228. 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. Originally the two books of Samuel and the two books of Kings were each a single book in the Hebrew Canon of the Bible, telling the history of the kingdom of Israel. Once they were translated into Greek in the Septuagint, they no longer fit on single scrolls and were expanded into four books. Samuel contains the history of the prophet Samuel-the last judge of Israel-and the stormy tale of Israel's first two kings, Saul and David.
229. The division of Kings occurred when the Book of Samuel was divided into 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, the Book of Kings was divided into 1 Kings and 2 Kings, and the Book of Chronicles was divided into 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles. The motivation was not spiritual but practical-the books were simply too long to keep on one scroll.
230. 1 and 2 Chronicles is the ancient Reader's Digest version of everything that had already taken place in the Bible from Genesis forward. It is abridged and simplified, with many of the nasty parts taken out. The first nine chapters contain long tables of "begats," showing the descendants of the Hebrew tribes, from Adam through the time of King David. The rest of 1 Chronicles and most of 2 Chronicles deal with the reigns of David and Solomon and the subsequent history of the kingdom of Judah until the Babylonian exile. Since these books are placed last in the Hebrew Canon, the Hebrew Scriptures end on a liberating note, with echoes of the Exodus.
231. Ezra opens with a decree of Cyrus, the king of Persia, following his capture of Babylon in 539 B.C., that those who want to may leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Founder of an extensive empire that lasted more than two hundred years, Cyrus was an extraordinary leader. Under Cyrus and his successors, much of the ancient Near East, from India to Egypt and the border of Greece, was brought under one ruler. Unlike other ancient conquerors who enforced their own religions on conquered peoples, Cyrus permitted the captive nations to preserve and restore their own institutions.
232. Nehemiah. Jerusalem was constantly raided by various marauders. Nehemiah's particular concern was the security of Jerusalem, so he returned from exile specifically to help. He organized the people and rebuilt the city walls in fifty-five days. While Ezra's role was that of a priest, Nehemiah's was that of governor. When the rebuilding was completed, Ezra was invited to rededicate the city by reading from the book of Moses. Ezra-Nehemiah make a distinctive pair of books, together recording the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the exile.
233. Esther (Hadassah in Hebrew). While Ezra-Nehemiah deal with events in Jerusalem, Esther tells of events far away. As Ruth was a vignette sketched in the period of the judges, Esther is a vignette sketched in the time of the exile. As one of the exiles, Esther finds herself in the service of the king of Persia. The king sets out to select a new queen, and the beautiful Jewish woman, Esther, is chosen. Haman, the king's right-hand man, plans to rid his county of the Jews. Through a fascinating sequence of events involving Esther, Haman's rampage against the Jews backfires. Esther retains the favor of the king and the Jewish people are saved.
234. The books of poetry. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Solomon make up the Bible's books of poetry. Hebrew poetry is picturesque and vivid. There is a rhythm or cadence to Hebrew poetry that is lost to some degree in the translation. It is filled with concrete images and deep emotion. it touches the soul. The books of poetry aren't just a change in style from previous books; the subject matter shifts as well. Wisdom takes center stage in these five books; therefore, they are called the "wisdom literature" of the Bible.
235. Job. Whenever the troubling question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" comes up, Job is first to come to mind. But few people ever tackle this book that reads like the script for a play. The central characters are Job, three of his friends, a bystander, and God. The supporting cast includes Job's wife and children, the angels, and Satan as chief of the angels. The first two chapters and the last two chapters are prose, and the thirty-nine chapters in between consist of poetic dialogue between the central characters.
236. Psalms. While Jews and Christians share the entire Hebrew Scriptures, or Old Testament, Psalms is the most emotionally and intensely shared book of Hebrew Scripture. Jews know many of the psalms and individual verses by heart. Jesus often quoted or referred to the Psalms. Martin Luther called the Book of Psalms "a Bible in Miniature." The 150 "rosaries" later instituted by the Roman Catholic Church are in honor of the 150 psalms.
237. Proverbs. Some proverbs are strung together in a meaningful sequence, while others are independent of each other and need to be "unpacked" by the reader. The opening chapters of Proverbs carry extended proverbs that progress with each verse. And mostly one-liner bits of wisdom form chapters ten and following. Proverbs leaves no ambiguity over the contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
