What is it about?
Ezra chapters 4 - 6 is a carefully constructed literary unit. It consists of two parallel panels. The basic story pattern of Ezra 4 is repeated in Ezra 5-6. Ezra 5-6 recounts different events (as compared to chapter 4), but those events happen as an exact undoing of the events of Ezra 4. Finally, there is a literary framework that surrounds this entire passage: numerous words, phrases and motifs from 4:1-5 are found again in 6:19-22.
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Why is it important?
As readers, we look for clues that help us understand how to read a passage of the Bible. This article illuminates the large-scale patterns that tell us how the author arranged the material in these chapters.
Perspectives
This is a portion of my 1999 Master's Thesis. Some of these observations have never previously been pulled together laid out in print as they are in this brief article.
Stefan C Matzal
Trinity Fellowship
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: THE STRUCTURE OF EZRA IV-VI, Vetus Testamentum, January 2000, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/156853300506477.
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