Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-216) and indexes.

Introduction to the book of Ezra -- The restoration of the Holy Land, united by the temple -- Ezra 1: return to the land -- Ezra 2: return of the holy people to the land -- Ezra 3: laying the foundations of the temple : joy and weeping -- Ezra 4: obstacles to rebuilding the temple -- Ezra 5: the prophets of God and the completion of the temple -- Ezra 6: the temple and the Passover -- The holy people, united by the Torah -- Ezra 7: the mission of Ezra, the scribe -- Ezra 8: the holy people -- Ezra 9: the purification of the people -- Ezra 10: the purification of the people completed -- Conclusion to the book of Ezra -- The book of Nehemiah -- Introduction to the book of Nehemiah -- The Holy Land -- Nehemiah 1: concerning Jerusalem -- Nehemiah 2: rebuilding-first steps -- Nehemiah 3: rebuilding continued -- Nehemiah 4: opposition -- Nehemiah 5: the fruits of the land -- Nehemiah 6: triumph and danger -- The holy people -- Nehemiah 7: consolidating the holy people -- Nehemiah 8: the Torah, pattern of holiness -- Nehemiah 9: holiness and repentance -- Nehemiah 10: renewal of the covenant -- Nehemiah 11: repopulating Jerusalem -- Nehemiah 12: the holy people -- Nehemiah 13: final efforts at the renewal of the holy people -- Conclusion to the book of Nehemiah.

This volume, like each in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible, is designed to serve the church through aid in preaching, teaching, study groups, and so forth and demonstrate the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible. - Publisher. This commentary employs the template of "holy people and holy land" that Michael Dauphinais and I put forward as a way of understanding the unity withing diversity of the biblical story from Genesis to Revelation. The commentary suggests that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are best appropriated and understood in the light of other biblical texts. My commentary is distinguished by how it approaches the meaning of history itself : the non-chronological relationships through which past, present, and future human beings share in different ways in the same realities. - Introduction.