Peter H.W. Lau, «Gentile Incorporation into Israel in Ezra - Nehemiah?», Vol. 90 (2009) 356-373
In contrast to other texts dated to the post-exilic period, Ezra – Nehemiah is well known for its separatist policy towards gentiles. Two exceptions in EN are the possible participation of foreigners in the Passover ceremony (Ezra 6,19-21) and the community pledge to follow the Torah (Neh 10,29[28]). An examination of antecedent Passover celebrations reveals that participation in the Passover marks out those who are members of ‘true’ Israel. This article argues that these cases indeed exhibit an anomalous inclusiveness, and discusses how it can be understood within the wider ethno-theological thrust of EN.
364 Peter H.W. Lau
A closer examination of the Passover in EN reveals a number of
similarities with the exodus. As a commemoration of the exodus, it is
kept on the same date (Ezra 6,19; cf. Exod 12,6.18), and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread is kept for seven days (Ezra 6,22; cf. Exod 12,14-
20). The celebration of the Passover after the completion of the tem-
ple (Ezra 6,14-15) draws parallels with its celebration after the taber-
nacle is completed (Num 9,1-14). Furthermore, Israel is described as
‘the returned exiles’ (Ezra 6,19), which in this context alludes to their
recent history of freedom from bondage, just as in the exodus account
Israel was redeemed from Egypt to enter the Promised Land. Similar
to Joshua 5,10-12, the Passover in EN marks the completion of
YHWH’s work of deliverance. Thus, there is a thematic continuity in
the Passover in EN with its observance during the exodus journey.
The Passover in EN also develops themes found in antecedent ob-
servances in the HB. In particular, there is a strong emphasis on pu-
rity(38). Before the Passover lamb is slaughtered, the priests and
Levites needed to be purified (Ezra 6,20), while there is no specific
mention of the rest of the people needing to undergo purification. Im-
purity as a condition for exclusion from participating in the Passover
had been outlined in Numbers 9,6-11. It had a specific cause (touch-
ing a dead body), and it was only temporary (those unclean could still
keep it on the same day of the next month). By contrast, in EN all
non-Israelites, designated ‘the peoples of the land’, are deemed un-
clean. Since the Passover is observed by ‘the people who had returned
from exile’, along with ‘everyone who had joined them and separated
himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship
YHWH, the God of Israel’ (Ezra 6,21) (39), then the implication is that
all those outside the community of Israel are unclean.
suggests that Ezra 1–6 was a response to an early stratum of the Nehemiah cor-
pus, while R.C. STEINER, “Bishlam’s Archival Search Report in Nehemiah’s
Archive: Multiple Introductions and Reverse Chronological Order as Clues to
the Origin of the Aramaic Letters in Ezra 4–6â€, JBL 125 (2006) 674-676, adds
that an early stratum of material in Ezra 4–6 was drawn from Nehemiah’s
archive.
(38) J.B. SEGAL, The Hebrew Passover from the Earliest Times to A.D. 70
(London 1963) 12, 226.
(39) David Janzen interprets the initial waw as explicative rather than consec-
utive; ID., “The Cries of Jerusalem: Ethnic, Cultic, Legal, and Geographical
Boundaries in Ezra-Nehemiahâ€, Unity and Disunity in Ezra-Nehemiah. Redac-
tion, Rhetoric, and Reader (eds. M.J. BODA – P.L. REDDITT) (Sheffield 2008)
125-126. This renders his translation of the second phrase in Ezra 6,21 as ‘that is,