1. Ezra-Nehemiah to the Maccabees
Second Temple Judaism
Ezra-Nehemiah to the Maccabees

2. Approximate Timeline (1)
540 Cyrus
520 Rebuilding Temple
458 Traditional date of Ezra
445 Nehemiah
333 Alexander the Great

3. Approximate Timeline (2)
323 Division of the Empire
200 Seleucids take Judah
175 Antiochus Epiphanes reigns
168 Maccabees Revolt
164 Rededication of Temple
63 Roman rule begins

4. Ezra 1-6
Beginning Again

5. The Book Ezra In Hebrew, includes Ezra and Nehemiah
Ezr 1-6 Rebuilding temple
Ezr 7 – Neh 13 Rebuilding Wall and Community
Variant book (1 Esdras)
Eliminates Nehemiah story
Emphasizes Zerubbabel over Jeshua
Ties to 2 Chronicles

6. Building the Temple Decree of Cyrus [1:1-4; 6:1-5]
Opposition of “enemies” [4:1-5]
Confusion of temple and walls – and of kings [4:6-24]
Haggai and Zechariah [5:1; 6:14]
Encourage wall-building
No evidence of support for rebellion
Last positive reference to current prophets

7. Ezra 7-10; Nehemiah 9
Ezra the Scribe

8. Ezra in His Book (1) Mission from Artaxerxes Trip home Ezra 7:11-26
Praise [Ezra 7:27-28]
Completing community [Ezra 8:15-20]
Fasting preparation [Ezra 8:21-25]

9. Ezra in His Book (2) Crisis of foreign wives Reading the law
Nehemiah 8:1-8
Feast of booths
Nehemiah 8:13-18

10. Nehemiah 1-7; 12-13
Nehemiah
The Governor

11. Nehemiah in His Memoirs (1)
Mission from Artaxerxes
Nehemiah 2:1-10
Rebuilding walls
Nehemiah 2:17-20
Righting economic injustice
Nehemiah 5:1-13

12. Nehemiah in His Memoirs (2)
Settling of Jerusalem
Nehemiah 7:4-5
[Nehemiah 11:1-2]
Keeping Sabbath
Nehemiah 13:15-22
Crisis of foreign marriages
Nehemiah 13:23-28

13. A Different View Third Isaiah Jonah Elephantine Ruth
[See previous class notes]
Jonah
Forgiveness for the oppressors
Elephantine
Lost Jewish colony
Ruth
David’s Moabite ancestry

14. Living among Foreigners
Daniel 1-6
Living among Foreigners

15. The Stories Daniel 1: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah prosper
Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar’s statue dream
Daniel 3: The fiery furnace
Daniel 4: Nebuchadnezzar with the beasts
Daniel 5: Belshazzar’s banquet
Daniel 6: Darius and the lion’s den

16. Other Stories Additions to Greek Daniel Esther Tobit Susanna
Bel and the dragon
Prayer of Azariah and Song of the three
Esther
Hebrew and Greek
Tobit
Story of “Jewish” exiles from Israel

17. Daniel 7-12
Crisis and Liberation

18. Historical Cast of Characters
Antiochus Epiphanes
“Epimanes”
Mattathias
Priest in the village of Modin
Judas
Maccabeus [The Hammer]
Jonathan and Simon
His brothers

19. Daniel’s Visions The four beasts [Daniel 7]
The ram and he-goat [Daniel 8]
Daniel’s prayer – and 70 weeks [Daniel 9]
Vision of the man who predicts fall of Persia and battles among Greeks, until they lose in battle against Michael [Daniel 10-12]
Daniel 12:5-13

20. Related Works 1 and 2 Maccabees [partisan histories]
3 Maccabees [in Egypt]
Judith
Fictional battle won by resourceful woman
Apocalyptic
2 Esdras
Revelation
1 Enoch

21. Legacy for the Future Models of witness / martyrdom
Divisions in the community
Sadducees, Samaritans, Pharisees, Essenes, People of the Land
Hope
Community rebirth
Individual resurrection