Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Commentaries: Ezra/Nehemiah

"The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible enlists leading theologians to read and interpret scripture for the twenty-first century, just as the church fathers, the Reformers, and other orthodox Christians did for their times and places. Ezra & Nehemiah is the fourth volume in the series. This commentary, like each in the series, is designed to serve the church--through aid in preaching, teaching, study groups, and so forth--and demonstrate the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible." - Brazos

"The Cornerstone Biblical Commentary series provides up-to-date, evangelical scholarship on the Old and New Testaments. Each volume is designed to equip pastors and Christian leaders with exegetical and theological knowledge to better understand and apply God's Word by presenting the message of each passage as well as an overview of other issues surrounding the text. The commentary series has been structured to help readers get at the meaning of Scripture, passage by passage, through the entire Bible. Each Bible book is prefaced by a substantial book introduction that gives general historical background important for understanding." - Tyndale Press

"In this provocative study, Lester Grabbe presents a unique approach to Ezra-Nehemiah with the combination of a literary and historical approach. Lester Grabbe challenges commonly held assumptions about Joshua and Zerubbabel, the initial resettlement of land after the exile, the figure of Ezra and the activities of Nehemiah. Controversially, the challenge comes, not from radical theory but from paying careful attention to the text of the Bible itself." - Routledge

"The biblical books Ezra and Nehemiah are not highly regarded because of a painful point. In both books, a call can be found to put an end to marriages with foreign, or strange women. This commentary wants to understand that summons in the context of the world at that time and to show that other themes play a role in Ezra and Nehemiah. In the time after the return from the Babylonian exile Israel had to search for a new identity. It was found around the temple and from the Torah of Moses which was appropriated for a new era." - Peeters

"THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY is for the minister or Bible student who wants to understand and expound the Scriptures. Notable features include:* commentary based on THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION;* the NIV text printed in the body of the commentary;* sound scholarly methodology that reflects capable research in the original languages;* interpretation that emphasizes the theological unity of each book and of Scripture as a whole;* readable and applicable exposition." - B&H Publishing

“The books of Ezra and Nehemiah relate the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon during the rule of the early Persian kings. For a long time, interpretations of these two books by Christian exegetes characterized the Judaism of the post-exilic age as narrow and nationalistic. This interpretation led to a separation of post-exilic Judaism from its pre-exilic Israelite roots that allowed for a supersessionist reading of the Old Testament based on perceived deficiencies in the religious views of the post-exilic era. Informed by recent advances in our knowledge of the Persian Empire, this commentary, demonstrates that Ezra and Nehemiah offer a compelling story of a people's attempt to reassemble the fragments of their heritage as they face the future in a greatly changed world.” – Liturgical Press

"Fensham's study on the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah is a contribution to The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Like its companion series on the New Testament, this commentary devotes considerable care to achieving a balance between technical information and homiletic-devotional interpretation." - Eerdmans

“Blenkinsopp's excellent new OTL commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah both demonstrates the importance of postexilic biblical literature and contributes significantly to our understanding of it. As Blenkinsopp notes, Ezra-Nehemiah in particular and 2nd-Temple Judaism in general have often been distorted and dismissed as a decline from the high water mark of preexilic prophecy into mere legalism. Only recently have scholars come to appreciate the creativity of the formative postexilic era and that of Ezra-Nehemiah. Blenkinsopp's commentary provides an important key to Ezra- Nehemiah. It vividly captures the reality of the fledgling Judean community in its struggle to survive with integrity in relation to God and to changed historical circumstances. Paying attention to literary as well as historical issues, the commentary also illuminates the nuanced ways in which the text interprets and thereby restructures that reality.” – Tamara C. Eskenazi

""The chequered story of the Kings, a matter of nearly five centuries, had ended disastrously in 587 B.C. with the sack of Jerusalem, the fall of the monarchy and the removal to Babylonia of all that made Judah politically viable. It was a death to make way for a rebirth." So begins Derek Kidner in this introduction and commentary to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah which chart the Jews' return from exile to Jerusalem and the beginnings of that rebirth. As the drama unfolds, we see how international politics, nationalist pride, wise leadership, political intrigue and opportunism, internal dissension and compromise all shape events. But above all and through all we see the good hand of God at work. The original, unrevised text of this volume has been completely retypeset and printed in a larger, more attractive format with the new cover design for the series." - IVP Academic