Exile, Return and Diaspora

Table of Contents
Expatriates and Repatriates in Late Biblical Literature
Preface .............................................................................................................. V
List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................... IX GARY KNOPPERS

A. Introduction
Introduction
To survey, as requested, the theme of exile, corporate identity and repatriation
LoUIS JONKER
in historiographic and prophetic texts as a prelude to discussing the Diaspora
Introduction
in Ezra-Nehemiah is a well-nigh impossible task. l The Judahite exile of the
Reflecting on Historiography and Identity Negotiation ................................... .3
6th century BCE was recently the subject of an excellent and very detailed
monograph by Rainer Albertz. 2 The substantial treatment of the historical and
ROBERT VOSLOO
literary evidence by Albertz shows how complex the issues are, even more
The Writing of History as Remedy or Poison?
complex than Enno Janssen and Peter Ackroyd recognised in their fine mono-
Some Remarks on Paul Ricoeur's Reflections on Memory, Identity
graphs several decades ago. 3
and "The Historiographical Operation" ........................................................... 11
Exile is also an extraordinarily difficult topic to tackle in a single essay,
because forced migration is one of the most dominant and persistent themes in
Exploring Texts and Intertexts the historical and prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. In the first story, or
set of stories, in the Tanakh, one reads about the divine banishment of the rust
GARY KNOPPERS man and woman from the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:22-23). Thus, the first pa-
Exile, Return, and Diaspora ges of Genesis are punctuated by a formative tale of exile. Among the stories
Expatriates and Repatriates in Late Biblical Literature ................................... 29 of the ancestors in the book of Genesis one reads of the temporary flight of
Abram and Sarai into Egypt (12: 10) and later of the journey of the children of
LOUIS JONKER Jacob, the eponymous ancestor of Israel, into Egypt (46:6). In the latter case,
Engaging with Different Contexts the displacement is depicted as long-lasting. According to biblical chronolo-
A Survey of the Various Levels ofIdentity Negotiation in Chronicles .......... 63

EHUD BEN ZVI

I An earlier draft of this essay was read at the Historiography and Identity in Second
On Social Memory and Identity Formation in Late Persian Yehud
Temple Hebrew Bible Literature Interdisciplinary and International Workshop held at the
A Historian's Viewpoint with a Focus on Prophetic Literature, University of Stellenbosch, 11-13 August 2010. I would like to thank the participants,
Chronicles and the Deuteronomistic Historical Collection ............................. 95 especially Louis Jonker, the chair and chief organiser, and Hendrik Bosman, the official
respondent to my paper, for their insightful observations, comments and questions.
JOHANN COOK 2 Albertz, Israel in Exile.
3 Janssen, Juda; Ackroyd, Exile and Restoration. Ackroyd's research and the larger
Contextuality in Wisdom Literature
themes he tackled in the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods are the subject of a recent
The Provenance of LXX Proverbs and Job as Case Studies ........................... 149 volume commemorating his work. See Knoppers et al., Exile and Restoration Revisited.
30 Gary Knoppers
gy, the Israelites lived in Egypt for some four centuries before the time of the
exodus (Gen. 15: 13; Exod. 12:40).4
To begin to do justice to the vast topic of exile would require, therefore,
another lengthy monograph. Given that such a project is far too large for the
task at hand, I will have to be selective and dispense with critical intro-
ductions to each of the biblical writings being discussed. My essay will begin
by briefly asking some questions about what is meant by "the exile." My
study will argue that not only are there a number of important exiles referred
to in the historical writings, but also that these other exiles are critical to
grasping how Judahite authors construed the Babylonian deportations. My
essay will then proceed to discuss briefly two prophetic texts that both reflect
and respond to changing conditions in the Neo-Babylonian and early Persian
peno. ds. 5
One may discern among one _of the C1':m1:::l (writings), namely Ezra-
Nehemiah, glimpses of another way by which Judeans adapted to changing
international circumstances in the early Persian / early Hellenistic period. Par-
ticularly fascinating in this particular literary work is the developing interplay
between homeland and diasporic communities within the larger context of an
international empire.
B. Invasion and Dislocation as Facts of Life
in the Southern Levant
It is commonplace in biblical studies that when one refers to exile, one is
speaking of the Babylonian exile. The exile designates the forced migration of
the Judahite people, or at least a good many of them, to Babylonia in the early
6th century BCE. This common practice is perfectly understandable, but it is
also misleading and ultimately distorting. The practice is perfectly under-
standable, because a good deal of biblical literature is centred on the expe-
rience of the Babylonian dislocations and their consequences for the history of
the Judahite people. The books of the Fonner Prophets or the Deuteronomistic
History, as the books of Joshua through Kings are still often called in contem-
porary scholarship, end with the Babylonian deportations. History stops, as it
4The number given in Exod. 12:40 is 430 (cf. Acts 7:6 [400]; Gal. 3:17 [430]). In SP
and LXX Exod. 12:40, the 430 figure includes the time of the Israelite ancestors in Ca-
naan.
5 Another set of important prophetic texts (the so-called Second Isaiah and Third Isai-
ah) are critical to a wider discussion of this period, but the interpretation of these fasci-
nating but complicated writings lies beyond the scope of this essay. See recently Kessler,
"Images of Exile", 309-351; Nihan, "Ethnicity and Identity", 67-104; and Middlemas,
"Trito-Isaiah", 105-125.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 31
were, with the destruction of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, the end of
the Davidic kingdom, and the exodus of the people from the land.
The same is largely true for the Chronicler's alternative history of the peo-
ple of Israel, even though this work was written approximately two centuries
after the composition of the Deuteronomistic History. After introducing read-
ers to Israel's contextualisation within the lineages relating to other peoples (1
Chr. 1: 1-2:2) and providing a genealogical survey of Israel's lineages (1 Chr.
2:3-8:40), the work terminates its genealogical prologue with a summary of
the Babylonian exile (1 Chr. 9:1).6 Similarly, coverage of the lineages of the
Transjordanian tribes ends with their exile in Neo-Assyrian times (1 Chr.
5:23-26).7 As for the long history of the monarchy in Chronicles, it basically
ends, as Kings does, with the Babylonian invasions and the people's exit from
8
the land. Large sections of prophetic works, such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel,
are preoccupied with the events leading up to the Babylonian deportations, the
theological analysis of these ordeals, and the consequences of the forced mi-
grations to Babylon both for those who remained in the land and for those
who left. Shorter prophetic books, such as Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Obadi-
ah, are also centred on the Neo-Babylonian era.
Yet other literary works, such as Lamentations and some of the Psalms
(e.g. 89, 137), commemorate in poetic fonn reactions to these horrific events.
Given the copious attention some biblical writings devote to the Babylonian
captivity, it is thus understandable that when most biblical scholars speak of
the exile, they are referring to the Babylonian deportations. But this common
practice is also misleading and ultimately distorting for a number of reasons.
To begin with, one has to acknowledge not only the two major Babylonian
deportations of 598-597 BCE and 586 BCE (Table 1), but also the temporary
control held over Judah in 609-605 BCE by the Egyptian monarch Necho II,
following his defeat and execution of the Judahite refonner king, Josiah (2
6 Knoppers,! Chronicles 1-9, 486-487.
7 The genealogies of Chronicles map out the Israelite connections to other peoples,
the interrelations among the descendants of Jacob/Israel, and their relation to the land,
but the coverage of the trans-Jordanian tribes (Half-Manasseh, Reuben and Gad) ceases
after their expUlsion from the land by the Neo-Assyrian monarch Tiglath-pileser III (l
Chr. 5:23-26). Within the genealogies and within the Chronistic story of the monarchy,
these three sodalities are never heard from again, Knoppers, ! Chronicles 1-9, 390-400.
8 Although it concludes more optimistically than Kings does with a brief mention of
King Cyrus' edict, allowing the people to return home and rebuild the Temple (2 Chr.
36:22-23). The same tendency of looking forward toward repatriation is true of the gene-
alogical prologue. After concluding the genealogical introduction to the Israelite people
with the Babylonian deportation (l Chr. 9:1), the narrative resumes with a brief account
of an intertribal return to Jerusalem, accompanied by the furnishings of the First Temple
(l Chr. 9:2-34). See Knoppers, "Sources, Revisions, and Editions", 141-168; "Treasures
Won and Lost", 181-208.
32 Gary Knoppers
Kgs. 23:29-30).9 Jehoiakim was to switch his allegiance back to Babylon in
604 BeE after Ashkelon was sacked by the Babylonians (cf. Hab. 1:5-10), on-
ly to switch his allegiance back to the Egyptian fold, following the apparently
unsuccessful Babylonian invasion of Egypt in 601-600 BeE and Necho's con-
quest ofGaza (cf. Jer. 47:1).10
In the context of discussing these tumultuous times, one must recognise
that the Babylonian-mandated transfer of central authority from Jerusalem to
Mizpah, the new capital of Judah, involved another serious dislocation, at
least for those who remained in the land. 1l In this connection it is also im-
portant to acknowledge the exile to Egypt in approximately 582 BeE led by
those Judahites who participated in the assassination of the Babylonian-
appointed governor of Judah in Mizpah (Table 1).12 In short, when speaking
of (southern) exile, one has to recognise in reality two major Babylonian ex-
iles, one major Egyptian exile and other population movements. 13
Table 1. Invasion and dislocation as facts of life in the Southern Levant
Invasion and deportation of Tigath-pileser III (northern Israel) 733-732 BCE
Invasion of Shalmaneser V (Israel) - 722 BCE
Invasion and deportation of Sargon II (Israel) 720 BCE
Invasion and deportation of Sennacherib (Judah) 701 BCE
Invasion of and subjection to Necho II (Judah) - 609-605 BCE
Invasion and deportation of Nebuchadnezzar (Judah) - 598-597 BCE
Invasion and deportation of Nebuchadnezzar (Judah) 586 BCE
Voluntary flight to Egypt 582 BCE
9 Donner, Geschichte; Redford, Egypt. Canaan, and Israel; Ahlstrom, History of An-
cient Palestine; Vanderhooft, The Neo-Babylonian Empire; Miller and Hayes, History.
10 Lipinski, "The Egyptian-Babylonian War", 235-241.
II Mizpah remained the governmental seat for not simply a few decades, but perhaps
for over a century and a half until the time of Nehemiah. See Lemaire, "PopUlations".
31-74; Lipschits, "Nebuchadrezzar's Policy", 467-487; "The History of the Benjamin
Region", 155-190; "Judah", 129-142. In any event, the change initiated in Neo-Baby-
Ionian times had important ramifications for the administration and economic organisa-
tion of Yehud in the early Achaemenid era.
12 The text of Jeremiah (40: 11-12; 41: IS) also mentions Judahites who emigrated on
their own accord to Judah's neighbours, the states of Ammon, Moab and Edom. Similar
things must be said of at least some Judahites, who chose to escape to Egypt during the
Neo-Babylonian campaigns. On the material evidence for trade between the Judahite
communities in the Nile Delta and the remaining homeland community, see J. S. Hol-
"Judeans", 405-437.
I. The Egyptian dislocation is only briefly mentioned in the book of Kings (2 Kgs.
25:22-26), but receives some significant attention from the authors of Jeremiah (41: 1-
18). It seems likely that the broader social dimensions of this dislocation are understated
in the terse account of Kings, Albertz, Israel in Exile, 4-7.302-345.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 33
Perhaps more important than tacitly ignoring the fact of the Egyptian exile,
the standard focus on the Babylonian exile fails to do justice to the complex
and tumultuous history of Israel and Judah in the late Iron Age. As the first
table shoWS, there were a number of catastrophic foreign invasions during the
8th through early 6 centuries BeE, which resulted in great upheaval for the
th
residents of Israel and Judah. Long before the western campaigns of Nebu-
chadnezzar II in the late i and the early 6 th centuries BeE, the areas of the
h
southern Levant had already witnessed several devastating inva<;ions and de-
portations. For example, the incursion of Tigath-pileser III in approximately
733-732 BeE resulted in tremendous damage to, and depopulation of, large
sections of the northern kingdom of Israel. 14 The regions of the Galilee and
Gilead were particularly hard hit. The domain of the northern kingdom was
significantly abridged and the population was significantly reduced, because
of a uni-directional deportation directed toward building up the central areas
of the Assyrian empire.
The invasions of Shalmaneser V in 722 BeE and the invasion and bi-
directional deportations of Sargon II (Israel) in 720 BCE (and the following
years) receive more press in biblical writings than the inva<;ion of Tiglath-
pileser III does, because these campaigns brought the history of the northern
monarchy to an ignoble end. The consequences of the bi-directional deporta-
tions of the Assyrian monarch (Sargon II) are depicted in some highly unusual
stories in 2 Kings 17, and the decline of the northern kingdom is the subject of
many prophecies both in Kings and in the Latter Prophets (e.g. Hosea, Amos,
Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). 15
The Neo-Assyrian campaigns did not affect simply northern Israel, how-
ever. The invasion of Judah by Sennacherib in 701 BeE did tremendous da-
mage to the economic infrastructure of many towns and hamlets in rural Ju-
dah. Not only is this Neo-Assyrian campaign associated with the capture of
virtually all of Judah's fortified towns and a reduction of Judah's territory (so
both the Assyrian and the biblical sources), but also with the on-going survi-
val of Jernsalem. The latter event is immortalised in Kings and Chronicles,
but it should be noted that both biblical writings acknowledge significant de-
population as a result of the Neo-Assyrian campaigns. It is the Rassam cylin-
der commemorating Sennacherib's western campaign of 701 BeE, and not the
royal inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III or of Sargon n relating to their cam-
paigns in northern Israel, that record the largest number of deportees from the
lands of the southern Levant. In Nimrud Prisms D and E, relating to Sargon' s
reign, we read:
14Knoppers, "In Search of Postexilic Israel", 150-180.
15Dietrich, Prophetie und Geschichte; McKenzie, The Trouble with Kings; Albertz,
History of Israelite Religion; Ben Zvi, Hosea.
34 Gary Knoppers
4.25-41. [The inhabitants of Sa]merina, who agreed [and plotted] with a king [hostile
to) me, not to render service and not to bring tribute [to Assur] and who did battle, I
fought against them with the might of the great gods, my lords. I counted 27,280 peo-
ple as spoil, together with their chariots, and (the) gods in which they trusted. I formed
a unit with 200 of [their) chariots for my royal force. I settled the rest of them in the
midst of Assyria. 16
The proud assertions of Sargon II are certainly important for understanding
the history of Samaria, but these claims of population displacement pale in
comparison with the assertions of King Sennacherib in the Rassam cylinder,
relating to his campaign in the southern Levant:
As for Hezekiah the Judean, I besieged forty-six of his walled cities and surrounding
smaller towns, which were without number. Employing packed down ramps and ap-
plying battering rams, infantry attacks by mines, breeches, and siege machines, I con-
quered (them). I took out 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, along with
horses, mules, donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep, without number, and counted them
as spoil. He himself, I locked up within Jerosalem, his royal city, like a bird within a
cage. 17
The numbers claimed by Sennacherib are absolutely staggering. The huge
number of deportees boasted by Sennacherib dwarfs that of Sargon II for his
campaign(s) in the northern kingdom. Given the stupendous number of
200,150 in the Rassam cylinder account, Sennacherib's claim is often viewed
as an exaggeration for propagandistic purposes. 18 Nevertheless, there is no
doubt that his war against Judah had devastating effects. 19 In the aftermath of
his invasion, Sennacherib imposed new dues upon Hezekiah, in addition to his
annual tribute, while reducing his territory and granting some of the towns
Sennacherib had seized to the kings of Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod. 2o One inter-
esting echo of the depopulation caused by the Neo-Assyrian campaigns may
be found in the Chronis tic history of the late Judahite kingdom. In its narra-
tion of the late Sth to early 6tb centuries BCE, Chronicles consistently refers to
the Judahite remaining in the land as the "remnant" O,t:I',:li1;
or 1 There are periods of renewal, as in the later reign of Josiah,
but the terminology persists. In other words, the people who were forcibly
dislocated during the Neo-Babylonian invasions of Nebuchadnezzar II repre-
sented only fragments, albeit very important fragments, of the former pre-
16 Gadd, "Inscribed Prisms", 173-201 (pIs. xlv-xlvi). My translation basically follows
that of Younger, "Sargon II", 295.
17 My translation basically follows that of Cogan, "Sennacherib's , 303.
18 If so, the rhetorical hyperbole is atypical of the Assyrian royal inscriptions, which
normally count booty, refugees, and slaves rather carefully. See De Odorico, The Use of
Numbers.
19 Halpern, "Sybil or the Two Nations", 291-338; Schoors, Die Konigreiche.
20 Cogan, "Sennacherib's , 303.
21 I plan to develop this theme in a future essay. On the larger use of these terms in a
Persian period context, see Japhet, ''The Concept of the 'Remnant"', 432-449.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 35
exilic population of Judah, which had reached its demographic peak earlier in
the Stb century.
The implication to be drawn is not that the two westem campaigns of King
Nebuchadnezzar II were somehow less than devastating for the kingdom of
Judah. 22 They were certainly catastrophic for the elite and for much of the
general popUlation as well. To be sure, some residents remained in the north-
ern Judean hills and in the Rephaim Valley. A significant population evident-
ly survived in the Benjaminite hill country.23 This continuity is important to
recognize. Hence, it is misleading to speak of an empty land. By the same to-
ken, it is misleading to speak of a return to business as usual in the wake of
the Neo-Babylonian campaigns. The debates about depopulation among the
archaeologists range from some 70% to SO% of pre-exilic Judah. 24 Whatever
the precise figure, the results were devastating both for those who left and for
those who remained. The Neo-Babylonian period was, therefore, an unmiti-
gated tragedy for the state. Nevertheless, the larger point is that Judah was
confronted in its history with a series of exiles and not with a single exile. Ex-
ile was a horrific fact of life in the late Iron Age. Long before the Babylonian
armies wrought havoc in Jerusalem and Judah, the foreign armies of Syria,
Assyria and Egypt had repeatedly done serious damage to the economic infra-
structure and population of the Davidic kingdom.
C. Giving Them the Silent Treatment:
The Exilic Gap in Biblical Historiography
Given the stark realities of foreign incursions, upheavals and population dis-
placements in the Stb through the early 6th centuries, it is not too surprising
that exile is viewed in rather bleak terms by biblical authors. In many biblical
22 In 2 Chr. 36:6, there is a reference to a possible exile of Jehoiakim, "Nebuchadnez-
zar king of Babylon came up against him [lehoiakim) and bound him in fetters to take
him (1::J',;',) to Babylon." In the MT it is unclear whether Jehoiakim ever made it there,
but LXX 2 Chr. 36:6 and I Esd. 1:38 lack this ambiguity, kai apegagen auton, "and he
took him" (cf. Dan. 1:1-7). To complicate matters further, 2 Chr. 36:10 refers to a perso-
nal exile of lehoiakim's son lehoiachin (accompanied by precious temple artefacts), but
not to a mass exile of lerusalem's elite, as in 2 Kgs. 24:10-16. Hence, there is only one
major deportation in Chronicles: the deportation in the time of Zedekiah (2 Chr. 36: 11-
20).
23 Lipschits, "Nebuchadrezzar's Policy", 467-487; ''The History of the Benjamin Re-
gion", 155-190; "Judah", 129-142.
24 Quite the contrast to the 10-20% depopulation figure that appears in some publica-
tions. On the material remains, see Carter, The Emergence of Yehud; Stem, Archaeology;
Lipscbits, The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem. In his research A. Faust speaks of post-exilic
Judah as a "post-collapse" society. See Faust, "Judah in the Sixth Century BeE", 37-53;
"Judah in the Sixth Century" [Hebrew], 339-347.
36 Gary Knoppers
and ancient Near Eastern texts exile is viewed as a stigma, a sign of divine
rejection and punishment. 25 Deportation is associated in writings, such as Ho-
sea, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, Samuel-Kings and the Psalms, with horror, loss,
humiliation, subjugation, helplessness and absolute misery (e.g. 1 Sam. 12:25;
I Kgs. 9:6-9; Ezek. 12:13-16; 16:35-58; Ps. 89:39-53; 137).26 Life in the
land evokes the promise of stable families and larger kinship groups residing
within their own communities, but forced migrations lead to the dispersal of
27
families to a wide variety of different lands.
Given the profound effects of territorial, social and political dislocation, it
is no wonder that some texts portray exile as signalling the potential disinte-
gration of Israel itself. 28 Exile is a curse and so Israel in exile will become a
curse. 29 If banished to foreign lands, the people will worship foreign gods
(Deut. 4:25-28; 28:36, 64; I Sam. 26:19; Jer. 5:19; 16:10-13). In other coun-
tries, so the writers of Deuteronomy declare, the few surviving Israelites will
serve man-made deities of wood and stone that cannot see, hear, eat or smell
(Deut. 4:28). Forcibly dislocated to foreign lands, the people will have to eat
defiled food (Josh. 22:19; Amos 7:17; Hos. 9:3; Dan. 1:8) and suffer from not
being able to observe their traditional feast and festival days (Hos. 9:4).
Texts from Deuteronomy, the Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets
provide us with important insights into how ancient writers depicted forced
deportations to foreign lands. But the question may be raised: what do the bib-
lical texts tell us about the Babylonian deportees themselves? That is, what do
these same writings tell us about the lives of those affected by the Babylonian
and Egyptian dislocations? Here one is confronted with a formidable chal-
lenge, because the biblical histories do not document the lives of Israelites and
Judahites in foreign lands (Table 2). Much attention is devoted to alien inva-
sions and deportations, but little, if any, attention is devoted to discussing the
histories of the deportees in alien lands. 3o The Deuteronomistic History begins
its historical account with the Israelites' entry into the land in the book of
Hillers, Treaty-Curses.
Exil.
25
26 'J
Yet verbs, such as ., and f1!l, do not always carry negative connotations, Kiefer,
27 In this respect dispersion is a special kind of punishment, one that goes beyond the
punishment of exile. Dispersion is a special threat, because of the concern with the loss
of corporate identity and the all-too-real possibility of cultural assimilation. Neverthe-
less, exile and Diaspora may be related concepts in that both involve absence from one's
ancestral land. Moreover, even a mass banishment to one specific foreign region (e.g.
Babylonia) carries an inherent threat of the loss of national identity.
28 Smith, Religion of the Landless.
29 Weinfeld, Deuteronomy, 348-349 (fn. 21).
3{} It is interesting that the Israelite exile in Egypt is also not portrayed in any detail.
The time of the Israelite sojourn in "the house of bondage" (Exod. 20:2) lasts some 400
years, but little is said about this long period, except for the extreme deterioration of
conditions that the Israelites faced at the end of this time (Exod. I: 1-4).
Exile, Return and Diaspora 37
Joshua and ends its coverage with the people's departure from that land in the
3l
book of KingS. Hence the coverage of the northern kingdom of Israel
when the northern monarchy ends and the people are cast out of their land (2
Kgs. 17:1-6).32 Similarly, the coverage of the southern kingdom of Judah
ceases when the Davidic monarchy ends and the people are cast out of their
land. Except for the appendix at the end of 2 Kings, detailing the improve-
ment in the care of King Jehoiachin in the 3ih year of his banishment in Bab-
ylon (2 Kgs. 25:27-30), nothing is said of the on-going lives of the Judahite
deportees.
Table 2. Giving them the silent treatment:
The exilic gap in biblical historiography
The end of the Northern Kingdom (2 Kgs. 17)
The banishment of the Transjordanian tribes (1 Chr. 5:23-26)
The deportation of the people of Judah (I Chr. 9: I)
The end of the Southern Kingdom (2 Kgs. 25)
Exile for Judah and sabbaths for the land (2 Chr. 36:20-22)
The decree of Cyrus (2 Chr. 36:23)
The beginning of the repatriation to Judah (Ezra I)
Jerusalem repopulated and the temple refurnished (l Chr. 9:2-34)
The literary trope of focusing on life within the land is not unique to the Deu-
teronomistic History. As Table 2 demonstrates, the vital link between histori-
ography and life in the land also appears as a governing influence in shaping
the coverage of other historically-oriented writings. The Chronistic narration
of the history of Israel focuses on the monarchy, but when the Davidic king-
dom falls to the forces of the Babylonian empire, the history ends. The inter-
vening period is treated as constituting a series of much-needed Sabbaths for
33
the land. The authors of Ezra-Nehemiah also privilege life within the land.
The writers of Ezra-Nehemiah begin their postmonarchic history of Judah
with the decree of Cyrus the Great, beckoning the exiles to return home (Ezra
1:1-4; cf. I Esd.2:1-7).34
It has to be noted that the Deuteronomistic and Chronistic works do not
claim that the history of the people of Israel and the people of Judah somehow
31 The typology is thus quite important. See Knoppers, "Cast Out of His Presence".
32 Yet the retention of some form of Yahwism in the former northern kingdom occa-
sioned a series of Judahite explanations and debates (2 Kgs. 17:24-41), Knoppers, "In
Search of Postexilic Israel", 150-180.
33 Jonker, "Exile as Sabbath Rest", 703-719.
34 Karrer, Ringen um die Verfassung.
38 Gary Knoppers Exile, Return and Diaspora 39

came to an end in the northern and southern exiles. 35 The ancient writers do
not state that the people were destroyed and therefore that history effectively
ended for Israelites and Judahites. On the contrary, life continued for those
who managed to survive. The historiographic writings simply do not attempt
to tell the stories of those remnants who endured the disasters. It is sometimes
said that the biblical writers ignore those who continued to live within the
land. This is true. The writers of Kings, Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah do not
devote any coverage to those who remained in the land following the Babylo-
nian and Egyptian exiles. But they also largely do not discuss the plight of the
exiles in other lands. They give both sets of groups the silent treatment. For
this reason Gosta Ahlstrom termed the Neo-Babylonian period "a dark age.,,36
Against this background one must turn to the prophetic books and to the Writ-
ings for glimpses into the lives of those who were exiled to Babylo-
nia. 37
and not of the southern Levant. In another episode, a symbolic action, Ezekiel
digs through the wall of his house by hand (Ezek. 12: 1-7). The very viability
of such a venture, intended to depict the ignominious fall of Jerusalem, seems
to presume a mud-brick wall, as would be common in Babylon, rather than a
stone wall, as would be common in the hill country of Palestine. There are
certain religious practices that come to the fore in social settings of the Dias-
pora, such as prayer (e.g. Ezra 9; Neh. 1:5-11; 9; Dan. 9), fasting (e.g. Esth.
4:15-16; Ezra 8:21-23), family disciplines, ritual concerns with purity, the
study of earlier texts (e.g. Ezra 7:6, lO-11), and the maintenance of lineages.
The multi-generation genealogy of Ezra stands out in this context (Table 3).41
Contrary to many popular perceptions, the construction of genealogies is not a
neutral or disinterested activity; hence, some comparative lineages from relat-
ed writings have been provided to illumine the particular features of Ezra's
family tree.

Table 3. The priestly lineage ofEzra

D. Exile and Restoration in the Prophets
I Chr. 5:27-41 Ezra 7:1-5 Josephus Neh. 12:10-11 Neh.12:22
Levi
Prophetic writings, such as Second Isaiah, Third Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel,
Qohath
provide some very useful, albeit scattered, information about the lives of those
Amram
banished to Babylon. One reads, for example, of clusters of elders meeting
Aaron Aaron
with Ezekiel, presumably in Tel-Abib (a town by the Chebar canal in southern
Eleazar Eleazar
Babylonia), for consultation, instruction and rebuke (8:1, 5, 11; 14:1; 20:1,
Phinehas Phinehas
3).38 Other towns in which Judean emigres settled included Tel-barsa' and
Abishua Abishua
Tel-melab, Keriib, 'Addful, and 'Immer (Ezra 2:59/INeh. 7:61). There are also
Buqqi Buqqi
later references to Judeans residing in Casiphia (Ezra 8: 17) and Susa (Neh.
Uzzi Uzzi
1:1; 5:17; 13:6).39 Exiled Judeans could evidently own property (Jer. 29:5)
Zerahiah Zerahiah
and slaves (Ezra 2:65). Some expatriates were able to ascend to administrative
Meraioth Meraioth
positions and accumulate significant wealth (Ezra 1:6; 2:68-69; 7:1; Neh.
Amariah
1:1), but such cases seem to be exceptional.4o
Ahitub
Reference is made in the book of Ezekiel to the prophet's drawing a city
Zadoq Sadokos
map on a clay tablet (Ezek. 4:1-8). Such a practice was typical of Babylon
Ahimaaz Achimas
35 Contra Martin Noth in his classic treatment of Iudah's demise in the Deuteronomis- Azariah Azarias
tic History, Uberlieferungsgeschicht!iche Studien, 89. Johanan IOramos
36 Ahlstrom, History of Ancient Palestine, 304. Azariah Azariah los
37 Middlemas, Troubles.
Amariah Amariah Axioramos
38 Cf. Ezek. 3:23; 9:6; 10:15,20,22; 43:3. In the context of the prophecy against By-
bios, the elders are grouped together with Cl'I;J:::ln, "wise ones" or alternatively, "crafts- Ahitub Ahitub Phideas
men" (Ezek. 27:9). The elders are also referred to fint in the address of Jeremiah's letter
to the exiles before "the priests, prophets, and all of the people" (29:1).
39 Eph'al, "The Western Minorities", 74-90; "The Babylonian Exile", 21-31.
40 The majority do not seem to have been wealthy. See Vanderhooft, "New Evidence",
219-235; Abraham, "West Semitic and Judean Brides", 198-219; "An Inheritance Divi- 41 For the textual and exegetical issues in dealing with these disparate lineages, see
sion", 148-182. Knoppers, "Ethnicity, Genealogy, Geography", 147-171.
40 Gary Knoppers Exile, Return and Diaspora 41

1 Chr. 5:27-41 Ezra 7:1-5 Neh.12:10-11 Neh.12:22 But one must be careful not to interpret the biblical evidence in a monoli-
Zadoq Zadoq Soudaias thic manner. Historically, one should not expect the expatriate population to
louelos be substantially different from the pre-exilic population. The population of
I5thamos and early 6 th century Judah was diverse in class, religious practice and ideo-
Ourias logical perspective, and one expects that the exiles would not lose such diver-
Nerias sity simply because they had been forcibly relocated to a foreign land. It is
Odaias sometimes maintained that the exile was a purifying experience that separated
Shallum Shallum Salloumos the deportees from the heteropraxis of the pre-exilic population of Judah, but
Hilqiah Elkias the situation is certainly more complicated than such a generalisation allows.44
Azariah Azariah Azaros The prophet Ezekiel, for example, lambastes the Judean exiles for their use of
Seraiah Seraiah idols and their recourse to deceiving prophets (Ezek. 14:1-11). In responding
1ehozadaq IOsadakos to inquiries from the Judean elders in Babylon, he sometimes makes no dis-
lesous 1eshua tinction between the abominations of those in the land and of those outside the
lOakeimos land (e.g. Ezek. 20:1-3, 29-31).
Ezra Eliasibos Eliashib Eliashib In the book of Jeremiah we find Jeremiah prophesying against the Judeans
IMas 10iada 10iada who journeyed to Tahpanhes in the Delta region of Egypt and threatening
l5annes 10nathan Johanan them with death by famine, pestilence and the sword (42:7-22). But some of
laddous Jaddua 1addua the Judean refugees, who had settled in Migdol, Memphis and Tahpanhes,
Onias countered Jeremiah's criticisms of them by averring that they were resuming
making offerings to other deities, most prominently the Queen of Heaven, be-
The extensive ascending lineage attributed to Ezra traces his priestly ancestry cause since the time they had ceased doing so they "have lacked everything
through a collateral line within the Aaronide family tree back to Seraiah, the and have died by the sword and by famine" (Jer. 44: 18). In short, the exilic
high priest, whom Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon executed at Riblah in population, like the pre-exilic population, was a diverse lot.
587/586 BCE (2 Kgs. 25: 18//Jer. 52:24, 27; 1 Chr. 5:40).42 Hence, by the time The same observation holds true for class and social ranking. The deporta-
that Ezra made his trek to Judah in the mid_5 th century, his family had resided tions did not affect simply the elite, as is sometimes claimed. To be sure, this
in Babylonia for some six or seven generations. The point of the genealogist may be largely true of the first Babylonian exile of 598, which directly affect-
is therefore unmistakable. The priestly pedigree of Ezra was as strong as that ed King Jehoiachin, his royal family, adjutants, officers and palace officials (2
of any of the high priests of Judah. The fact that Ezra's particular family line Kgs. 24: 12), as well as thousands of artisans, crafts specialists and military
had been absent from the land for several generations had no negative bearing officials. 45 In the second Babylonian exile of 586 in which King Zedekiah's
on his suitability for assuming a position of leadership in his homeland. In the sons were executed (2 Kgs. 25:6-7), the exile affected both the elite and the
context of the work, his priestly training, scribal expertise and exilic pedigree rest of the remaining population (2 Kgs. 25:11). In this second exile only the
are all presented as positives. The case of Ezra is not unique. There is also poorest people of the land were left to be "vinedressers and tillers of the soil"
reference to a concentration of sacerdotal personnel - priests and Levites - at (2 Kgs. 25: 12). In the third exile of 582 BCE, we read that "all of the people,
the "place" (J:l1POi1) ofCasiphia (Ezra 8:15-20).43
deemed to be illicit in the Babylonian Judean community. In this context the oracle of
42The view of Rudolph (Esra-Nehemia, 66) that Seraiah was the (otherwise unknown) Ezek. 20:40 is telling: "For on my holy mountain, on the lofty mountain of Israel decla-
father of Ezra is not impossible, but fails to deal with the selective and telescopic nature ration of the Lord Yhwh - there, the entire house of Israel, all of it, will worship me in
of the Ezra genealogy. the land. There I shall accept them and I shall seek your contributions and your choicest
43 My working assumption is that the Babylonian 1udeans did not have their own tem- gifts among all of your sacred things." Leuchter ("Ezra's Mission", 173-195) argues that
ple. Some scholars have viewed the mention of "the place (hammiiqom) Casiphia" in Ez- Caslfhia was a substantial home to Levitical learning and instruction.
ra 8: 17 as indicating the existence of a Yahwistic sanctuary in Babylon. The issue is Rom-Shiloni, Ezekiel, 1-45; "From Ezekiel to Ezra-Nehemiah".
complex, but an allusion, without other evidence, is not much to go on. See Knoppers, 45 The numbers differ substantially between the more expansive estimates of
"The City YHWH has Chosen", 320, n. 55. Levine (,'The Next Phase", 245-257) argues whether 10,000 (2 Kgs. 24:10) or 7,000 (2 Kgs. 24:16), and the lower figure of JelClI1ll11l
on the basis of Ezek. 20:27-29, 32-44 that sacrificial worship of Yhwh was, in fact, - 3,023 (52:28).
42 Gary Knoppers
from little to great, along with the leaders of the forces rose and went to
Egypt, because they feared the Chaldeans" (2 Kgs. 25:26).
The biblical sources certainly offer many challenges for historical interpre-
tation, especially since they can easily mislead readers into thinking that Ju-
dah was left with an empty land. But, by the same token, one should not cite
the literary topoi employed by the biblical writers to intimate that the long-
term effects of the foreign invasions and deportations were less than devastat-
ing. Considering that the elite comprised only the upper crust of the popula-
tion, one cannot posit claims of great without that depopulation
affecting various sectors of the populace. Given the debilitating effects of
famine and disease, the loss of life, the disintegration of traditional kinship
groups, the shrinkage of Judahite territory. the voluntary migrations to other
lands, and the forced deportations, it is not surprising that it took Judah centu-
ries to recover from the Neo-Assyrian and the Neo-Babylonian invasions.
I have been focusing our attention on the historical books of the Hebrew
scriptures, but exile is an on-going, sustained motif in a number of different
literary works written from the 6 th through the 2nd century BCE. One reads
about exilic life in literary works, such as Lamentations, Esther and Daniel,
and in the Deutero-Canonical works of 1 Esdras, which includes the tale of
the Three Youths (or Three Guardsmen) not found in the (largely parallel)
biblical book of Ezra (1 Esd. 3: 1-5:6), Susanna and Bel and the Dragon, Tobit
and Judith. The book of Lamentations is important, because its poetry mourns
the tremendous losses suffered in Neo-Babylonian times from the perspective
47
of those who survived and remained in the land.
The literary works of Esther, Daniel, 1 Esdras, Susanna and Bel and the
Dragon, Tobit and Judith are important if for no other reason than that their
very existence testifies to the on-going exilic dynamic in the development and
editing of Judean literature. 48 These writings uphold the bravery, talents and
savvy of Israelite men and women, who work for the benefit of their people
and flourish, sometimes against great odds, in a foreign environment. Such
works are, however, a topic in their own right.
In what follows I would like to focus for a few moments on two prophetic
texts that are of particular importance for understanding the adjustments made
by Judean exiles residing in other lands. Jeremiah's letter sent to the deportees
46 The available documentation from AI-Yahudu seems to bear this out. Most of the
Judeans in the vicinity of AI-Y ahudu were residents of small towns and tenant farmers.
See Joannes and Lemaire, "Trois tablettes cunei formes" , 17-34; Vanderhooft, "New Evi-
dence", 219-235; Abraham, "West Semitic", 198-219; "An Inheritance Division," 148-
182; Pearce, "New Evidence"; Lambert, "Document from a Community of Exiles", 201-
205. More generally, see Zadok, The Pre-Hellenistic Israelite and The Earliest Diaspora.
47 Middlemas, Troubles, 171-228.
48 The on-going development of many of these writings can be traced, in part, by com-
paring the MT and LXX versions of these works.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 43
in Babylon has quite rightly been interpreted as a pivotal text in understanding
49
the transition from an exile to a Diaspora. In this communication (Jell. 29),
the prophet strenuously counsels "the elders of the exile,5o the priests, the
prophets, and all of the people" against any thoughts of a quick return to the
51
land.
The mention of other prophets and diviners in this missive is especially
apt, because Jeremiah found himself to be very much a minority voice. His
contemporaries in Babylon were already in the business of dreaming of new
beginnings and promising a swift return to life as normal (Jer. 29:8_9).52 In
Jeremiah's view, his contemporaries were in a deplorable state of denial. The
Jeremianic missive interprets the exile itself not simply as divine retribution,
but also as divine judgment. The population displacement was divinely inten-
tioned as a sentence rendered against the deity's own people. Such a sentence
had to be served in full before the people would have any hope of rehabilita-
tion. To the deportees, the God of Israel sends a message to settle down,
''build houses and reside (in them), plant gardens and eat the fruit, take wives
and bear sons and daughters" (Jer. 29:5). The perspective is clearly long-term
and intergenerational in scope. The Judahites are told to marry off their sons
and daughters so that these sons and daughters might bear, in turn, their own
sons and daughters (Jer. 29:6).53
Interestingly, the divine promises to the Judahites in exile are intimately
tied to their on-going relations to their captors. The expatriates are not told to
isolate themselves from the Babylonians. On the contrary, they are command-
ed to "seek the peace (siilOm) of the city" to which they have been exiled and
to "pray to Yhwh on its behalf' (Jer. 29:7). In Babylon's peace (siiLOm), the
exiles will find peace (siilOm). The letter of Jeremiah is thus very important
for understanding how the Judean emigres adapted to life in a foreign land,
while construing this adaptation as itself an act of obedience to a divine im-
perative.
The letter of Jeremiah, dealing with the problem of the dispersion ultimate-
ly resolves it by promising an eventual return to the land. 54 The thoughts
49 By employing the term Diaspora in this context, I refer to the Judeans residing out-
side the land for many generations and making new lives for themselves in the different
geoiraphical settings within which they find themselves.
Thus the LXX (lectio brevior). MT: "the rest of (the elders)."
51 Reading with the LXX. The MT explicates: "whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported
from Jerusalem to Babylon."
52 The very existence of the letter is evidence of some degree of communication be-
tween the deportees and their compatriots in the homeland. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremi-
ah 2, 139; McKane, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary, cxxxix-cxl.
53 Thus the MT. The LXX lacks "and daughters," because of a haplography (homoio-
arkton before 1::1;1).
54 In this, his perspective was not so different from that of the false prophets he de-
nounced. The important question was evidently timing.
44 Gary Knoppers
Yhwh harbors toward the Israelites are "thoughts of peace (salom) and not of
calamity" to provide the people with "a future and a hope" (Jer. 29: 11). Like a
number of other prophetic texts (e.g. Hos. 1:10-2:1), Jeremiah promises a fu-
ture return or great ingathering of the people back to the land. Thus Jeremi-
ah's letter quotes a pledge from the God of Israel: "I shall restore your for-
tunes 55 and I shall gather you from all of the nations and from all of the places
to which I have scattered you' - oracle of Yhwh - 'and I shall restore you to
the places from which I exiled you'" (Jer. 29:14).
In offering solace to the Babylonian deportees, the letter of Jeremiah is not
unique. There are a number of different oracles and narratives in the book
speaking of Judah's reconstruction (Table 4). To symbolise his confidence in
Judah's future, Jeremiah exercises his option to redeem and thereby purchase
an ancestral family estate (Jer. 32:6-15). The timing of this real estate transac-
tion is highly significant, because it occurs after the first Babylonian invasion,
but before the second. In all likelihood, this was a time in which whatever
movement there was in the real estate market was a downward spiral. The
prophetic actions communicate, therefore, a long-term anticiDation of renewal
for the land.
Table 4. Restoration prophecies ofJeremiah
Letter to the exiles (Jer. 29:1-32)
Restoration of Israel and Judah (Jer. 30: 1-17)
Rebuilding of Jerusalem (Jer. 30: 18-31: 1, 38-40)
Return and repopulation (Jer. 31 :2-25)
New covenant (Jer. 31:31-34)
Jeremiah's redemption/purchase offamily property (Jer. 32:6-15)
Restoration of Davidides and Levitical priests (Jer. 33:14-26 IMTD
Oracles against Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Qedar, Hazor, and Elam
(Jer. 46:1-49:39 [MTJ)
Oracles against Babylonia (Jer. 50: I-51 :58)
The prophecies of consolation in the book of Jeremiah include hope for the
restoration of (northern) Israel and Judah (Jer. 30: 1-17), the rebuilding of Je-
rusalem (Jer. 30: 18-31: 1, 38-40), the eventual return to, and repopulation of,
the land (Jer. 31 :2-25), a renewed covenant with the people of Israel (Jer.
31:31-34), and a restoration of the descendants of David and the Levitical
priests (Jer. 33:14-26 [MT]).56 The contours of these restoration prophecies
55 Thus the MT. The LXX may lack "oracle of Yhwh. I shall restore your fortunes," as a
result of haplography (homoioteleuton after 0:::3').
56 Lacking in the LXX, MT Jer. 33:14-26 is likely a later addition based on Jer. 23:5-6
and other earlier texts. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah 2, 227-231. Yet, in spite of the
condemnations of Shallum (Jer. 11:11-12), Jehoiakim (Jef. 22:13-23), lehoiachin (Jef.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 45
are highly significant, because they do not respond simply to the Babylonian
exiles. In expressing an expectation of the restoration of both northern Israel
and southern Judah, the prophetic writer expresses hope for the undoing of
centuries of loss from the Neo-Assyrian period through the Neo-Babylonian
period.
The theme of an eventual return to normal may also explain the otherwise
puzzling inclusion of oracles against Babylonia (Jer. 50: 1-51 :58). Consider-
ing that Jeremiah preached a pro-Babylonian message, the appearance of de-
tailed anti-Babylonian prophecies at the conclusion of the oracles against the
nations has long been debated by scholars (Jer. 50:1-51:58 [MTJ). By contrast,
the equally pro-Babylonian book of Ezekiel does not include any oracles
against Babylon among its oracles against the nations. 57 The perspective of
the authors of Jeremiah may differ, however, from those of Ezekiel on this
particular point. In Jeremianac perspective, if things are to come full circle,
Israel is to be restored, and Judah is to return to its land, those responsible for
Judah's loss have to be held accountable. The fact that the Babylonians may
have served unwittingly as the agents of Yhwh's judgment against the Ju-
dahite people does not expunge them of guilt for the cruelty and oppression
they displayed in dealing with their victims. Nor does it clear them of respon-
sibility for the sack of Jerusalem and its temple (Jer. 51:1-14, 34-44). Be-
cause of this future judgment, the poet portrays Yhwh as appealing to those
who belong to "my people," residing in Babylon, to escape from there (Jer.
51 :45-58).58
The restoration vision of Ezekiel is even more detailed and comprehensive
than that of Jeremiah (Table 5). The writers of the last chapters of Ezekiel de-
velop an elaborate programme for the reconstitution of Israel.
Table 5. Restoration prophecies ofEzekiel
Installation of Davidic naSi'. "leader" (Ezek. 34:17-31)
Repopulation of the hills of Israel (Ezek.. 36: 1-15)
Rejuvenation in the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37:1-14)
The two sticks: Reunification of Israel and Judah under David (Ezek.. 37: 14-26)
New temple (Ezek. 40:1-47:12)
New tribal allotments and tribal locations (Ezek. 47: 13-48:35)
Renaming of Jerusalem (O,t/711') as "Yhwh is there" (iit:liU ii1ii')
and Zedekiah (ler. 21 :4-7), there are some indications of hope in a royal fu-
ture, whether specifically Davidic (Jer. 23:5-6; 30:8-9) or not (Jer. 17:19-27). For a dif-
ferent view, see Albertz, History of Israelite Religion. 331-332.
S7 The oracles against the nations in Ezekiel are directed at Ammon, Moab, Edom,
Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt (Ezek. 25:1-32:32).
58 Indeed, in a post-exilic context, one function of this anti-Babylonian prophecy may
be to warn those expatriate Judeans residing in Babylon to repatriate to Judah.
46 Gary Knoppers
The images embraced within these utopian visions include the reconfigura-
tion of a Davidic potentate as a more accountable naSI), "leader," rather than
as a more powerful melek, "king" (Ezek. 34:17-31), a new system of tribal
boundaries, the complete reassignment of tribal locations within the land from
north to south (Ezek. 47:13-48:3S), the reunification of northern Israel and
Judah under a single Davidic ruler (Ezek. 37:14-26), the repopulation of the
central hill country (Ezek. 36: I-IS), and the rejuvenation of the Israelite na-
tion, symbolised by its dramatic revitalisation in the Valley of Dry Bones
(Ezek. 37:1-14).59 Cultically, the ambitious restoration programme includes a
vision for a huge new temple, an expanded and redesigned system of temple
courts, chambers and gates, a major realignment of the relationship between
priests and Levites, involving a demotion of the latter (Ezek. 40:1-47:12), a
new system of priestly and Levitical sacred estates, and finally the renaming
of Jerusalem (C't!T1i') as "Yhwh is There" (ilOtD mil'; Ezek. 47: 13-48:3S).60
At this point it will be useful to sum up the discussion so far. In prophetic
texts such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel exile is understood as a terrible disruption,
an anomalous condition for the body politic. A return to normalcy from such
an abnormal way of life necessitates the reconstitution of the people within
the land of Israel. A mass immigration from all quarters leads to the restora-
tion of Israel and Judah, punctuated by divine blessing, repopulation, pros-
perity and national solidarity (Ezek. 36: 1-38; 37: IS-28). Such actions reverse
the demographic decline, territorial depletion, population displacement and
loss of national autonomy which occurred in the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-
Babylonian periods. It should be stressed that these prophetic texts do not ad-
vocate a return to business as usual. Quite the contrary, they develop innova-
tive hopes for the renewal of God's people. But they do emphasise a new ex-
odus back to the ancestral homeland and the reconstitution of some sort of a
theocratic polity with a Davidic leader in charge.
When these prophetic passages are compared with the demographic reali-
ties of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods, one cannot help but be struck
by a number of contrasts. In dealing with the political, social and cultic evi-
dence from the Diaspora and the homeland in the 6th and Sth centuries BCE,
one is confronted with a plurality of Judean communities within the larger
context of the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid empires. Multiple Yah-
wisms, rather than a single Yahwism, characterised the social and religious
landscape. A number of Judeans returned to the homeland in the 6th and Sth
centuries to rebuild the temple and the community of Jerusalem, but at least as
59 But the text also sometimes refers to the Davidic leader as a king. See Duguid, Eze-
kiel.
60 Admittedly, the material in Ezek. 40-48 has a complex compositional history, but
these matters cannot be pursued here. See Mein, Ezekiel; Pohlmann, Das Buch; Pohl-
mann, Ezechiel; Joyce, Ezekiel.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 47
many remained in the Diaspora. Talmon remarks that the "monocentricity" of
the late monarchy had given way to the "multicentricity" of the post-
61
monarchicage.
Given the existence of Judean settlements in a variety of different lands,
how were these settlements supposed to relate to each other? One may ask a
related question about the expatriates themselves. Considering that some mi-
grated to other lands of their own accord, while others were forced to do so,
did the Judeans residing in these far-flung communities in the Diaspora con-
ceive of their communities as temporary or, in some sense, as long-lasting or
permanent? In the last section of this essay I would like to focus on a particu-
lar text - Ezra-Nehemiah - whose authors actively reflect on the international
context of Judaism in the Achaemenid age and depict a series of important
engagements between the homeland and the Diaspora. Given space limits, I
will focus on only a few facets of Ezra's work.
E. Diaspora-Homeland Relations in Ezra-Nehemiah
At first glance, it may seem odd to speak of Ezra-Nehemiah as embodying a
different model of Diaspora-homeland relations from that presented in the
prophetic books, because Ezra-Nehemiah seems to describe a restoration, a
return to normalcy.62 Beginning with the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4), the
work marks a series of returns and rebuilding efforts in what remained of the
former southern kingdom: the first return of some of the exiles under
Sheshbazzar (Ezra I:S-l1), the larger return under Zerubbabel and Jeshua
(Ezra 2-6) some sixteen years later, the journey of Ezra and his retinue some
sixty years later (Ezra 7-8), the first mission of Nehemiah some thirteen years
after the return of Ezra (following the traditional chronology), and finally Ne-
hemiah's second mission in the late Sth century (Neh. 13:4-31).63 As this
61 Talmon, "'Exile' and 'Restoration"', 112. Of course, one may inquire as to how
"monocentric" the late pre-exilic community actually was. Nevertheless, it cannot be
discounted that the profound internationalisation of Judaism in the Neo-Babylonian peri-
od marked an important (and permanent) departure from previous eras.
62 At the outset, it has to be acknowledged that this literary text underwent a com-
plicated history of composition. See, e.g. Williamson, "The Composition of Ezra i-vi",
1-30; Halpern, "A Historiographic Commentary", 81-141; Bohler, Die heilige Stadt;
Pakkala, Ezra; Wright, Rebuilding Identity; Kratz, Composition of the Narrative Books,
49-86; Boda, "Redaction", 25-54.
63 Following the traditional chronology of Ezra (458 BeE) and Nehemiah (445 BeE),
there is a gap of 13 years from the time of Ezra's mission (Ezra 7: I; 458 BeE) to the time
of Nehemiah's arrival (Neh. 1:1; 2:1; 445 BeE). An editorial attempt has been made to
overcome this segmentation by placing the two together for the reading of the Torah and
the celebration of Sukkot narrated in Nehemiah (Neh. 7:73b-8:18), but pertaining to the
time of Ezra. If one wishes to place Ezra after Nehemiah, as some do, the work would
48 Gary Knoppers
quick summary demonstrates, the work reveals a number of important gaps.64
The writers of Ezra-Nehemiah do not compose a continuous history of the
post-exilic period. 65
Nevertheless, I would submit that the authors of this work present a num-
ber of critical transformations in the relationship between the emigre commu-
nities of the Diaspora and the ancestral community. First, the Diaspora has
become an accepted fact of life, at least for the era under view. Given the
proclamation of Cyrus narrated at the very beginning of the book, commis-
sioning the rebuilding of the temple and encouraging all of the exiled Judeans
("whoever among you from all of his [Yhwh's] people;" Ezra 1:3) to return to
their own soil, one is dealing with a Diaspora (and not a forced exile) from
this point onward. 66 For this reason the writers do not censure the expatriates,
who remain in Babylon, Susa and in other sites. In one case Ezra has to recruit
Levites to accompany him on his journey to Jerusalem (Ezra 8: 15-20), but
this circumstance does not lead him to disparage his Babylonian compatriots,
who choose to remain in place. When Nehemiah expresses his desire to his
superior, the Achaemenid monarch, to travel back to his homeland, he does
not ask permission to emigrate (Neh. 1:6). The leave of absence the cupbearer
to the king requests is by nature of limited duration (Neh. 2:6) and the imperi-
al dispensation granted to him is dependent upon Nehemiah's eventual return
(Neh. 1:6).67 Nehemiah does not request that he be allowed to bring a group
still reveal a major lacuna from 430 BCE (the approximate end of Nehemiah's second
mission) to 398 BCE (the estimated year of Ezra's coming to Yehud in the reign of Arta-
xerxes II). See Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah, xxxix-xliv; Blenkinsopp, Ezra-Nehemiah,
139-144.
64 The considerable gap between the time of the dedication of the Second Temple and
the celebration of Passover (Ezra 6:1-22) and the arrival of Ezra (7:1) is a case in point,
Japhet, "Composition and Chronology", 189-216; "Periodization", 491-508. In either
reading of the chronology involved in dating the missions of Ezra and Nehemiah (see
previous fn.), there are also very significant gaps in the coverage of Ezra and Nehemiah.
See Knoppers, "Periodization" (forthcoming).
65 In Ezra-Nehemiah one is dealing, then, not with a set of legal and economic docu-
ments, but with a highly complex literary presentation of select periods within Judean life
over a considerable span of time.
66 Historically speaking, things were, of course. more complicated as the allusions to
negotiations preceding the returns of Ezra (7-8) and Nehemiah (1-2) indicate. On the
distinction between a (voluntary) diaspora and a forced exile, see further Scott, "Exile",
173-218.
67 To be sure, Nehemiah's prayer (I :5-11) cites the Deuteronomic (or Deutero-
nomistic) promise (30:1-10; cf. 4:25-31) of an ingathering of deportees, predicated (in
Deut. 30:2, 8, 10) on divine compassion in response to the deportees' renewed obedience
(Neh. I :8), to request divine favour upon his meeting with the Persian king. But it seems
that Nehemiah alludes to the Deuteronomic promise as a basis to pray for his own return,
rather than for the return of all exiles. In the view of Wright (Rebuilding Identity, 9-23)
Nehemiah's prayer belongs to one of the latest layers of the book (in Wright's reckoning,
the seventh stratum in the development of the Nehemiah text).
Exile, Return and Diaspora 49
of expatriates with him to be settled within the land. When Nehemiah jour-
neys to Jerusalem, he travels alone with an armed escort (Neh. 2:6-9), The
sequence of events narrated is itself important as it points to a long, on-going
history of relations between the homeland and the Diaspora, especially with
Judah's sister community in Babylon (Ezra 1:11; 2: 1; 7:6; 8: 1).68
Second, in this work the traditional relationship between the homeland and
diasporic groups is partially reversed. Leaders from the Diaspora drive much
69
of the action. In many instances in the ancient world in which one communi-
ty is formed at some distance from another, the derivative community is cast
as a dependent community (or colony).7o But in this book the community in
Yehud repeatedly experiences renewal by virtue of initiatives undertaken by
Judeans residing in other lands, who operate from a position of expertise,
strength and relative privilege. 71 Forced exile is often associated with destitu-
tion, innocent suffering and persecution, while life in the homeland is often
associated with normalcy, relative autonomy and peace. But in this work, the
people residing in their own native land are forced to deal with adverse condi-
tions.
Indeed, given the portrayal of opposition toward the bene hii-golii ('chil-
dren of the exile') shown by the 'amme ('peoples of the land'), the
of the returnees paradoxically appears as a kind of colony in its
own land. 2 To this consideration may be added another, namely that the Ju-
deans residing in Babylon and Susa lived near to, or at the heart of, the
Achaemenid kingdom, whereas the Judeans in Yehud lived within the western
periphery of that empire. These facts raise questions as to what exactly the
core and the periphery are in this particular work. 73
68 If one wishes, for the sake of argument, to follow the alternate chronology and
place Ezra after Nehemiah in the tenure of Artaxerxes II Memmon (405-359 BCE), the
temgoral range covered by the book is even more extensive.
Bedford, Temple Restoration; "Diaspora-Homeland Relations", 147-165.
70 Such a phenomenon is well-attested and much-discussed in Classical studies. See
Dunbabin, The Western Greeks; Graham, Colony; Boardman, The Greeks Overseas.
71 In speaking of the residents of the exilic communities as Judeans, I am departing
somewhat from the usage employed by the biblical authors. The text of Ezra often refers
to the "children of the exile" or simply to "Israel(ites)." The writers are thus participating
in an on-going debate about the nature and boundaries of communal identity. See Wil-
liamson, Israel; "The Concept of Israel", 119-142; Japhet, "People and Land", 103-125;
Ben Zvi, "Inclusion", 99-145; Willi, Juda - Jehud - Israel; Knoppers, "M!. Zion", 307-
336; "Revisiting the Samarian Question", 265-289; Scatolini Ap6stolo, "On the Elusive-
ness", 1-27.
72 The situation is more complicated in the first-person accounts of Nehemiah. See
Kn0fpers, "Nehemiah and Sanballat", 305-331.
7 Assuming that Ezra-Nehemiah represents a single book and not simply a conflation
of two or more very different sets of stories. See VanderKam, "Ezra-Nehemiah", 55-75;
Fram Joshua to Caiaphas; Becking, "Ezra", 154-179; "Continuity and Community",
256-275; Cohen, "Leave Nehemiah Alone", 55-74. Along with many commentators, I
50 Gary Knoppers
Third, Ezra-Nehemiah focuses on the people of Judah, specifically the ex-
74
iles, and identifies the bene hii-golil (,children of the exile') as Israel. Unlike
Jeremiah and it does not pronounce an on-going hope for the restora-
tion of both northern Israel and Judah under one leader. The focus is upon the
bene hii-golil in the Diaspora and in Judah. This brings us to a fourth trans-
fonnation. The writers of Ezra-Nehemiah uphold a royal polity for the gov-
ernance of the community, but the king in charge is a foreigner. 75 Commensu-
rate with ancient Near Eastern royal ideology, monarchs support the rebuild-
ing and refurbishment of one of the sanctuaries in their realm, except that in
this case the monarchs happen to be Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes. The local
Davidic monarchy is no longer in charge of Judah, but the Persian kings in
charge elect, for the most part, to support this shrine lavishly.76 A parade ex-
ample may be found in the firman awarded to Ezra by King Artaxerxes. 77
Table 6. Recapitalising the Jerusalem temple: Grants, concessions,
allowances, and bequests in the Artaxerxes rescript (Ezra 7:13-24)
The rescript lists a number of incredible privileges as well as munificent that Ell'll is to
convey back to Jerusalem. Indeed, most of the royal edict consists of an itemisation of all the
extravagant gifts, grants and concessions the imperial monarch bestows upon the Jerusalem
shrine:
- a grant allowing any Israelites, priests and Levites to accompany Ezra to Jerusalem, if
they wish to do so (v. 13);
- a freewill bequest of silver and gold of an undetermined amount from the king and his
advisors that Ezra is commissioned to bring to "the God ofIsrael, who is in Jerusalem" (v.
15);
- a concession that all of the silver and gold, as well as the freewill gifts, donated to the
temple, whether from the laity or the priests in Babylon, may proceed (perhaps unencum-
bered by duties or taxes) in Ezra's care to their destination (v. 16);
would acknowledge the existence of originally separate Ezra and Nehemiah traditions
that were brought together. reworked and edited at a later time. The evidence of First
Esdras would also seem to point in this direction. Nevertheless, the grouping of the two
together, however artificial, in the book of Ezra(-Nehemiah) bears the marks of delibe-
rate editing. Hence. it seems appropriate to examine the portrayals of these two
within the larger context of a single literary work.
74 For some helpful cautions about making too much of this restrictive terminology,
see Ben Zvi, "Reconstructing", 1-23; "Total Exile", 155-168.
75 Conceptually and mythologically, this transformation is highly significant. See
Floyd, "Production of Prophetic Books", 216-291.
76 In Ezra-Nehemiah references to David are largely limited to cultic arrangements
and precedents. The dynastic promises are not mentioned and Zerubbabel's Davidic pedi-
gree is not stressed. See Knoppers, I Chronicles 1-9, 81-82.
77 As such, it is hardly the only text in the Persian-period biblical literature that por-
trays the Persians in a flattering way. See Bedford, Temple Restoration; Kessler, "Per-
sia's Loyal Yahwists", 91-121; "Diaspora and Homeland", 131-166; "Diaspora in Zech-
ariah", 119-145.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 51
- a commission to Ezra to purchase with the silver given to him bulls, rams, and lambs,
"with their meal offerings and their libations," to offer on the temple altar (v. 11); .
- an allowance to Ezra and his kin that he may do whatever seems right with the rest of the
silver and gold in accordance with the will of his deity (v. 18);
a requisition that the cultic utensils given to Ezra for the service of the temple are to be
rendered before the God of Jerusalem (v. 19);
- a grant that the remaining items needed for the temple that "it falls to you [Ezra] to pro-
vide," Ezra may do so, drawing from the royal treasury (v. 20);
- a royal command to all the treasurers of Beyond the River to provide with due diligence
up to 100 talents of silver, up to 100 kors of wheat, up to 100 baths of wine, up to 100
baths of oil, and salt without written prescription (vv. 21-23);
- an exemption of unspecified duration with respect to tribute, toU, and land tax for all
priests, Levites, gatekeepers, temple servants and other officials serving at the Je-
rusalem temple (v. 24).
According to the biblical presentation, the bulk of Ezra's commission is to
convey people, bullion, gifts and privileges to Jerusalem. Some of the num-
bers involved are absolutely incredible. For instance, the command to the roy-
al treasurers to supply up to 100 talents of silver to Ezra is most extraordinary.
According to Herodotus (3.91-92), the royal income from Transeuphratene
(Ebir Niiri) was 350 talents of silver annually during the early Achaemenid
period. 78 Hence, the requisition allowed to Ezra would represent between one
quarter and one third of the entire income delivered to the crown from the
Fifth Satrapy. One would be hard-pressed to find a native monarch, including
Solomon himself, depicted within the Judahite historiographical writings who
offers so much generous patronage of the Jerusalem temple as Artaxerxes
does. Indeed, in the worldview of the text, perhaps only an authoritarian mon-
arch in charge of an immense empire could afford to be both so generous to
one small sub-province within the western periphery of his realm and so de-
manding of its neighbours. 79
78Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander. 390-393.
79Some scholars have seen the original (or reconstructed) Aramaic rescript as the ba-
sis for the entire Hebrew Ezra narrative (e.g. Kellerman, Nehemia, 60-69). These schol-
ars think that the authors employed the rescript as a source to depict, however creatively,
the mission, journey, and reforms of Ezra. Yet others have strenuously disagreed with
this approach, contending on the basis of differences between the rescript and various
details of the Ezra narrative either that the rescript is a late addition to the text or that the
rescript is historically unreliable. See, for instance, Karrer, Ringen um die Verfassung,
230; Pakkala, Ezra, 40-42, 221-231. The discrepancies between the edict and the sur-
rounding narrative are both interesting and important, but they do not entail in and of
themselves that the entire edict is a later addition to the text. Even if the author of the
edict is said to be the Persian king, it does not necessarily follow that all of his written
commands would be carried out. In other words, from the perspective(s) of the editors,
there may be a gap between the high rhetoric of the Persian kings and the reality of what
they actually delivered.
52 Gary Knoppers
Fifth, the writers of Ezra-Nehemiah present a sophisticated new approach
to the way in which certain leaders in the Diaspora (specifically. Ezra and
Nehemiah) relate to and work with imperial authorities at the heart of the em-
pire. Within the history of the Diaspora, as presented in this biblical writing,
there is an important development in the way diasporic Judeans relate to the
larger imperial regime of which they are a part. Both Ezra and Nehemiah suc-
ceed in attaining high positions within the Achaemenid government and em-
ploy these positions to the great benefit of their ancestral patrimony. so The
success of these minority leaders in securing close ties with the highest eche-
lons of power in the Achaemenid regime may be compared with and, to a cer-
tain extent, contrasted with the struggles of earlier leaders in Yehud in dealing
with regional authorities. The diachronic progression within the book is criti-
cal to grasping the writers' implicit case that the existence of continuing di-
asporic communities has its many benefits for the on-going life of the home-
land community. The conclusion of the rescript of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:25-26)
may serve, again, as an example. 81
Appoint (')0) magistrates and judges (J'l"1 l't:l!ltD 'lO)82 to act as judges (1')'i) for all
of the people (ilO!.l in (the province) Beyond the River, for all those who know
('!.li' the laws 83 eni) of your God. As for the one who does not know (!.li'
you shall make (the laws) known (J1!.l'1iln).R4 As for the one who will not be a servant
(i:::l!.l) of the law of your God 'i and the law of the king 'i
let justice (ill'i) with due diligence 86 be served (i:::llJnO) upon him, whether by death,
whether by corporal punishment,87 whether by confiscation of possessions or by im-
prisonment.
The final section of the imperial edict effectively reorders the relationship be-
tween Yahwists who reside in Yehud and those who reside in surrounding
areas. Rather than having to toil through protracted negotiations with local
provincial bureaucrats in Yehud, regional bureaucrats in the satrapy of Trans-
euphrates, and central government bureaucrats in hierarchical order, the mem-
80 The story of the three youths in ] Esdras (3:1-5:6) claims something similar for
7"'Tnbbabel in his relation to Darius.
In what follows, see in more detail, Knoppers, "Beyond Jerusalem", 78-87.
82 LXX Ezra 7:25 has grammateis for l't:l!ltD, probably reflecting l'1!lO. But 1 Esd. 8:23
has kritas. See also Gratz, Das Edikt des Artaxerxes, 77.
83 The Versions have the expected singular (n;). Cf. vv. 14,26.
84 Thus the MT (lectio difficilior). I Esd. 8:23 and the Syriac have the expected singu-
lar.
85 So the MT 1 Esd. 8:24 "the law of your God and that of the king."
86 So the MT and similarly, ] Esd. 8:24, epimelos, "carefully." Cf. LXX Ezra
7:26 hetoimos, "readily."
87 On 1tD1!Zl (ketiv) I 'tDitD (qere) as corporal punishment, see Rundgren, "Zur
Bedeutung", 400-404; Falk, "Ezra", 88-89; Blenkinsopp, Ezra-Nehemiah, 152. Cf. I
Esd. 8:24, timoria, "retribution." Others derive 1tD1!V from tDitD, "to root out" (HALOT
2002b-2003a) and interpret the meaning as banishment.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 53
bers of the community in Yehud gain benefits from the Persian kinf' because
one of their own expatriates has direct access to the Persian crown. 8 The laws
of Ezra' s king and God are both to be enforced, under threat of punishment, in
the larger province of Beyond the River. S9 Whether this puzzling text is meant
to apply simply to Yahwists within this particular domain or more broadly to
all inhabitants is a matter of dispute. I subscribe to the former interpretation;
but, in any case, there is an expansion of judicial authority envisioned by the
writer of this text that extends far beyond the borders of yehUd metfmtii'.90
The incredible leverage enjoyed by this expatriate priest significantly enhanc-
es, in tum, the power of the Jerusalem temple to shape Judean identity.
F. Conclusions
Having briefly surveyed a number of biblical responses to the problem of ex-
ile, we have seen that the very understanding of exile varies within the bibli-
cal writings. Is exile a one-off phenomenon that needs to be confronted, over-
come and reversed? Or is exile an on-going state of affairs in the context of an
international empire? Does exile refer to the forcible expulsion of Israelites
and Judahites from their land, or does exile refer to the continued existence of
Israelites and Judahites for centuries outside the land? Does the first return to
the land mark the beginning of the post-exilic period or simply a new phase in
the continuing history of the exilic period? In any case, the issue in the Neo-
Babylonian and Persian periods was not simply the internationalisation of Ju-
daism, as vitally important as that development was. The issue was also that
Judaism remained very much a national religion as well.
The international tenor of the Achaemenid and Hellenistic ages brings an-
other question to the fore. In a larger political context dominated by others,
how were the far-flung Judean communities to deal with each other and with
imperial authorities? After all, the Judeans were neither autonomous as repat-
riates in the homeland nor autonomous as expatriates in other lands. In both
88 The writers are thus participating within the broader Persian-Hellenistic period de-
bate about how Judeans are best served living within a larger imperial context.
89 This text has understandably attracted much attention for what it might
about the application of imperial law in local provinces. See, e.g. Blum, Studien,
360; "Esra", 246-248; Frei, "Die persische Reichsorganisation", 1-35; "Zentralgewalt",
5-13]; Koch, "Weltordnung", 133-325; Fried, Priest and Great King; "You Shall Ap-
point Judges", 63-89; Schmid, "The Persian Imperial Authorization", 23-38. Note the
comments and cautions in Briant, Roi.Y; From Cyrus to Alexander; Tuplin, "The Admin-
istration", 109-166; WiesehOfer, Ancient Persia.; Kratz, Das Judentum, 6-22; Grlitz,
"Esra 7", 131-154; Das Edikt. See also the contributions with further references in Watts
(ed.), Persia and Torah. An overview of the issues may be found in Knoppers and Levin-
son, "How, Where, When, and Why", 1-19.
90 Knoppers, "Beyond Jerusalem", 78-87.
54 Gary Knoppers
cases, Judeans were subservient to foreign control within an immense empire.
In such diverse settings Judeans had to deal not only with each other, but also
with foreign authorities, other peoples and Yahwists in other communities.91
The prophetic texts of Jeremiah and Ezekiel answer the question of exile in
a certain way and it is important to recall that such prophetic hopes did not
disappear in the Persian period, after some had already returned to the land.
Quite the contrary, one finds a continuing emphasis on a future mass return
from exile in the prophecies of Zechariah (8:1-12) and Deutero-Zechariah
(e.g. 10:6--12).92 But one also finds a complementary new strategy in dealing
with the Judean dispersion in Ezra-Nehemiah, reflecting a number of structur-
al adaptations made by Judean communities in the context of the Neo-
Babylonian and Achaemenid kingdoms. The writers of Ezra-Nehemiah ad-
vance a trans-temporal and international model of Judean identity under for-
eign rule, thus partially inverting the traditional paradigm of exile found in a
variety of other biblical writings. It is clear that the authors commend the re-
patriates, who take part in migrations to Jerusalem as supplying a much-
needed boost to the under-populated and under-developed community in Ju-
dah. 93 But, however much they celebrate the returns to the land and the gradu-
al rebuilding of Jerusalem's institutions, the writers of Ezra-Nehemiah do not
call for a mass return and resolution to the problem of exile. It would seem
that there were, from the vantage point of these authors, certain advantages to
maintaining communities in different geographic areas within the larger con-
text of international colonial rule.
The different perspectives on exile found with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra-
Nehemiah and other texts constitute an on-going dynamic in late biblical liter-
ature, reflecting the fact that Judaism was becoming a "peculiar synthesis of a
national and a universal religion.,,94 One cannot do justice to the history of
early Judaism without recognising both of these decisive features. The nation-
al dimension cannot be reduced to the international dimension; nor can the
international dimension be reduced to the national dimension. Each coexisted,
sometimes uneasily, with the other. The achievement of this creative synthesis
proved to be critical in enabling Judeans to move beyond an age of exiles in
9] Lemaire, "Populations" 64; "Nouveau Temple", 265-273; Bolin, "The Temple of
Yahu", 127-142; Porten, The Elephantine Papyri; "Elephantine and the Bible". 51-84;
Eph'al, "Changes in Palestine", 114-116; Carter, The Emergence of Yehud, 249-324;
Knoppers, "MI. Zion", 307-336.
9 Kessler, "Diaspora and Homeland", 137-166; "Diaspora in Zechariah", 119-145.
93 Although the initial version of the Cyrus edict (Ezra 1:2// 2 Chr. 36:23) may point
in this direction, inasmuch as Cyrus invites all expatriates located anywhere within the
confines of the empire to return to the land. See Karrer, Ringen um die Verfassung. The
other versions of the Cyrus edict focus on rebuilding the Temple (Ezra 5: 13-16; 6:3-5).
94 Baron, Social and Religious History. In the context of the Persian and Hellenistic
periods, I prefer to speak of early Judaism as an international religion. Judaism had not
yet become a universal religion.
Exile, Return and Diaspora 55
th th
the 8 - 6 centuries BCE to a new period of growth and transformation in the
Persian and Hellenistic periods.
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'1

Exploring Contexts

JOSEF WmSEHOFER
Achaemenid Rule and Its Impact on Yehud .................................................. 171

ODED LIPSCHITS
Persian-Period Judah
A New Perspective ........................................................................................ 187

lzAK CORNELIUS
"A Tale of Two Cities"
The Visual Symbol Systems of Yehud and Samaria and Identity I
Self-understanding in Persian-period Palestine ............................................. 213

Exploring Readings

GERRm SNYMAN
Why Asa was not Deemed Good Enough
A Decolonial Reading of 2 Chronicles 14-16 ..............................................241

MAKHOSAZANA NZIMANDE
Imbokodo Explomtions of the Prevalence of Historical Memory
and Identity Contestations in the Expulsion of the NiiSlm Nokriyyot
in Ezra 9-10................................................................................................... 269
I
I!

List of Contributors ....................................................................................... 295

Source Index .................................................................................................. 297

Author Index .................................................................................................. 305

Subject Index ................................................................................................. 313

 Offprint:

Texts, Contexts and Readings

in Postexilic Literature I

Explorations into Historiography

and Identity Negotiation in Hebrew Bible
and Related Texts

Edited by
Louis Jonker

AJtTlBUS

11 M-
I-S- 0-'

Mohr Siebeck 2011

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