Published: 2020-01-29

The Books of Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah as a Project of a New Future of Israel

Waldemar Chrostowski
Collectanea Theologica
Section: Articles
https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2019.89.4.01

Abstract

Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah express a different approach to the future
of Israel to that given in the Former Prophets. First, the nature and the
dating of this part of the Hebrew Bible are discussed, suggesting the end
of the 5th and the very beginning of the 4th century B.C. as the time of its
origins. Then the retrospection of the past in the two Books of Chronicles
is presented, with its very specific attitude towards the Exile. The article
focuses its attention on the detailed analysis of Ezra 4,1-5, that represents the
very core of this book. Having in mind the identity of the delegation coming
to Jerusalem as seen by the author of Ezra and the completely different
self-presentation of the delegates from the north, the serious conflict that
ensues is described, this bearing analogies with the former antagonisms and
tensions between the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel. On the
basis of this conflict a new reality emerges, namely Judaism. The religion
of the pre-exilic Israel was deeply transformed, limiting itself only to those
Judeans who came back from the Exile. As a result of this separation, the
question of the “true Israel” started to be more crucial, giving new direction
to the project of the national and religious identity of biblical Israel.

Keywords:

Chronicles, Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, Jerusalem Temple, Babylonian exile, Persian period, Samaritans

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Chrostowski, W. (2020). The Books of Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah as a Project of a New Future of Israel. Collectanea Theologica, 89(4), 7–46. https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2019.89.4.01

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