The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge Bible Commentaries on the Old Testament)

Unlike the First and Second Books of the Chronicles, the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah have received considerable attention; partly because their presentation is more attractive, but more importantly because they illuminate a period of history about which very little is known: Jerusalem in the context of the Persian domination of South-West Asia from 539 to 336 B.C. In other respects, however, there are striking similarities between these books, textually, linguistically and theologically: the opening of Ezra repeats the end of 2 Chronicles, suggesting that the works were originally continuous and possibly by the same hand or hands; and there is constantly a theological motivation in the recording of 'historical' events.