Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 67:2 (Jun 2024)
Article: The Changing Contexts Of Ezra-Nehemiah In The Canon
Author: Gregory Goswell

JETS 67:2 (June 2024) p. 207

The Changing Contexts Of Ezra-Nehemiah In The Canon

Gregory Goswell*

* Gregory Goswell is Academic Dean and Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Christ College in Sydney, Australia. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Christ College is an affiliated college of the Australian College of Theology.

Abstract: Ezra-Nehemiah is found in three distinct positions in Old Testament canons. In the Greek canonical tradition, Ezra-Nehemiah comes after Chronicles in the ordering of the Historical Books. The common idea that their duplicate passages (2 Chron 36:22–23 [= Ezra 1:1–3a]) are designed to ease the transition between the books ignores the key role the verses play in each book. Putting Ezra-Nehemiah at the end of the Tanak gives it special prominence. One feature that makes this canonical setting appropriate is the review of Old Testament history provided by the prayer in Nehemiah 9. When Chronicles follows rather than precedes Ezra-Nehemiah (as it does in most Hebrew Bibles, in which Chronicles is in last position) this order makes it less likely that the books will be read simply as stages in the same story. This order helps to protect their individuality, for there are, in fact, several significant theological differences between the books. All three positions occupied by Ezra-Nehemiah make sense, and one location is not better than the others.

Key words: Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles, canon, compilation, book order

With regard to Hebrew canons, the final books of the Old Testament are almost always Chronicles or Ezra-Nehemiah, with the latter alternative coming into play when Chronicles is placed at the head of the Writings, the third and final section of the Hebrew Bible.1 Peter Brandt classifies as Eastern (Babylonian) those Jewish orders that place Chronicles at the end of the Writings, and he categorizes as Western (Palestinian) those that close with Ezra-Nehemiah.2 By the time of Talmudic tractate Baba Bathra (14b), which preserves a quotation (baraita) from rabbinic sources of the Tannaic period (pre-AD 200), Chronicles is placed at the end

JETS 67:2 (June 2024) p. 208

of the Writings.3This is where Chronicles is found in most manuscripts and printed editions of the Hebrew Bible, which is why the editors of Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia deviated from the order of the books in Codex Leningrad, their base text,You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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