Sunday Sermonette: Neighborhood dispute

Ezra 4 is chronologically muddled, evidence that the text accreted over time. Of course, we don ' t know how much of this actually happened. On the one hand, it ' s hard to see why these stories are here if there isn ' t some basis for them, on the other hand some of this doesn ' t seem very plausible. I ' ll try to sort out some of the complications. In verses 1 and 2 Zerubabbel is not identified but he is the leader of the community, identified elsewhere in the Tanakh as being of the Davidic line and as the governor of Judah. The reference to Esahaddon king of Syria is to the story in 2 Kings 17, in which the Assyrians conquer Samaria, deport many of the inhabitants, and replace them with settlers. It is not impossible that some of them adopted the cult of Yahweh, or at least came to identify him with some other God to which they sacrificed. This sort of syncretism is common when cultures collide. (E.g. in the Caribbean Catholic saints became identified with Yoruba deities in Santeria.)Tthe leaders of Judah reject the offer of assistance in building the Temple, as Yahweh is " the God of Israel. "The story then gets interrupted, with interpolation of events that happened later. Verse 6 refers to the reign of Xerxes (485-465 BCE), so more than 50  years after the return in 538.  Artaxerxes, in verse 7, is apparently the son of Xerxes (reigned 465-425 BCE), so close to 100 years later. The following verses were evidently originally in Aramaic, although the survi...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs