Exegesis - Historical Books

8/8/2019 Exegesis - Historical Books

1/23


2/23

2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................3

I. THE ROYAL DECREE..........................................................5

1. Delimitation of the passage......................................................5

2. Translation of the Key Verses.................................................7

II. CONTEXT................................................................................8

1. Historical Backgrounds...........................................................8

1.1.The Persian Empire.......................................................8

1.2.The Jews in Ezra Time................................................10

1.3.The Decree of Artarxerxe Longimanus......................10

2. Literary Context and Structure of Ezra-Nehemiah Book.13

3. Literary Structure of Ezra 7, 12-26.......................................14

4. Literary Genre........................................................................14

5. Grammatical Aspects and Analysis of Content...................15

III. THEOLOGY AND MESSAGE OF THE PASSAGE........18

IV. CONCLUSIONS....................................................................20

BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................22

2


3/23

INTRODUCTION

The Book of Ezra is a place where there are a lot of debates between Biblical

historians, the chronology problem being one of the most discussed matters. The

various decrees that one can find in the book are also a subject that intrigued the

scholars and the attempt to find an extra biblical historic background for Bible texts

was a real challenge.

This study is an exegetical attempt to understand the role played by Ezra according to

the decree redacted in Ezra 7, 12-26 in the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus (465/4

425 B.C.)1. It is essential to establish the exact mission of Ezra in order to find if this

decree of Artarxerxes dated by Siegfried Hord and Lynn Hood in 457 B.C.2 has

something to do with the reconstruction of Jerusalem. The Adventist scholars as Uriah

Smith considers that the start of the 70 weeks from Daniel 9, 24-27 is 457 B.C. when

Artaxerxes Longimanus allows Ezra to return to Jerusalem with a special mission.

The major problem here is that in the decree redacted in Ezra 7 has no obvious

evidence for the restoration of the walls of Jerusalems city.

1 Horia C. Matei,Istoria lumii n date, (Bucure ti, Editura Enciclopedica Roman, 1972), 16

2 Siegfried Horn, Lynn H. Wood, The Chronology of Ezra, (Washington, D.C. Rewiew and Herald

Publishing Association, 1970), 115

3


4/23

The purpose of this study is to find out if the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus from

Ezra 7, 12-26 allows us to understand if the restoration of the city was an implicit

matter of that royal command.

In order to accomplish my aims, I will do an exegetical study of the passage where the

decree is redacted in Bible. Also, the results of the historical and cultural study of the

Persians will be find in the paper.

The stress pointed at the year 457 B.C. as the point of the beginning of the 70 week

prophecy (2300 day prophecy also) and implicit the interpretation of Ezra 7 as the

decree of restoration of Jerusalem appears at the beginning of the 19 th century. In

Europe John A. Browm and William Cuninghame and in America William Miller,

Lee Roy Froom were among those who get to this conclusion. But long before their

stress on the issue, and long before the Adventist movement, in the time of

reformation there were a few scholars who probably had been discovered the issue.

For example Johann Funk was probably the first theologian during the Reformation

period who begin the 70 weeks from Daniel 9 in 457 B.C. Georg Nigrinus placed the

same period from 456 B.C. to 34 A.D.3 Heinrich Bullinger of Zurich and the

Frenchman Jacques Cappel began the 70 weeks in 457 B.C.4There are some modern

scholars as H. G. M. Williamson, Arno C. Gaebelain, J. G. McConville, W. Schultz

who either question the authenticy of the decree or, simply don`t take into account the

hypothesis that this decree can be also about the reconstruction of the Jerusalem.

This study is not about chronologys problems. I accept the date promoted by

Siegfried Horn (457 B.C.) as the year when the decree was made. Even there is a

3 L. Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers vol II, (Washington, D.C. Rewiew and Herald, 1948),

325-329

4 L. Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers vol II, 630

4


5/23

straight connection between the year in which the decree was given and Daniel 8, 14

or Daniel 9, 24-27, I will not speak about this. I will concentrate my attention to

establish the mission of Ezra in Jerusalem according to the copy of the decree of

Artarxerses Longimanus written in Ezra 7, 12-26. The real purpose of my

preoccupation is to find out the role played by Ezra in 457 B.C. and to discover if he

was involved or if the decree that he wrote in his book has something to do with the

reconstruction of the wall of Jerusalem. The analysis of the Hebrew grammar will be

limited to the key words of three key verses, so this will not be an exhaustive study.

I. THE ROYAL DECREE

1. Delimitation of the Passage

The passage that will be analyzed is Ezra 7, 12-26, which contain the words of the

decree of Artaxerxes. This passage contains the core of the problem in debate: to

establish if there is permission for the reconstruction of Jerusalem. The bondage of the

decree is obvious in the Hebrew text. Verse 11 is an introduction which announce that

the following text is a copy of a royal letter: This is a copy of the letter that King

Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest, the scribe, expert in the words of the commandments

of the Lord, and of His statutes to Israel. Ezra 7, 11. After this verse the letter begins

and the language is changed from Hebrew into Aramaic.5The final verse of the decree

is 26, because its obvious that the verse 27 is a blessing written by Ezra. Another

help for establishing the margins of the decree are the paragraph markers placed at the

5 Adam Clarke, Clarkes Coomentry Ezra, (Wesleyan Heritage Publications, 1998)

5


6/23

left margin between the lines. In this case is used in the beginning and also in the

end of the unit.

Ezra 7, 12-26

12

13

14

15

16

17

18 [ ) ] ) ] ] ( )

19

20

21

22

6


7/23

23

24

25 [ ] ( )

_

26

[ ]( )

6

2. Translation of the Key Verses

There are three verses in the passage above that can be considered key verses for the

problem in discussion. Verses 14, 25 and 25 of Ezra 7 deals in a special way with

Ezras job in Jerusalem. I propose the following translation of the key verses:

Verse 14: You are sent by the king and by his seven advisers to investigate over Judah

and Jerusalem with regard to the Law of your God, which is in your hand.

Verse 25: And you, Ezra, according with the wisdom of God that you have, appoint

scribes and judges who may judge all the people who are in the region beyond the

River, all who know the law of your God and teach any who do not know them.

Verse 26: Whoever does not obey the law God and the law of the king let judgment be

executed speedily on him, whether it be death, or banishment, or confiscation of

goods, or imprisonment.

6 Codex Leningradensis Hebrew Text.

7


8/23

II. CONTEXT

1. Historical Backgrounds

1.1. The Persian Empire

In the middle of the 6th century B.C. Cyrus the Great succeed to overcome the Medes

Astiages and after that he starts a series of military campaigns he builds in 30 years

the biggest empire so far. His empire will last more than 200 years (550-531 B.C.)7

He is the one who, according to Ezra 1 gave in 536 B.C. a decree which end the

Babylonian exile of the Hebrews. After his dead, Cambises II, Darius I, Xerxes and

Artaxetses I followd by one to the throne.

The strong points of the Persian Empire were the army and the administration. The

organization of the army is not important for the study, but the way they administrate

the territory interest us. In Darius I time, were 23 provinces ruled by 23 governors

namedsatraps. The satrap was in charge of the collection of the taxes . The satrap was

virtually king over his satrapies. To avoid corruption, Darius instituted a system of

controls.

One was the placing of imperial troops under a royal officer directly

responsible to the Persian king. Also royal inspectors, called by the Greeks

the kings eyes and the kings ears, could check on the satraps at any

moment. The satrapies were further divided into provinces, which were

supervised by a governor, usually a descendant of the local nobility. Thus in

7 Ovidiu Drimba, Istoria Culturii Si Civilizatiei vol. I, (Bucuresti, Editura Stiintifica si Enciclopedica,

1985), 206

8


9/23

Judah we read of Jews such as Zerubbabel and Nehemiah who served as

governors.8

The king was the supreme judge and he was helped by The Supreme Court of Justice

compose by 7 members. In every big city there was a court and the judges of the court

was named lifetime. In case of corruption, the judge was killed. The Persian law had

some cruel punishments like the dead sentence of the entire family of the one who

was a traitor, a thief, homosexual or killer.9

An interesting matter was the way in which the Persian kings treated conquered

people. For example it is known the fact that Cyrus always respected the Gods of the

conquered countries or cities. Cyrus encouraged the peoples he conquered to develop

their own culture and continue their own religion. He and some of his successors even

helped support the local priests in conquered nations.10 This explain the way he treated

Hebrews in the decree of Ezra 1.11

1.2.The Jews in Ezra Time

After the decree given by Cyrus the Great, the Jews had the opportunity to return in

their motherland. After 70 years of Babylonian exile, is strange that only 42.360 of

them wanted to return home under Zerubbabel leadership. Its obvious that the

8 Mervin Breneman, The New American Commentary, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, (Nashville, Tennessee,

1993), 24

9 Ovidiu Drimba, Istoria Culturii Si Civilizatiei vol. I, 218

10 Mervin Breneman, The New American Commentary, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, (Nashville, Tennessee,

1993), 24

11 Franz Cumont,Persia o mare putere, (Bucuresti: Prietenii Cartii, 1998), 94

9


10/23

Babylonian captivity was more comfortable that the Egyptian captivity. After that,

according to chapter 3 of the book of Ezra, in the second month of the second year of

their coming to Jerusalem, they start to rebuild the temple. In 515 B.C. by the time of

Darius I, after a series of chicanes of their Samaritan enemies, they succeed to finish

the construction of the temple.

The next chronological event was the return of Ezra in the seventh year of Artaxerxe

Longimanus (457 B.C.) I will speak about this in the next chapter. For now, its

enough to say that when Ezra arrived in Jerusalem, the temple was finished, but he

found that his brothers are not following strictly the laws of Moses. The problem of

the marriage with foreign girls was one of the first problem fixed by Ezra. .

1.3. The Decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus

The chapter 7 of Ezra book is the one who deals with this matter. From the

benediction of Ezra written in verses 28 and 29 of the seventh chapter of his book is

clear that we dont have here an royal initiative, Ezra being the one who present a

petition to Artaxerxes. Praise be to the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put it

into the king's heart to bring honor to the house of the LORD in Jerusalem in this way

and who has extended his good favor to me before the king and his advisers and all

the king's powerful officials. Because the hand of the LORD my God was on me, I

took courage and gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me. (Ezra 7, 27-

28) In permitting a general return with Ezra, Artaxerxes was continuing the policy of

Cyrus (see Ezra 1). The emperor follows Ezra requirement and he write a royal

decree; he send Ezra back to Jerusalem to inquire or investigate according to the Laws

of God the people of the city. We dont know exactly what kind of inquiry he should

10


11/23

make. The text is not clear he has to make an inquiry into all abuses and deviations

from the law, and his job was to redress them.

The generosity of the king is amazing. He authorized funds from his exchequer and

from his advisers. These funds were for purchasing sacrificial offerings to be offered

up at the Jerusalem temple. Its possible that the king who was dealing with some

revolts in that period of time to seek the favor of the God of the Jews. The fact that

there is a specific list of sacrifices indicates that at the court was a Jewish adviser.

Other funds were to be obtained from the Jewish community. 12 In Ezra 7, 21-24 the

kind addressed directly to the royal appointees. He told them that Ezra is allowed to

take 100 talents of silver, which is a great amount of many. Keith N. Schoville are

suggesting that here it might be a scribal error. He quoted Herodotus who reported

that the annual tribute for the entire Trans-Euphrates province was only 350 talents. 13

This amount of silver is not impossible. If God wanted to bless His people, it was not

too hard for Him to impress a king to do that. On the other hand, this is not the first

time when a Persian king donates a great deal of many to a temple. Another

stipulation of the decree was to exempt the religious personnel from taxes.

According to the Gadatas Inscription, Darius relieved the priests of Apollo from

paying taxes.Persian rulers recognized the importance of maintaining the good will

of religious leaders across their empire, because those leaders were very influential in

their communities.14

12Keith N. Schoville, The College Press NIV Commentary, Ezra-Nehemiah, (Joplin, Missouri, College

Press Publishing Company, 2001), 102

13 Keith N. Schoville, The College Press NIV Commentary, Ezra-Nehemiah, (Joplin, Missouri, College

Press Publishing Company, 2001), 102

14 Idem

11


12/23

Verses 25 and 26 of the decree are making clear that the purpose of Ezra arrival was

to appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people of Trans-

Euphrates, all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach any who do not

know them. Whoever does not obey the law of your God and the law of the king must

surely be punished by death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.

Ezra 7, 25-26

The purpose of Ezras mission according to the kings decree is contained in

verse 25: he was to appoint judges to judge on the basis of Gods laws, and

to ensure that all members of the community were conversant with them.

The former task is reminiscent of Exod. 18:13ff., in which Moses agrees to

delegate the business of judging to others. Each of these instances reflects

the problem of applying law justly to a whole population. And how can

there be justice, be the judges ever so fair, if the people themselves do not

know what the law requires? Ezras task was no slight one, therefore.15

Ezra task was not only to appoint judges for religious purpose, but also these judges

have the civil enforcement to apply the law of Persian Empire. The punishments

described in the Bible verse are similar with those used by the Persians.

2. Literary Context and Structure of Ezra-Nehemiah Book

The immediate literary context places the decree of Artarxerse in the middle of the

story about the return of Ezra in Jerusalem. Mark A. Throntveit proposes a chiastic

structure for chapters 8 and 9.

A Journey to Jerusalem (7:110)

15 J. G. McConville, The Daily Studies Bible Series, Ezra, Neheniah, Esther, (Louisville, Kentucki,

Westminster Jhon Knox Press, 1985), 49

12


13/23

B Commissioning of Ezra (7:1126)

C Prayer (7:2728a)

D Leaders gathered for journey (7:28b)

X Israel Reunited (8:114)

D Leaders gathered for journey (8:1520)

C Prayer and Fasting (8:2123)

B Commissioning of Vessel Bearers (8:2430)

A Journey to Jerusalem (8:3136)16

The large literary context places this passage in the middle of the book Ezra-

Nehemiah, if we accept the writing as one book, writing by the same author, Ezra in

the 5th century B.C. The Ezra-Nehemiah book presents the actions of three key

characters of the postexilic story of restoration of the temple and the city. It begins

with Zerubbabel, in the middle we have the story of Ezra and finally, Nehemiah. The

period of time covered by the Ezra Nehemiah book is between the middle of the 6 th

century B.C. and the end of the 4th century B.C. Below, we have a structure of the

book propose by Mark A. Throntveit.

A. Zerubbabel (538515 B.C.)

i. Reconstruction of the temple (Ezra 1:16:15)

ii. Assembly for celebration and Passover (Ezra 6:1622)

B. Ezra (458457 B.C.)

i. Reinstitution of the Law (Ezra 78, Nehemiah 7:73b8:18, Ezra 910)

ii. Assembly for fasting and confession (Nehemiah 910)

16 Mark A. Throntveit,Ezra-Nehemiah.Interpretation, a Bible commentary for teaching and

preaching, (Louisville, John Knox Press, 1989), 39

13


14/23

C. Nehemiah (446433 B.C.)

i. Reconstruction of the walls and repopulating of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:1

7:73a, 11:112:26)

ii. Assembly and dedication (Nehemiah 12:2713:3)17

3. Literary Structure of Ezra 7, 12-26

For the selected passage, I propose the next literary structure:

I. Introduction: Ezra 7, 12

II. The Decree of Return King Speak to Ezra (Ezra 7, 14)

III. The Gifts Instruction Concerning the Gifts - King Speak to Ezra

(Ezra 7, 20)

IV. The Gifts King speak to the treasurers (Ezra 7, 21-24)

V. The royal authority of Ezra (Ezra 7, 25-27)

4. Literary Genre

The decree of Artaxerxes is written in the form of a letter, and it conforms to the

conventions of epistolary style of the period. The letter stars with a brief greeting,

formula for transition to the substance of the letter ( and now, v 12), then

the various clauses that make up the body of the letter, and finally a warning against

infringement of its demands (v 26).18 In all these elements we can find similarities to

the other letter from Artaxerxes at 4:1722.

17 Mark A. Throntveit,Ezra-Nehemiah.Interpretation, a Bible commentary for teaching and

preaching, (Louisville, John Knox Press, 1989), 1

18 H. G. M. Williamson, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 16, Ezra, Nehemiah, (Dalals, Texas,

Word Books Publisher, 1985), 97

14


15/23

The content of the letter has four main clauses: (1) Permission for a return to

Jerusalem by any Jews who wish (v 13). (2) Commission to conduct an inquiry in

Judah and Jerusalem (v 14). (3) Regulations for the transportation and use of certain

gifts and grants for the temple cult (vv 1520). (4) Permission to appoint magistrates

and judges for the enforcement (with full legal sanctions, v 26) and the teaching of the

law (v 25).19

5. Grammatical Aspects and Analysis of Content

At this point he had to look closer to some key words of the decree.

Verse 14:

- verb, peal passive participle masculine singular absolute to send

- particle preposition for, to, in regard to

- verb peal infinitive construct to inquire, seek

Verse 25:

- verb peal participle masculine plural absolute to judge

- Noun common masculine plural absolute a judge

- verb peal participle masculine plural absolute kethib to judge

Verse 26

- noun common feminine singular determined decree, law,

the Aramaic article, suffix particle article

- Noun common masculine singular determined judgment,

the Aramaic article, suffix particle article20

19 H. G. M. Williamson, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 16, Ezra, Nehemiah, 97

20 Bible Works 2010

15


16/23

The passive form of the verb stress the fact that the king is the one who send

Ezra to his people, so his mission must be considered important by everyone in the

empire. The meaning of Ezra mission, was to inquire, or to investigate, to conduct an

inquiry () into the situation in Jerusalem and Judah on the basis of the law

of your God, is unfortunately not clear to us. Williamson in his Word Biblical

Commentary states at this point:

It is one of the examples where the orders of this letter do not exactly

match the narrative that follows. Elsewhere in Ezra, the verb refers only

to searching for records, and is never followed by the preposition , as

it is here (cf. 4:15, 19; 5:17; 6:1). The verb is not attested elsewhere in

Imperial Aramaic. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that on the

one hand it can hardly be so broadly defined as to mean teach and

enforce the law (something that is in any case explicitly demanded in vv

2526), while on the other hand it would be difficult to understand the

purpose of simply investigating whether or not the law was being

observed.21

Charles Fensham proposes a solution for this problem. He suggests that the

inquiry is about the observance of the Law of God. At the question Why

Should a Persian king care about this fact he stress the fact that it was necessary for

the Persian Empire that the peace to prevail in Judah, a territory which was always

easily influenced by Egypt.22


22 F. Charles Fensham, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, (Grand Rapids, Michigam, William B.

Eerdmans Publishing Company), 105

16


17/23

The verse 25 reveals the second purpose of Ezra mission. He was asked to

appoint judges to judge on the basis of Gods laws, and to ensure that all members of

the community know the law. Also the judges have to teach the law to those who

dont know it. J. D. McConville suggest that this task is reminiscent of Exod. 18:13ff.,

in which Moses agrees to delegate the business of judging to others.23

The KJV and NIV English translation of the Bible translate as

magistrates and judges. magistrates is probably a loan word from

Hebrew in the present context, though the root is not completely unknown in Aram. 24

These two terms appear to be synonymous, and the expression a tautology. To avoid

this LXX, the Greek version of the Old Testament translate scribes and judges,

thats the reason I adopted this translation into my translation. The Bible verse sais

that this literally judges and judges have a double role. They should teach the law

for the one who is not familiar whit it, and to keep the observance of the law of God

and the law of the king. That means that we have to have two kinds of judges: The

first kind is represented by the religious ones who have the authority to teach the law

(the scribes), and the second type of judges are the one who have imperial authority to

keep the observance of the civil law of Moses and Artaxerxes. The imperfect. ,

with the particle expresses continued action., that means that the king expected that

this new institution created by Ezra to be permanent.

23 J. G. McConville, The Daily Studies Bible Series, Ezra, Neheniah, Esther, (Louisville, Kentucki,

Westminster Jhon Knox Press, 1985), 49


17


18/23

Regarding to verse 26 Rundgren quoted by Williamson points to

in A.D. 3:6, a Persian loan-word meaning punishment, which he then

interprets as corporal punishment.25 These punishments were in fact the same

provided by the Persian law.

III. THEOLOGY AND MESSAGE OF THE PASSAGE

The passage analyze so far speaks about a decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus

which enable Ezra to investigate the city of Jerusalem and Judah and to appoint two

kinds of judges. The question is: has this something to do with the reconstruction of

Jerusalem? My answer is yes, but indirectly.

Florin Laiu in his exegetical study of Daniel 7-9 gave five arguments that

support my thesis.26 In the first place Ezra included in his book a copy of the decree of

the 7th year of Artaxerxes (457 B.C.E.), which is the largest in size, compared with the

previous decrees of Cyrus the Great and Darius Hystaspes. Laiu observe that this

decree it gives the Jews actually a special political status, restoring the juridical

system based on law of Moses and Artaxerxes. This means autonomy under the

Persian suzerainty. Ezra was authorized to appoint scribes and judges, and to establish

a high court in Jerusalem with full autonomy to punish the lawbreakers. This was

25 Idem.

26 Florin Gh. Laiu, An Exegetical Study of Daniel 7-9 (Bucharest, unpublished Master disertation,

1999), 152-153

18


19/23

more than just rebuilding a city wall. Ezra was explicitly given freedom to do

anything he thought right within the limits and in the spirit of this decree (v.18).27

In the second place, in Ezra 4, 7-12 he find an argument which demonstrate us that

there was an tentative to rebuild the wall of the city before Nehemiah comes to

Jerusalem in the 20th year of Artaxerxes. The king from this passage must be

Artaxerxes I, because it is mentioned immediately after Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes

(Ezra 4, 3-6). It is reasonable to believe that the stop of the work was happened before

Nehemiah came into Jerusalem in 444. B.C. because Nehemiah received word of a

relatively recent devastation of Jerusalems gates and walls.

In the third place the rebuilding of the city in Ezra 4 could not be leaded by Nehemiah

because the complaining governors refer in their letter, only to the Jews who came

under Artaxerxes (see Ezra 7:7, 8:1-36), whereas Nehemiah was not accompanied by

a group of repatriates.28

In the fourth place its improbable that the people of Jerusalem start to rebuilt the

walls without permission. That would mean an act of revolt which would be punished

by the suzerain country.

In the last place, Laiu observe that Artaxerxes did not follow fully the request of the

complaining governor. He asked punishment, but the king made just a statement

regarding the reconstruction of the wall. The question is why Artaxerxe stop the

workers if he was the one who permitted Ezra to rebuilt the city. Maybe the answer is

in the historic context, In that period of time Artaxerxes had problems with the

Egyptians and the Greeks, and the last think he wanted was a political discontent

27 idem

28 Florin Gh. Laiu, An Exegetical Study of Daniel 7-9, 153

19


20/23

among his own governors. For him, Judah was not a real important matter, so he act

in order to satisfy his satraps.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

After a close look to the decree of Artaxerxe Longimanus released in his

seventh year of royalty, (457 B.C.) I can affirm that according to Ezra 7, 12-26 it was

possible that the reconstruction of the city wall of Jerusalem was permitted by the

king in 457 B.C. Even this fact is not especially written down in the studied passage,

this conclusion can be implied from the textual evidence.

This study showed that the mission of Ezra was to investigate Jerusalem

according to the laws of God, and to reinstaurate a judicial system in Jerusalem. This

implies a city gate where usual the issues were solved in that time, and this implies

autonomy under Persian suzerainty. This is more than just a permission to rebuild a

wall. I get to these conclusion after the analyze of the historical and literary context,

after grammar study of the content of decree of Artaxerxes, and after I consulted a

few scholars who studied also the matter.

20


21/23

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bible Works 2010

Clarke, Adam. Clarkes Coomentry Ezra, Wesleyan Heritage Publications, 1998

Codex Leningradensis Hebrew Text.

Cumont, Franz.Persia o mare putere, Bucuresti: Prietenii Cartii, 1998

Drimba,Ovidiu.Istoria Culturii Si Civilizatiei vol. I, Bucuresti, Editura Stiintifica si

Enciclopedica, 1985

Froom L. The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers vol II, Washington, D.C. Rewiew and

Herald, 1948

Horn, Siegfried, Wood H. Lynn . The Chronology of Ezra, Washington, D.C.

21


22/23

Rewiew and Herald Publishing Association, 1970

Laiu,Gh Florin.An Exegetical Study of Daniel 7-9 Bucharest, Unpublished Master

Disertation, 1999

Fensham, F. Charles. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, Grand Rapids, Michigam,

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Matei, C. Horia.Istoria lumii n date, Bucure ti, Editura Enciclopedica Roman, 1972

McConville, J. G. The Daily Studies Bible Series, Ezra, Neheniah, Esther, Louisville,

Kentucki, Westminster Jhon Knox Press, 1985

Mervin Breneman, The New American Commentary, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther,

Nashville, Tennessee, 1993

Schoville, N. Keith. The College Press NIV Commentary, Ezra-Nehemiah, Joplin,

Missouri, College Press Publishing Company, 2001

Throntveit, A. Mark.Ezra-Nehemiah.Interpretation, a Bible commentary for

teaching and preaching, Louisville, John Knox Press, 1989

Williamson, H. G. M. Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 16, Ezra, Nehemiah,

Dalals, Texas, Word Books Publisher, 1985

22


23/23

23

Documents

Exegesis - Historical Books