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often distant communities would not celebrate traditions based on the text of the Torah but would write back to religious authorities in Jerusalem

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letters back, however, would often not quote the Torah or religious texts

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how this period is depicted within the Bible

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Ezra

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subject is the Return to Zion following the close of the Babylonian captivity

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first part

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the story of the first return of exiles in the first year of Cyrus the Great (538 BC)

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the completion and dedication of the new temple in Jerusalem in the sixth year of Darius (515 BC)

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second part

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the subsequent mission of Ezra to Jerusalem and his struggle to purify the Jews from what the book calls the sin of marriage with non-Jews

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Nehemiah

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told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, it concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah

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the dedication of the city and its people to God's laws

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Nehemiah is a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court

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together Ezra and Nehemiah are the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible

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Haggai

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only two chapters

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historical setting dates around 520 BCE before the Temple has been rebuilt, around the time of the start of the Persian empire in 539 BCE a period that saw major leaders such as Zerubbabel help lead the Jews in their return to the land.

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filled with an urgency for the people to proceed with the rebuilding of the second Jerusalem temple

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book ends with the prediction of the downfall of kingdoms

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the common story of captivity and return

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Babylonians came

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destroyed Jerusalem

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took all the Jews and went to Babylon

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there the Jews wept by the rivers of Babylon when they remembers Zion

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the collected their writings and they longed to return

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as soon as Jewish captives are allowed to go back, they do

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when they come back they bring their Biblical writings with them

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archeologically we have evidence that there were communities of Jews who were not interested in returning

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documents that come decades and centuries after 586 BC

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some Judeans remain there in and around Babylon living, thriving, and not interested in going up to Zion

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Ezra-Nehemiah on this period of time

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538 BC begins with the first year of Cyrus

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he conquers Babylon

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with Persians, he takes over the Babylonian empire

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Ezra 1:1-4

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In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing: This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem."

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Jewish community begin work on temple

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set up the altar

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lay the foundation

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the enemies of the Judeans come and thwart their building project

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the enemies want to participate but are not allowed

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therefore they try to stop the project

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building of temple is delayed until the reign of Darius (522-486 BC)

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one of the most historical sources through the Bible is found in this book

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Nehemiah memoir

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450 BC: a cup bearer who comes from the court of Artaxerxes

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wants to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem

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but the problem is that he faces many obstacles

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from enemies from around the area

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but the community that lives in Jerusalem is in collaboration with these enemies

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Haggai

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a prophet who rises up in the second year of Darius

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issues a word of the Lord, a prophecy

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In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the Lord Almighty says: These people say, The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house. Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?

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Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.

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the point is:

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it is not going well with you guys

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you are very interested in your own individual houses

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while you allow the temple to lie in ruins

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so go up to the hill and start rebuilding, and then things will start changing for you for the better

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this is not any more historically accurate than Ezra or Nehemiah

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but offers a new perspective

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Ezra-Nehemia says the reason why we didn't finish it when the decree was sent out by Cyrus was because the enemies stopped us

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Haggai indicates that the reason they were not building is because they didn't really want to

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Ezra-Nehemia explains

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Jewish community was all taken to Babylon

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returns all together

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they are given the decree to rebuild, but then they are stopped

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this is a very positive image of Judahite history

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they want to rebuild the temple but were not allowed to because of enemies

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Haggai gives us a more pessimistic view

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the community itself was really not committed to the project at all

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the Biblical authors of these books are facing a situation in which the community is

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torn apart

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not committed to coming together

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not committed to doing something collectively in order to rebuild their temple and ruins

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not committed to education and the study of the Torah

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yet all of this is often thought to be case in the post-exilic period