We will discuss Ezra and Nehemiah as one book because that was the way it was in the Hebrew Old Testament. It tells of one single story, not two, of successful rebuilding of the Second Temple.

We do not know who the author/editor of Ezra-Nehemiah was although some have thought that it could be Nehemiah. What we do find in it are records like personal journals because they used “I”. We also observe that the book covered activities from roughly 538 BC (the first return from exile) to the period of 458 to 430 BC (after the second return). Ezra-Nehemiah places particular emphasis on the reform during the period between 458 and 430, including the building of the Jerusalem wall, repentance over inter-racial marriages, and a reestablishment of the covenant with the Law occupying a central position.

The book can be broken into the following major parts:

1. Ezra 1-6 reviews the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple that took place earlier from 538 to 516 BC.  But within this block, 4:6-23 is an insertion of opposition to building the wall, which took place later during the time of Ezra-Nehemiah.
2. Ezra 7-10 records Ezra returning to Jerusalem at around 458 BC to rebuild the community that were mired in the problem of inter-racial marriages.
3. Neh 1-7 recounts the building of the walls amidst oppositions.
4. Neh 8-10 describes the best moments of covenant renewal, festival celebration, national confession, and a recommitment to the Law of Moses.
5. Neh 11-13 reports the population settled in the area as well as the consecration of the city wall, together with some additional reforms.

Keeping in mind the issue of purity will help understand Ezra-Nehemiah. Purity is defined in accordance with the Book of the Law, which plays a significant foundational role in the reforms mentioned in the book, and also in the repentance found in Ezra 10 and Neh 9-10. Maintaining purity, and specially therefore understanding the Law, makes the priests and Levites very important in the book because they are responsible for teaching the Law and for keeping worship according to the Law. The pursuit of purity is also reflected in the negative light shone on inter-racial marriages. God’s people are to remain pure in this regard, because the Gentiles would lead to the worship of other deities. Worshipping Yahweh should take place in a purified temple by a purified people.

Because of the insertion of Ezra 4:6-23 which chronologically came much later (during King Xerxes and King Artaxerxes), it is necessary to read at least the book of Haggai and Zechariah, whose names are mentioned in Ezra 5:1, to assist in grasping the actual flow of events. Historically, the opposition to the building of the wall reported in the insertion in 4:6-23 came later.

As soon as the review in Ezra 1-6 is over, the introduction of Ezra as a priest and teacher of the Law sets the tone. His arrival with “priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants,” (7:7) shows that the temple worship was one of the envisaged results of his return. With a touch of irony, these same priests and Levites were the ones who led the people away by intermarriages with neighboring races (9:1-3).

The rebuilding continued with Nehemiah’s arrival and it was eventually completed, as noted in Neh 7. Here the writer repeats a list of returnees from Ezra 2 to wrap up the completion of the physical project, setting the stage for the climax of the reconstitution of the purified community. That is precisely what Neh 8-12 portrays. The reading of the Law, celebration of the Feast, confession, and the signing of the covenant preceded the consecration of the walls. Then the people and the priests were listed, completing both the physical project and the covenant community. The final chapter (13) once again reiterates the importance of purity where racial segregation and Sabbath observance became key boundary markers. Ezra-Nehemiah played a significant role in shaping the theology of the Judaism encountered in the New Testament. The attitude towards the Law, the boundary markers of racial purity and Sabbath observance could still be seen to have its force in many of Jesus’ oppositions and in Paul’s letters.