WEBVTT 00:01.000 --> 00:03.670 Professor Christine Hayes: Last time we started 00:03.668 --> 00:06.488 looking at the psalms and a number of different genres or 00:06.487 --> 00:08.347 forms in which the psalms appear. 00:08.350 --> 00:11.670 We were just looking at a psalm last time which seems to 00:11.667 --> 00:14.737 explicitly reject the Deuteronomistic interpretation 00:14.743 --> 00:17.943 of the national history and the national tragedy, 00:17.940 --> 00:21.580 depicting Israel as innocent, and rebuking God for his 00:21.583 --> 00:23.653 inaction. There's another psalm in this 00:23.647 --> 00:25.177 genre that I'd like to read from. 00:25.180 --> 00:28.010 This is Psalm 44, selective passages: 00:28.010 --> 00:30.030 "…In God we glory at all times, 00:30.030 --> 00:32.330 and praise Your name unceasingly. 00:32.330 --> 00:34.680 Yet You have rejected and disgraced us; 00:34.680 --> 00:36.170 You do not go with our armies. 00:36.170 --> 00:38.270 …You let them devour us like sheep; 00:38.270 --> 00:39.900 You disperse us among the nations. 00:39.900 --> 00:41.870 You sell Your people for no fortune, 00:41.870 --> 00:45.770 You set no high price on them… All this has come upon us, 00:45.770 --> 00:49.230 yet we have not forgotten You, or been false to Your covenant." 00:49.230 --> 00:52.780 [Very different from what the prophets have been screaming!] 00:52.780 --> 00:54.390 "Our hearts have not gone astray, 00:54.390 --> 00:56.920 nor have our feet swerved from Your path, 00:56.920 --> 00:59.370 though You cast us, crushed, to where the sea 00:59.367 --> 01:01.177 monster is, and covered us over with 01:01.181 --> 01:02.001 deepest darkness. 01:02.000 --> 01:05.620 If we forgot the name of our God and spread forth our hands to a 01:05.619 --> 01:07.789 foreign god, God would surely search it out, 01:07.790 --> 01:09.510 for He knows the secrets of the heart. 01:09.510 --> 01:12.210 It is for Your sake that we are slain all day long, 01:12.209 --> 01:14.549 that we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 01:14.550 --> 01:16.780 Rouse Yourself; why do you sleep, O Lord? 01:16.780 --> 01:18.720 Awaken, do not reject us forever! 01:18.720 --> 01:21.630 Why do You hide Your face, ignoring our affliction and 01:21.631 --> 01:24.411 distress? We lie prostrate in the dust; 01:24.410 --> 01:25.960 our body clings to the ground. 01:25.960 --> 01:28.750 Arise and help us, redeem us, as befits Your 01:28.748 --> 01:31.858 faithfulness." So here's a psalm full of anger 01:31.861 --> 01:35.791 that contains an explicit denial of the rhetorically inflamed 01:35.793 --> 01:39.663 charges against Israel that we read in many of the prophetic 01:39.659 --> 01:41.489 books. We have not forgotten 01:41.489 --> 01:43.549 You, we haven't been false to Your covenant, 01:43.550 --> 01:45.670 our hearts haven't gone astray, we haven't 01:45.674 --> 01:46.644 swerved from Your path. 01:46.640 --> 01:49.080 Why are You behaving this way? 01:49.080 --> 01:53.280 This astonishing protestation of innocence that accuses God of 01:53.280 --> 01:56.310 sleeping on the job is reminiscent of Job. 01:56.310 --> 01:59.480 In a way, the two conflicting viewpoints that we see running 01:59.476 --> 02:01.946 through a lot of this literature--one in which: 02:01.945 --> 02:04.715 there is suffering, therefore there must be sin, 02:04.722 --> 02:06.982 Israel has sinned horribly: and the other: 02:06.981 --> 02:08.911 there is inexplicable suffering, 02:08.909 --> 02:10.969 we haven't done anything that would deserve this, 02:10.965 --> 02:13.145 anything at all--it really is reminiscent of Job. 02:13.150 --> 02:15.320 It seems to give us these two perspectives on Job's suffering 02:15.322 --> 02:16.012 as an individual. 02:16.009 --> 02:19.169 We see that now played out on the level of the nation. 02:19.169 --> 02:23.559 What we have here is a view that is asserting God's 02:23.564 --> 02:27.084 negligence rather than Israel's guilt. 02:27.080 --> 02:31.550 Then you can contrast psalms like 44, the one I've just read, 02:31.549 --> 02:35.349 and 74, which I read at the end of the last lecture, 02:35.348 --> 02:37.358 with Psalms 78 and 106. 02:37.360 --> 02:39.800 These psalms belong to the category of hymns, 02:39.801 --> 02:42.851 and some people call this category 'hymns in celebration 02:42.854 --> 02:46.184 of divine action in Israel's history'--the sort of historical 02:46.184 --> 02:49.574 reviews that praise God for all he has done for Israel; 02:49.569 --> 02:51.839 and they toe the Deuteronomistic line in their 02:51.836 --> 02:53.696 recapitulation of Israel's history. 02:53.699 --> 02:56.759 From the Creation, from the Exodus and on to the 02:56.764 --> 03:00.424 conquest of the Promised Land, they stress Israel's utter 03:00.415 --> 03:01.975 indebtedness to God. 03:01.979 --> 03:05.219 God has patiently endured Israel's constant faithlessness. 03:05.219 --> 03:07.389 So when you juxtapose these two types of psalms, 03:07.394 --> 03:09.064 they're just remarkably different. 03:09.060 --> 03:11.660 He performed marvels in the site of their fathers, 03:11.659 --> 03:13.439 in the land of Egypt, the plain of Zoan. 03:13.439 --> 03:15.319 He split the sea and took them through it; 03:15.319 --> 03:17.209 He made the waters stand like a wall. 03:17.210 --> 03:18.900 It continues: "…He split rocks in the 03:18.896 --> 03:21.246 wilderness"--so it's a recounting of all the marvelous 03:21.248 --> 03:23.848 things that God has done, But they went on sinning 03:23.849 --> 03:25.979 against Him, defying the most high in the 03:25.979 --> 03:28.869 parched land. To test God was in their mind 03:28.870 --> 03:30.770 when they demanded food for themselves. 03:30.770 --> 03:34.060 They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a feast in the 03:34.062 --> 03:36.232 wilderness? True, He struck the rock and 03:36.233 --> 03:38.033 waters flowed, streams gushed forth; 03:38.030 --> 03:39.570 but can He provide bread? 03:39.569 --> 03:41.479 Can He supply His people with meat? 03:41.479 --> 03:43.259 It's interesting that this is in the third person; 03:43.259 --> 03:45.189 they did all these terrible sinful things. 03:45.190 --> 03:47.490 The psalm that I just read previously that protests 03:47.487 --> 03:49.507 Israel's innocence is in the first person. 03:49.510 --> 03:51.320 We have not strayed at all. 03:51.319 --> 03:54.029 We've been completely faithful to you, why are you treating us 03:54.031 --> 03:56.611 this way? So God's faithful actions, 03:56.613 --> 04:01.443 Israel's faithless responses are featured in the psalm that I 04:01.444 --> 04:03.784 just read and also in 106. 04:03.780 --> 04:07.200 They toe the Deuteronomistic line, and again we see this 04:07.198 --> 04:10.118 clear attempt to explain Israel's tragic end. 04:10.120 --> 04:15.600 Here again the tendency is to blame Israel and to justify God 04:15.599 --> 04:18.529 at all costs. We move on now to the genre of 04:18.533 --> 04:20.333 psalms. Actually, these are two genres 04:20.327 --> 04:22.707 that I'm putting together, the genres of blessing and 04:22.714 --> 04:25.174 cursing. Obviously they're rather 04:25.171 --> 04:27.401 antithetical. But first of all, 04:27.402 --> 04:31.062 psalms of blessing are psalms that invoke God to bless the 04:31.064 --> 04:33.144 righteous. It might be the nation Israel 04:33.135 --> 04:35.175 or it might be the righteous within the nation, 04:35.180 --> 04:37.920 and to punish or afflict the wicked, and again, 04:37.918 --> 04:41.608 that can be enemy nations or it can be the wicked within Israel 04:41.610 --> 04:42.920 and other nations. 04:42.920 --> 04:46.430 And sometimes these psalms can be quite shocking in their 04:46.431 --> 04:48.251 violence and in their fury. 04:48.250 --> 04:51.990 Psalm 137, "By the rivers of Babylon"--very rarely people 04:51.993 --> 04:55.673 read all the way to the end of that particular psalm. 04:55.670 --> 04:58.740 It's very poignant at the beginning, but at the very end 04:58.737 --> 05:01.747 it calls for vengeance on the Babylonians who destroyed 05:01.749 --> 05:03.469 Jerusalem, verses 8 and 9, 05:03.468 --> 05:05.158 "Fair Babylon, you predator, 05:05.158 --> 05:08.728 / a blessing on him who repays you in kind / what you have 05:08.725 --> 05:11.975 inflicted on us; a blessing on him who seizes 05:11.982 --> 05:15.452 your babies / and dashes them against the rocks!" 05:15.449 --> 05:19.219 Psalm 109 contains this very lengthy list of terrible 05:19.220 --> 05:23.570 afflictions that the psalmist is asking God to smite his foes 05:23.571 --> 05:27.271 with (that was a poorly constructed sentence!), 05:27.269 --> 05:31.059 that the psalmist is asking God to, I don't want to say bestow, 05:31.059 --> 05:32.709 but inflict upon his foe. 05:32.709 --> 05:35.329 Verses 8 and 10: "May his days be few, 05:35.334 --> 05:37.964 may another take over his position. 05:37.959 --> 05:41.019 May his children be orphans, / his wife a widow"--that's a 05:41.022 --> 05:42.852 nice way of saying "may he die." 05:42.850 --> 05:44.890 May his children wander from their hovels, 05:44.890 --> 05:46.420 begging in search of [bread]. 05:46.420 --> 05:49.030 ...May he be clothed in a curse like a garment, 05:49.029 --> 05:51.009 may it enter his body like water, 05:51.010 --> 05:52.200 his bones like oil. 05:52.199 --> 05:54.409 Let it be like the cloak he wraps around him, 05:54.410 --> 05:56.200 like the belt he always wears. 05:56.199 --> 05:58.289 May the Lord thus repay my accusers, 05:58.290 --> 06:00.740 all those who speak evil against me. 06:00.740 --> 06:03.980 So again, it's hardly the simple piety that we often 06:03.975 --> 06:06.255 associate with the Book of Psalms. 06:06.259 --> 06:10.619 The last category I just want to briefly mention is a category 06:10.620 --> 06:14.480 of psalms that have a reflective or meditative tone. 06:14.480 --> 06:19.430 These are psalms of wisdom, psalms in praise of instruction 06:19.430 --> 06:21.650 or Torah and meditation. 06:21.649 --> 06:24.549 They are somewhat proverbial in nature, many of them will begin 06:24.552 --> 06:28.562 with the sort of stock phrase, "Happy is the man who…" so we 06:28.558 --> 06:31.838 see that in Psalm 128: Happy are all who fear 06:31.841 --> 06:33.881 the Lord, who follow His ways. 06:33.879 --> 06:35.749 You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors; 06:35.750 --> 06:37.640 you shall be happy and shall prosper. 06:37.639 --> 06:40.709 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; 06:40.709 --> 06:43.729 your sons, like olive saplings around your table. 06:43.730 --> 06:46.840 So shall the man who fears the Lord be blessed." 06:46.839 --> 06:48.429 Or "reveres the Lord" – [that] 06:48.431 --> 06:50.331 is the sense of "fear" there. 06:50.329 --> 06:54.369 Many psalms we've seen seem to presuppose worship in the 06:54.371 --> 06:58.341 temple, and can even have that antiphonal character, 06:58.339 --> 07:01.509 the call and response, or call and echo character. 07:01.509 --> 07:05.339 But there are three that, instead, have this theme of 07:05.342 --> 07:08.662 meditating upon or delighting in the Torah; 07:08.660 --> 07:11.280 that's Psalm 1, Psalm 19, and Psalm 119 07:11.277 --> 07:12.997 (conveniently enough!). 07:13.000 --> 07:18.670 119 is the longest psalm because it's written in acrostic 07:18.671 --> 07:21.051 form. There are different stanzas, 07:21.049 --> 07:24.209 a different stanza for each letter of the alphabet (22 07:24.209 --> 07:27.369 letters) and there are eight lines in each stanza, 07:27.370 --> 07:30.400 all eight lines beginning with that letter of the alphabet, 07:30.402 --> 07:32.182 so it's a very, very long psalm. 07:32.180 --> 07:37.100 The psalm represents Torah as an object of study and devotion. 07:37.100 --> 07:39.930 Studying Torah makes one wise and happy: Psalm 19, 07:39.931 --> 07:42.311 verses 8 through 11, The teaching of the Lord 07:42.310 --> 07:44.210 is perfect, renewing life; 07:44.209 --> 07:46.099 the decrees of the Lord are enduring, 07:46.100 --> 07:49.000 making the simple wise; The precepts of the Lord are 07:48.996 --> 07:50.756 just, rejoicing the heart; 07:50.759 --> 07:52.429 the instruction of the Lord is lucid, 07:52.430 --> 07:54.250 making the eyes light up. 07:54.250 --> 07:56.900 The fear (or reverence) of the Lord is pure, 07:56.900 --> 07:59.680 abiding forever; the judgments of the Lord are 07:59.684 --> 08:01.084 true, righteous altogether, 08:01.080 --> 08:03.480 more desirable than gold, than much fine gold; 08:03.480 --> 08:05.710 sweeter than honey, than drippings of the 08:05.709 --> 08:08.569 comb. So this elevation of Torah 08:08.574 --> 08:13.664 reflects the shift that begins or starts to occur in the Second 08:13.664 --> 08:16.874 Temple Period, the late Second Temple Period, 08:16.868 --> 08:19.338 in which Torah is of growing importance. 08:19.339 --> 08:23.279 In about two minutes we're going to start to talk about 08:23.283 --> 08:27.523 this period and the importance and centrality of Torah--its 08:27.520 --> 08:31.680 centrality in terms of study --and the study of Torah as a 08:31.683 --> 08:35.013 form of worship. So there are many different 08:35.005 --> 08:37.795 ways to categorize and classify the psalms. 08:37.799 --> 08:41.709 Many individual psalms seem to combine units that belong to 08:41.709 --> 08:43.259 different categories. 08:43.259 --> 08:45.679 So, for example, you have Psalm 22 which opens 08:45.677 --> 08:48.307 as a lament, "My God, My God why have You forsaken 08:48.310 --> 08:50.130 me?" That's the well-known RSV 08:50.129 --> 08:53.129 translation, and then it changes to a hymn of praise. 08:53.129 --> 08:57.549 It concludes with this--it goes on into a kind of confident 08:57.548 --> 08:59.438 triumph. At least one psalm, 08:59.440 --> 09:02.770 Psalm 68, really defies any kind of rigid categorization, 09:02.771 --> 09:06.401 so we can't be too strict in trying to impose these forms. 09:06.399 --> 09:09.169 They are helpful guides to the interpretation of the Psalms, 09:09.172 --> 09:11.242 but again, we can't be too rigid about it. 09:11.240 --> 09:15.450 But from the sampling that we've seen it should be apparent 09:15.448 --> 09:19.798 that the Psalms are a microcosm of the religious insights and 09:19.802 --> 09:22.562 convictions of ancient Israelites. 09:22.559 --> 09:25.039 Perhaps because so many of them lack historical 09:25.039 --> 09:27.679 specificity--some of them are quite historical; 09:27.679 --> 09:31.039 some of them in fact recount Israel's history in order to 09:31.039 --> 09:34.419 praise God, but many of them, very, very many of them lack 09:34.415 --> 09:37.815 any real historical specificity, and that is probably the reason 09:37.824 --> 09:40.754 that the Psalms have become a great source for personal 09:40.747 --> 09:43.017 spirituality in Western civilization. 09:43.019 --> 09:46.359 Some of them were composed perhaps as many as 3000 years 09:46.362 --> 09:48.912 ago, and yet, they can be inspiring or they 09:48.914 --> 09:51.714 can feel relevant to contemporary readers. 09:51.710 --> 09:55.400 They can provide an opportunity to confess one's failings or to 09:55.395 --> 09:58.925 proclaim good intentions, or to rail against misfortune, 09:58.931 --> 10:01.831 or to cry out against injustice, or to request 10:01.828 --> 10:04.788 assistance, or to affirm trust in divine 10:04.787 --> 10:09.267 providence, or to simply express emotions of praise and joy, 10:09.269 --> 10:13.459 and wonder at creation, or reflect on human finitude in 10:13.458 --> 10:15.938 the face of divine infinitude. 10:15.940 --> 10:19.650 I mentioned briefly the centrality of Torah--actually 10:19.654 --> 10:23.654 no--let me finish talking about Psalms and also move onto 10:23.654 --> 10:27.874 another major poetic work then we'll come back to talk about 10:27.868 --> 10:29.938 the Restoration period. 10:29.940 --> 10:35.300 Another poetic book within the anthology of the Hebrew Bible is 10:35.299 --> 10:39.189 the little work known as the Song of Songs. 10:39.190 --> 10:43.360 And for many people this is perhaps the most surprising book 10:43.363 --> 10:45.983 to be included in the Hebrew canon. 10:45.980 --> 10:50.750 It's a beautiful and very erotic love song that celebrates 10:50.747 --> 10:54.007 human sexuality and physical passion. 10:54.009 --> 10:57.499 The opening line seems to be a late superscription that 10:57.504 --> 11:01.544 attributes the book to Solomon, and it seems more likely 11:01.536 --> 11:06.036 however that these sensuous love lyrics are post-exilic. 11:06.039 --> 11:11.849 The attribution to Solomon was probably fueled by the fact that 11:11.853 --> 11:15.203 in 1 Kings 4, we read that Solomon--or 11:15.198 --> 11:20.048 there's a tradition there that Solomon uttered 3,000 Proverbs 11:20.045 --> 11:22.995 and 1,005 songs. So it seems natural to 11:23.002 --> 11:27.012 attribute this song to Israel's most prolific composer of songs 11:27.012 --> 11:29.602 and proverbs, according to tradition. 11:29.600 --> 11:33.820 The speaker in the poem alternates, most often it is a 11:33.822 --> 11:36.032 woman. She seems to be addressing her 11:36.029 --> 11:38.049 beloved. Sometimes she addresses other 11:38.045 --> 11:39.905 women, the daughters of Jerusalem. 11:39.909 --> 11:44.029 At times the speaker is a man, but he's not identified as 11:44.033 --> 11:46.343 Solomon. Solomon's name is mentioned 11:46.339 --> 11:48.959 about six times, but Solomon is not said to be 11:48.955 --> 11:52.435 one of the speakers and for the most part the main speaker is 11:52.442 --> 11:55.622 female. There's a pastoral setting for 11:55.615 --> 11:58.575 the book. The two young lovers express 11:58.578 --> 12:02.778 their passion through and amid the beauties of nature. 12:02.779 --> 12:07.079 There are frequent references to gardens, and vineyards, 12:07.079 --> 12:09.889 and fruit, and flowers, and perfumes, 12:09.893 --> 12:13.883 and doves, and flocks of goats, and shorn ewes. 12:13.879 --> 12:16.289 There are very vivid descriptions of the physical 12:16.293 --> 12:17.453 beauty of the lovers. 12:17.450 --> 12:20.240 They are described in highly erotic passages. 12:20.240 --> 12:24.050 Translations of the Song of Songs vary tremendously as you 12:24.049 --> 12:27.059 might imagine, so I'm going to read one little 12:27.057 --> 12:30.797 section from the translation by someone named Walsh, 12:30.799 --> 12:33.519 C.E. Walsh, which I think captures 12:33.520 --> 12:38.300 the tremendous eroticism in some of the passages of Song of 12:38.303 --> 12:40.233 Songs: I slept, 12:40.226 --> 12:41.966 but my heart was awake. 12:41.970 --> 12:44.360 Listen, my lover is knocking. 12:44.360 --> 12:48.300 "Open to me my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, 12:48.300 --> 12:52.030 for my head is wet with dew…" My lover thrusts his hand into 12:52.034 --> 12:54.374 the hole, and my insides yearned for him, 12:54.370 --> 12:58.970 I arose to open to my lover, and my hands dripped with myrrh, 12:58.970 --> 13:02.060 my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. 13:02.060 --> 13:04.100 I opened to my lover, but he was gone. 13:04.096 --> 13:06.896 [Walsh 2006,111-12] These poems are very unique. 13:06.899 --> 13:10.879 They give expression to the erotic feelings of a woman and, 13:10.883 --> 13:14.183 as I say, translations will vary tremendously. 13:14.179 --> 13:18.299 According to Jewish tradition, the ancient Rabbis debated over 13:18.297 --> 13:22.817 whether or not the Song of Songs should be included in the canon. 13:22.820 --> 13:25.810 And it was Rabbi Akiva, a late first- early 13:25.808 --> 13:28.938 second-century sage, whose view prevailed. 13:28.940 --> 13:31.240 He declared "the whole world was only created, 13:31.244 --> 13:33.344 so to speak, for the day on which the Song 13:33.343 --> 13:34.883 of Songs would be given to it. 13:34.879 --> 13:36.909 Why? Because all the writings are 13:36.908 --> 13:39.818 Holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies." 13:39.820 --> 13:42.880 But for some religious authorities over the centuries, 13:42.876 --> 13:46.216 the candid descriptions of passionate love proved to be too 13:46.221 --> 13:48.451 much, and so the explicit content of 13:48.451 --> 13:50.961 the book (which contains no reference to God, 13:50.961 --> 13:53.401 by the way; God is not mentioned anywhere 13:53.397 --> 13:56.047 in the Song of Songs, so it seems to have been a 13:56.051 --> 13:58.761 completely secular poem originally)--the explicit 13:58.761 --> 14:02.151 content of the book has at times been interpreted away. 14:02.149 --> 14:05.549 So not only do we have translations that tone down a 14:05.549 --> 14:09.419 great deal of the eroticism, but we also have a tradition of 14:09.415 --> 14:12.785 interpretation that interprets away a lot of the explicit 14:12.785 --> 14:14.165 content of the text. 14:14.169 --> 14:17.819 So we have trends within Jewish tradition that read the book as 14:17.817 --> 14:21.047 a metaphor or an expression of God's love for his chosen 14:21.052 --> 14:24.092 people, Israel. Christians have allegorized the 14:24.092 --> 14:27.942 song, seeing it as an expression of Christ's love for his bride 14:27.937 --> 14:29.857 who is the spiritual church. 14:29.860 --> 14:32.180 And I think some--I think all of the sections will be dealing 14:32.177 --> 14:33.527 with the Song of Songs this week, 14:33.529 --> 14:36.159 so you should have an interesting time looking at some 14:36.156 --> 14:38.036 of the interpretations of this text. 14:38.039 --> 14:41.509 Now I want to move on a little bit more to the historical 14:41.511 --> 14:45.111 background of some of the books that we'll be looking at in 14:45.106 --> 14:48.946 today's lecture and then also the last couple of lectures. 14:48.950 --> 14:54.200 We left the Israelites in exile in Babylon. 14:54.200 --> 14:58.410 And in 539 BCE the Babylonian Empire was itself defeated by 14:58.414 --> 15:02.124 the Persians under the leadership of Cyrus--Cyrus of 15:02.120 --> 15:04.980 Persia. In 539 he manages to establish 15:04.980 --> 15:09.240 the largest empire that's been seen in the Ancient Near East to 15:09.240 --> 15:11.720 date. It stretches from Egypt all the 15:11.723 --> 15:15.033 way north up to Asia Minor which is modern-day Turkey, 15:15.029 --> 15:18.459 and all the way over to Eastern Iran; a huge empire. 15:18.460 --> 15:23.470 Unlike other ancient empires, the Persian Empire espoused a 15:23.466 --> 15:28.816 policy of cultural and religious independence for its conquered 15:28.817 --> 15:33.027 subjects. The famous Cyrus Cylinder--this 15:33.031 --> 15:38.821 is a nine inch long fired clay cylinder and it's covered in 15:38.816 --> 15:44.896 cuneiform writing--it tells of Cyrus' conquest of Babylon. 15:44.899 --> 15:47.859 The conquest is described as being at the command of 15:47.861 --> 15:50.071 Babylon's god, Marduk, so obviously the 15:50.068 --> 15:53.668 Babylonians' god Marduk wanted "our Cyrus of Persia" to be able 15:53.669 --> 15:56.049 to come in and conquer this nation. 15:56.049 --> 15:59.269 It tells of his conquest and it tells of Cyrus' policy of 15:59.274 --> 16:02.734 allowing captives to return to their homelands and to rebuild 16:02.729 --> 16:05.089 their temples and worship their gods. 16:05.090 --> 16:07.750 This is consistent; this archaeological find is 16:07.754 --> 16:11.234 consistent with the picture that's presented in the Bible. 16:11.230 --> 16:15.360 According to the biblical text we'll be discussing soon, 16:15.355 --> 16:19.705 Cyrus in 538 gave the Judean exiles permission to return to 16:19.705 --> 16:22.925 Jerusalem and reconstruct their temple. 16:22.929 --> 16:25.299 The exiles did return; many of the exiles 16:25.304 --> 16:27.254 returned. They returned to what was now a 16:27.252 --> 16:29.322 Persian province: it's the province of Yehud; 16:29.320 --> 16:30.130 I don't think I wrote that up there. 16:30.130 --> 16:33.250 16:33.250 --> 16:36.970 Yehud is the name now of Judea and Yehud is where we're going 16:36.967 --> 16:38.327 to get the word Jew. 16:38.330 --> 16:43.490 Yehudi is the word Jew; one who belongs to the province 16:43.490 --> 16:45.990 of Yehud. So many of the exiles returned 16:45.992 --> 16:49.322 to this now-Persian province Yehud, and they exercised a fair 16:49.316 --> 16:51.086 degree of self determination. 16:51.090 --> 16:55.940 Now, periodization of Jewish history tends to center on these 16:55.942 --> 17:00.712 events, so the period from 586 to 538 or so--that's known as 17:00.714 --> 17:04.164 exilic period. Most scholars maintain that the 17:04.164 --> 17:07.704 traditions of the priestly source, the traditions of the 17:07.703 --> 17:11.373 Deuteronomistic source had pretty well reached their final 17:11.371 --> 17:12.981 form in those years. 17:12.980 --> 17:16.690 Obviously, older traditions go into the composition of those 17:16.694 --> 17:20.474 corpora, but they reach their final form for the most part in 17:20.472 --> 17:23.642 that period. So the post-exilic period 17:23.635 --> 17:27.515 following is also known as the Persian period, 17:27.516 --> 17:32.686 at first, but of course the Persians won't rule for long. 17:32.690 --> 17:34.400 Alexander's going to come marching through the Ancient 17:34.397 --> 17:36.267 Near East, so after the Persians we'll have the Hellenistic 17:36.265 --> 17:38.275 Period. But the period after the exile 17:38.278 --> 17:41.258 is referred to as the Persian period, the period of the 17:41.263 --> 17:43.423 Restoration, the post-exilic period. 17:43.420 --> 17:46.740 It's also called the Second Temple Period because by about 17:46.740 --> 17:49.420 520 they will have reconstructed the temple; 17:49.420 --> 17:51.920 so it's not inaccurate really to refer to this time as the 17:51.920 --> 17:52.930 Second Temple Period. 17:52.930 --> 17:56.350 The second temple will stand until 70, the year 70 of the 17:56.346 --> 17:57.966 Common Era. So the period, 17:57.970 --> 18:01.410 of course, before the exile we think of as the First Temple 18:01.409 --> 18:03.959 Period (the temple is destroyed in 586), 18:03.960 --> 18:07.050 so the first temple period or pre-exilic period. 18:07.049 --> 18:10.949 Now, the books of First and Second Chronicles provide a 18:10.948 --> 18:13.978 second account of the history of Israel. 18:13.980 --> 18:17.220 Genesis all the way through 2 Kings has given us one long 18:17.221 --> 18:19.671 account. FirstChronicles actually begins 18:19.673 --> 18:22.943 with Adam and it does go through--1 and 2 Chronicles do 18:22.936 --> 18:24.926 go up to the Babylonian exile. 18:24.930 --> 18:29.300 They echo a good deal of what we find in the Books of Samuel 18:29.300 --> 18:33.450 and Kings, but they have more of a priestly bias and they 18:33.448 --> 18:38.038 eliminate a lot of material that sheds a poor light on Israel's 18:38.041 --> 18:39.611 kings. So, for example, 18:39.613 --> 18:42.093 you won't find the story of David and Bathsheba when you're 18:42.089 --> 18:44.479 reading the Chronicles account of the reign of David. 18:44.480 --> 18:48.430 So Chronicles is already an interpretation. 18:48.430 --> 18:50.460 It's an inner-biblical interpretation. 18:50.460 --> 18:52.380 It is the Bible interpreting itself. 18:52.380 --> 18:55.630 A later strand of tradition reflecting on earlier strands of 18:55.627 --> 18:59.257 tradition and re-presenting that material in a particular light. 18:59.259 --> 19:02.139 The Chronicler is less interested in David's political 19:02.143 --> 19:04.793 genius, for example; it doesn't go into his strategy 19:04.786 --> 19:06.976 and his political accomplishments nearly so much 19:06.978 --> 19:09.638 as it does go into his role in establishing Jerusalem as a 19:09.637 --> 19:12.147 religious capital, in planning a temple, 19:12.147 --> 19:15.157 in organizing the music for temple worship. 19:15.160 --> 19:17.400 These are the interests of the Chronicler. 19:17.400 --> 19:20.810 The Book of 2 Chronicles concludes with the decree of 19:20.814 --> 19:24.434 Cyrus, permitting the Jewish captives to return to their 19:24.426 --> 19:26.786 homeland and build their temple. 19:26.789 --> 19:29.839 We have a second, fuller version of this decree, 19:29.842 --> 19:32.642 which as I said, seems to be consistent with 19:32.635 --> 19:35.615 what we know of Persian policies--the policy of 19:35.623 --> 19:39.523 tolerating and even encouraging local religious cults. 19:39.519 --> 19:41.619 So that fuller version appears in Ezra. 19:41.619 --> 19:44.609 I'm going to read first from 2 Chronicles. 19:44.610 --> 19:49.610 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, And in the first year of 19:49.611 --> 19:52.051 King Cyrus of Persia, when the word of the Lord 19:52.050 --> 19:53.960 spoken by Jeremiah was fulfilled, 19:53.960 --> 19:57.190 the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a 19:57.189 --> 20:00.199 proclamation throughout his realm by word of mouth and in 20:00.204 --> 20:02.394 writing, as follows: "Thus said King 20:02.394 --> 20:04.804 Cyrus of Persia: The Lord God of Heaven has 20:04.797 --> 20:07.197 given me all the kingdoms of the earth, 20:07.200 --> 20:09.820 and has charged me with building Him a House in 20:09.822 --> 20:11.592 Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 20:11.589 --> 20:15.259 Any one of you of all of His people, the Lord His God be with 20:15.256 --> 20:18.546 him and let him go up. Then in Ezra there is an 20:18.551 --> 20:21.681 addition. Ezra 1:3 and 4, 20:21.680 --> 20:24.160 …let Him go up to Jerusalem that is in Judah, 20:24.155 --> 20:26.295 and build the House of the Lord God of Israel, 20:26.298 --> 20:29.258 the God that is in Jerusalem; and all who stay behind, 20:29.256 --> 20:32.316 wherever he may be living, let the people of his place 20:32.318 --> 20:34.588 assist him with silver, gold, goods, 20:34.585 --> 20:37.325 and livestock, besides the freewill offering 20:37.329 --> 20:40.519 to the House of God that is in Jerusalem. 20:40.519 --> 20:44.159 Notice that the decree at the very beginning in Chronicles--in 20:44.159 --> 20:47.619 the 2 Chronicles version--the decree is said to fulfill the 20:47.620 --> 20:49.590 word of the prophet Jeremiah. 20:49.589 --> 20:53.689 Now, you remember that Jeremiah prophesied that the Babylonian 20:53.688 --> 20:56.498 exile would last 70 years; he wrote a letter, 20:56.495 --> 20:59.065 he said settle down, this is going to last a while, 20:59.065 --> 21:00.705 plant plants and build homes. 21:00.710 --> 21:03.970 So he had prophesied 70 years for an exile. 21:03.970 --> 21:08.360 Well, from the time of the first departure of exiles in 21:08.359 --> 21:12.829 597, maybe to the return in 538,61 years--it's close. 21:12.829 --> 21:15.919 If you look from the destruction of the first temple 21:15.919 --> 21:19.739 perhaps in 586 to the completion of the second somewhere between 21:19.736 --> 21:23.246 520,515, we're not really sure, that's about 70 years. 21:23.250 --> 21:25.870 Either way, it seems that in the eyes of the Chronicler it 21:25.867 --> 21:26.737 was close enough. 21:26.740 --> 21:28.800 This seems to have been a fulfillment of Jeremiah's 21:28.795 --> 21:31.035 prediction. That it would be about 70 years 21:31.043 --> 21:32.483 before they would return. 21:32.480 --> 21:36.180 So the books of Ezra and Nehemiah give an account of the 21:36.180 --> 21:40.080 return of the Babylonian exiles in the late sixth and fifth 21:40.082 --> 21:42.992 century. And Ezra and Nehemiah were 21:42.992 --> 21:46.162 regarded as a unit; those two books were regarded 21:46.164 --> 21:49.064 as a unit in the Hebrew Bible, until the Middle Ages. 21:49.059 --> 21:51.729 They may in fact have formed part of a larger historical 21:51.730 --> 21:53.190 work; Ezra, Nehemiah, 21:53.192 --> 21:54.692 1 and 2 Chronicles. 21:54.690 --> 21:58.720 Ezra, and to a lesser degree, Nehemiah seem to have a good 21:58.717 --> 22:02.957 deal in common with Chronicles, and therefore may derive from 22:02.956 --> 22:05.736 the same author. So sometimes in secondary 22:05.740 --> 22:08.700 literature you will see references to the Chronicler, 22:08.700 --> 22:11.680 which refers to the hypothetical author of 1 and 22:11.683 --> 22:14.543 2Chronicles and Ezra and possibly Nehemiah. 22:14.539 --> 22:18.149 The chapters report the initial return of the exiles, 22:18.152 --> 22:21.492 the rebuilding of the temple, the career of Ezra, 22:21.486 --> 22:23.636 and the career of Nehemiah. 22:23.640 --> 22:26.890 All four of the books were probably edited in the late 22:26.890 --> 22:29.530 fifth century BCE, maybe close to the fourth 22:29.527 --> 22:32.777 century--that's our best guess--when Judah was a small 22:32.777 --> 22:36.147 province still within the massive Persian Empire. 22:36.150 --> 22:39.740 The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, however, contain conflicting 22:39.742 --> 22:43.072 information about the return, about the restoration, 22:43.072 --> 22:47.012 and as a result our knowledge of the timing of various events 22:47.005 --> 22:50.225 is quite poor. It's really not clear who 22:50.225 --> 22:55.445 returned first to help rebuild Jerusalem, whether it was Ezra a 22:55.445 --> 22:58.135 priest, or Nehemiah a scribe. 22:58.140 --> 23:00.050 He was a Persian--;: not a scribe, 23:00.051 --> 23:01.211 he was a governor. 23:01.210 --> 23:04.420 Ezra was a priest and scribe, Nehemiah was a Persian 23:04.421 --> 23:06.311 appointed governor of Judah. 23:06.309 --> 23:09.769 And even though the Chronicler dates events according to the 23:09.766 --> 23:12.106 year of the reign of the Persian king, 23:12.109 --> 23:15.009 the king is Artaxerxes, and unfortunately there are two 23:15.013 --> 23:18.293 kings named Artaxerxes in the fifth century and there's one in 23:18.293 --> 23:20.733 the fourth, so it's extremely difficult to 23:20.726 --> 23:22.836 figure out when these events happened. 23:22.839 --> 23:26.099 So keeping in mind that even the experts cannot agree at all 23:26.095 --> 23:29.095 on the sequence of events, we are simply going to look at 23:29.099 --> 23:31.239 the career of Ezra, the career of Nehemiah. 23:31.240 --> 23:34.190 I'm not going to claim priority for either of them. 23:34.190 --> 23:36.440 Because the events are not presented in chronological 23:36.441 --> 23:39.761 order, even in the books, I'm going to skip fairly freely 23:39.760 --> 23:44.130 around, back and forth between the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. 23:44.130 --> 23:46.700 So the Book of Ezra opens with Cyrus' decree, 23:46.695 --> 23:49.435 which we've heard, and then provides a long list 23:49.435 --> 23:52.345 of the exiles who returned to Judah after 538. 23:52.350 --> 23:57.780 They're led by Sheshbazzar; and then among the exiles he 23:57.779 --> 24:02.119 says there was Yeshua who was a priest and Zerubbavel. 24:02.119 --> 24:07.279 Zerubbavel was a grandson of King Jehoiakim who was the last 24:07.281 --> 24:12.531 Davidic king who had been kept in house arrest in Babylon. 24:12.529 --> 24:16.789 He had been among the exiles in 597, he eventually had been 24:16.791 --> 24:19.731 released from house arrest in Babylon, 24:19.730 --> 24:23.140 so now his grandson Zerubbavel, a Davidide, was returning to 24:23.138 --> 24:26.488 Jerusalem, and you can imagine that this would have stirred 24:26.489 --> 24:28.279 hope in the hearts of many. 24:28.279 --> 24:32.489 Chapter 3 of Ezra describes the sacrifices offered on a rebuilt 24:32.494 --> 24:36.234 altar and the beginning of the process of rebuilding the 24:36.232 --> 24:39.892 temple, probably around 521 or so: 24:39.890 --> 24:42.440 When the builders had laid the foundation of the 24:42.439 --> 24:44.839 temple of the Lord, priests in their vestments with 24:44.844 --> 24:47.284 trumpets, and Levites sons of Asaph with 24:47.284 --> 24:50.374 cymbals were stationed to give praise to the Lord, 24:50.369 --> 24:52.949 as King David of Israel had ordained. 24:52.950 --> 24:55.680 They sang songs extolling and praising the Lord, 24:55.682 --> 24:58.302 "For He is good, His steadfast love for Israel 24:58.299 --> 25:00.759 is eternal." All the people raised a great 25:00.761 --> 25:04.041 shout extolling the Lord because the foundation of the House of 25:04.036 --> 25:05.406 the Lord had been laid. 25:05.410 --> 25:08.150 Many of the priests and Levites and chiefs of the clans, 25:08.150 --> 25:11.290 the old men who had seen the first house [=the first temple], 25:11.289 --> 25:14.719 wept loudly at the sight of the founding of this house. 25:14.720 --> 25:17.920 Many others shouted joyously at the top of their voices. 25:17.920 --> 25:20.710 The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy 25:20.713 --> 25:23.773 from the people's weeping, for the people raised a great 25:23.773 --> 25:26.703 shout, the sound of which could be heard from afar. 25:26.700 --> 25:30.680 So the older generations who remember the magnificence of the 25:30.677 --> 25:33.127 first temple of Solomon shed tears. 25:33.130 --> 25:36.960 The younger people are shouting for joy at the establishment of 25:36.962 --> 25:39.332 a new temple. But the building doesn't 25:39.332 --> 25:42.942 proceed smoothly and that's due largely to the hostilities of 25:42.937 --> 25:44.797 the surrounding communities. 25:44.799 --> 25:47.639 These surrounding communities are referred to adversaries, 25:47.637 --> 25:49.427 adversaries of Judah and Benjamin. 25:49.430 --> 25:53.500 In chapters 4,5, and 6 these Samaritans in many 25:53.503 --> 25:58.643 cases, offer to assist in the project of reconstruction. 25:58.640 --> 26:02.640 Their offer is rejected, and as a result the Samaritans, 26:02.636 --> 26:06.846 insulted, persuade the Persians that this is a bad idea. 26:06.849 --> 26:10.279 Rebuilding a potentially rebellious city is a bad idea, 26:10.278 --> 26:14.088 and the Persians listen to them and they order the rebuilding 26:14.088 --> 26:16.628 stopped. There are two prophets then, 26:16.625 --> 26:18.015 Haggai and Zechariah. 26:18.020 --> 26:23.470 26:23.470 --> 26:27.070 So these are prophets now of the post-exilic period. 26:27.069 --> 26:30.479 As we go through our periodization of prophets you'll 26:30.481 --> 26:34.221 want to add this fourth category, post-exilic prophets. 26:34.220 --> 26:37.200 They urge the continuation of the building. 26:37.200 --> 26:41.660 A Persian official objects, the Jews appeal to the new 26:41.657 --> 26:43.757 Persian Emperor Darius. 26:43.759 --> 26:46.139 And they ask him to search through the court records, 26:46.140 --> 26:48.520 look for the original authorization by Cyrus--we have 26:48.520 --> 26:49.940 been authorized to do this. 26:49.940 --> 26:53.050 According to the text, Cyrus' edict is found. 26:53.049 --> 26:56.359 Darius agrees not only to enforce it, but to honor his 26:56.355 --> 26:59.345 obligation to supply money for the rebuilding. 26:59.349 --> 27:02.729 This is under Persian imperial sponsorship, and he will honor 27:02.728 --> 27:05.818 the obligation to supply money for the rebuilding and to 27:05.824 --> 27:07.574 procure sacrifices as well. 27:07.569 --> 27:10.579 The temple is finally dedicated, we think, 27:10.582 --> 27:14.992 about 515 BCE and a Passover celebration is celebrated in the 27:14.991 --> 27:18.341 sanctuary. There are other social tensions 27:18.339 --> 27:22.679 in the Restoration community, specifically friction between 27:22.677 --> 27:27.317 those who had remained behind in Judea during the exilic period 27:27.315 --> 27:31.695 and the returning exiles, who although they were few in 27:31.695 --> 27:34.195 number, enjoyed imperial support. 27:34.200 --> 27:37.750 These self-styled children of the exile, they refer to 27:37.747 --> 27:41.827 themselves as sons of the exiled or children of the exile they 27:41.830 --> 27:45.780 refer to the local people--the local Judeans--as "peoples of 27:45.779 --> 27:48.879 the land." This is a derogatory term that 27:48.882 --> 27:52.612 seems to cast aspersions on their very status as Jews. 27:52.609 --> 27:54.949 They're like the other nations or peoples of the land. 27:54.950 --> 27:59.070 They seem to be classifying even Judeans in that category of 27:59.071 --> 28:01.251 "other." As we will soon see, 28:01.246 --> 28:05.746 some radically different views of Jewish identity are going to 28:05.749 --> 28:07.889 emerge during this period. 28:07.890 --> 28:10.720 So that's the initial Restoration, the process by 28:10.721 --> 28:12.551 which the temple was rebuilt. 28:12.549 --> 28:15.509 Let's jump now to (we think) somewhere in the mid-fifth 28:15.505 --> 28:18.975 century perhaps. Nehemiah--he's a Jewish subject 28:18.977 --> 28:23.867 of Persia--he's the official cup bearer to the Persian Emperor 28:23.871 --> 28:26.681 Artaxerxes in the court at Susa. 28:26.680 --> 28:29.770 This is a position that probably entailed his being a 28:29.765 --> 28:32.385 eunuch. The Book of Nehemiah opens with 28:32.390 --> 28:34.750 a description of Nehemiah's grief. 28:34.750 --> 28:38.030 He hears these reports of the terrible conditions of his 28:38.026 --> 28:41.356 people in Jerusalem sometime around the mid-fifth century 28:41.363 --> 28:43.493 and, weeping, he asks for the 28:43.487 --> 28:47.607 consent of the emperor to go to Jerusalem and to help rebuild 28:47.606 --> 28:49.706 the city. So Nehemiah travels to 28:49.709 --> 28:52.909 Jerusalem, we think about 445 BCE, and he undertakes the 28:52.908 --> 28:54.768 refortifications of the city. 28:54.770 --> 28:56.160 And he meets with opposition. 28:56.160 --> 28:58.720 There's some internal opposition. 28:58.720 --> 29:02.420 There's a female prophetess, Noadiah, in Nehemiah 6:14, 29:02.420 --> 29:04.750 who seems to be opposed to this. 29:04.750 --> 29:08.330 There's some external opposition as well from Israel's 29:08.332 --> 29:11.042 neighbors: the Samaritans, the Ammonites, 29:11.036 --> 29:14.356 some Arabs. They resent this reconstruction 29:14.357 --> 29:19.047 and they see the reconstruction of the city's defensive walls as 29:19.046 --> 29:21.276 an affront to Persian rule. 29:21.280 --> 29:25.020 But Nehemiah continues; he gives his workmen weapons so 29:25.022 --> 29:28.632 that they can protect themselves against enemy attack and the 29:28.626 --> 29:31.866 walls around the city are completed in record time. 29:31.869 --> 29:36.529 These refortifications help to establish Jerusalem as an urban 29:36.527 --> 29:41.487 center, and eventually Nehemiah is appointed governor of Judah, 29:41.490 --> 29:43.980 under Persian domination. 29:43.980 --> 29:46.890 The text says that he institutes various reforms: 29:46.894 --> 29:49.024 economic reforms, social reforms. 29:49.019 --> 29:52.519 He seems to be trying to improve the situation of the 29:52.522 --> 29:54.882 poor, and establish public order. 29:54.880 --> 29:58.370 We think that the governorship of Nehemiah overlapped to some 29:58.371 --> 30:01.841 degree with the mission of Ezra, and Ezra's activities are 30:01.836 --> 30:04.746 reported in both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. 30:04.750 --> 30:07.240 Some scholars believe that they didn't overlap, 30:07.243 --> 30:09.903 that that's an illusion created by our sources. 30:09.900 --> 30:14.330 But chapter 7 of the book of Ezra introduces Ezra. 30:14.329 --> 30:17.339 He's a Babylonian Jew, he comes from a priestly 30:17.337 --> 30:21.457 family, but he's also described as a scribe who is expert in the 30:21.457 --> 30:24.597 Torah of Moses. In verse 10 of chapter 7 it's 30:24.598 --> 30:28.528 said that Ezra had dedicated himself to study the teaching of 30:28.525 --> 30:32.575 the Lord so as to observe it and to teach the laws and rules to 30:32.584 --> 30:36.224 Israel. So Ezra is commissioned by the 30:36.215 --> 30:40.765 Persian Emperor in a letter, the text of which is 30:40.767 --> 30:45.317 represented or reproduced in chapter 7:12-26. 30:45.319 --> 30:48.889 The Emperor commissions him to travel to Jerusalem, 30:48.885 --> 30:53.275 to supervise the temple, and to assess how well Mosaic 30:53.281 --> 30:58.191 standards are being implemented in the Judean province. 30:58.190 --> 31:01.950 He's charged with appointing scribes and judges to administer 31:01.947 --> 31:03.447 civil and moral order. 31:03.450 --> 31:06.550 He has the backing of the Persian empire to institute 31:06.552 --> 31:09.832 Mosaic Law as the standard and norm for the community in 31:09.834 --> 31:12.494 Jerusalem. This is standard operating 31:12.486 --> 31:16.746 procedure for the Persians--to find loyal subjects to regulate 31:16.746 --> 31:20.796 their own local cults according to ancestral traditions and 31:20.798 --> 31:24.568 Ezra's work needs to be understood in that light. 31:24.570 --> 31:27.390 Chapter 7:: "For you are commissioned 31:27.389 --> 31:29.889 by the king and his seven advisors to regulate Judah and 31:29.889 --> 31:31.979 Jerusalem according to the law of your God, 31:31.980 --> 31:35.200 which is in your care,...And you, Ezra, by the divine wisdom 31:35.202 --> 31:38.432 you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the 31:38.425 --> 31:41.425 people of the province of Beyond the River" [Cis-Jordan] 31:41.429 --> 31:44.159 [See Note 1] "who know the laws of your God, 31:44.160 --> 31:46.210 and to teach those who do not know them. 31:46.210 --> 31:48.930 Let anyone who does not obey the law of your God and the law 31:48.929 --> 31:50.819 of the king be punished with dispatch," 31:50.819 --> 31:52.629 [so he has powers of enforcement] 31:52.633 --> 31:54.793 "whether by death, corporal punishment, 31:54.786 --> 31:58.436 confiscation of possessions, or imprisonment." 31:58.440 --> 32:00.990 In addition, Ezra is appointed to bring 32:00.985 --> 32:03.995 treasures of silver and gold to the temple. 32:04.000 --> 32:07.570 The text says that Ezra brings with him a copy of the Mosaic 32:07.565 --> 32:10.825 Torah in order to regulate and unify Jewish life in the 32:10.828 --> 32:14.498 Restoration community, and together Ezra and Nehemiah 32:14.500 --> 32:16.110 bring about a revival. 32:16.109 --> 32:19.619 Ezra's reforms are aimed at strengthening the religious 32:19.619 --> 32:21.439 identity of the Judahites. 32:21.440 --> 32:25.020 He wants to revitalize morale and he also wants to prevent the 32:25.022 --> 32:28.312 decline of Mosaic standards and to prevent the decline of 32:28.310 --> 32:29.720 biblical monotheism. 32:29.720 --> 32:34.020 His two most important acts are the dissolution of foreign 32:34.021 --> 32:38.701 marriages (this is a first) and his renewal of the covenant. 32:38.700 --> 32:41.270 I'll say a little bit first about the dissolution of foreign 32:41.267 --> 32:43.497 marriages. Ezra is said to have been 32:43.496 --> 32:47.176 distressed when he arrived to discover that many of the 32:47.183 --> 32:50.053 returned exiles had married with, we think, 32:50.050 --> 32:51.420 non-Israelite women. 32:51.416 --> 32:54.586 It's not clear. Sometimes "peoples of the land" 32:54.592 --> 32:57.572 might refer to Judeans who had remained behind but who 32:57.570 --> 32:59.650 themselves had perhaps become lax, 32:59.650 --> 33:01.870 in Ezra's eyes, in their observance of Mosaic 33:01.873 --> 33:04.973 standards. But they had married women who 33:04.971 --> 33:08.461 seemed to follow pagan practices perhaps. 33:08.460 --> 33:13.100 Chapters 9 and 10 describe his efforts to reverse this trend. 33:13.099 --> 33:16.879 He begs God to forgive the people for this violation of his 33:16.876 --> 33:19.216 law, and then at a great assembly, 33:19.220 --> 33:22.950 he calls upon all the people to divorce their foreign spouses. 33:22.950 --> 33:26.860 Now, this isn't in fact Pentateuchal law plainly read. 33:26.859 --> 33:30.899 The prohibition of marriage with any foreigner is a great 33:30.900 --> 33:34.150 innovation on Ezra's part, and it's one that, 33:34.147 --> 33:37.347 as we shall see, was not universally accepted at 33:37.352 --> 33:38.812 all. The high incidence of 33:38.811 --> 33:41.291 intermarriage is perhaps indicated by the fact that it 33:41.288 --> 33:44.138 took several months to identify all those who had intermarried 33:44.139 --> 33:46.709 and to send away their spouses and their children. 33:46.710 --> 33:50.490 Even priests were among those who didn't view intermarriage 33:50.485 --> 33:53.085 per se as a violation of the covenant. 33:53.089 --> 33:55.919 In the next two lectures we'll see other perspectives on this 33:55.922 --> 33:58.332 question of integration of foreign groups within the 33:58.329 --> 34:00.519 community. So I raise it as an issue now: 34:00.523 --> 34:03.233 we're going to see many different attitudes as we move 34:03.233 --> 34:05.333 through the last section of the Bible. 34:05.329 --> 34:09.229 The text of Ezra's prayer before God is a fascinating 34:09.230 --> 34:12.830 presentation of Ezra's interpretation of Israel's 34:12.829 --> 34:16.569 history and prior texts, and again, constitutes yet 34:16.571 --> 34:20.551 another response to the calamity that had befallen the nation; 34:20.550 --> 34:23.200 but also constitutes another example of inner-biblical 34:23.199 --> 34:24.749 interpretation: later levels, 34:24.750 --> 34:27.970 or layers within the biblical text turning to older traditions 34:27.972 --> 34:30.732 and interpreting them, or reinterpreting them. 34:30.730 --> 34:34.500 So listen to how Ezra understands biblical tradition 34:34.500 --> 34:38.270 and listen to how he interprets Israel's history. 34:38.269 --> 34:41.409 This is from Ezra 9, he's praying to God before the 34:41.414 --> 34:42.614 assembled people. 34:42.610 --> 34:45.790 From the time of our fathers to this very day we have 34:45.788 --> 34:46.938 been deep in guilt. 34:46.940 --> 34:49.910 Because of our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have 34:49.914 --> 34:51.704 been handed over to foreign kings, 34:51.699 --> 34:53.059 to the sword, to captivity, 34:53.062 --> 34:55.842 to pillage, and to humiliation, as is now the case. 34:55.840 --> 34:58.970 But now, for a short while, there has been a reprieve from 34:58.965 --> 35:01.535 the Lord our God, who has granted us a surviving 35:01.543 --> 35:03.893 remnant... remember the prophetic idea of 35:03.894 --> 35:05.154 a remnant that would survive? 35:05.150 --> 35:08.000 ...and given us a stake in His Holy place; 35:08.000 --> 35:10.880 our God has restored the luster to our eyes and furnished us 35:10.884 --> 35:13.284 with a little sustenance in our bondage… Now, 35:13.280 --> 35:15.940 what can we say in the face of this, O our God, 35:15.944 --> 35:18.324 for we have forsaken Your commandments, 35:18.320 --> 35:21.340 which You gave us through Your servants, the prophets when You 35:21.337 --> 35:23.827 said, here he's quoting the Bible; 35:23.829 --> 35:26.179 'The land that you are about to possess is a land 35:26.182 --> 35:28.842 unclean through the uncleanness of the peoples of the land, 35:28.840 --> 35:31.340 through their abhorrent practices with which they, 35:31.342 --> 35:33.792 in their impurity, have filled it from one end to 35:33.794 --> 35:35.694 the other. Now then, do not give your 35:35.687 --> 35:38.267 daughters in marriage to their sons or let their daughters 35:38.269 --> 35:40.529 marry your sons; do nothing for their well being 35:40.526 --> 35:42.326 or advantage, then you will be strong and 35:42.327 --> 35:45.027 enjoy the bounty of the land and bequeath it to your children 35:45.029 --> 35:47.369 forever.' So he's quoting earlier 35:47.370 --> 35:49.140 tradition. After all that has 35:49.141 --> 35:51.481 happened to us because of our evil deeds and our deep 35:51.483 --> 35:54.013 guilt--though You, our God, have been forbearing, 35:54.011 --> 35:55.911 [punishing us] less than our iniquity 35:55.909 --> 35:57.859 [deserves] in that You have granted us 35:57.860 --> 36:00.810 such a remnant as this-- shall we once again violate Your 36:00.812 --> 36:03.822 commandments by intermarrying with these people who follow 36:03.817 --> 36:05.607 such abhorrent practices? 36:05.610 --> 36:09.300 Will You not rage against us till we are destroyed without 36:09.304 --> 36:12.264 remnant or survivor? So Ezra's argument is, 36:12.256 --> 36:14.426 first of all, following the Deuteronomistic 36:14.426 --> 36:17.626 line. History reflects God's judgment. 36:17.630 --> 36:22.040 Israel's tragic fate is because of her sins, and indeed, 36:22.041 --> 36:25.411 she's been given a mercy and a reprieve. 36:25.409 --> 36:28.169 She hasn't been punished as fully as she deserves. 36:28.170 --> 36:31.880 He also follows the prophetic line that this remnant has been 36:31.882 --> 36:33.432 saved and now restored. 36:33.429 --> 36:35.849 So the covenant hasn't been completely abrogated. 36:35.849 --> 36:39.829 But notice his identification of the sin for which Israel was 36:39.830 --> 36:42.700 punished. Israel has mixed--and this is 36:42.700 --> 36:46.910 the language that he uses elsewhere--Israel has mixed holy 36:46.907 --> 36:51.337 seed with common seed through marital unions with the peoples 36:51.335 --> 36:54.455 of the land, meaning foreigners certainly, 36:54.456 --> 36:58.446 but possibly also some of these Judeans who had remained in the 36:58.445 --> 37:02.365 land during the exile and who seem to have adopted some of the 37:02.370 --> 37:04.430 customs of their neighbors. 37:04.429 --> 37:07.019 And if history is any guide, he's warning, 37:07.020 --> 37:10.880 the community is placing itself at great risk by intermarrying 37:10.875 --> 37:14.665 again with those who will lead them into the worship of other 37:14.667 --> 37:18.077 gods and the performance of abhorrent practices. 37:18.079 --> 37:20.739 Surely he says, this time God will not be so 37:20.744 --> 37:23.104 merciful as to spare even a remnant. 37:23.100 --> 37:24.480 So learn from history. 37:24.480 --> 37:25.880 We sinned once by intermarrying, 37:25.878 --> 37:28.088 that was the sin for which we have been exiled. 37:28.090 --> 37:31.810 If we do the same thing again, this time we will be punished 37:31.811 --> 37:33.831 without any hope of a remnant. 37:33.829 --> 37:39.009 So his interpretation of Mosaic prescriptions about marriage is 37:39.011 --> 37:40.601 an expansive one. 37:40.599 --> 37:43.879 The Torah does prohibit intermarriage with the native 37:43.882 --> 37:46.472 Canaanites at the time of the conquest, 37:46.469 --> 37:49.709 the rationale being that they would lead Israelites into 37:49.710 --> 37:53.810 abhorrent pagan practices, child sacrifices, and so on. 37:53.809 --> 37:57.149 But of course it's actually not a completely--there is actually 37:57.149 --> 38:00.109 a legal provision for how to go about marrying a captive 38:00.112 --> 38:02.392 Canaanite woman; so it's not a completely 38:02.393 --> 38:04.353 unqualified prohibition to begin with. 38:04.349 --> 38:07.599 The Torah then also prohibits intermarriage with certain, 38:07.602 --> 38:10.362 very specific foreigners, Moabites and Ammonites, 38:10.364 --> 38:13.014 specifically because of their cruel treatment of the 38:13.014 --> 38:16.344 Israelites during their trek from Egypt to the Promised Land. 38:16.340 --> 38:19.380 Egyptians are prohibited only to the third generation. 38:19.380 --> 38:22.350 But there's no prohibition against marriage with other 38:22.347 --> 38:25.347 foreigners--a Phoenician, an Arab--so long as they enter 38:25.353 --> 38:28.243 into the covenant of Yahweh, as long as they don't lead the 38:28.241 --> 38:30.831 Israelite partner into the worship of other gods. 38:30.829 --> 38:34.969 The rationale for intermarriage prohibitions in the Pentateuch 38:34.968 --> 38:38.088 are always behavioral, they're always moral. 38:38.090 --> 38:40.660 If this person will lead you astray to abhorrent practices 38:40.655 --> 38:41.595 that is prohibited. 38:41.599 --> 38:44.109 But marriage into the group is not prohibited. 38:44.110 --> 38:48.020 Indeed, Israel's kings married foreign women regularly. 38:48.019 --> 38:50.529 Many of the kings of Israel were themselves offspring of 38:50.534 --> 38:51.544 these foreign women. 38:51.540 --> 38:52.920 They were still fully Israelite. 38:52.920 --> 38:55.770 Israelite identity passed through the male line. 38:55.769 --> 38:59.729 But Ezra who is protective of Israel's religious identity, 38:59.732 --> 39:03.262 is zealous for the Lord, is wary of God's wrath--he's 39:03.261 --> 39:07.011 interpreting and promulgating these prohibitions in such a way 39:07.012 --> 39:10.642 as to create a general ban on intermarriage of any kind. 39:10.639 --> 39:13.039 Israel mustn't make the same mistake twice. 39:13.039 --> 39:16.609 Israelite identity is now made contingent in Ezra's view on the 39:16.606 --> 39:19.076 status of both the mother and the father. 39:19.079 --> 39:22.119 One is only an Israelite if one has both an Israelite mother and 39:22.118 --> 39:23.178 an Israelite father. 39:23.180 --> 39:25.120 Both must be of the "holy seed." 39:25.119 --> 39:29.639 This is a phrase which is being coined now in Ezra's time and is 39:29.639 --> 39:33.799 now serving as a rationale for the ban on intermarriage. 39:33.800 --> 39:36.570 It's not that a person is prohibited because they will 39:36.571 --> 39:39.031 lead you astray to the worship of other gods. 39:39.030 --> 39:41.830 That's something that can be corrected if the person in fact 39:41.825 --> 39:44.095 enters into the religious community of Israel. 39:44.099 --> 39:46.649 The rationale is that they just simply are not of holy seed and 39:46.647 --> 39:48.657 there's nothing that you can do to change that, 39:48.659 --> 39:51.539 so this becomes a permanent and universal ban. 39:51.539 --> 39:54.799 So that's the first very important thing that Ezra tries 39:54.798 --> 39:57.998 to do: the dissolution of marriage with foreign spouses 39:57.997 --> 40:01.667 and to establish a blanket universal ban on intermarriage, 40:01.670 --> 40:04.510 to make Israelite identity dependent on the native 40:04.510 --> 40:07.120 Israelite status of both mother and father. 40:07.119 --> 40:10.429 His second deed is the renewal of the Mosaic Covenant. 40:10.429 --> 40:12.969 This act is reported in Nehemiah 8. 40:12.969 --> 40:15.949 There's an extended public reading of the Torah of Moses 40:15.946 --> 40:19.406 and that's followed then by a renewal of the Mosaic Covenant: 40:19.409 --> 40:21.779 When the seventh month arrived--the Israelites being 40:21.782 --> 40:23.242 [settled] in their towns--the entire 40:23.239 --> 40:25.609 people assembled as one man in the square before the Water 40:25.612 --> 40:27.592 Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe 40:27.585 --> 40:30.515 to bring the scroll of the Teaching of Moses with which the 40:30.515 --> 40:31.875 Lord had charged Israel. 40:31.880 --> 40:34.840 On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought 40:34.838 --> 40:36.728 the Teaching before the congregation, 40:36.730 --> 40:39.310 men and women and all who could listen with understanding. 40:39.309 --> 40:41.559 He read from it, facing the square before the 40:41.560 --> 40:43.860 Water Gate, from the first light until midday, 40:43.861 --> 40:46.931 to the men and the women and those who could understand; 40:46.929 --> 40:50.819 the ears of all the people were given to the scroll of the 40:50.819 --> 40:53.739 Teaching. Ezra the scribe stood upon a 40:53.739 --> 40:57.319 wooden tower made for the purpose…Ezra opened the scroll 40:57.322 --> 41:00.842 in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people; 41:00.840 --> 41:02.870 as he opened it, all the people stood up. 41:02.869 --> 41:05.099 Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God and all the 41:05.095 --> 41:06.605 people answered, "Amen, Amen," 41:06.610 --> 41:10.470 with hands upraised… and the Levites explained the Teaching 41:10.470 --> 41:12.860 to the people, while the people stood in their 41:12.859 --> 41:14.539 places. They read from the scroll of 41:14.535 --> 41:16.845 the teaching of God, translating it and giving the 41:16.854 --> 41:19.244 sense; so they understood the reading. 41:19.239 --> 41:22.219 Apparently the assembled people no longer understood the 41:22.220 --> 41:25.580 classical Hebrew of the Bible, if it was formulated in that. 41:25.579 --> 41:27.899 What he was actually--what is this scroll? 41:27.900 --> 41:30.380 This is the first time now that we're hearing about the Torah as 41:30.375 --> 41:31.785 a scroll and being read to people. 41:31.789 --> 41:34.859 So this is historically quite fascinating. 41:34.860 --> 41:37.600 But the people don't seem to be able to understand it. 41:37.599 --> 41:40.689 Ezra and his assistants are probably translating it into 41:40.688 --> 41:43.548 Aramaic which is now the lingua franca of the 41:43.552 --> 41:46.282 Persian Empire, giving the sense of the text 41:46.280 --> 41:47.940 perhaps as it's being read. 41:47.940 --> 41:51.610 We really can't be certain what it is that Ezra was presenting 41:51.607 --> 41:53.047 as the Torah of Moses. 41:53.050 --> 41:56.240 It may have been the Pentateuch basically in the form that we 41:56.236 --> 41:59.546 now have it. Both D and P are very strongly 41:59.545 --> 42:01.165 reflected in Ezra. 42:01.170 --> 42:02.970 He quotes from them, he refers to them, 42:02.968 --> 42:05.708 and then interprets and applies them in new and interesting 42:05.713 --> 42:06.983 ways. In any event, 42:06.980 --> 42:10.730 this Torah was to become the basis and the standard--with a 42:10.729 --> 42:14.409 lot of good heavy Persian imperial support--for the Jewish 42:14.413 --> 42:16.873 community from that time forward. 42:16.869 --> 42:20.209 And at a festival celebration a few weeks later there was an 42:20.207 --> 42:23.207 additional public teaching of the law and a recital of 42:23.205 --> 42:26.365 Israel's history that once again laid special emphasis on 42:26.372 --> 42:30.112 Israel's obligations, what she owed to Yahweh. 42:30.110 --> 42:33.690 The recitation of that history is found in Nehemiah 9, 42:33.689 --> 42:37.669 and again as an interpretation of the calamities that Israel 42:37.674 --> 42:40.274 had faced; it's consistent with the 42:40.271 --> 42:42.751 earlier prayer of Ezra that I read. 42:42.750 --> 42:45.910 God has withheld nothing from Israel, yet Israel has defied 42:45.913 --> 42:48.743 God, rebelled against Him, killed the prophets who had 42:48.738 --> 42:50.708 urged them to turn back to the covenant; 42:50.710 --> 42:54.440 and God tolerated Israel's sin as long as he possibly could but 42:54.443 --> 42:56.313 finally he had to punish her. 42:56.309 --> 42:59.069 But even so, in His great compassion God 42:59.066 --> 43:01.536 didn't abandon Israel completely. 43:01.539 --> 43:04.839 Verse 33 of this prayer then turns and addresses God, 43:04.843 --> 43:08.403 "Surely you are in the right with respect to all that has 43:08.400 --> 43:10.950 come upon us, for You have acted faithfully 43:10.945 --> 43:12.255 and we have been wicked." 43:12.260 --> 43:15.170 So again, this justification of God and blaming of the 43:15.165 --> 43:18.175 Israelites for all that has befallen them and learning a 43:18.179 --> 43:21.029 lesson for that in the future--no intermarriage. 43:21.030 --> 43:24.660 All of this is but a prelude then to the people's 43:24.655 --> 43:28.805 reaffirmation and renewed commitment to the covenant, 43:28.809 --> 43:32.299 and it's spelled out in great detail in Nehemiah 10. 43:32.300 --> 43:34.800 Chapter 10 opens, "In view of all this, 43:34.804 --> 43:37.774 we make this pledge and put it in writing," 43:37.769 --> 43:41.159 and then there follows a list of all the officials: 43:41.159 --> 43:42.989 the Levites, the priests, 43:42.990 --> 43:44.260 the heads of the people. 43:44.260 --> 43:46.900 And it says that all of these officials and leaders in 43:46.900 --> 43:49.340 conjunction join with the people, verse 30 and 31, 43:49.341 --> 43:51.371 they: … join with their noble 43:51.369 --> 43:54.479 brothers, and take an oath with sanctions to follow the Teaching 43:54.476 --> 43:56.396 of God, given through Moses the servant 43:56.395 --> 43:59.335 of God, and to observe carefully all the commandments of the Lord 43:59.338 --> 44:01.208 our Lord, His rules and laws. 44:01.210 --> 44:04.280 Namely: We will not give our daughters in marriage to the 44:04.278 --> 44:07.018 peoples of the land or take their daughters for our 44:07.018 --> 44:09.608 sons. So we then read the various 44:09.606 --> 44:13.396 obligations that the people are committing themselves to, 44:13.400 --> 44:17.010 and these include observance of the Sabbath day and the Sabbath 44:17.007 --> 44:20.437 year as well as supplying the needs of and the upkeep of the 44:20.440 --> 44:22.570 temple. But it's surely significant 44:22.574 --> 44:25.564 that the ban on intermarriage and the observance of the 44:25.561 --> 44:26.891 Sabbath top the list. 44:26.889 --> 44:29.949 We are going to commit ourselves again to God's 44:29.954 --> 44:33.374 teaching, his rules and laws; namely: we won't intermarry and 44:33.372 --> 44:34.552 we'll observe the Sabbath! 44:34.550 --> 44:37.820 So these are singled out at the top of the list, 44:37.817 --> 44:40.317 as central covenantal obligations. 44:40.320 --> 44:44.500 Chapter 13 describes Nehemiah's efforts to see that the people 44:44.504 --> 44:46.224 live up to this pledge. 44:46.219 --> 44:49.299 And he scurries around Jerusalem--he's enforcing the 44:49.300 --> 44:52.200 cessation of work on the Sabbath, he's persuading 44:52.200 --> 44:55.040 individuals to give up their foreign wives. 44:55.039 --> 44:58.349 Ezra and Nehemiah were zealous in their promotion of the 44:58.345 --> 45:00.625 renewed covenant, and in their view, 45:00.630 --> 45:04.950 the centerpiece of the covenant was the ban on intermarriage and 45:04.947 --> 45:07.137 the observance of the Sabbath. 45:07.139 --> 45:09.149 It is interesting that these two phenomena, 45:09.150 --> 45:11.640 in addition to circumcision, will emerge as the three 45:11.640 --> 45:14.660 identifying features of a Jew in the ancient world when you look 45:14.657 --> 45:17.527 at external literature: they are a circumcised people, 45:17.530 --> 45:19.780 there's one day of the week that they don't work, 45:19.782 --> 45:21.802 and they don't marry outside their group. 45:21.800 --> 45:24.600 Those are the kinds of themes that you start to see in 45:24.602 --> 45:27.832 writings of ancient Greeks and so on when they talk about this 45:27.828 --> 45:30.478 people. Ezra and Nehemiah's reforms can 45:30.482 --> 45:34.762 be seen as a direct response to the events of Israel's history. 45:34.760 --> 45:37.450 What's happened before just cannot be allowed to happen 45:37.451 --> 45:39.581 again. And they view the tragic 45:39.583 --> 45:41.753 history as a cautionary tale. 45:41.750 --> 45:45.490 It's calling upon the people to make the necessary changes to 45:45.489 --> 45:47.109 avoid a repeat disaster. 45:47.110 --> 45:50.270 There's only one way to guarantee that Israel will never 45:50.272 --> 45:51.482 again be destroyed. 45:51.480 --> 45:54.450 She has to live up to the covenant she failed to honor in 45:54.447 --> 45:56.747 the past. She has to rededicate herself 45:56.754 --> 46:00.264 to the covenant and this time she has to be single-minded in 46:00.262 --> 46:03.372 her devotion to God, because history has shown that 46:03.369 --> 46:05.919 God will punish faithlessness and betrayal. 46:05.920 --> 46:10.090 Israel can't be led astray by the beliefs and practices of her 46:10.085 --> 46:13.905 neighbors, and so a strict policy of separation has to be 46:13.908 --> 46:17.938 enforced if Israel's going to finally be cured of the desire 46:17.937 --> 46:20.937 for idols. Again, it's interesting that in 46:20.938 --> 46:24.628 Jewish tradition--the Jewish tradition is that the flirtation 46:24.633 --> 46:27.293 with idolatry, which had plagued Israel in the 46:27.290 --> 46:29.840 First Temple Period, ceased to exist in the Second 46:29.836 --> 46:32.456 Temple Period. So again, this is another area 46:32.455 --> 46:35.345 in which Jews earned for themselves a reputation in 46:35.347 --> 46:37.327 antiquity. They have a reputation for 46:37.328 --> 46:39.828 their strict monotheism, their scrupulous avoidance of 46:39.833 --> 46:41.693 foreign gods. They will not bow down to 46:41.688 --> 46:43.118 another god. There is this people that 46:43.117 --> 46:44.827 doesn't intermarry, they don't work one day a week, 46:44.833 --> 46:46.793 and they won't bow down to our kings or to other gods; 46:46.789 --> 46:49.829 these are the kinds of things you find in writings in this 46:49.829 --> 46:51.829 period. So Ezra and Nehemiah, 46:51.825 --> 46:55.785 backed by Persian imperial authority, help to create and 46:55.793 --> 46:59.043 preserve--not just preserve--create and 46:59.039 --> 47:01.399 preserve, a national and religious 47:01.400 --> 47:03.650 identity for Jews at a precarious time. 47:03.650 --> 47:07.560 Their reforms were not universally welcomed. 47:07.559 --> 47:11.039 Already, even in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah which give a 47:11.040 --> 47:13.930 very sympathetic account of their work, obviously, 47:13.930 --> 47:16.290 we can see rumblings and discontent. 47:16.289 --> 47:20.289 There are other works that are going to express opposition to 47:20.294 --> 47:22.834 the separatism of Ezra and Nehemiah. 47:22.829 --> 47:25.279 Isaiah 56:1-7, an interesting passage, 47:25.278 --> 47:29.048 it states quite explicitly that foreigners who have joined 47:29.050 --> 47:31.300 themselves to God are welcome. 47:31.300 --> 47:33.660 They are welcome in the temple; they are welcome even to 47:33.659 --> 47:34.779 minister before God. 47:34.780 --> 47:37.320 There is a good deal of historical evidence for the 47:37.318 --> 47:40.008 assimilation of foreigners within the Jewish community 47:40.009 --> 47:41.329 going on all the time. 47:41.329 --> 47:43.579 Non-Jews became Jews, they married Jews. 47:43.579 --> 47:45.709 We know of one family, the Tobiad family, 47:45.710 --> 47:48.960 quite influential--they were originally an Ammonite family. 47:48.960 --> 47:51.610 Now, that is a group that is explicitly prohibited from 47:51.609 --> 47:53.719 entering the congregation in Deuteronomy! 47:53.719 --> 47:56.309 But this is a family that adopted Jewish identity, 47:56.311 --> 47:57.741 became fully assimilated. 47:57.739 --> 48:02.129 So clearly there's great difference of opinion on this 48:02.133 --> 48:04.353 matter. In the last two lectures we're 48:04.348 --> 48:07.238 going to be focusing a lot on the diversity of approaches to 48:07.236 --> 48:09.876 the whole question of Israelite or Jewish identity, 48:09.880 --> 48:12.400 and the relationship to the Gentile world. 48:12.400 --> 48:16.910 So, although under Ezra, the Torah became the official 48:16.907 --> 48:19.967 and authoritative norm for Israel, 48:19.969 --> 48:23.429 although under Ezra Judaism took the decisive step towards 48:23.427 --> 48:25.547 becoming a religion of Scripture, 48:25.550 --> 48:27.220 based on the scriptural text. 48:27.219 --> 48:31.899 This did not in itself result in a single uniform set of 48:31.902 --> 48:33.862 practices or beliefs. 48:33.860 --> 48:37.540 Adopting the Torah as a communal norm simply meant that 48:37.543 --> 48:41.093 practices and beliefs were deemed to be authentic, 48:41.090 --> 48:43.930 to the degree that they accorded with the sense of 48:43.931 --> 48:47.701 Scripture--and interpretation of Scripture varied dramatically. 48:47.699 --> 48:51.029 So that widely divergent groups now, in the Persian period and 48:51.025 --> 48:53.255 as we move into the Hellenistic period, 48:53.260 --> 48:56.930 widely divergent groups will claim biblical warrant for their 48:56.930 --> 48:58.950 specific practices and beliefs. 48:58.949 --> 49:01.559 So in short, Ezra may have unified Israel 49:01.564 --> 49:04.964 around a common text, but he didn't unify them around 49:04.962 --> 49:08.102 a common interpretation of that text. 49:08.099 --> 49:11.219 Alright, when we come back we'll be looking at about four 49:11.215 --> 49:14.605 more books, all of which set up very interesting and different 49:14.608 --> 49:16.998 views on some of these basic questions.