Ezra-Nehemiah in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
LITERATURE
1. Name:
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, by whomsoever written, are
properly so named according to analogy from the principal
persons mentioned in them. In the Hebrew Bibles, the former
is headed simply, Ezra, and the latter, Nehemiah. The two
books are counted in the Talmud, in Josephus, and in the
Canon of Melito, 171 AD, as one, and are so treated also in
the subscription of the Massoretic Text, which reads: "The
totality of the verses of Ezra and Nehemiah is 688, and its
sign is `Remember, Yahweh, the reproach of thy servants,'
and its two parts (are at the sentence) `unto the ascent of
the corner' (Neh 3:31) and its chapters (sedharayw) are ten,
and its sign is `Upon a high mountain get thee up, O thou
that announcest good tidings to Zion.' " In the Septuagint,
Ezra-Nehemiah is called Esdras B, while an apocryphal Book
of Ezra is called Esdras A (see below). In the catalogues of
the Old Testament writings handed down to us by the Fathers
(Origen, Cyril, Melito, Jerome and the Council of Laodicea)
our Ezra is called 1 Ezra; Nehemiah, 2 Ezra; the apocryphal
Greek Ezra, 3 Ezra; and an apocalyptic book, falsely called
a book of Ezra, is denominated 4 Ezra.
2. Object:
The object of the books is to show that God fulfilled His
promise, or prophecy, to restore His exiled people to their
inheritance, through the instrumentality on the one hand of
the great heathen monarchs, Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes,
and on the other hand by stirring up the spirit of such
great men among the chosen people as Joshua and Zerubbabel,
Haggai and Zechariah, and Ezra and Nehemiah, through whom
the altar, the temple, the houses and walls of Jerusalem,
and finally the worship and ceremony of the Jewish people
were reestablished, the people being separated from foreign
admixtures, customs and idolatry, and their religious
observances purified and fixed for all time...
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