Wednesday Bible Study: Recapitulation

In Nehemiah 9, the Levites recite a prayer, which recapitulates the key events of Genesis and Exodus, and then refers summarily to the " Groundhog Day " story of the Deuteronomistic History, and its recapitulation in Chronicles; that is the repeated oscillation between the people ' s faithfulness to Yahweh and good fortune, and apostasy followed by misfortune. However, the context is now different and we get that in the punchline in verses 36 and 37. The narrator, whether designated Ezra or Nehemiah, has been careful not to challenge the authority of the Persian emperor -- in fact Nehemiah is his representative. However, here the Levites explicitly complain about their tributary status.It didn ' t do them any good. Judah remained a Persian subject until it was conquered by Alexander in 333 BCE, about 110 years after all this purportedly happened; and then by the Romans in 63 BCE.9 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of theLord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping theLord their God.4 Standing on the stairs of the Levites were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Ba...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs