Some (but not all) scholars believe that the same person who wrote Chronicles, also wrote the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Speaking honestly, Chronicles was the least interesting book of the Bible so far for me, not simply because it explores old ground already covered from Genesis to Kings, but also because the writing style is less engaging – more factual, less epic. Chronicles obviously has great historical value, especially with its reliance on extra-canonical sources, and was clearly an important vehicle for Jewish tribal remembering, but I could have done without more genealogies of peoples and places that mean nothing to me.
What all three books share is a focus on the temple of Jerusalem, so if Ezra himself was not the writer, then it was likely some other Levite scribe. In fact, the main difference between Kings and Chronicles is that David is the focus now and his temple cult takes centre stage. In Book 1 of Chronicles, though we're told that Solomon built the original temple, David is said to have done the planning and organisation, while at the end of Book 2 of Chronicles, when the Persian Emperor Cyrus announces he will rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, this event is portrayed as the revival of the cult of David. Other differences between Chronicles and earlier Biblical books include a new explanation as to why David commissioned the census that upset God, with the finger now pointed squarely at Satan (1 Chr. 21:1).
As well as being written by someone who clearly wanted to emphasise the paramount importance of David in Israel's history, Chronicles does also offer moments of mature reflection on the occasional bouts of slaughter that characterised God's project. If you feel like you don't have time to read all of Chronicles – and I wouldn't recommend it – then just the second half of Book 2 is sufficient, from chapter 20 onwards. This includes several stories about prophets and Levites, including the account of Oded, who speaks out against Israelite cruelty after the massacre of 120,000 Judean soldiers (2 Chr. 28:10). It also contains Cyrus' imperial command to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem, started by Zerubabbel, an event which sets up the action of the books of Ezra-Nehemiah. As part of this long rebuilding process, the exiled Judeans and their descendants progressively return home to Jerusalem in three waves, under the blessing of three Persian emperors – Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes.
Despite the book of Ezra's flaws – according to scholars, it is defective and has undergone some textual surgery, notably in the way it ends in mid-sentence and chapter 4 is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew – its main thrust is to cast Ezra as a second Moses, responsible for leading his people out of slavery again, reinstating the temple, teaching his people to live in accordance with God's law and for overseeing the rewriting of holy scriptures that had been lost in the Babylonian destruction.
Ezra's story continues in the book of Nehemiah, with the two coming together after Nehemiah is sent by the Persian king to help rebuild the city wall of Jerusalem (2:1-8). Together, the two oversee a complete renewal of the religious life of the city, with marriage and observance of the sabbath paramount, as well as a focus on restoring land and property to the Judeans. Personally, I found Nehemiah's heavy-handed and xenophobic approach to mixed marriage (i.e. weddings between Jews and non-Jews) pretty distasteful, especially the section at 13:25:
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| Russian icon of King Solomon and the temple |
As well as being written by someone who clearly wanted to emphasise the paramount importance of David in Israel's history, Chronicles does also offer moments of mature reflection on the occasional bouts of slaughter that characterised God's project. If you feel like you don't have time to read all of Chronicles – and I wouldn't recommend it – then just the second half of Book 2 is sufficient, from chapter 20 onwards. This includes several stories about prophets and Levites, including the account of Oded, who speaks out against Israelite cruelty after the massacre of 120,000 Judean soldiers (2 Chr. 28:10). It also contains Cyrus' imperial command to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem, started by Zerubabbel, an event which sets up the action of the books of Ezra-Nehemiah. As part of this long rebuilding process, the exiled Judeans and their descendants progressively return home to Jerusalem in three waves, under the blessing of three Persian emperors – Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes.
Ezra's story continues in the book of Nehemiah, with the two coming together after Nehemiah is sent by the Persian king to help rebuild the city wall of Jerusalem (2:1-8). Together, the two oversee a complete renewal of the religious life of the city, with marriage and observance of the sabbath paramount, as well as a focus on restoring land and property to the Judeans. Personally, I found Nehemiah's heavy-handed and xenophobic approach to mixed marriage (i.e. weddings between Jews and non-Jews) pretty distasteful, especially the section at 13:25:
And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.
There's definitely a cult-like quality to this resurgent sense of identity, this desire for racial purity, which was no doubt forged in the context of slavery. Like Joseph and Moses before him – who both managed to flourish in Egypt before returning home stronger – Nehemiah's story is part of a long thread of diaspora accounts, which together create a sort of biblical myth about the adaptability of the Jewish people but also their enduring sense of being the chosen people.
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