What happens when a community returns home to find that home no longer looks the way they remembered? In this episode of the Bible in a Year podcast, Old Testament scholar Cameron Howard joins hosts Kathryn Schifferdecker and Kristofer Phan Coffman to explore Ezra & Nehemiah, two books originally written as one, chronicling the return from Babylonian exile and the long, complicated work of rebuilding. Cameron traces the key plot points of both books, from the edict of Cyrus the Great and the reconstruction of the second temple in Ezra, to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah, all set against the backdrop of Persian imperial rule.

Cameron also unpacks the deeper themes running through Ezra & Nehemiah, including questions of community identity, boundary making, and what it means to negotiate grief and hope at the same time. Along the way, he shares his favorite passage in the entire Hebrew Bible, a scene from Ezra 3 where the sounds of weeping and shouting for joy were so intertwined that no one could tell them apart.

Welcome to the Bible in a Year podcast, a resource from Enter the Bible. Journey with us through the books of the Bible, discovering more about scripture and how it shapes our lives today. I'm Kathryn Schifferdecker.

I'm Kristofer Phan Coffman

And today we're joined by our friend and colleague Cameron Howard. Cameron is a professor of Old Testament here at Luther Seminary and author of The Old Testament for a Complex World. So welcome, Cameron. Thanks for joining us today.

Good to be with you again.

Today we're talking about Ezra Nehemiah, usually when we look that up in the Bible it's treated as two different books. Could you say a little bit about treating them together? Are they really just one book? And if they are, could you give us a summary or outline of it?

Sure. So originally Ezra Nehemiah was one book and you can see the way that Ezra, the character, pops up in Nehemiah and sort of outside of chronological order. In fact, if you wanted the chronological outline of Ezra Nehemiah to line up best read Ezra 1 through 10 and then

Nehemiah 7:73 B through 10. so this was the last part of Nehemiah and then Nehemiah 1 through 7:73 A. That is just to say that storyline is a little bit muddled. And in fact,

That's very exact.

If you try to map out the history of it with the Persian kings, for example, it can get a little fuzzy too. when I give you this summary or outline of the should take it as just a sort of, take it loosely, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. Renia Maya is about the return, it's about being back in the land.

Ha ha ha ha.

after the end of the Babylonian exile. So in 586 BCE, Babylon besieged and took Jerusalem and the elites of Judah were exiled to Babylon. It's the start of the Jewish diaspora. And so there is this loss of the kingdom, loss of the king and its monarchy, loss of the temple.

and loss of control over the land and the people who had been in governance are for the most part sent out of the land. But then Cyrus the Great of Persia defeats Babylon 540-539 BCE around there and says to and this is how the book of Ezra begins it's an edict from Cyrus that says that those who have been in exile may now return back to the land of Judah.

and rebuild the temple and start to reconstitute community there. And so Ezra and Nehemiah are books that give us one view of what it looks like in that process of the return of those who had been in exile or really it's the children and grandchildren of those who had been originally exiled back to the land and all of the conflict that ensues

when they come back because there are people there who still, you know, who had always been there, who never left. And there are people who had been resettled, by the Persian empire from other places into the land of Judah. So nothing looks like it did when those exiles left in 586 BCE. And so Ezra Nehemiah gives us one perspective on what's going on in those early days of return.

Well, I don't know if I had thought about that before. So Ezra or Nehemiah, do we know, are they seeing Judah and Jerusalem for the first time when they return, when they quote unquote return, or does the books deal with that?

Right.

Yes. so Ezra and Nehemiah are the names of the books and they are also the names of people characters who appear in Ezra, we learn there and elsewhere that the return doesn't sort of happen all at once. It's not suddenly, you know, everybody's gone and everybody's back, but it happens in waves. And so you have

accounts, lots of lists in Ezra and Nehemiah, lists of people who have come back, lists of people whose families were of the priestly line. And so an assertion that those are the people who should be in charge when we get So there's a lot of bureaucracy involved. So yes, those characters, Ezra and Nehemiah, who don't come back right away in those first waves, we sort of

read about them coming back a little later in that admittedly fuzzy timeline. But yes, most of those folks are seeing Judah for the first time, but in their community in exile, understood themselves to be holding on to a past that is sort of that they're caretakers of this memory and this tradition.

of the temple and its functionaries and the government. And so, right, they are coming back to sort of try to reinstitute a past that they themselves had not yet experienced.

That's fascinating, thank you.

Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

So Cameron, what kind of book or books are Ezra Nehemiah? Like what's the genre? Is it history? Is it something else?

I would call them history, but with a big asterisk. So it's just like much biblical history, history in the Bible like Samuel and Kings and Chronicles. It's not history ⁓ with the same parameters that we might expect history to have today. It doesn't have a sort of clear historiographic method. it's not a sort of objective, not that any history is ever truly objective, but there's

Okay.

There's not an attempt to provide you a disinterested account of what happened. This is a very interested account, ⁓ an account that comes from the perspective of priest, scribe, Ezra has both of those titles at Nehemiah who becomes a governor and he from leadership. So particularly leadership and leadership that is interested

you

Yeah,

yeah,

protecting or sometimes even creating particular boundaries of who's in the community and who's outside the community. So that's a big concern of this kind of recreation of community that's happening. Well, who is the community, who's in it and who is not in it and how do we discern that? And so that's one of the big concerns of Ezra and Nehemiah. So when it tells the stories of what happened, it's telling them,

with a particular eye to this kind of boundary making.

Yeah, that's helpful. Thank you.

So you know, when talking about the summary, it sounds like if we just sat down and read them straight through, we might be a little bit confused as to how the events are playing out. So what's one way that you would recommend getting into this book?

I think I would want the reader to bring themselves to the book as an observer of a think often, at least when I read the Bible confessionally, I look immediately for a place, where am I in here? And I think that that can be really hard to discern in Ezra and Nehemiah because it's so rooted.

in a particular historical and political situation. So to read it as an outsider, think is actually a really helpful way to approach it. Observe what are the main concerns of the narrator of this story? Who are the adversaries? There going to be people who are called adversaries of Judah. Who are they?

What are their interests? yeah, so I think before sort of seeing like, where can I find myself in this story? I mean, I think that that's something one can do eventually. But on the first read is to think, how am I through observing this community trying to figure out its identity in this very new changed circumstance?

All right, well, we've come to the part of our episode that ⁓ is one of my favorites, Bible Bingo, in which we asked you, Cameron, ahead of recording to name five concepts or words, people, places, et cetera, that would be on your Bingo card as you read this particular book of the Bible, as you read Ezra, Nehemiah. So we'll go through these in fairly quick succession. So first you listed Persian Empire.

Mmm.

Yeah, that is the historical and political circumstance that defines Judah at this time. remember we said that the monarchy is no more. Judah is not self-governing. And even in those last years, especially of the monarchy, there were these enormous external pressures on Judah from Babylon. And so it may or may not, you know, how autonomous it was then we could argue about, but

Certainly at the return, they are, I hesitate to use the word colony exactly because it's not, imperialism in the ancient world doesn't always look exactly like imperialism in the modern world does. Nonetheless, this is a land that is occupied by Persia and ruled by Persia. And so that you will see correspondence between

the leaders of Judah and the Persian kings and trying to sort of get on the good side of the Persian Empire in order to receive favorable treatment. both the fact that it's Persia, so it's, you know, Persia ruled differently than Babylon, who ruled differently than Assyria, whatever empire you have will have its particular details, but then also empire, this idea that

that this forging of this community is not done with an autonomous government, but rather under this imperial pressure.

Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that's a really important concept. Everything happens within that larger context of the Persian Empire. All right, so zeroing in your second bingo term kind of zeroes in on Jerusalem itself. So second temple is your second bingo term.

Yeah, so if you want to remember what's happening in the book of Ezra, the rebuilding of the second temple or the rebuilding of the temple, that is the building of the second temple, would be my go plot point. That is that temple that had been destroyed in 586 with the Babylonian invasion is now being rebuilt.

and that will be helpful for Persia. They're all for it in part because that can be a place where they can keep an eye on things. Everybody will come there. Maybe they'll do their imperial business, bring their taxes there, you So Persia did allow the peoples whom they conquered to worship their own gods and continue with their own religious traditions.

But that was often in the service of winning hearts and minds and perhaps also in a, as an administrative way to sort of keep people centralized and keep an eye on them. So the second temple was of course important to the heart of Judean identity in this era and also was pretty convenient for the Persians also.

Second Temple looms large in the book of Ezra, that part of Ezra Nehemiah in particular.

And just as a reminder to our listeners, the first temple is built by Solomon. So now that's the one that was destroyed by Babylon. And now this is the second temple. All right. So first Persian Empire, then second temple. Third, you listed walls of Jerusalem.

Yes.

Yeah, so that would be my memorized plot point for the book of Nehemiah, what's going on, that the walls of Jerusalem are being rebuilt and that's kind of a core activity in Nehemiah. And both of these are key for the people of Judah to sort of understand themselves as

Ha ha ha!

being in the land again. just as a quick aside, Ezra Nehemiah is about the post exilic period in the land of Judah known as Yahud. It's Aramaic name during this time. There's a lot of other biblical literature that dates from around this time and a lot of that is diaspora literature. So now you don't have only

Mm.

the Jewish community in Judah. But you have a Jewish community in Judah and then you have also Jewish communities in other places around Western Asia where after the exile Jews left Judah and established other communities elsewhere. So when we talk about the temple and the walls that's what's happening in the land. That is not the totality of

Mm-hmm.

post-exilic Judaism by any means. So that's another sort of focus to keep in mind about Ezra Nehemiah.

All right. The fourth term is Zerubbabel. And then in parentheses, said, and Yeshua or sometimes called Joshua.

Right. So they are the governor and high priest early chapters of Ezra. And the reason that Zerubbabel is particularly important is that he is understood to be a Davidic descendant. And so one of the crisis moments of the exile is, you know, if a

descendant of David has been promised to reign over Judah forever. What happens to that promise? And we hear at the end of second Kings that there is in Jehoiakim a Davidic descendant still alive in Babylon. And then Zerubbabel who has a very Babylonian name, right comes, you hear babble there right at the very end. who had been not in Judah, but then returns to Judah with

Hehehehe... Hehehehe...

Yeah,

well as a Davidic descendant and has leadership in Judah. So there's this glimmer of hope that comes with him, not just the sort of administrative work. And of course then having a high priest as well, that continuation of that line is really important for the writers of Ezra Nehemiah as well.

And is this the same zaruba bull who's mentioned in Zechariah?

So two important figures.

It would be yes because Haggai and Zechariah are prophets who are prophesying in this same time, second temple period. They're very pro-rebuild the temple. We learn in Haggai and Zechariah that not everybody was super excited about putting the community's resources into rebuilding the temple, but Haggai and Zechariah are cheerleaders for the rebuilding project.

Yes,

indeed. and Zerubbabel is mentioned also in Haggai as well. All right. So Persian Empire, second temple walls of Jerusalem, Zerubbabel Last bingo term lists.

Yeah, I mentioned briefly already, there are lots of lists. there are a lot of really interesting, full of like conflict and drama stories within Ezra Nehemiah. And there are also a lot of really boring lists. there are genealogies, there are lists of families in Nehemiah. There's all this action about the rebuilding of the temple, which is sort of

Ha ha ha!

built, built in, no pun intended, to this other structure of listing which families are working on which gate that of the walls, which gates that are being rebuilt by which families. And so there does seem to be this real kind of bureaucratic record keeping impulse to Ezra Nehemiah in addition to the sort of historical storytelling. but that

That idea that if you're trying to communicate what's happened in the past, having a record of it was something that the Persian Empire was really into. They kept records in triplicate in three different languages. We know this from the treasury tablets at Persepolis, for instance. So that really bureaucratic impulse,

Ha ha ha ha!

that the writers of Ezra Nehemiah are seeing what's important to the people in power and showing that they've got receipts too. You know, here is the list. that becomes really important in those books in a way that's different from first and second king. So if you read other historical books of the Old Testament, they don't

Yeah, that's good. They're showing their receipts. ⁓

have the same kind of long lists of yeah who's who's in the military who's rebuilding this gate who's who's a priest which family came back when there's a lot yeah

Yeah, all

right. Well, thank you for playing Bible Bingo Cameron. I appreciate it. We know more now about Ezra Nehemiah.

Sure.

Is there anything, we've talked a lot about weird and interesting things, but is there anything that you haven't mentioned yet about Ezra Nehemiah that's weird or interesting that you'd like people to know?

Yeah. So there are about two and a half or so chapters of the book of Ezra, the first part of Ezra and Amiah that are in Aramaic. So most of the Hebrew Bible is in Hebrew. in parts of Ezra, Ezra chapter four, verse eight through chapter six, verse 18. And then

verses 11 through 26 of chapter seven. Those parts of Ezra are in Aramaic and only the book of Daniel also has Aramaic in it. Everything else in the Hebrew Bible pretty much is Hebrew. that is about, so the Persian empire used Aramaic as the lingua franca. So the language of business that if you had to

city-states or whose peoples didn't speak the same language but there would be a third language that everybody would do business in and so Aramaic was that and so the correspondence with the Persian kings some of it not all of it in Ezra is in Aramaic.

Hmm, interesting. All right, so you've mentioned a number of different passages, but maybe touch on any that you haven't talked about versus chapters passages that you would be sure to address ⁓ when talking about Ezra Nehemiah.

my favorite passage in the whole of the Hebrew Bible is in the book of Ezra. It is Ezra chapter 3 verses 10 through 13 since it's only four verses I'll just read them. I will also say that somewhere on enter the Bible I wrote an essay about my favorite Bible passage and it's this so every opportunity that I get to talk about it I talk about it. ⁓ But this is the ceremony.

well.

where the foundation of the second temple is being laid. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.

And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout

from the sound of the people's weeping. For the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.

And to me, it's so moving, that idea that the noise at this ceremony is so loud that people are hearing it everywhere, but you can't tell what of it is shouting for joy and what of it is weeping. And it's just this really poignant description of change, of what happens when...

Mm.

Yeah,

yeah.

⁓ You are grieving the loss of the old even as you are celebrating a new opportunity So there are I think infinite ways to bring this text to bear on the church on an individual's life a community's life I just think it's really beautiful

That is a lovely passage. Thanks, Cameron.

I mean, have more. Yes. 9, chapter 9 verses 36 through 37 is the end sort of litany that's actually, it's a prayer that's given by Ezra. I failed to mention earlier in our episode when he

Yeah, go ahead. I think you listed two more. Go for it.

You

returns or that is when he comes to Judah, he is said to be carrying the book of the law of the Lord in his hand. So he is bringing the Torah to Judah. this is sort of the, you have the reading of the Torah, the first public reading of the Torah in Nehemiah eight. That's part of our difficult chronology. So Ezra has come back into the picture in Nehemiah eight.

then in Nehemiah 9, Ezra gives this long prayer and it's a helpful to temper some of this hope that has come with the end of the exile. So all of those wonderful Advent texts in Isaiah 40 through 66, for example, they come from that moment around 539, 540 BCE when

Cyrus has told the exiles they can return and Cyrus is looked upon as anointed by God to help Judah return to its former glory and there is this lament at the end of Ezra's poem that even though they're back there in the land that the people of Judah are back in the land of Judah

Mm-hmm.

actually they are still under this imperial rule so it says at verse 36 here we are slaves to this day slaves in the land that you gave to our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins they have power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure

and we are in great distress. So there was this hope that what the community needed was to be back in the land. there was a lot of, there's a lot of positive stuff that comes with that, but still they are under Imperial rule. And that is felt very deeply and very plainly kind of laid out here. So I think it's a helpful reminder. ⁓

Mm. Mm.

Yeah.

that Persia was still in charge and it's extracting resources from Judah like every empire always does.

So there's a kind ⁓ of bittersweet quality to both of those passages that you're talking about,

Yeah, yeah, yeah. is just a little bit out of that list in Nehemiah 3 of all of the families repairing the different gates of the walls. You'll read, so for example, verse 8, next to them, Uzayel son of Harhaya, one of the goldsmiths made repairs.

Next to them, Raphael son of Hur, so and so and his sons. But then at verse 12, says next to him, Shalom son of Halohesh ruler of half the district of Jerusalem made repairs, he and his daughters. And so it's just an interesting little, know, in a couple of books here that rarely mention women at all.

Wow, there we go.

The idea that Shalom and his daughters are there repairing together, not just everybody and their sons is for me a nice little detail. I like that.

⁓ that's lovely. Thank you so much, Cameron.

Thank you for sharing those passages. And now thinking a little bit about the books as a whole, what's one key theme that you'd want people to look for as they enter the text?

I think

change is the big theme of Ezra Nehemiah. How to negotiate a sort of nostalgia for the newness of the present and the future, these questions of where the boundaries of one's community are, who's inside and who's outside. Now that doesn't mean that we should do what they did in Ezra Nehemiah. There are lots of things they do I think we should not do.

So that's why I say one way into the book is to be an observer. What do you see? What do you see happening? Where do you see parallels with things in your own life or in your community's life that, you know, make sense as a way to think through, to illuminate or shine a light, not necessarily something to emulate, but the theme of change really looms large here.

Ha ha ha.

Yeah, change is part of every community's life and every individual's life. So that's a helpful way of thinking about it. All right, last question, Cameron. Can you or will you describe these books of Ezra Nehemiah in seven words or less?

nothing is ever like it was before. So there's this hope for the past to try to make the future like the past, but that can't be done. So what then to do next?

Well, thank you.

Yes, thanks so much, Cameron.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

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