The books of ezra and nehemiah and esther cover about 100 years, closing the old testament historical books. The most important works are by dod genesis, chadwick exodus and mark, kellogg leviticus, blaikie joshua, i and ii samuel, adeney ezra, nehemiah and esther, maclaren psalms, moule romans. How did ezra react to the news from the leaders of the people. The books of samuel, kings, and chronicles closed with the southern kingdom judah going into captivity. Ezranehemiah asbury bible commentary bible gateway. The chequered story of the kings, a matter of nearly five centuries, had ended disastrously in 587 b. He gives much needful information, and thus supplements more didactic works. The seventhday adventist commentary reference series is a set of volumes produced primarily by seventhday adventist scholars, and designed for both scholarly and church member use. The restoration of the holy land, united by the temple. Brazos theological commentary on the bible series editors r. The next step is to enter your payment information.
It explains why the good hand of his god was upon him ezra 7. It is based on the german lexicon by william gesenius. This fact illustrates the close relationship that exists between these two books. If ezra was the writer, he was copying from the journal of nehemiah. The niv matthew henry commentary, matthew henry how did nehemiah react after hearing the news of the present state of the jews and jerusalem. You can find the best commentary on ezranehemiah for you using the tools on the right side. Date if the final compilation of ezra nehemiah happened as described in the previous paragraph, then the date of writing logically followed soon after the close of nehemiah s ministry in jerusalem.
In many ways, the time of ezra and nehemiah was like our own. They tell us about the time when the jews returned from babylonia to their own country, judah. Aside from esther, ezra and nehemiah are the only historical books of the postexilic period, and are of great importance for a. A free bible version and commentary on the old testament book of nehemiah in easy english. Also, he probably was the writer of 1 and 2 chronicles and of psalm 119, which exalts the word of god. Page 4 page 5 session 1 the book of ezra the books of ezra and nehemiah and esther cover about 100 years, closing the old testament historical books.
Nehemiah 7 commentary, one of over 110 bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, filling six volumes, provides an exhaustive look at every verse in the bible. What happened while ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping. Aside from esther, ezra and nehemiah are the only historical books of the postexilic period, and are of great importance for a reconstruction of the history of postexilic jewry. Reno, general editor creighton university omaha, nebraska robert w.
Top 5 commentaries on the books of ezra and nehemiah. Nehemiah led the third 3rd exodus back to jerusalem, 94 years after zerubbabel 1st exodus of approx. The authors of ezra 16 provide a list, from the archives, of those who came from exile to judah. The books of ezra and nehemiah are two parts of the same story. Some leaders had begun the work of restoring the people to gods service, but there were still many problems and the people continued to fall into sin. Please identify the section you wish to read, and then use your readers searchfind feature to navigate to it. Rowley, the chronological order of ezra and nehemiah, in the servant of the lord and other essays on the old testament, pp.
Nehemiah, who was a contemporary or served around the same time as ezra, was a cupbearer to the king in the persian empire. The book of nehemiah jerusalem walls summary overview. Ezranehemiah commentary exilic and postexilic history. The babylonians had defeated the people from judah. Life after destruction goes on in ezra and nehemiah. Record of gods providence the books of ezra, nehemiah, and esther are unique among the historical writings in that they give us no new communication from god within the context of the respective stories themselves.
The books of samuel, kings, and chronicles closed with the southern kingdom judahs going into captivity. Nehemiah had the same kind of zeal, also directed towards getting the returned exiles to aim at religious and moral purity. In this sense the unit clearly displays a chiastic structure. They called them 1 and 2 ezra or esdras, the greek transliteration of ezra.
Nehemiah, a man who shares gods passion for his glory, is used of god to bring about a unity among gods people, a renewed focus on his law, and a people repositioned. But they did return, and in the days of ezra, they rebuilt the temple and laid a spiritual foundation for israel once again. Nehemiah the jews build jerusalems city wall again. The history of the samaritans ezra 4 recounts the threat to the rebuilding project posed by the adversaries of judah and benjamin. The story of nehemiah provides believers a model of passionate, determined discipleship. Youre already logged in with your bible gateway account. Date if the final compilation of ezranehemiah happened as described in the previous paragraph, then the date of writing logically followed soon after the close of nehemiahs ministry in jerusalem. Webpage, word, pdf here is a sample excerpt from davis comments on ezra 7. From a theological perspective, the return of the israelites from exile and the rebuilding of jerusalem showed the jews.
Gods people had been in apostasy, which led to the babylonian captivity. Although ezra is a continuation of the historical books begun with joshua, the precaptivity and captivity books could be profitably studied before beginning with ezra. Lexical there are several excellent lexicons available for ancient hebrew. Investigating the issue of mixed marriages in malachi, ezranehemiah and the pentateuch 177 broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Starting your free trial of bible gateway plus is easy. In english bibles, they are usually split into two, with the book of nehemiah appearing as a separate book from ezra, but in the hebrew tradition, they are one book, entitled ezra, and nehemiah is simply the second part of ezra. Also, ezra was probably the writer of 1 and 2 chronicles and psalm 119 the longest chapter in the bible. Show how god accomplishes his work by putting joseph in egypt, ezra in babylon, nehemiah in susa, esther in susa, daniel in babylon, etc.
He organized the synagogue, founded the order of scribes, helped settle the canon of scripture and arranged the psalms. Others may say nehemiah is a book that encourages christians of all gender and race to perform their god given duties no matter the consequences. Nehemiah commentary matthew henry commentary on the. Study the bible online using commentary on nehemiah and more. When god gives a command let us do all within our power to. Derek kidner clearly and succinctly deals with the complex literary and historical problems surrounding these two books and their chief characters. The talmud, the massoretic text, as well as the septuagint treat the books of ezra and nehemiah as one. The revival began with the reading of the word of god by ezra. Ezra and nehemiah tyndale old testament commentaries. Textbook series ezra and nehemiah by ruben ratzlaff.
Zerubbabel and nehemiah both play a part in restoring gods temple, while zerubbabel takes charge over governing affairs, and nehemiah rebuilds the walls of jerusalem. See all of our coronavirus resources here toggle navigation. The decree authorizing ezra and a caravan of others to return to judea in chap. Ezra and nehemiah chart the jews return to jerusalem from exile and the beginnings of a rebirth. Ezra and nehemiah tyndale old testament commentaries kidner, derek on. It includes the sevenvolume seventhday adventist bible commentary, the twovolume seventhday adventist encyclopedia, as well as the single volumes seventhday adventist bible dictionary, seventh. As the curtain rises and the orchestra dramatically swells, king cyrus of persia has just defeated the babylonians. This book, as was true in the book of ezra, has copies of letters, decrees, registers and other documents. Read nehemiah commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible complete. These postexile books record the return from babylon after. Inspired by gods spirit, he tells the israelites that they can head home and rebuild their temple. Why was ezra astonished until the evening sacrifice.
Ezra, in his eagerness for holiness, infected those around him with his own optimism and brought the remnant of israel to really commit itself to its religion. The questions contain minimal human commentary, but instead urge students to study to understand scripture. Nehemiah a2 classic bible study guide 3 nehemiah 1. Loring woart batten 18591946, a critical and exegetical commentary on the books of ezra and nehemiah. In the ancient hebrew manuscripts the books of ezra and nehemiah were written as if they were one.
The two postexile books of ezra and nehemiah record the return from babylon after its fall to the pe. Jewish tradition identifies that chronicler as ezra, who is known from the text to have been a skilled scribe see neh. The task of ezra and nehemiah was to provide leadership. The book of ezra the books of ezra and nehemiah and esther cover about 100 years, closing the old testament historical books. The journey between babylonia and judah took about 4 months to walk. Walter adeney commentary on ezra expositors bible commentary 1900.
On this first page you will see an outline of this commentary. Barber this set, originally published in 1903, contains expositions by both conservative and liberal theologians. Ezra, a descendant of aaron, arrives in jerusalem later and instills gods laws to the postexile jewish generation. Seventhday adventist bible commentary 1978 revised vols. For many years, believers regarded ezra and nehemiah as twin books. The book of nehemiah begins 15 years after the book of ezra ends.
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