Reading for July 18th

 FORMING THE HOUSE OF GOD

In 7.6-13.3: This section drops the first-person style of the "Nehemiah memoir" and the concern with opponents to the rebuilding efforts. Instead the focus is on the community's concerns and corporate commitments. These are presented by means of several large gatherings of the "assembly" of the people interspersed with lengthy lists of people involved. The culmination is an extended description of the dedication of the city walls and the separation of "Israel" from all those of "foreign descent ," Thus paralleling the physical separation of the city from the surrounding peoples. 

Read Nehemiah 7.6-73a. In 7.6-73a: The list of those who returned from Babylon. In verse 6: These are the people of the province: largely repeats the list found in Ezra 2.1-70. Variations between the two lists are minor, but often this list represents a slightly fuller version of the list in Ezra 2. The The focus is clearly on the people, and the reduplication of the lists  shows the author's concern to focus on the community's efforts. In verse 7: Nehemiah: Notice that this is in the third person, rather than the first person accounts of the "Nehemiah memoir." Comments or Questions..