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The Four: A Survey of the Gospels
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
At the dedication of the city walls in Nehemiah 12, priests process around the walls carrying and blowing trumpets (vv. 35, 41). Last time we saw priests, trumpets and city walls, they were the walls of Jericho tumblin’ down.
At Jericho, priests with trumpets brought down the city walls and started the first conquest of the land. At Jerusalem, priests with trumpets dedicate the city walls and complete the second conquest of the land.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Matthew Levering wisely rejects von Balthasar’s notion that Ezra-Nehemiah is “like a brook in the process of drying up”: “Why should the rebuilding of the temple and the renewal of obedience to the Torah, despite the diminishment of the splendor of the temple and the continuing failure fully to observe the Torah, be counted as small things”?
More positively: “the rebuilding of the temple and the renewal of obedience to the Torah are precisely the kind of wrestling to be faithful to God’s gifts that one would expect from true sons and daughters of Jacob. A spiritually weak people would not have bothered to reclaim their temple and Torah, but would instead have been content gradually to blend into the wealthy and powerful society of Babylon religiously, economically, and politically. His wrestling with God at the threshold of the holy land may leave Jacob/Israel permanently limping . . . but this is a glorious wound, not a sign of drying up.”
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Friday, May 30, 2008 at 9:47 am
Hannah Harrington gave a very fine presentation on the holiness and purity terminology in Ezra and Nehemiah. She showed that these post-exilic texts display an expansion of holy space to encompass the whole city as well as an expansion of the duties of Levites, a closing of the gap between Levites and priests. These two changes are perfectly consistent, displaying a general trend of “up-grading” the holiness of Israel after the exile. The people of Israel become the new sanctum, which can be contaminated and against which sacrilege might be committed.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, November 18, 2006 at 4:10 pm
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