Ezra nehemiah contradictions in the book

Book of ezra the book of ezra is named after a significant priest of the same name, which tells the tale of the two returns of the people of judah following captivity in babylon. Biblical literature biblical literature ezra, nehemiah, and chronicles. For a discussion of problems with the dates of ezranehemiah see. Finally, after ezra had come into existence through the combination of ezra 16 with ezra 710, the accounts of the repopulation and dedication of the city and the friction between temple and torah were added to produce the final book of nehemiah. While some of the recorded events occur in faraway persia, the focus of the book is the realization of the yearning of the jewish exiles to return. The most important thing in how i think this apparent contradiction can be. From sunday, february, 11 2018 at calvary chapel tricities, kennewick, wa. Chronological order for ezrahaggaizechariahnehemiah. Any errors in this section are probably due to scribal transmission. In english bibles, they are usually split into two, with the book of nehemiah appearing as a separate book from ezra, but in the hebrew tradition, they are one book, entitled ezra, and nehemiah is simply the second part of ezra. Dont statements in the book of ecclesiastes contradict other. The books of ezra and nehemiah are the only completely historical books in the third section of the hebrew bible, the ketuvim writings.

The book of nehemiah has been, since the 16th century, a separate book of the hebrew bible. The reestablishment of the exiles as gods people in jerusalem and judea gradually developed as they returned in waves under the leadership of sheshbazzar, zerubbabel, ezra and nehemiah, as god providentially made provision for them through the persian rulers, as the lord enabled them to rebuild jerusalem, and as the people continually. Both ezra and nehemiah agree that the total was 42,360. Nicolas simon lessons from the books of ezra and nehemiah. Ezra and nehemiah, books of, two books in the hagiographa i. Ezra and nehemiah are highly theological books, but they do not directly address the theology of work. An inquiry concerning the books of ezra and nehemiah jstor. Ezra is concerned with holiness in the sanctuary, while nehemiah is concerned with holiness in society. There were simply fewer or more singers in jerusalem when the census begin one count. Many scholars believe that the person who compiled the book of ezra also compiled or wrote 1 and 2 chronicles and nehemiah. Unfortunately, most christian apologetic sites and books usually end up with. Chronicles, ezra, nehemiah, and esther were originally part of the writings of hebrew scripture, but were placed in the historical books in. Ezra and nehemiah tell the story of israels return from babylonian exile and resettlement in the land. A single book originally ezra nehemiah was considered a single unit in the hebrew canon just as we today view 1st and 2nd chronicles but were first treated separately by christians around the 3rd century.

His memoirs are in the bible book bearing his name. And all the people listened attentively to the book of the law. Inspired by gods spirit, he tells the israelites that they can head home and rebuild their temple. They were reformers, one more on the civil side and one more on the religious side of things. The task of ezra and nehemiah was to provide leadership. Ezra 2are the numbers of israelite clans freed from babylonian captivity correct in ezra or in nehemiah 7. Page 4 page 5 session 1 the book of ezra the books of ezra and nehemiah and esther cover about 100 years, closing the old testament historical books.

Recent proponents of the unity of ezra nehemiah often draw on the work of eskenazi, who posits that the repetition of the ezra 2 material in nehemiah 7 determines the structure of the book. Aug 17, 2016 this article is part of the why study the book. Although the book of ezra contains some material that is written as a firstperson memoir see ezra 79, we do not know who ultimately combined this material with the rest of the narrative. The book of ezra nehemiah thus mutes the signals sent by nms use of genre indicating that the authority for nehemiah s reforms, which were essential to jerusalems restoration, derived not from israelite tradition or from the will of the people, but from the power of judahs imperial masters. In this article, you will learn more about the book of nehemiah, as well as the one before it a. The return of the jews from captivity in babylon and the rebuilding of the temple. The two lists contain 35 identical family units, however, 16 of these units. This is a significant order, for always the way back to god after a period of declension and captivity to evil must begin within the human spirit the temple of man. Of these 33 family units listed in ezra and nehemiah, nineteen of the family units are identical, while fourteen show discrepancies in the number of members within the family units. Originally written together as a single book in the jewish scriptures, ezra and nehemiah document the fulfillment of gods promise that israel will return home after 70 years of exile in babylon and restore their ruined dwellings again. The book covers the period from the fall of babylon in 539 bc to the second half of the 5th century bc, and tells. If you would like to see the grid comparing all families in ezra 2 and nehemiah 7. Ezra focuses on the temple and its ethical boundaries. The book of esther described part of the jewish diaspora that stayed behind in persia and did not return to jerusalem during the restoration.

The two became separated with the first printed rabbinic bibles of the early 16th century, following late medieval latin christian tradition. Ezra nehemiah is the old testament equivalent of the acts of the apostlesit is a book of new beginnings. You can find the best commentary on ezranehemiah for you using the tools on the right side. The contributors are scholars of international standing. Ezra starts with the city of jerusalem in ruins and largely. Further investigation shows that nehemiah lists 1765 persons who are not in ezra, and ezra has 494 not mentioned in nehemiah.

Yet, as you say, totaling up their two lists gives you 29,818 for. The narratives of ezra and nehemiah do describe arduous work, however, implicitly placing work in a theological framework. The books of ezra and nehemiah provide our primary source of information about the 100 years following the babylonian captivity. The writer does make contradictory statements to the rest of scripture. The book of nehemiah is the last of the historical books of the bible, originally part of the book of ezra, but split off into its own volume by the church in 1448. In these books, many israelites return to jerusalem. This is a significant order, for always the way back to god after a period of declension and captivity to evil must begin within the human spiritthe temple of. Adding up the numbers listed in ezra gives a sum of 29,818 men ezra 2. The author of nehemiah is unknown, however it reads much like an autobiography of nehemiah who was governor of persian judea and the cupbearer to king artaxerxes nehemiah 2. The book of esther tells the story of one curious episode during the era depicted in ezra and nehemiah. Gods people had been in apostasy, which led to the babylonian captivity. The chapters represent the statistics of the same families, but they are not identical. In ezra chapter two and in nehemiah chapter seven there are about thirtythree family units that appear in both lists of israelites returning from babylon to judea. But apart from this, the phraseology, style and point of view of the.

You can find the best commentary on ezra nehemiah for you using the tools on the right side. The book of ezra is part of the historical books of the bible. Some of the statements in the book of ecclesiastes seem to contradict other parts of scripture. In fact, each book can stand alone, but they both have the same overall structure and outline, so that they are like twins. Both books were originally one book, until the early christian church father, origen, divided them into two separate works. It was treated as a single book in the hebrew, greek and old latin manuscripts. Nehemiah focuses on the city and its physical boundary the wall. Whereas ezra deals with the religious restoration of judah, nehemiah is primarily concerned with judahs political and geographical restoration. Childs, introduction to the old testament as scripture, 63637. Ezra focuses on the rebuilding of the temple, while nehemiah focuses on the rebuilding of the walls of jerusalem.

Near 520 bc after the takeover by nebuchadnezzar, ultimately king cyrus of persia arose to power, and he decided to aid the jews to return to jerusalem. It focuses, not on the restoration of jerusalem, but rather on events happening in persia when ahasuerus, better known to us by his greek name, xerxes, was king 485465 bc. This volume, a part of the old testament library series, explores the books of ezra and nehemiah the old testament library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of old testament study through commentaries and general surveys. Ezranehemiah number discrepancies evidence for gods. Second, we should remember that the books of ezra and nehemiah.

In many ways, the time of ezra and nehemiah was like our own. The last four books of the hebrew canon are ezra, nehemiah, and 1 and 2 chronicles, in that order. The book of ezra nehemiah viewed by jewish tradition as a single book, to be called en chronicles some of the final episodes of the biblical era. To summarize, the books of ezra nehemiah offer an extreme example of a canonical process which has disregarded a strictly literary or historical sequence in order to describe the restoration as a theological model for the obedient and holy people of god. Nehemiah served as judahs governor for 12 years, from artaxerxes 20th year 444 b.

Ezra and nehemiah tyndale old testament commentaries kidner, derek on. As other answers have noted, there are a number of discrepancies between the lists of ezra 2 and nehemiah 7 which are, largely, duplicate passages. Watch our overview video on the prophetic books of ezra and nehemiah, which breaks down the literary design of each book s flow of thought. They do not include legal imperatives or prophetic visions having to do with our daily labors. Ezra and nehemiah are the only books within our canon which pro. The first seven chapters deal with the rebuilding of the wall around jerusalem. I found the following so called contradiction in shabir alis 101 bible contradictions, and after investigating the claim, i saw the following ezra 2. The books of ezra and nehemiah differ in their definition of the repatriates from. Some commentators believe that ezra wrote nehemiah as well. The authorship of ezra and nehemiah in light of differences. That these books constituted a single workreferred to as the chroniclers history, in distinction to the.

Ezra and nehemiah tyndale old testament commentaries. This summary of the book of ezra provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of ezra. The book of nehemiah closes with an account of nehemiah s second visit to jerusalem after an interval of twelve years. As with the books of ezra and esther, named after his contemporaries, the book recounts selected events of his leadership and was titled after him. The people read from the book of deuteronomy, which describes all the laws and ideals they were not living up to. Biblical literature ezra, nehemiah, and chronicles. Solving the ezra nehemiah controversy grace thru faith. Some leaders had begun the work of restoring the people to gods service, but there were still many problems and the people continued to fall into sin. Ezra 2 and nehemiah 7 offer nearly identical lists of the people who returned to jerusalem from persia with zerubbabel to rebuild the temple.

The lxx also grouped ezra and nehemiah together as one book calling. There are two basic ways in which this may be resolved. The books of ezra and nehemiah originally a single literary work, hence. When the context is understood along with the overall message of ecclesiastes, then there is no contradiction. So how can this book, which has obvious simple math contradictions, be followed. Ezra is concerned with holiness in the sanctuary, while nehemiah is concerned with. Nehemiah was one of the most underrated heroes in the bible, cupbearer to the powerful persian king artaxerxes i longimanus. The earliest christian commentary on ezranehemiah is that of bede in the early 8th century. As the curtain rises and the orchestra dramatically swells, king cyrus of persia has just defeated the babylonians. For further details, see aaron demsky, who came first, ezra or nehemiah. Thus nehemiah did precede ezra, but not by much, and both men worked jointly in areas of common concern. This reveals not a contradiction in scripture but the. Nehemiah yahweh has comforted, is a famous cupbearer, who never appears in scripture outside of this book.

D uring the time of ezra and nehemiah in the bible and even the book of esther, we can find some very complex issues that were dealt with by the hebrew people. I have produced a grid below that lists the families that do not match. A popular handbook on bible difficulties wheaton, ill victor books, 1992. Ezra passed decrees closing the loopholes and forbidding work on the sabbath. Nehemiah, however, seems more like a firstperson memoir written by nehemiah, though it may have also undergone editing and alterations. Second, it is also possible that ezra and nehemiah compiled their lists at different. In his practical and devotional expository commentary. Yet, as you say, totaling up their two lists gives you 29,818 for ezra, and 31,089 for nehemiah. The combined accounts of ezra and nehemiah, along with the prophetic books of. Now, in direct contradiction to this, i be lieve that the records. It is fair to say that ezra is focused more exclusively on religious reform and nehemiah on political issues. Unfortunately, most christian apologetic sites and books usually end up with the stated position that this is a case of many scribal errors in all hebrew texts, and. The jews are counted and are permitted to return to judah to rebuild the temple.

Adding up the numbers listed in ezra gives a sum of 29,818 men ezra. The book of ezranehemiah tells the story of israels return to jerusalem to rebuild their lives and renew the covenant. Life after destruction goes on in ezra and nehemiah. Contradictions in the old testament and why they are a. This book is of course not inspired by god unless you believe that god can do mistakes. Book of ezra and nehemiah covers the events of the jews returning from the babylonian captivity.

Thats the first reason i often give for studying the old testament books of ezra and nehemiah. As such, these books are fitting models for christians of the new covenant. They tell us of the repopulation of palestine by the jews, the rebuilding of the temple, and the reconstruction of the wall of jerusalem. Ezranehemiah the bible project videos the bible app. Nov 17, 2015 both ezra and nehemiah were present for the occasion nehemiah 12. Jul 17, 2016 watch our overview video on the prophetic books of ezra and nehemiah, which breaks down the literary design of each book s flow of thought. The synchronistic approach, hebrew union college annual 65, 1994. In fact, ezra and nehemiah were originally regarded as one book by ancient jewish and early christian scribes. In the record of those who returned to jerusalem under the leadership of zerubbabel as recorded in ezra, there are 32 family units identified and numbered. That suspicion is at once raised by the fact that ezranehemiah is a strict continuation of the book of chronicles, though in the hebrew bible chronicles appears last, because, having to compete with samuel and kings, it won its canonical position later than ezranehemiah. Sefer ezra vnechemya is the penultimate book of the hebrew bible. In the ancient hebrew manuscripts the books of ezra and nehemiah were written as if they were one. Contradictions in the old testament and why they are a good thing sunday, january 19, 2014 it is commonly maintained that the bible has one single unified voice, one biblical message.

Of these 33 family units listed in ezra and nehemiah, nineteen of the family units are. They were the leaders of this return to israel movement, from babylonian captivity. Before that date, it had been included in the book of ezra. Notably, though jews saw ezra and nehemiah as a single book, the gemera identified ezra and nehemiah as authors of their respective parts young 1977. The books of ezra and nehemiah tell a vital story of a community revived and restored by gods grace through gifted individualspreparing the way for the coming messiah. Intro to ezra biblica the international bible society. At one time, however, ezra and nehemiah followed 1 and 2 chronicles and were generally considered to be the work of one and the same author known as the chronicler. Why are the numbers in ezra so different from those in. Is there a numerical contradiction between ezra and nehemiah. Just as acts narrates the early history of the church through the work of the apostles, ezra nehemiah narrates the reestablishment of the people of god after the exile through the work of sheshbazzar, zerubbabel, ezra, and nehemiah. Ezra and nehemiah, books of jewish virtual library. The contrasting leadership roles of ezra and nehemiah. The chequered story of the kings, a matter of nearly five centuries, had ended disastrously in 587 b. Nehemiah 8, new international version niv the bible app.

The book of nehemiah takes bible readers to the end of the. Ultimately, ezra and nehemiah called a convention and administered what became known as, the covenant of faith nehemiah, chapter 10. The contradictions of genre in the nehemiah memorial. Heres the solution from when critics ask by geisler and howe. Analysis with the book of ezra and the book of nehemiah, the historical survey from adam to the rebuilding of the temple in the postexilic period is nearly complete and includes the words of many different authors who lived at. As the book of ezra recounts the building of the temple, so the book of nehemiah gives us the story of the rebuilding of the walls of jerusalem. Aug 03, 2010 ezra chapter 2 and nehemiah chapter 7 both give a list of groups returning to jerusalem from their exile in babylon. Though comprised of two smaller books, ezra and sefer nechemya were joined, as they concisely discuss the same general era, the final period included in the tanakh.

As one travels across the landscape of the contemporary state of. Ezra nehemiah was one book in the early hebrew text mt and in the early copies of the septuagint from the uncial manuscripts. The return to zion and the rebuilding of the temple lie at the heart of the first period in en 538516 b. If we accept nehemiah and ezra as having actual counts and place the singers in jerusalem, there are two plausible explanations for the difference. The census of ezra 2 and nehemiah 7 is the bible inerrant. Their contents overlap, much that was done by ezra being recorded in the book of nehemiah viii. The final books of the hebrew bible are the books of chronicles and ezra nehemiah, which once formed a unitary history of israel from adam to the 4th century bce, written by an anonymous chronicler.

The fact that ezranehemiah was translated into greek by the mid2nd century bc suggests that this was the time by which it had come to be regarded as scripture. Still later, levitical editors combined ezra and nehemiah to produce the final form of the book, reintroducing interest in torah and stressing the. Ezra 2 and nehemiah 7 are listings of numbered people from different families. Ezra is identified as a ready scribe in the law of. Why are the numbers in ezra so different from those in nehemiah. Some evidence from the ancient world, such as the talmud, indicates that ezra and nehemiah were originally one book simply called ezra. Despite their best attempts, israels leaders are unable to bring about the fulfillment of the prophetic hopes, and so the story ends waiting for god to heal the hearts of his people and send the messianic kingdom. Why are the statistics in ezra 2 and nehemiah 7 different. It cannot, however, justify contradictions inherent in the mention of. Well ezra and nehemiah are named after their essential characters ezra and nehemiah. The story of ezra and nehemiah takes place over a hundred years from when cyrus gives the jews permission to go home and rebuild their temple until nehemiah is in his second term as governor of judah. The books in the bible devoted to those historical events are named for these brave and mighty men and women.