Ezra-Nehemiah: Introduction, Translation, and Notes (Anchor Bible 14)

353 Pages·2016·10.52 MB·English

by  Jacob M. Myers

EZRA
•
NEHEMIAH
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THE ANCHOR BIBLE
EZRA
•
NEHEMIAH
INTRODUCTION, TRANSLATION, AND NOTES
BY
JACOB M. MYERS
Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Garden City, New York
1965
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 65-23788
Copyright © 1965 by Doubleday & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
Dedicated to
My Revered Teachers
and
My Colleagues on
The Faculty of
The Lutheran Theological Seminary
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

PREFACE
The period and literary deposit of Ezra-Nehemiah pose for the
student of the Old Testament some of the most difficult and tanta
lizing problems connected with biblical history and literature. Not
only are those books enigmatic in arrangement; we possess, at
present, relatively little detailed extra-biblical knowledge of the
contemporary situation in Palestine. True, archaeology has shed a
great deal of light on the activity of peoples and nations in the
territory of the period involved. Seals, inscriptions, names and notes
on potsherds, as well as other discoveries proliferate. Everything
we know so far confirms the essential historicity of the biblical
materials; at the same time it reflects the dynamic, vital faith of
courageous and devoted leaders and their small group of loyal fol
lowers in postexilic times. It is doubtful if the general, over-all
portrait will be substantially altered by further discoveries; the lines
will become more distinct, the colors more pronounced, and the
interrelationship of details clearer.
The present volume represents the literary fruit of many satisfying,
though often perplexing, hours spent over the years studying trea
sures new and old garnered by earlier scholars and commentators.
Every page bears clear evidence of the thought and work of others.
Due credit has been given to those scholars whose work has been
referred to explicitly. Grateful acknowledgment is hereby made
to the many others not mentioned specifically, but whose studies have
been invaluable. The writer, however, bears full responsibility for
what is written here, though aware of its inadequacies and many
shortcomings.
To the general editors of The Anchor Bible for their kind assis
tance and, more especially, to those members of the Doubleday staff
who have so painstakingly and diligently labored for countless hours
over a difficult and complex manuscript, I express my deepest
gratitude.
I. M. Myers
Gettysburg, Pa.

CONTENTS
Preface VII
Principal Abbreviations XIII
INTRODUCTION
History XIX
The Jews in the Exilic Period XIX
The Early Returns XXIV
Literary and Historical Order xxxvm
The Present Order of Ezra-Nehemiah XLI
Attempts to Rearrange the Literary Materials of
Ezra-Nehemiah XLII
The Sources XL.VIII
The Use of the Sources L
The Achievements of Nehemiah and Ezra Lill
Nehemiah Lill
Ezra LVII
Text and Related Matters LXlll
The Hebrew Text LXIII
The Versions LXV
Authorship and Date LXVID
Evaluation of Ezra and Nehemiah LXXII
Ezra LXXII
Nehemiah LXXIV
Selected Bibliography LXXVIII
EZRA
1. Cyrus Releases the Jews ( i 1-11 ) 3
2. The Return to Jerusalem (ii 1-70) 10
x CONTENTS
3. Renewal of Religious Institutions (iii 1-13) 23
4. Work on the Temple Suspended because of Samaritan
Opposition (iv 1-24) 30
5. Persian Officials Investigate the Rebuilding of the Temple
(v 1-17) 40
6. Darius I Permits the Completion of the Temple (vi 1-22) 47
7. Ezra and His Mission (vii 1-28) 55
8. Ezra's Departure from Babylon. His Enlistment and
Selection of Personnel (viii 1-36) 64
9. Ezra Reprimands the Jerusalem Jews for Their Sins
(ix 1-15) 73
10. Repentance of the Jews (x 1-44) 80
NEHEMIAH
1. Nehemiah Distressed by News of the Conditions in
Jerusalem (i 1-11) 91
2. Nehemiah Goes to Jerusalem by Permission of Artaxerxes
(ii 1-10) 97
3. Nehemiah's Secret Inspection of Jerusalem Angers the
Officials (ii 11-20) 102
4. Reconstruction of the City Walls (iii 1-32) 107
5. Samaritan Opposition and Harassment Necessitate Protective
Measures (iii 33-38, iv 1-17) 121
6. Economic Problems. Nehemiah's Solution (v 1-13) 127
7. Nehemiah's Administration (v 14-19) 132
8. Plots against Nehemiah (vi 1-14, 17-19) 135
9. Completion of the Wall (vi 15-16, vii 1-3) 140
10. Population Records (vii 4-72a) 143
11. The Reading of the Law (vii 72b, viii 1-12) 149
12. Celebration of the Feast of Booths (viii 13-18) 155
13. Penance (ix 1-37) 158
14. The Written Pledge of Reform: Signers and Provisions
(x 1-40) 171
15. Distribution of the Jews in and outside Jerusalem
(xi 1-36) 181
16. Postexilic Clerical Genealogies (xii 1-26) 193
17. Dedication of the Wall (xii 27-43) 200
18. Temple Provisions. Expulsion of Foreigners (xii 44-47,
xiii 1-3) 205
19. Nehemiah's Reforms (xiii 4-31) 209