Reading for April 10th

 Read Ezra 5.1-5. In 5.1-6.18: Overcoming opposition and rebuilding the Temple. This section of the book highlights the continued commitment of the community to rebuilding the house of God, understood as both the physical Temple and the renewed city of Jerusalem. The section is in Aramaic and, as in the earlier sections, carries that narrative forward by extensive quotation from various official documents. In 5.1: Haggai and Zechariah: The section opens at the end of the sixth century, where ch. 4 ended, with mention of two prophets who, along with Zerubbabel the governor Joshua the high priest, directed a new effort to rebuild the Temple. There are probably the prophets behind the canonical books bearing their names. In verse 3: Who gave you a decree: the officials who are inquiring about imperial permission may not be opposing the rebuilding of the Temple as much as showing concern that all is being done in accord with imperial sanction Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 9th

Read Ezra  4.17-24. In verse 19: I made a decree, and someone searched: The command was to investigate the charge that Jerusalem had a history of rebellion. Brief accounts of major events were kept for Administrative purposes, such as the Babylonian Chronicles, which record the successive revolts of Jerusalem against Babylonian empire until the city's destruction. In verse 20: Jerusalem has had mighty kings who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River: This would seem to to refer to either David or Solomon, who exercised control over a large territory. This makes sense, however, either in the context or in the kinds of records available to the Persian monarch. The same wording could be translated, "Moreover, there have been powerful kings over Jerusalem who also ruled over the whole province ..., placing Artaxerxes in a series of imperial rulers who had successfully controlled Jerusalem and Beyond the River. In verse 21: This city not be rebuilt, until I make a decree : By stopping the rebuilding, Artaxerxes was not making a permanent decision. A future royal decree is exactly what the narrative concerning Nehemiah envisions. In verse 23: By force and power made them cease: The prompt response that may refer to infantry and cavalry units whos presence would have underscore the imperial concern over the rebuilding effort. In verse 24: At that time the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped: If read as a historical narrative, the phrase at that time makes little sense. Artaxerxes I makes the decision to have the work halted sometime after 465 BCE, but later the note until the second year of the reign of King Darius have to be 521 BCE. Either the author is hopelessly confused regarding chronology, or the purpose of the narrative is not historical by thematic. The notation here returns the narrative to the issue of rebuilding the Temple, bringing it back to v. 5. Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 8th

 Read Ezra 4.7-16. In verse 7: And in the days of Artaxerxes: He came to the throne in 465 BCE and remained in power until 423 BCE. The names of the officials sending the memo are Aramaic and Persian. The letter was written in Aramaic: The normal language for conducting official business in the Persian empire was Aramaic. By making note of this detail, the author affirms the seriousness of this exchange. It was translated so that the Jerusalem community could understand it. The footnote points out that the Hebrew text goes on to read in Aramaic, indicating that the author is quoting from the Aramaic original as opposed to the translation. From this point until 6.18: the narrative is in Aramaic. In verse 8: Wrote a letter against Jerusalem identifies the city with the house of God. In verse 10; The rest of the nations ... deported and settled refers to vv. 1-2, where the deportees settled to the north of Jerusalem were the "adversaries" seeking to join in the rebuilding the Temple. Here, they oppose the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls. Osnapper is a variant name for the Assyrian king Asshurbanipal (669-633 BCE). Beyond the River was the official name of the administrative unit of Syria-Palestine (In Aramaic,"Abarnahara"). From the perspective of Mesopotamia and Persia, the territories of Syria-Palestine were across or "beyond" the river Jordan, terminating at the coast of the Mediterranean.In verse 12: They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city: The neighboring peoples charge that Jerusalem, with its history of rebellion against empires, should not be rebuilt. Persian imperial practice was to decentralize populations. Only where security or economic concerns were of central importance were cities rebuilt. In verse 13: if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute: A renewed and refortified Jerusalem will follow its earlier history and will revolt against the taxes and dues that provided the economic lifeblood of the empire. In verse 14: We share the salt of the place: An expression, exact meaning unclear, perhaps saying that the writers are paid in part directly by the palace in the form of salt, a more valued commodity in antiquity than now. In verse 16: You will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River: With Hyperbole (exaggeration to make the point) the opponents imply that Jerusalem's revolt would lead to the loss of the whole province. Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 7th

 Read Ezra 4.6. In 4.6-24: Opposition to rebuilding Jerusalem. The author now moves from the opposition to the Temple rebuilding to opposition to building a wall around Jerusalem. After a brief effort at a chronological transition, there is an exchange of memoranda between several imperial officials and King Artaxerxes I of Persia. As a result, the king orders the suspension of any rebuilding of the city, which the author ties to opposition to the Temple. While these is no way to authenticate these memos, they have the form and general structure of known imperial memos from the Persian empire, although some elements may have been introduced to carry forward the larger purposes of the book. In verse 6: In the reign of Ahasuerus, in his accession year; Ahasuerus is the Hebrew  version of the name of the Persian king the Greeks called Xerxes. The main royal figure in the book of Esther, Xerxes came to the Persian throne late in the year 486 BCE. The contents of the accusation are not specified, nor the consequences of the report. This notice serves to bring the narrative through a chronological sequence of Persian kings (Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes) to the communication of with  Artaxerxes. Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 6th

 Read Ezra 4.1-6. In 4.1-5: Opposition to rebuilding the Temple. This section shows the surrounding peoples opposing the rebuilding of the Temple, just as the following section will detail opposition by the surrounding peoples to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem over a century later. Such opposition to sacred actions furthers the prohibition of intermarriage with the surrounding peoples. In verse 1: The adversaries of Judah and Benjamin: By characterizing these persons as adversaries, the author makes their subsequent request less than truthful. In verse 2: We worship your God as you do: As  deportees who had been settled in the land by the Assyrians, the "adversaries" would not have known the Pentateuch nor the orders for the Temple service attributed to King David. Consequently, they could not approach God in the same way as the returned exiles. In verse 3: We alone will build to the Lord, ... as King Cyrus of Persia has commanded us: The community determines to show its devotion on its own, and claims this is required by Cyrus' orders. There is nothing in the decree that restricts who can participate in the rebuilding. In verse 4: The people of the land discouraged the people of Judah: here people of the Land is defined by what proceeded it, namely they are the deportees who brought into the land by the Assyrians. However, the author will use the term simply as a generic label for those who are not of Judah. The Hebrew term translated as discouraged is better rendered "undermined." Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 5th

 Read Ezra 3.8-13. In 3.8-13: Laying the foundation of the Temple. The author highlights the momentous beginning of the rebuilding the Temple, emphasizing the devotion of the community. In verse 8: In the second year after their arrival at the house of God at Jerusalem may relate to the third year Dairus, around 519 BCE if the earlier reference was to a time in the reign of Darius.the community arrived at Jerusalem to find the Temple in ruins, hence the need to begin rebuilding. But the author, wanting to connect the Jerusalem community witht he sanctified dwelling place of God, has the exiles arriving at the house of God. They appointed Levites: Most likely Zerubbabel and Jesuha appointed them. In verse 10: The priests in their vestments were stationed to praise the Lord with trumpets recalls the priesty trumpeters in 2 Chr 5.12 at the dedication of the first Temple in the days of Solomon. According to the directions of King David emphasizes the continuity between this Second Temple and the worship conducted in the First Temple. Despite the trauma of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the Exile in Babylon, nothing has changed in the way the community worships God. In verse 11: The sang responsively: The leaders sang first, and the assembly responded. Another possible meaning is "antiphonally," with one part of the choir initiating a verse and the other part completing it. The hymn that is sung appears as  part of a number of Psalms (for example, Ps 106.1; 107.1; 136.1). In verse 12: Old people who had seen the first house; Sixty-eight years had elapsed since the destruction of the first Temple. Wept with a loud voice when they saw this house: presumably what was planned for the rebuilt Temple was less in size and/ or grandeur than that of the Temple of Solomon (as in Hag 2.3). The weeping over what had been lost was drowned out by those who shouted aloud for joy, shifting the focus to what could be anticipated for the future. Comments or Questions..

Reading for April 4th

 Read Ezra 3.1-7. In 3.1-7: The reinstitution of worship. This section describes the resumption of worship at the site of the ruined Temple as a prelude to the effort to rebuild the Temple, as decree by the Persian King Cyrus in the opening of the book.  In verse 1: When the seventh month came is an enigmatic reference since that year is not disclosed. It may be the seventh month of the earlier date formula of 1.1, that is, the first year of Cyrus (around 539 BCE), though this presents a problem with what follows. The notices of Jesuha and Zerubbabel (v. 2) focus on two individuals who are usually dated to the early years of the reign of Darius (522-486 BCE). The seventh month may refer to the second year of Darius' rule, when renewed commitment to rebuilding the Temple was made (Hag 2.1) In verse 2: As prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God relates to rules on the composition of the altar found in Ex 20.25. In verse 4: And they kept the festival of booths, as prescribed, reflecting perhaps s concern to follow the rules found in Lev 23.33-34, where the fifteenth day of this important festival, In verse 6: But the foundation of the Temple of the Lord was not yet laid distinguishes the resumption of worship from the beginning or the rebuilding the physical Temple. Comments or Questions..