
Pentateuch
[Ezra 7:10] For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
The references in Ezra to the Law of Moses (v. 6), the Law of the L-rd, and the book of Moses (6:18) point to the Pentateuch in the form close to which we have it now. There are, some differences, for example in 6:18 states: ‘And they set the priest in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for the service of G-d at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.’ Although pentateuchal passages speak of the duties of priest and Levites (Lev. 8; Num. 3:5-10), there is no specific mention of the structures mentioned in 6:18. According to 1 Chron. 23-26, this development is due to David. But in general it may be said that the Law tradition is which Ezra was a skilled perceptive interpreter was the pentateuchal tradition.
In Ezra’s emphasis on the Torah we see the beginning of the development, it must be emphasized that this development stands in strong permanence with the Temple and its traditions. A life lived in accordance with the Law was of many psalms (Ps. 1, 15, 19, 119). One might say that the Temple was made for Law and not Law for the Temple. Israel could survive without the Temple, but she would cease to exist without the Torah.
This view of Torah is due in part to the use of the term ‘Law” as a translation of Torah. It is the Law of the Covenant; it is the Law for people who already are in relationship with G-d. Torah is more than Law; it is teaching or instruction for a people whom G-d has delivered and called to be His own.
Paul’s statements come first to our memory when we think of the Law or Torah, and postexilic Judaism; for example, see such words as the following:
1. Rom. 4:15 For the Law bring wrath.
2. Gal. 3:13 Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law.
3. Gal. 2:16 Because by the works of the Law shall no one be justified.
These words of Paul created a misunderstanding of the Jewish Law tradition because they are not interpreted in the context of Paul’s purpose of audience. He speaks in opposition to some people who have a wrong view of the Law. They have forgotten the covenant setting of the Law and have turned it into legality. The people that Paul attacks are likely those that Amos and Jeremiah would have opposed (Rom. 2:17-29; Jer. 7:1-28 and Amos 5:10:24).
Paul does make some affirmative statements about the Law (Rom. 3:31: 7:12), but because he is in conflict with those who misuse the Law, he chooses not to mention passages in the OT or in post biblical Jewish literature that speak of the Law with warmth and love. Paul nowhere refers to the following view of the Law:
1. The Law of the L-rd is perfect reviving the soul
2. The testimony of the L-rd is sure, making wise the simple
3. The precepts of the L-rd are right, rejoicing the heart
4. The commandment of the L-rd is pure, enlightening the eyes
5. The fear of the L-rd is clean, enduing for ever
6. The ordinances of the L-rd are true, and righteous altogether
7. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold
8. Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. (Ps. 19:7-10; and 119).
9. The Law crates harmony
For the classical prophets, the psalmists, Ezra, and those following him, the Law was not a burden of legalistic requirements or an expression of wrath. It was the gift of G-d to a people He had rescued in the Exodus 20:2. It was not a Law that killed, but one that made alive; it was a way of ordering life so that a community could live in harmony with G-d and each other. Life in a community must have some structure; if it is not ordered in one way in terms of love and justice, it will be ordered in another manner.
The references in Ezra to the Law of Moses (v. 6), the Law of the L-rd, and the book of Moses (6:18) point to the Pentateuch in the form close to which we have it now. There are, some differences, for example in 6:18 states: ‘And they set the priest in their divisions and the Levites in their courses, for the service of G-d at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.’ Although pentateuchal passages speak of the duties of priest and Levites (Lev. 8; Num. 3:5-10), there is no specific mention of the structures mentioned in 6:18. According to 1 Chron. 23-26, this development is due to David. But in general it may be said that the Law tradition is which Ezra was a skilled perceptive interpreter was the pentateuchal tradition.
In Ezra’s emphasis on the Torah we see the beginning of the development, it must be emphasized that this development stands in strong permanence with the Temple and its traditions. A life lived in accordance with the Law was of many psalms (Ps. 1, 15, 19, 119). One might say that the Temple was made for Law and not Law for the Temple. Israel could survive without the Temple, but she would cease to exist without the Torah.
This view of Torah is due in part to the use of the term ‘Law” as a translation of Torah. It is the Law of the Covenant; it is the Law for people who already are in relationship with G-d. Torah is more than Law; it is teaching or instruction for a people whom G-d has delivered and called to be His own.
Paul’s statements come first to our memory when we think of the Law or Torah, and postexilic Judaism; for example, see such words as the following:
1. Rom. 4:15 For the Law bring wrath.
2. Gal. 3:13 Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law.
3. Gal. 2:16 Because by the works of the Law shall no one be justified.
These words of Paul created a misunderstanding of the Jewish Law tradition because they are not interpreted in the context of Paul’s purpose of audience. He speaks in opposition to some people who have a wrong view of the Law. They have forgotten the covenant setting of the Law and have turned it into legality. The people that Paul attacks are likely those that Amos and Jeremiah would have opposed (Rom. 2:17-29; Jer. 7:1-28 and Amos 5:10:24).
Paul does make some affirmative statements about the Law (Rom. 3:31: 7:12), but because he is in conflict with those who misuse the Law, he chooses not to mention passages in the OT or in post biblical Jewish literature that speak of the Law with warmth and love. Paul nowhere refers to the following view of the Law:
1. The Law of the L-rd is perfect reviving the soul
2. The testimony of the L-rd is sure, making wise the simple
3. The precepts of the L-rd are right, rejoicing the heart
4. The commandment of the L-rd is pure, enlightening the eyes
5. The fear of the L-rd is clean, enduing for ever
6. The ordinances of the L-rd are true, and righteous altogether
7. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold
8. Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. (Ps. 19:7-10; and 119).
9. The Law crates harmony
For the classical prophets, the psalmists, Ezra, and those following him, the Law was not a burden of legalistic requirements or an expression of wrath. It was the gift of G-d to a people He had rescued in the Exodus 20:2. It was not a Law that killed, but one that made alive; it was a way of ordering life so that a community could live in harmony with G-d and each other. Life in a community must have some structure; if it is not ordered in one way in terms of love and justice, it will be ordered in another manner.
Ezra
Ezra was a priest, scribe and religious organizer, plus a descendant of Zadok. Five things Ezra did:
1. He restored the Torah.
2. He was the founder and head of the Synagogue 400B.E.
3. He established law of the land.
4. Peddlers were permitted in the city
5. Women were made to wear girdles.
Ezra’s tomb is located in Baserack. His name means Help or helper. Books of Ezra and Nehemiah were one book until the 3rd Century B.E. it covers a 880 year period. Notable names in Ezra:
1. Cyrus - deliver the people.
2. Darius - governor of Babylon.
3. Araxerxes - King Hwder - rebuilding Temple.
4. Nethinims - Means dedicated ones.
Key words are: Jerusalem - 48 times. Law, Commandments - 11 times. Torah and go up - 11 times. Four-fold purpose of Ezra:
1. Show remnants return from captivity.
2. Fall of Babylon and return of Judah.
3. Heathen to do the work.
4. Humans do the impossible task.
Note Ephraim and Manasseh of the Northern tribes are assembled with Judah and Jerusalem, 1 Chron. 9:3. Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin of Judah. King Cyrus later made Zerubbabel governor of Judah. The book records two remnants of Jews returning to Jerusalem: Benjamin and Judah. The work on the Temple stopped for approximately 15 years. G-d raised two prophets, Haddia and Zacriha, who stirred up Joshua, the priest and Zerubbabel, the governor. Five things Ezra had liberty from the king to do in Jerusalem;
1. Purchase animals for sacrifices.
2. Vessels back.
3. Priest was exempt from taxes.
4. Judges to restore Laws.
5. Preserve geology.
Four things that could be done to those who refused to obey G-d’s Law: Banishment, Death, Confiscating goods, imprison. Three things the people did as they celebrated the laying of the foundation of the Temple: Praise, Gave thanks, sang. Ezra traced his ancestry back to Aaron. The Behistun Rock was the key to Babylon language 1835. Tradition says Ezra was the founder of Synagogues worship and the president of the Great synagogue what had a Bet Midrash.722 B.E. 10 tribes whip out but a remnant of all tribes. 120 members of Bet Midrash and Ezra was the president. He help form the cannon of the Scriptures.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, considered originally being one book 300 B.C.E.
The people known as “Israel” before the exile are now identified as “Jews.” The English term “Jew” comes from the Hebrew word yehudi, that is, Judahite (Esther 2:5; the plural form in Neh.1: 2. The Jewish canon differ significantly from the Christian canon; whereas the latter canon of the Hebrew Bible ends with the book of Malachi, the Jewish canon ends with 2 chronicles. For Christians, Malachi (ending with the fervent hope for the day of the L-rd) appears to be longing for some special divine action to take place. The Christian church has frequently understood Malachi’s expectation of the ‘day of the L-rd” to represent the whole OT’s hope for the coming of the Messiah (Mk. 9:12; 1:2). Because in Christian circles the OT ended with Malachi, this interpretation had a special attraction for the church. But, as we have said in the Jewish canon the Hebrew Bible ends not with Malachi but with Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1-2 Chronicles. The final verses of 2 Chronicles (36: 22-23) contain the announcement that Yahweh has intervened on behalf of the Jews in exile. In the midst of their suffering, He is creating a future for them.
The manner of this intervention is astonishing; Yahweh has chosen Cyrus, king of Persia, to be the one who will enable the exiles to return home and rebuild the Temple. Thus Chronicles does not end with a look to the distant future but with the affirmation that deliverance and restoration are happening now. It is this story that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah preserve for us. The point of our comments above is this: the last tree books of the Jewish canon are optimistic about the present and near future even though the times are difficult.
The traditional view is that Ezra preceded Nehemiah, coming from Babylon 458 B.C.E. (Ezra 7:8). According to this view, Nehemiah arrived some thirteen years later, in 445 B.C. E.
In the person of Ezra, “a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses” we are able to see the emergence of the core of what is now called Rabbinic Judaism. With him emerges a firm emphasis on the study of the Law (Torah) – a written tradition that needed interpretation.
While the Deuteronomist urges the Israelites to consult prophets in the event of doubt, Ezra and his contemporaries seek guidance in the diligent study of the written documents. The living but temperamental and unpredictable instrument of the Word of G-d that the prophet had been was now replaced by the rigid but certain book…now that the Torah of Moses was standardized, it appeared that the prophet could not controvert any of its numerous precepts, which in turn could be stretched by interpretation to cover almost every contingency in life.
Whereas G-d had given the Torah to the people throw Moses, at a later time, when Torah was largely forgotten, Ezra acted to reestablish it in the Jewish community. After the sacred books were burned in the fall of Jerusalem, Ezra, so it was believed was inspired by G-d to dictate to his assistance – for forty days – all the words found in the ruined books. In Matt. 23:2-3 Y’Shua declares: “the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you.”
The author of Ezra and Nehemiah has little interest in matters, his great concern is to demonstrate that G-d is with those who establish and preserve a pure society. A pure society means positively, loyalty to Yahweh through obedience to Torah and proper Temple worship. Negatively, a pure society means separation from people who would pollute the community. In the latter kind of society there are no free-floating individuals. Everyone is a member of some family and comes from some place. The individual understands himself in terms of that family, and he is known and valued by others as an individual who comes from this particular place. The character of every individual is known by his background, because (it was believed) his ancestors live on through him.
1. He restored the Torah.
2. He was the founder and head of the Synagogue 400B.E.
3. He established law of the land.
4. Peddlers were permitted in the city
5. Women were made to wear girdles.
Ezra’s tomb is located in Baserack. His name means Help or helper. Books of Ezra and Nehemiah were one book until the 3rd Century B.E. it covers a 880 year period. Notable names in Ezra:
1. Cyrus - deliver the people.
2. Darius - governor of Babylon.
3. Araxerxes - King Hwder - rebuilding Temple.
4. Nethinims - Means dedicated ones.
Key words are: Jerusalem - 48 times. Law, Commandments - 11 times. Torah and go up - 11 times. Four-fold purpose of Ezra:
1. Show remnants return from captivity.
2. Fall of Babylon and return of Judah.
3. Heathen to do the work.
4. Humans do the impossible task.
Note Ephraim and Manasseh of the Northern tribes are assembled with Judah and Jerusalem, 1 Chron. 9:3. Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin of Judah. King Cyrus later made Zerubbabel governor of Judah. The book records two remnants of Jews returning to Jerusalem: Benjamin and Judah. The work on the Temple stopped for approximately 15 years. G-d raised two prophets, Haddia and Zacriha, who stirred up Joshua, the priest and Zerubbabel, the governor. Five things Ezra had liberty from the king to do in Jerusalem;
1. Purchase animals for sacrifices.
2. Vessels back.
3. Priest was exempt from taxes.
4. Judges to restore Laws.
5. Preserve geology.
Four things that could be done to those who refused to obey G-d’s Law: Banishment, Death, Confiscating goods, imprison. Three things the people did as they celebrated the laying of the foundation of the Temple: Praise, Gave thanks, sang. Ezra traced his ancestry back to Aaron. The Behistun Rock was the key to Babylon language 1835. Tradition says Ezra was the founder of Synagogues worship and the president of the Great synagogue what had a Bet Midrash.722 B.E. 10 tribes whip out but a remnant of all tribes. 120 members of Bet Midrash and Ezra was the president. He help form the cannon of the Scriptures.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, considered originally being one book 300 B.C.E.
The people known as “Israel” before the exile are now identified as “Jews.” The English term “Jew” comes from the Hebrew word yehudi, that is, Judahite (Esther 2:5; the plural form in Neh.1: 2. The Jewish canon differ significantly from the Christian canon; whereas the latter canon of the Hebrew Bible ends with the book of Malachi, the Jewish canon ends with 2 chronicles. For Christians, Malachi (ending with the fervent hope for the day of the L-rd) appears to be longing for some special divine action to take place. The Christian church has frequently understood Malachi’s expectation of the ‘day of the L-rd” to represent the whole OT’s hope for the coming of the Messiah (Mk. 9:12; 1:2). Because in Christian circles the OT ended with Malachi, this interpretation had a special attraction for the church. But, as we have said in the Jewish canon the Hebrew Bible ends not with Malachi but with Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1-2 Chronicles. The final verses of 2 Chronicles (36: 22-23) contain the announcement that Yahweh has intervened on behalf of the Jews in exile. In the midst of their suffering, He is creating a future for them.
The manner of this intervention is astonishing; Yahweh has chosen Cyrus, king of Persia, to be the one who will enable the exiles to return home and rebuild the Temple. Thus Chronicles does not end with a look to the distant future but with the affirmation that deliverance and restoration are happening now. It is this story that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah preserve for us. The point of our comments above is this: the last tree books of the Jewish canon are optimistic about the present and near future even though the times are difficult.
The traditional view is that Ezra preceded Nehemiah, coming from Babylon 458 B.C.E. (Ezra 7:8). According to this view, Nehemiah arrived some thirteen years later, in 445 B.C. E.
In the person of Ezra, “a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses” we are able to see the emergence of the core of what is now called Rabbinic Judaism. With him emerges a firm emphasis on the study of the Law (Torah) – a written tradition that needed interpretation.
While the Deuteronomist urges the Israelites to consult prophets in the event of doubt, Ezra and his contemporaries seek guidance in the diligent study of the written documents. The living but temperamental and unpredictable instrument of the Word of G-d that the prophet had been was now replaced by the rigid but certain book…now that the Torah of Moses was standardized, it appeared that the prophet could not controvert any of its numerous precepts, which in turn could be stretched by interpretation to cover almost every contingency in life.
Whereas G-d had given the Torah to the people throw Moses, at a later time, when Torah was largely forgotten, Ezra acted to reestablish it in the Jewish community. After the sacred books were burned in the fall of Jerusalem, Ezra, so it was believed was inspired by G-d to dictate to his assistance – for forty days – all the words found in the ruined books. In Matt. 23:2-3 Y’Shua declares: “the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you.”
The author of Ezra and Nehemiah has little interest in matters, his great concern is to demonstrate that G-d is with those who establish and preserve a pure society. A pure society means positively, loyalty to Yahweh through obedience to Torah and proper Temple worship. Negatively, a pure society means separation from people who would pollute the community. In the latter kind of society there are no free-floating individuals. Everyone is a member of some family and comes from some place. The individual understands himself in terms of that family, and he is known and valued by others as an individual who comes from this particular place. The character of every individual is known by his background, because (it was believed) his ancestors live on through him.
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