First Book of Esdras: A composite history of the Old Testament
Esdras is
considered to be a Greco-Latin variation of the name Ezra.
The
two books in our Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah, may have started as one:
Esdras. Probably sometime from 300 -100
BCE the books were separated and rounded out from other traditions. The books Esdras 1 & 2 were included in
the Septuagint – The compilation of the Jewish Holy Books into Greek. Possibly because they were still in use at
that time and people weren’t used to the more modern books, plus a few sections didn’t carry over from the books.
The book starts with the
re-establishment of Mosaic Law, which allows the Kingdom to live in peace for
30 years. It is when the law is
abandoned and people turn away from the Law of God that the nation falls
down. After the Temple is constructed
the Law needs to be re-established again.
The fear of the pollution/adultery of the law is why the wives need to
be expelled. In our day and age this
seems to be a harsh commandment and not very accepting.
Chapter 1: The Reign of Josiah
Josiah was the 16th king
of Judah. He ruled for 31 years (641-609
BCE) and over saw major reforms of Judah focusing on the restoration of the
Mosaic Law. The reforms occurred in
three stages: first was his personal devotion in his youth (compared to his
wayward father) to the righteous law; second, age 20, he came to power and
began to rid Judah of idol worship; third age 26, a copy of the Book of Law was
discovered and became the blueprint for the establishment of Mosaic Laws. In 609 Josiah was defeated by Pharaoh Necho
II of Egypt. This weakened the country
and allowed the Babylonians to eventually invade and turn Judah into a vassal
state.
The last line of Chapter 1 (1:38) is
the repeat of Jeremiah’s prophesy. The
idea that God punished the Hebrews for turning away from God and this is why
the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed. God
will reestablish the Israel again in 70 years as long as His people keep His
commandments while living in exile.
Chapter 2: The returning of the people from Babylon (keep
in mind that all during this book Israel is still a vassal state). This chapter is a reminder of the promise of
the King Cyrus to restore the Hebrews to their own country. Indication of the first wave or returnees to
Jerusalem.
Order of Persian Kings mentioned: Cyrus – Artaxerxes – Darius – Artaxerxes (Designations were not given between kings of
the same name as clearly as they are now.)
Letter from Sumaria: 17-24 -- A warning to king Artaxerxes: The return
of the Jews is upsetting the balance of power in the region. This causes suspension of the building of the
Temple and City of Jerusalem.
Chapter 3 &4: The Debate of the Three Guardsmen of King
Darius.
This is probably a fictional
account. But debates like this were
often seen as entertainment in ancient courts.
(Other entertainments were poetry or story telling) People were given
rewards for who had the best argument.
Sometime the reward was a job within the court.
Three Arguments: What is the
strongest?
Wine: Controls the mind. Makes you happy when you are sad. Makes everyone talk together – evens out social
levels. Makes enemies friends and
friends enemies. Makes you act outside
of social norms.
King: Commands and people obey. Controls the spoils of war and of production
and commerce. Has control over all
people under him.
Woman and Truth: Zerubbabel (Jewish name): Women give birth to
men and raise them. They are the support
of men. Men fall in love with them and
will give up everything or risk everything for them. Men give everything to their wives (who
manage the family). Men can be virtuous
or sinful for the sake of a woman. Even
the queen rules over the king and can influence him. But this prologue leads to the idea of Truth.
Truth: Truth is the greatest because
truth is the ultimate knowledge of what is in the world. Nothing is upright (correct all the time) but
truth endures.
Note that in line 4:38 truth shifts
to a feminine persona. Line 4:36 refers
to God as a male but truth is female.
This would draw on the idea of Wisdom in Proverbs. Wisdom as the ability to obtain the knowledge
of the truth of any matter.
Line 4:43: Reminds the king of his vow to allow the city
of Jerusalem to be rebuilt. Darius
releases all the money and Temple dishes that were promised by Cyrus. And gives permission for the land in
Jerusalem to be divided.
Chapter 5:
The counting of the families who traveled to Jerusalem. This list was important because families
could trace their lineage back as families who had remained loyal to God in a
strange land. The idea of remaining loyal
and not integrating into the god’s of another country was very important since
it was felt that turning to pagan gods was why God had taken the country away
from the Hebrews.
Line 5: 41-43 total amount of people
and animals accounted for. This does not
include children under twelve and is only viable households. If a Hebrew had fallen into debt they could
sell themselves to another Hebrew. This
however would remove them from being a viable household because you became part
of your owner’s household. You could later
restore your household – so it wasn’t a permanent thing.
Line 5:44-73 – Second wave of
immigrants goes to Jerusalem.
Chapter 6: Validating
the decree of the king and the legality of building the Temple
Work continues on the Temple by the second
wave of immigrants.
Line 4: Challenge of the building
project.
Lines 8-22: Letter is written asking for validity
Lines 24 - 34: Darius’ reply – stating that the building has
royal sanction
Chapter 7: Completing of the Temple
Lines 1-5: Assistance of neighboring principalities
Lines 5-9: Dedication of the Temple
Lines 10-15 First Passover Celebrated
Chapter 8: Now the King is Artaxerxes. Introduction of the scribe Ezra who is very
knowledgeable about Mosaic Law.
Lines 9 – 14: King Artaxerxes sends a letter giving
commission to Ezra to go to Jerusalem and be the chief magistrate/judge for the
Jewish people.
Line 25: The person changes from
third to first person.
Lines 28-50: This is the third wave of returnees from
exile who came with Ezra.
Lines 50 – 68: Journey to Jerusalem. Enter into the city, and delivering the goods
from Artaxerxes to the Temple.
Lines 68-70: The problem of intermarriage is presented to
Ezra.
Lines 71 – 90: Ezra’s Lamentation
and prayer of confession.
Lines 91-95: People ask Ezra to help them get rid of their
foreign wives.
Chapter 9:
The expelling of the Foreign wives.
Lines 1-4: Ezra fasts in the
Temple. A gathering of the Hebrews is
proclaimed and a decision is reached that those who fail to expel their foreign
family will result in a fine of cattle and expelling from the roles of those
who returned from exile.
Lines 5-13: Gathering and the agreement to expel the
wives – but asking for enough time to do it decently – since it is winter.
Lines 14 -17: The judges who presided over the matter. (At this point it seems that there is a
system to review the families case by case.
Perhaps there was a way that a non-Jewish wife could convert and become
Jewish. None of the three books, Esdras
I, Ezra, or Nehemiah, say anything definite about this. It is only implied)
Lines 16 – 36: The list of people who expelled their
families.
Lines 36 – 55: Ceremonial Reading of the Law and
celebration.
The last lines: for they had been inspired by the words,
which they had been taught, and for which they had come together. The Hebrews viewed the obedience to the Law
as the reason why they had survived for centuries. But
this expelling led to the solidification of the country of Samaria, which was
still in existence during the time of Christ. (The woman at the well, and the
Good Samaritan) Samaritans, although they
followed Jewish tradition and law were not considered to be “real Jews” by the
people from Judah since their bloodlines were impure.
However racial exclusion in the Book
of Esdas, Ezra, or Nehemiah, is not the only viewpoint on this subject. The Book of Ruth was written as a counter
text to these books reminding people that David’s Great-Grandmother Ruth was a
Moabite who, after her Jewish husband dies, stayed with her Jewish
mother-in-law, Naomi, and cared for her in poverty. Because of her loyalty and service she was
able to attract Boaz and ended up marrying him.
She was upheld as one of the heroines of the house of David – and
someone who became a good Jewish wife, even though she was a foreigner.
In fact in Jesus’ lineage there are
four women listed, none who were Jewish:
Tamar was a
Canaanite; Rahab was of Jericho, and a Gentile; Ruth was a Moabite; and
Bathsheba, the
wife of Uriah who
married King David and was the mother of King Solomon, was a Hittite.
