Ketubim: Writings
This was the final section of the Tanak (T is for Torah, N is for Nabim, and K is for Ketubim), to
be included in the canon. The final determination of what would be included in the Ketubim took
place at a rabbinic council at Javneh in about 80 c.e. The early church accepted the decision of
Javneh. We will discuss the role of the discernment of the community in the designation of
scripture in class.
Five of these books are called festival scrolls (Megillot) – Ruth, Song of Slomon, Ecclesiastes,
Lamentations, and Esther – because they were read at the five principal festivals of the Jewish
liturgical year.
Ruth – Pentecost (a harvest festival)
Song of Solomon – Passover
Ecclesiastes – Tabernacles/Booths
Lamentations – Fast of the Ninth of Ab – the date on which both Temples were destroyed
Esther - Purim
There are many different genre of literature represented in the Ketubim. The first three books
that we will discuss – Psalms, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations -- contain the sacred songs of
Israel.
Psalms is a collection of songs. Like the hymns we sing in Church, they represent the human
voice in response to God. Which kind of psalms do you think are most numerous: praise, lament,
thanksgiving, vengeance, confession? If you answered praise, you make a very common mistake.
The most numerous are laments. Do the hymns we sing in our congregations represent the
Psalter? Read the following selection of psalms to get a sense of their range of themes:
Read Psalm 1 that introduces the Psalter. Like psalms 19 and 119, it affirms the Torah.
Read Psalm 2, an affirmation of God's sovereignty. Also read Psalm 113 (the first of the Hallel
psalms 113-118) and 118. Psalm 118 gives thanks for God's deliverance from enemies and is a
rich mixture of typology and theology. Take note of verse 22 which Jesus will apply to himself
in Mark 12:10 (par. Matt 21:42; Luke 20:17; cf. Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7). Take note of verses 2627 and how they become the script for the crowd's response to Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.
Read Psalms 23, 3, 51, 109 and 137.
Psalm 23 is also an affirmation.
Psalm 3 is a lament.
Psalm 51 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new right spirit within me" is a
confession.
Psalms 109 and 137 call for divine vengeance.
Memorization Assignment: Memorize the 23rd Psalm and at least one other Psalm that you can
imagine finding yourself reciting frequently given your own situation or life. See the
suggestions below. If the Psalm is more than 18 verses, you may memorize a version abbreviated
to 18 verses. If your psalm is less than 6 verses, you must memorize two short psalms that add up
to at least 15 verses. Explain why you made your selection and on what sort of occasion you
might find yourself reciting it to help express what you feel or to pray to God.
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Psalm 6: Prayer for those who suffer from feelings of guilt.
Psalm 8: A prayer of praise for those who need to affirm God's hand at work in their lives.
Psalm 10 or 82: A prayer for peace and service workers who often ask, "Where is God?"
Psalm 11: A prayer for those who practice non-violence to utter when they are confronted by
violence and are tempted to flee.
Psalm 12: A prayer for those who despair of the evil times in which we live.
Psalm 13: A prayer for one who is grieving or suffering some emotional pain.
Psalm 16: A prayer for those who are tempted to put their trust in the powers of this world.
Psalm 69: A prayer for those who feel overwhelmed. [I often recite this first verse of this Psalm
towards the end of the term.]
Psalm 90: A prayer for those who feel impatient or who feel discontent with life.
Psalm 96 or 100: A song of praise appropriate for those who need words to help them affirm
God's majesty in a world that ignores God.
Psalm 101: A song that would be appropriate for anyone who is entering into professional life
every morning before work.
Psalm 102: A prayer for someone who seems to suffer from clinical depression.
Isaiah 40 - this is not a psalm, but Professor Joe Liechty has found these to be some of the most
faith sustaining verses of the Old Testament.
Song of Solomon (also called Song of Songs or Canticles) is a love song. Its inclusion in the
canon was hotly debated. Many held this to be simply a secular love song. Others believed it to
be an allegorical treatment of God's love for Israel. The latter carried the day. Read chapters 1-3
and take note of any elements that might warrant its inclusion for modern reasons. What
elements might cause people to hesitate reading it aloud in church?
Lamentations - a collection of five poems lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, set in the
Babylonian Exile believed to be the words of Jeremiah or Baruch, his scribe. The book begins:
1:1-2 How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
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has become a vassal.
She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
she has no
one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
they have become her
enemies.
The themes of the Deuteronomic history are laid out in verse.
4: 11-1 The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger,
and kindled a fire
in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor did any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe
or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
It was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed the blood of the
righteous
in the midst of her.
Blindly they wandered through the streets,
so defiled with blood
that no one was able
to
touch their garments.
The book ends with the theme of restoration for Israel but not for Edom:
4:21-22 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Edom,
you that live in the land of Uz;
but to you
also the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter Zion, is accomplished,
he will keep you in exile
no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter Edom, he will punish,
he will uncover your sins.
The Books of Wisdom: Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes
These books are perhaps the most philosophical of all the Old Testament books and, together
with a number of extra-canonical works, are called wisdom literature. They focus upon how to
live prudently and explore the nature and meaning of life.
Proverbs is a collection of folk wisdom and court wisdom. The book begins with an invitation
to seek wisdom and a warning that if one does not seek wisdom but pursues folly, when need for
wisdom comes, it will elude one and folly leads to destruction. Here is one of my favorite
proverbs about a fool: "Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who reverts to his folly"
(26:11).
Normally we associate proverbs with pithy sayings that express some sort of conventional or folk
wisdom. For example, whenever I complained about something my grandmother would say,
“Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. “When I try to accommodate the wishes or my
colleagues, there is always one who dislikes the plan, and so the platitude, “You can’t please all
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of the people all of the time,” helps me become resigned to the situation. When my feelings
were hurt by my brothers calling me names, I would say, “Sticks and stones can break my bones,
but names can never hurt me.” Of course, names can hurt and the purpose of the saying was an
attempt to save my pride by denying that they could hurt me.
Journal Assignment: Before reading the following proverbs, write down proverb that your
parent/grandparent/mentor uses often and the context in which it is used. As you read the
following commentary on and excerpts from Proverbs, describe in a sentence or two the
difference or similarity between conventional wisdom and biblical wisdom.
In the first section (1-29), most are attributed to Solomon. One of the most quoted verses in
Proverbs is 1:7: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and
instruction." Solomon explains in a variety of ways how fools meet their end. When warning his
son of the consequences of heeding sinners, he appeals to a proverb -- "For in vain is the net
baited while the bird is looking on" (1:17) -- that sinners do not heed for, as Solomon says, "yet
they lie in wait -- to kill themselves and set an ambush -- for their own lives! Such is the end of
all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors."
Solomon teaches his student the source of happiness or blessing in life is not worldly treasure but
a life of faithfulness, trusting in the Lord, and understanding wisdom. Wisdom is not our own
insight but rather understanding of God's ways: "Happy are those who find wisdom, and those
who get understanding, for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold."
(3:13-14)
Wisdom in Hebrew is a feminine noun, Hochmah, and so Solomon refers to Wisdom as though it
were a good woman. (The Greek word for wisdom, Sophia. is also a femine noun and so wisdom
is also personified as a woman in the Greek wisdom literature.) In some parts of Proverbs,
wisdom speaks in the first person. For example: "The Lord created me at the beginning of his
work, the first of his acts of long ago .... When he established the heavens, I was there .... I was
beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race." 8:22-31
The book of Proverbs is not simply a collection of proverbial wisdom, but it does offer some
very good general advice often followed by a specific example:
"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not
say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come agian, tomorow I will give it' -- when you have it with you."
3:27-28
Some of his advice may be familiar to you as part of our culture's conventional wisdom:
"Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or
officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest." 6:6-8
Much of Proverbs is good common sense caste in poetry: "Can fire be carried in the bosom
without buring one's clothes? Or can one walk on hot coals without scorching the feet? So is he
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who sleeps with his neighbor's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished" (6:27-29);
"Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautify woman without good sense" (11:22). (Much of
Solomon's advice is about avoiding adultery or the temptation of promiscuous sex. Often the
loose woman is a symbol for all temptations or satisfaction of desires.)
Much of Solomon's advise is about speech and what we do with it. He repeatedly warns not to be
a scoffer or to heed one: "Whoever belittles another lacks sense, but an intelligent person
remains silent" (11:12); "Rash words are like sword thrusts, but he tongue of the wise brings
healing" (12:18); "Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up" (12:25).
Solomon also encourages his audience to accept discipline and rebuke: "A wise child loves
discipline but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke" (13:1). Accepting correction is an important
step on the path of wisdom. One of Solomon's proverbs about discipline is often misquoted as
"Spare the rod spoil the child." His actual words are "Those who spare the rod hate their
children but those who love them are diligent to discipline them" (13:24). Some take the rod to
mean corporal punishment, but if you read all of Proverbs, the rod is a symbol for all sorts of
correction and discipline. Those of us who know children who are never disciplined by their
parents know they are seldom happy children and rarely grow up knowing what makes them
happy.
Sometimes a verse taken out of context changes its meaning. For example, Solomon’s saying,
"The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends" (14:20) taken
alone might suggest that Solomon is critical of the poor. The following verse makes Solomon's
intent clearer: "Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind
to the poor" (14:21). The first verse describes the way of the world, and the second verse
describes how things ought to be.
These ideas, as well as others, are repeated in various and numerous ways and in no particular
order, so few take the time to read each an every verse, but a close reading will be rewarded
with many gems such as the following: "The field of the poor may yield much food, but it is
swept away through injustice" (13:23); "Bread gained by deceit is sweet, but afterward the
mouth will be full of gravel" (20:17); "Do not say, 'I will repay evil'; wait for the Lord, and he
will help you" (20:22); "All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the
heart" (21:2); "The rich and the poor have this in common; the Lord is the maker of them all"
(22:2); "When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you, and put a
knife to your throat if you have a big appetite" (23:1-2).
Sometimes Solomon's words are a haunting indictment of our own complacencies: "If you faint
in the day of adversity, your strength being small; if you hold back from rescuing those taken
away to death, those who go staggering to the slaughter; if you say, 'Look, we did not know
this' -- does not he who weighs the hear perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your
soul know it? And will he not repay all according to their deeds?" (24:10-12).
Sometimes, you might be tempted to write this one down and slip it under your neighbor's door:
"Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, otherwise the neighbor will become weary of
you and hate you" (25:17).
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Here is a good one to remember: "Like a maniac who shoots deadly firebrands and arrows, so is
one who deceives a neighbor and says, 'I am only joking!'" (26:18-19).
The Apostle Paul, from the New Testament, quotes the following words of wisdom: "If your
enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for
you will heap coals of fire on their heads, and the Lord will reward you" (25:21-22). There is no
agreement about what it means to "heap coals of fire" on someone's head. Some think that it will
make them feel ashamed; others that it will consecrate them to God.
Sometimes Solomon seems to contradict himself: "Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will be a fool yourself. Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their
own eyes" (26:4-5). The best course can be determined only in the particular context.
Here is a good one to remember, if you are every tempted to spout platitudes when someone
makes a mistake: "Like a thorn bush brandished by the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the
mouth of a fool" (26:9).
The final section (30-31) contains proverbs attributed to Agur and Lemuel, King of Massah,
taught to him by his mother. The proverbs by Agur include advice and ideas that tend to be witty.
For example, "For as pressing milk produces curds, and pressing the nose produces blood, so
pressing anger produces strife" (30:33). The book closes with an acrostic poem in praise of a
good wife.
Job addresses the problem of suffering and how people respond to it, by telling the story of a
righteous man who suffers because Satan convinces God to put him to the test. The narrative
frame of the story prevents the reader from being able to affirm anything that Job's supposed
friends have to say. God is not punishing Job. God has no particular purpose in punishing Job.
There is no moral lesson for others to draw. God is testing Job, but the narrative makes it
difficult for the reader to feel comfortable with God's reasons for doing so. Read Job 1-3. Why
does Job suffer? The remainder of Job contains dialogues between Job and his friends. The
dialogue begins with Job sitting on a dung heap lamenting the fact that he was born. His first
friend ends his words of "comfort" by saying God is just; therefore, Job should be happy he is
being punished. (4:2-17). Job responds to this description of God the master planner who has his
hand in all things by asking God why he has to concern himself with the goings on of
insignificant human beings. If God has a plan, and Job has to suffer in that plan, then Job would
be better off if God had not noticed Job in the first place. (7:17)
Bildad, Job's next friend, argues that Job must have sinned because he is being punished. He
works with the following faulty logic. Sin leads to punishment and punishment is suffering;
therefore, suffering is caused by sin. (8:20) Job protests that he has done nothing to deserve this
punishment.
Zophar, the third friend, argues that everyone sins (11:4-6). Job eventually asks whether his
friends are prepared to lie on behalf of God since they are false witnesses, they cannot testify
they have seen Job sin, yet they accuse him of sinning. (13:7-8) His friends come back with
words to the effect that if Job has not sinned before then he is certainly sinning now (15:1). [We
may be tempted to make the same argument, but what sort of justice does God provide, if he
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punishes people for what they have not yet done?] The argument goes round and round with no
one conceding to the other's position. In chapter 32, Elihu steps in to put them all right but he
brings nothing new to the case. He simply proclaims God is just and condemns all who are selfrighteous. Read chapters 22-25 for a sample of the dialogue.
In chapter 38 God interrupts. Note: the Bible does not say to whom God speaks his words of
rebuke. The editors of my edition seem to think that Job is the audience, but one can argue that
God speaks to the arrogance of the friends who bring no comfort to their suffering friend as well
as to Job. God argues that since Job and friends were not at creation, they cannot possible
comprehend God. True, but not an answer to the question of why the good suffer. In Job 39:9-12
God contends that creation is a wild thing over which humans cannot exercise control or treat as
predictable. He goes on in verses 13-17 to describe how the Ostrich deals cruelly with its young
because it has no share in wisdom. In chapter 40, God challenges human beings. If human beings
can execute perfect justice and can tame chaos, then God will answer them. Read chapters 38-42.
Which of God's questions in chapters 38-41 do you consider worth remembering and to which
we should respond as Job does when in arrogance we claim to speak for God. Why might many
people find the restoration of Job's fortune a dissatisfying end to the story?
Ecclesiastes contains the cynical philosophic musings of a King in old age, also identified as the
Teacher (Koheleth), about the meaninglessness of life in a world where evil prevails and the
good go unrewarded. This is one of the last works to be included in the canon. It begins (1:2) and
ends (12:8) with the following assertion about life: "Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity
of vanities! All is vanity."
The passage from Ecclesiastes with which people tend to be most familiar was used in a song by
the Byrds in the 1960's:
3:1-8 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
One must be very cautious how one quotes from this work. Given that the author confesses that
he has spent his life chasing pleasure and calls even the pursuit of wisdom “vanity and chasing
after the wind” (2:26), he may provide more of an example of the path not to follow rather than
prove to be a wise counselor.
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The Stories of Ruth, Esther, Daniel
Three of the books in Ketubim are inspirational biographies of people who are faithful to God in
adverse circumstances.
Ruth is a story set in the time of Judges about the inclusion of a foreign women into the people
of Israel. This story seems to stand as a corrective to an over zealous reading of Ezra and
Nehemiah who forbid the marrying of foreign wives and encourage those who return from exile
to divorce their foreign wives. Ruth is a Moabite woman who marries into an Israelite family
living in Moab. When all the men in the family die, she breaks with custom by not returning to
her father's house and by following her mother-in-law Naomi back to Bethlehem, saying the
following:
Where you go, I will go;
Where you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God my God. 1:16
When Ruth and Naomi arrive in Bethlehem, they are destitute, so Ruth goes out into the fields to
glean wheat. She is noticed by Boaz, a distant relative of Naomi's husband, who instructs his
men to make sure that no one molests her and invites her to share in his meal. When she returns
home and tells Naomi about Boaz's kindness, Naomi devises a plan to gain security for Ruth.
She tells her to bath and anoint herself and to go out to the threshing floor where Boaz and his
men are sleeping, and to lie down at his feet. When Boaz is startled from his sleep to find Ruth at
his feet, he asks, "Who are you?" and she responds, "I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak
over your servant, for you are next-of-kin." (3:9). This may seem more than a little forward to
us, but remember in Ruth's day, there was no marriage ceremony. A woman became a man's wife
through a contract or when a man slept with a woman, he took her as a wife. Ruth is asking Boaz
to fulfill the law of levirate marriage (Deut 25:5-10). When a man dies without producing a son,
his brother sleeps with the widow and produces a child in the name of the brother. That child
can then inherit the dead brother's estate. Perhaps Naomi's husband had property in Bethlehem
that could only be secured by a son. Boaz postpones his marriage to Ruth because he knows of a
closer relative. Once that relative declines his obligation to Naomi and Ruth, Boaz marries Ruth.
When Ruth bears a son, the neighbors say to Naomi: "Blessed be the LORD, who has not left
you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a
restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is
more to you than seven sons, has borne him." (4:14-15). Then Naomi takes the child and nurses
it. The women of the neighborhood name the child Obed and say, "A son has been born to
Naomi" (4:17) Obed became the father of Jesse, the father of David. Ruth and Boaz are ancestors
of King David, and Ruth is named in Jesus' genealogy in Matthew. The Christian canon places it
between Judges and I Samuel because this is where the story fits into history.
Esther is a story containing a number of historical discrepancies and does not mention God's
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name once. The story begins when King Ahasuerus deposes his wife Vashti when she refuses to
be paraded in front of a group of me who have been drinking at a banquet. The king regrets no
longer having a wife, but is not easily pleased by women. His servants conduct a beauty pageant
of sorts to find the most beautiful virgin in the land. They subject all the young virgins to a
regime of cosmetic treatments. Mordecai, a Jew living in Susa, the citidel city, enters his
orphaned cousin Esther. Esther wins the contest and is crowned queen, but she has concealed her
Jewish identity upon the command of Mordecia. Mordecai wins favor from the king by
discovering a plot to assassinate King Ahasuerus. On day, Haman who is the highest official in
the land, encounters Mordecai at the king's gate. Mordecai refuses to bow to him, so Hama plots
to destroy all the Jews. He tells the King: "There is a certain nation scattered among the other
nations in all your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other nation, and they do
not keep the laws of the king. It is not expedient for the king to tolerate them. If it pleases the
king, let it be decreed that they are to be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver
into the king's treasury." (3:8-19) The king grants Haman's request. Mordecai then sends a
message to Esther telling her to go to the king and plead with him. Esther replies: "All nations of
the empire know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being
called, there is no escape for that person. Only the one to whom the king stretches out the golden
scepter is safe--and it is now thirty days since I was called to go to the king." (4:11). Mordecai
comes back with the threat that if she keeps silent, she and her father's family with perish. He
adds, "Who knows, Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this." (4:14)
Esther requests that the Jews fast three days on her behalf. She and her maids also fast, then she
goes to the king. Rather than making a direct request, she invites him to a banquet along with
Haman. During the feast, the king asks her again what her petition is, but Esther bides her time
and invites the king and Haman to a second feast. Haman is very pleased with the attention that
he is getting from Esther and boasts of it to his friends and wife. His wife suggests that now is
the time to ask the king that Mordecai be hanged and he builds gallows in preparation. That night
the king awakes from his sleep and is compelled to review his records and finds that he has never
rewarded Mordecai for his service to him. He consults with Haman and asks him, "What shall I
do for the person whom I wish to honor?" (6:6) Haman assumes that the king is talking about
him and so he answers, "Let the king's servants bring out the fine linen robe that the king has
worn, and the horse on which the king rides, and let both be given to one of the king's honored
Friends, and let him robe the person whom the king loves and mount him on the horse, and let it
be proclaimed through the open square of the city, saying, 'Thus shall it be done to everyone
whom the king honors.'" (6:8-9) The king then says, "You have made an excellent suggestion!
Do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who is on duty in the courtyard. And let nothing
be omitted from what you have proposed." (6:10). Haman obeys but increases his resolve to seek
revenge upon the Jews. He then hurries off to Esther's second dinner party. When the king asks
Esther once more for her petition, she responds, "If I have found favor with the king, let my life
be granted me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we have been sold, I and my
people, to be destroyed, plundered, and made slaves--we and our children--male and female
slaves. This has come to my knowledge. Our antagonist brings shame on the king's court." (7:34) When the king asks, "Who is the person that would dare to do this thing?" Esther points her
finger," Our enemy is this evil man Haman!" (7:5-6). The king goes out into the garden for a
moment, and Haman throws himself on Esther's couch to plead for his life. The king returns to
the room and thinks that Haman is assaulting Esther. Haman ends up being hung from the
gallows that he has prepared for Mordecai. Unfortunately the king seems unable to recind his
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own decree that the Jews be destroyed, but he grants the Jews permission to defend themselves.
The story ends with the inaugeration of the feast of Purim (celebrated in late winter) in which the
story of Esther is celebrated by giving gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor.
Daniel is set in the Babylonian exile contains stories about Daniel and three friends who balance
or resist acculturation with fidelity to the covenant. The book ends with a series of visions in
which the power of human kingship and empire is exposed as mere appearance of power and
transitory.
Outline of Book:
Chapter One: Daniel and his three friends come to live in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon in order to be educated and serve as civil servants. They become vegetarians in order to
avoid breaking Jewish dietary laws. This diet proves to be healthier than the palace diet. God
gifts the four young men with wisdom and all sorts of intellectual gifts.
Chapter Two: Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that upsets him. He calls for his official dream
interpreters not only to interpret the dream but to describe it first. They fail. Daniel is taken to the
king. He describes the dream in which a great statue made of the strongest metals but with "feet
of iron and clay." A stone strikes the statue's feet and it falls to pieces. The interpretation then
follows: a succession of kingdoms will arise and the fourth one will crumble. Daniel receives a
promotion.
Chapter Three: Nebuchadnezzar makes a statue and commands everyone to worship it or be
thrown in a furnace. Daniel's three friends refuse. They are thrown in the furnace, but are not
harmed. Nebuchadnezzar blesses their God and orders that no one blaspheme against the God of
the three young men.
Chapter Four: Nebuchadnezzar has another dream, this one about a huge tree in which all living
beings dwell that is chopped down, and calls Daniel to interpret it . Daniel explains that the tree
is Nebuchadnezzar. A year later Nebuchadnezzar is struck down with some sort of mental illness
and he begins to live as if he were a cow. When he is restored to sanity, he praises God.
Chapter Five: King Belshazzar throws a feast. A hand appears and writes "MENE, MENE,
TEKEL, PARSIN" on the wall. Daniel comes to interpret it and explains that it is a message of
judgment: "MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an ed;
TEKEL, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is
divided and given to the Medes and Persians." Belshazzar gives Daniel gifts in return.
Chapter Six: Darius the Persian king now rules and Daniel is one of his favorite aids. Darius
makes a law that anyone who prays to anyone, divine or human, other than Darius will be thrown
into a lion's den. Daniel prays in secret, but is betrayed by other jealous civil servants. The lions
do not harm Daniel, and Darius rules that everyone in his kingdom should "tremble and fear
before the God of Daniel."
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Chapter Seven: Daniel has a dream about four great beasts that rule the earth. Then he sees a
throne on which sits "an Ancient One" [presumably God]. Then "one like the son of man" comes
to the Ancient One who presents him with dominion and kingship over all the nations. This is an
important text in early Christianity.
Chapter Eight: Backtrack to Belshazzar who has a vision of a ram with two horns and a male
goat coming from the west who defeats the ram. Daniel, with the assistance of Gabriel, explains
that the Kings of Media and Persia will be defeated by a great king from Greece. This is clearly a
prediction of Alexander the Great's defeat of the Persian Empire.
Chapters Nine-Twelve describe similar visions.
Histories: Ezra and Nehemiah; First and Second Chronicles
Ezra and Nehemiah - two historical books named after torah scribes. They are considered one
work in the Tanak. These books contain the end of the Old Testament narrative and describe the
return from Babylonian Exile and the renewal of the covenant. These works portray not just the
restoration of institutions but the restoration of a piety and a return to the devotion of the praise
Psalms.
Ezra begins with the decree of Cyrus that allowed the restoration of Jerusalem and the
rebuilding of the Temple. Cyrus authorizes Ezra, a priestly scribe to form a society centered
upon the principles of the Torah. In chapter 2, we find a long list of returning exiles. Chapter 3
describes the first sacrifices offered on the new altar and the laying of the foundations of the
Second Temple. This is depicted as a moment of mixed emotions:
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their
vestments were stationed to praise the LORD with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of
Asaph, with cymbals, according to the directions of King David of Israel; and they sang
responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD,
"For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel."
And all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because
the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12But many of the priests and Levites
and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept
with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that
the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the
people's weeping, for the people shouted so loudly that the sound was heard far away.
3:10-13
The next chapters (4-6) provide important information that explains the tensions between
Samaritans and Jews portrayed in the Gospels of the New Testament. Zerubbabel, the Jewish
governor, rejects the aid of Samaritans in rebuilding the Temple. The Samaritans then go to the
Persian Emperor Xerxes and persuade him that he should not allow the building project to be
finished because it will only encourage the people to rebel. Xerxes agrees. The Jewish leaders
appeal to the next ruler, Darius, who consults Cyrus’s edict and the building is completed. In
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chapter 7, Ezra arrives in Jerusalem and appoints scribes and judges to serve as administrators.
Chapters 9 and 10 contain an edict to which Ruth may be a corrective. Ezra notes that many
returned exiles have married foreign wives and fears that they will corrupt the newly revived
piety with their pagan ways. He calls for divorce of all these wives. The book ends with a list of
the unsanctified marriages.
Nehemiah is the story of Nehemiah who is appointed governor of Judea by Emperor Artaxerxes.
The first part of the book, chapters 1-7, describes his oversight of the rebuilding of the province.
Chapters 8-10 describe how Ezra provides the community with a Torah and institutes an
atonement ceremony. The book ends with description of Nehemiah’s fidelity to the law made
evident in his enforcement of the Sabbath and the ban on foreign wives (chapter 13).
1 and 2 Chronicles provide another telling of the biblical narrative from Adam to the fall of
Jerusalem. The thematic focus is different from that of the Deuteronomic narrator. The story of
David is told from a priestly perspective and omits stories that put David in a bad light (eg. the
Bathsheba story). The levitical preoccupations of the narrator have not made this a more popular
version of the story found in the Torah and Former Prophets.
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