Reading for November 13th

Read Ezra 6.13-18. In verse 14: They finished their building by command of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus, Darius, and King Artaxerxes of Persia: In a literal historical reading this makes no sense, since the physical Temple was completed in the reign of Darius, and Artaxerxes had nothing to do with it. However, the formation of the "house of God" involved not only the rebuilding the Temple, but also rebuilding the city and separating the community from the surrounding peoples by prohibiting intermarriage. These later steps, under the reformers Ezra and Nehemiah, occured under the time of Artaxerxes. In verse 15: The third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius: 515 BCE. Some believe the day was originally the twenty-third day of Adar, which would put the complete rebuilding near the anniversary of Solomon's celebration of the completion of the original Temple (2 Chr 7.10) and approximately 70 years after the destruction of the Temple. In verse 17: As a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel: Without a functioning Temple, it was not possible for the priesthood to maintain the regular purification offering for the nation. The offering may be indebted to the vision of a renewed Temple by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 43.22-27) in whch the sin offering purifies the Temple from the pollutions of Israel's past. In verse 18: As it is written in the book of Moses: in 1 Chr 23-26 it is David who sets up the courses of the priests and Levites for worship in the Temple. There is no prescription for these orders as described in the Pentateuch, normally what the author means by the book of Moses. With the arrangements for the offerings and who would be responsible for them, the Temple is now fully functioning. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 12th

Read Ezra 6.1=12. In verse 2: Ecbatana, the capital of the province of media: the search began in Babylon since important royal decrees would be archived there. Ecbatana, at a higher elevation than the main capital of Persepolis, was the location of the persian Kings' summer palace. In verse 4: Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury: Cyrus detailed specifications of the size and form of construction limit how much the rebuilding would cost., since imperial funds were paying for it. In verse 10: So they may offer pleasing sacrifices ... and pray for the life of the king and his children: Persian imperial support for local religious centers is well attested. It was part of a larger policy of bringing local customs into the framework of loyalty to the empire. Darius probably did not worship Israel's God, but that did not prevent him from seeking to convince those who did that Israel's God was concerned with the King's well-being. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 11th

Read Ezra 5.6-17. In verse 6: The copy of the letter: The author offers extracts from official memoranda to fill out the story line. While there can be no certainty, it appears the author was working from actual documents, which may have been modified slightly to fit the narrative. In verse 12: But because our ancestors had angered God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar: The case for rebuilding the Temple depends in part on the assertion that the Temple was destroyed not because the southern kingdom rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and imperial king but because God was angry. In verse 13: King Cyrus ... made a decree: See 1.1-4. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 10th

Read Ezra 5.1-5. In 5.1-6.18: Overcoming opposition and rebuilding. Thhis 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 Jerusalem. This section is in Aramaic and as in the earlier sections, carries the narrative forward by extensive quotation from various official documents. In 5.1: Haggai and Zechariah: This section opens at the end of the sixth century, where ch. 4 ended with a mention of two prophets who, along with Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest, directed a new effort to rebuild the Temple. These are probably the prophets behind the canonical books bearing their names. In verse 3: Who gave you a decree: The officals 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 November 9th

Read Ezra 4.17-24. In verse 19: I made a decree and someone searched: The command was to investigate the charge the Jerusalem had a history of rebelllion. Brief accounts of major events were kept for administrative purposes, such as the Babylonian Chronicles, which record the succesive revolts of Jerusalem against the 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 refer to either David or Solomon, who exercised control over a large territory. This makes little sense, however, either in the context or in the kinds of records avaialble to the Persian monarch. The same wording could ne translated, "Morover, there have been powerful kings over jerusalem who 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 of Rehum and Shimshai is accompanied by terms that may refer to infantry and cavalry units whose presence would 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 lttle sense. Artaxerxes I makes the decision to have the work halted some time after 465 BCE, butlater the note until the second year of the reign of King Darius would have to be 521 BCE. Either the author is hopelessly confused reguarding chronology, or the purpose of the narrative is not historical but 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 November 8th

Read Ezra 4.7-16 In verse 7: And in the days of Artazerxes: He came to the throne in 465 BCE and remained in power until 423 BCE. The names of the officals sending the memo are Aramaic: The normal language for conducting businessin the Persian empire was Aramaic. By making not of this detail, the author affirms the seriousness of this exchane. 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, indicatiing that the author is quoting fromthe 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 indetifies 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 sttled to the north of Jerusalem were the "adversaries" seeking to join in rebuilding the Temple. Here, they oppose the rebuilding of Jersalem's walls. Osnapper is a variant name for the Assyrian king Asshurbanipal (699-633 BCE). Beyond the River was the offical name of the adminsitrative unit of Syria-Palestine (in Aramaic, "Abarnahara"), from the perspective of Mesopotamia and Persia, the territories of Syria-Palestine were acroos or "beyond" the river Jordan, terminating at the coast of the Mediterranean. In verse 12: They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city: The neigboring peoples charge that Jerusalem, with ist history of rebellion against empires, should not be rebuilt. Persian imperial pratice was to decentralize populations. Only where secuirty or economic concerns were of central importance were cites rebuilt. In verse 13: If this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute: A renewed and refortified Jeusalem will follow its earlier history and will revolt against the taxes and dues that propvided the economic lifeblood of the empire. In verse 14: We share the salt of the palace: An expression, exact meaning unclear, perhaps, syaing that the writers are paid in part directly by the palace in the form of salt, a more valued commodity in antquity than now. In verse 16: You will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River: With hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point) the opponents imply that Jerusalem's revolt would lead to the loss of the whole province. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 7th

Read Ezra 4.6. 4.6-26: Opposition to rebuilding the Jerusalem. The author now moves from 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 officals and King Artaxerxes 1 of Persia. As a result, the king orders the suspnsion of any rebuilding of the city, which the author then ties to opposition to the Temple. While there is no way to authenticate these memos, they have the form and general structure of know 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 reiign of Ahasuerus, in his accession year: Ahasuerus, in his accession year: Ahaserus is the Hebrew version of thename of the Persian King the Greeks called Xerxes. The main royal figure in the book of Esther,Xerxes came to the Persianthrne late inthe 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 chronlogical sequence of Persian Kings (Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes) to the communications with Artaxerxes. Comments or Questions..