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OT Survey II

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Title: OT Survey II


1
  • OT Survey II
  • Ezra/Nehemiah

2
Ezra/Nehemiah as Two Books
  • Modern versions split them
  • First Hebrew MS to split them 1448 AD
  • Latin Vulgate split them 400 AD
  • Origen first split them 225 AD

3
Ezra/Nehemiah as One Book
  • All Hebrew MSS before 1448 AD
  • Masoretes considered them one gt600 AD
  • Josephus considered them one? 100 AD
  • Apocrypha considered them one? 100 AD

4
4 Esdras 1428-48 (RSV)
Hear these words, O Israel. At first our
fathers dwelt as aliens in Egypt, and they were
delivered from there, and received the law of
life, which they did not keep, which you also
have transgressed after them. The land was given
to you for a possession in the land of Zion but
you and your fathers committed iniquity and did
not keep the ways which the Most High commanded
you. And because he is a righteous judge, in due
time he took from you what he had given. And now
you are here, and your brethren are farther in
the interior. If you, then, will rule over your
minds and discipline your hearts, you shall be
kept alive, and after death you shall obtain
mercy. For after death the judgment will come,
when we
5
4 Esdras 1428-48 (RSV)
. . . shall live again and then the names of
the righteous will become manifest, and the deeds
of the ungodly will be disclosed. But let no one
come to me now, and let no one seek me for forty
days. So I took the five men, as he commanded
me, and we proceeded to the field, and remained
there. And on the next day, behold, a voice
called me, saying, Ezra, open your mouth and
drink what I give you to drink. Then I opened my
mouth, and behold, a full cup was offered to me
it was full of something like water, but its
color was like fire. And I took it and drank and
when I had drunk it, my heart poured forth
understanding, and wisdom increased in my breast,
for my spirit retained its memory and . . .
6
4 Esdras 1428-48 (RSV)
. . . my mouth was opened, and was no longer
closed. And the Most High gave understanding to
the five men, and by turns they wrote what was
dictated, in characters which they did not know.
They sat forty days, and wrote during the
daytime, and ate their bread at night. As for me,
I spoke in the daytime and was not silent at
night. So during the forty days ninety-four books
were written. And when the forty days were ended,
the Most High spoke to me, saying, Make public
the twenty-four books that you wrote first and
let the worthy and the unworthy read them but
keep the seventy that were written last, in order
to give them to the wise among your people. For
in them is the spring of understanding, the
fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge.
And I did so.
7
24 Books of the Hebrew Canon
1 Genesis 2 Exodus 3 Leviticus 4 Numbers
5 Deuteronomy 6 Joshua 7 Judges 8 Ruth 9
Samuel (1) 10 Samuel (2) 11 Kings (1) 12 Kings
(2) 13 Chronicles (1) 14 Chronicles (2)
15 Ezra 16 Nehemiah 17 Esther 18 Job 19 Psalms 20
Proverbs 21 Ecclesiastes 22 Song of Solomon 23
Isaiah 24 Jeremiah 25 Lamentations 26 Ezekiel 27
Daniel
28 Hosea 29 Joel 30 Amos 31 Obadiah 32 Jonah 33
Micah 34 Nahum 35 Habakkuk 36 Zephaniah 37
Haggai 38 Zechariah 39 Malachi
28 The Twelve
8
24 Books of the Hebrew Canon
1 Genesis 2 Exodus 3 Leviticus 4 Numbers
5 Deuteronomy 6 Joshua 7 Judges 8 Ruth 9
Samuel 10 Kings 11 Chronicles
12 Ezra 13 Nehemiah 14 Esther 15 Job 16 Psalms 17
Proverbs 18 Ecclesiastes 19 Song of Solomon 20
Isaiah 21 Jeremiah 22 Lamentations 23 Ezekiel 24
Daniel
25 The Twelve
9
24 Books of the Hebrew Canon
1 Genesis 2 Exodus 3 Leviticus 4 Numbers
5 Deuteronomy 6 Joshua 7 Judges 8 Ruth 9
Samuel 10 Kings 11 Chronicles
12 Ezra/Nehemiah 13 Esther 14 Job 15 Psalms 16
Proverbs 17 Ecclesiastes 18 Song of Solomon 19
Isaiah 20 Jeremiah 21 Lamentations 22 Ezekiel 23
Daniel
24 The Twelve
10
Ezra/Nehemiah as One Book
  • All Hebrew MSS before 1448 AD
  • Masoretes considered them one gt600 AD
  • Josephus considered them one? 100 AD
  • Apocrypha considered them one? 100 AD
  • Septuagint considered them one 250 BC

11
Time Period of Ezra/Nehemiah
  • Jacob born 2006 BC (Gen 479)
  • Jacob enters Egypt 1876 BC (Exod 1240-41)
  • Exodus from Egypt 1446 BC (1 Kings 61)
  • Solomons Temple Construction Begins 966 BC
  • Northern Kingdom exiled 722 BC (2 Kgs 17)
  • Southern Kingdom exiled 586 BC (2 Kgs 25)
  • Decree of Cyrus 539 BC (2 Chr 36 Ezra 1)
  • Temple Rebuilt 516 BC (Ezra 615)
  • Ezra returns 458 BC (Ezra 77)
  • Wall Rebuilt 445 BC (Neh 21 615)
  • Nehemiah returns to Susa 432 BC (Neh 136)
  • Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem ??? BC (Neh 13)

12
Time Period of Ezra/Nehemiah (cont)
  • Before 1150 BC Egypt controls Palestine
  • 1150 1010 BC Philistines/Israel fight for
    Palestine
  • 1010 930 BC Israel dominates Palestine
  • 930 850 BC No major empire in Palestine
  • 850 612 BC Assyria the premier power
  • 612 539 BC Bablyon the premier power
  • 539 333 BC Persia the premier power
  • Alexander the Great, Maccabean revolt, Rome

13
  • Ninevah
  • Babylon

14
  • Susa

15
Assyrian Empire
16
Babylonian Empire
17
Persian Empire
18
Kings of Persia
  • Cyrus the Great (559-530)
  • Also possibly referred to as Darius the Mede
    (?)
  • Founder of the Persian Empire
  • Gods Messiah (Isa 451)
  • King when Zerubbabel and company returned
  • Cambyses II (530-522)
  • Darius (521-486)
  • King when temple was completed (Ezra 5-6)
  • Haggai 11, Zechariah 11
  • Xerxes Ahasuerus (486-465) Ezra 46
  • Esthers husband
  • Artaxerxes (464-424)
  • King served by Ezra and Nehemiah

19
Location of Ezra/Nehemiah in Canon
English
Hebrew
Torah
Historical Books
  • Joshua
  • Judges
  • Ruth
  • Samuel
  • Kings
  • Chronicles
  • Ezra
  • Nehemiah
  • Esther

Former Prophets (Joshua through Kings)
Latter Prophets (Isa, Jer, Ezek, 12)
  • Writings
  • Psalms/Job/Proverbs
  • Megilloth (The 5 Scrolls)
  • Daniel
  • Ezra-Nehemiah
  • Chronicles

20
Outline of Ezra/Nehemiah
  • Ezra 1-2 Return of Zerubbabel
  • Ezra 3-6 Work of Zerubbabel (temple)
  • Ezra 7-8 Return of Ezra
  • Ezra 9-10 Work of Ezra (law)
  • Nehemiah 1-2 Return of Nehemiah
  • Nehemiah 3-7 Work of Nehemiah (wall)
  • Nehemiah 8-13 Final Reforms and Lists
  • Modified from David Dorsey, Literary Structure
    of the OT

21
Major Themes
  • God
  • His absolute sovereignty (12, 511-12 69-10
    712, 21-23 Neh 14-5 24, 20)

22
  • The phrase God of heaven is typical of post
    exilic language. It occurs with reference to
    Yahweh in the decree of Darius (Ezra 69-10), as
    well as in that of Artaxerxes I (712, 21, 23).
    Nehemiah, in his famous prayer in the presence of
    this same Artaxerxes, addressed Yahweh in the
    same terms. The reason is obvious, for the
    setting of the accounts is no longer the narrow
    confines of Palestine and the chosen people but
    it is international. The miraculous return and
    restoration of the pitiful exile community
    against overwhelming odds certified that Israels
    God is no parochial deity rather, He is god of
    heaven itself.

Eugene Merrill, A Theology of Ezra-Nehemiah and
Esther, 191
23
Major Themes
  • God
  • His absolute sovereignty (12, 511-12 69-10
    712, 21-23 Neh 14-5 24, 20)
  • His providential hand
  • Decree of Cyrus Yahweh stirred up the spirit
    of Cyrus
  • Return of Jews Everyone whose spirit God had
    stirred up
  • Thwarting opposition But the eye of their God
    was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not
    stop them
  • Source of joy Yahweh had caused them to
    rejoice, and had turned the heart of the king of
    Assyria toward them
  • Foiling plots God had frustrated their plan
  • Nations observe They recognized that this work
    had been accomplished with the help of our God
  • Giving ideas My god put it into my heart to
    assemble the nobles

24
Major Themes (continued)
  • His providential hand (continued)
  • The king granted Ezra all he requested because
    the hand of Yahweh his God was upon him
  • On the first of the fifth month Ezra came to
    Jerusalem, because the good hand of his God was
    upon him.
  • Thus I Ezra was strengthened according to the
    hand of Yahweh, my God, upon me
  • According to the good hand of our God upon us
    they brought us a man of insight
  • The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all
    those who seek Him
  • The hand of our God was over us, and He
    delivered us from the hand of the enemy
  • The king granted them to me because the good
    hand of my God was on me
  • I told them how the hand of my God had been
    favorable to me

25
Major Themes (continued)
  • The law of God
  • Israel is in a strait because of disobedience to
    it (Neh 18 9)
  • Temple built in accordance with it (Ezra 32)
  • Ezra comes to instruct them in it (Ezra 7 Neh 8)
  • Present commitment to it (Neh 10 1244 133)
  • Confronting present sin (Ezra 10 Neh 13)
  • Confrontation and confession of sin
  • Prayer
  • Joy and sorrow
  • The Priests, Levites, and the Temple

26
Purpose Statement of Ezra/Nehemiah
  • On the one hand, Israel should recognize that God
    is working behind the scenes to bless them in
    accord with His promises. However, Israel must
    also recognize that it still lacks a circumcised
    heart and must therefore seek God in prayer and
    diligently pursue obedience before they can
    expect their final restoration.

27
Interpretative Issues
  • Historical confusion in Ezra 4?
  • Who is Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah (Ezra 18,
    11 514, 16)?

28
Next Week
Esther
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