text · B0031
Ezra-Nechemiah עזרא ונחמיה
The return itself, written by the returner: the rebuilt altar and temple, Ezra's aliyah with the Torah in his hand, Nechemiah's walls, and the great public reading in which the people heard the text "distinctly, giving the sense." The baraita of Bava Batra says simply "Ezra wrote his book" — and in the baraita's list of the Ketuvim that book is one, Ezra and Nechemiah together, the memoirs of both men under one cover. With it, the last book of the Tanakh is written by the man the tradition credits with securing the whole written text.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- עזרא ונחמיה
- Also known as
- Ezra, Nechemiah, Ezra-Nehemiah
- Era
- second-temple
II. When
- Traditional
- written by Ezra, c. 3413–3448 AM, per Bava Batra 15a; one book in the baraita's count
- Academic
- compiled in the Persian period from memoirs and official documents; treated as one book in the early canon lists
- Duration
- ≈35 years
- Precision
- approximate
IV. What
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew (with Aramaic documents in Ezra 4–7)
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Ezra wrote his book and the genealogy of Divrei HaYamim up to himself" (עזרא כתב ספרו ויחס של דברי הימים עד לו) — the baraita of Bava Batra. In the baraita's order of the Ketuvim the book appears simply as "Ezra" (עזרא ודברי הימים), Ezra and Nechemiah counted as a single book. | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| The book carries the mesorah's own founding scene of public text: "they read in the book, in the Torah of God, distinctly, and gave the sense, and they understood the reading" (Nechemiah 8:8) — the tradition's model of Torah reading with translation and explanation. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Timeline placement c. 3413–3448 AM — from Ezra's aliyah to Yerushalayim (3413 AM traditional) through his and Nechemiah's careers. The span is schematic. | tradition reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ |