Synopsis:
Nehemiah
Shannon Fouts
BIBL 5023 Graduate Survey of the Bible
Dr. Grant Testut July 18, 2015
Introduction On a mission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah returned to the city in 445 B.C. commissioned by the Persian king, Artaxerxes. Among the relatively few people returning from exile and the surviving Jewish remnant, Nehemiah travailed to reestablish a sense of community and to give the people recognized political status and protection from the surrounding opposition. The city walls aptly represented the Jews’ social and spiritual state of that period, broken down and in great need of repair. Nehemiah endeavored to rebuild the walls, thus rebuilding a people distinct from those around them who obeyed the Book of the Law worshipping the one true God. Under Nehemiah’s gifted leadership, the walls were repaired in only six months!
Authorship and Date …show more content…
In the Hebrew Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah comprise one book; they appear together in all ancient manuscripts and rabbinic traditions until the fifteenth century A.D. The division into two books appears to have come from the Christian tradition beginning with Origen in the second century A.D. Jerome also divided them into two books in his Latin translation, the Vulgate in the fourth century. According to the Talmud, Ezra was the author of both 1 & 2 Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah. Some scholars believe that these four books were written by the same author, but that this person was not Ezra and is sometimes identified as the “Chronicler.” Still others hold that the authors were other writers, not the author of 1 & 2 Chronicles. Ezra and Nehemiah differ from most OT books in that they both contain extensive sections written in the first person. In Nehemiah, the first person references are found in 1:1-7:5; 12:27-43;
Nehemiah
Shannon Fouts
BIBL 5023 Graduate Survey of the Bible
Dr. Grant Testut July 18, 2015
Introduction On a mission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah returned to the city in 445 B.C. commissioned by the Persian king, Artaxerxes. Among the relatively few people returning from exile and the surviving Jewish remnant, Nehemiah travailed to reestablish a sense of community and to give the people recognized political status and protection from the surrounding opposition. The city walls aptly represented the Jews’ social and spiritual state of that period, broken down and in great need of repair. Nehemiah endeavored to rebuild the walls, thus rebuilding a people distinct from those around them who obeyed the Book of the Law worshipping the one true God. Under Nehemiah’s gifted leadership, the walls were repaired in only six months!
Authorship and Date …show more content…
In the Hebrew Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah comprise one book; they appear together in all ancient manuscripts and rabbinic traditions until the fifteenth century A.D. The division into two books appears to have come from the Christian tradition beginning with Origen in the second century A.D. Jerome also divided them into two books in his Latin translation, the Vulgate in the fourth century. According to the Talmud, Ezra was the author of both 1 & 2 Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah. Some scholars believe that these four books were written by the same author, but that this person was not Ezra and is sometimes identified as the “Chronicler.” Still others hold that the authors were other writers, not the author of 1 & 2 Chronicles. Ezra and Nehemiah differ from most OT books in that they both contain extensive sections written in the first person. In Nehemiah, the first person references are found in 1:1-7:5; 12:27-43;