Because of my interest in the history of the priesthood, I wanted to call attention to Steve Cook’s post on the social location of Ezra. Steve places Ezra in the Aaronid camp. I would love to see Steve expand upon his conception of the different priestly groups in the postexilic period, since this has direct impact on the question of which priestly group(s) are responsible for the final layer of the Pentateuch.
Just to toss one idea out as bait for Steve, it seems to me that Ezra is not among those who edited the final version. The Holiness School has a great openness towards outsiders, as can be seen in the repeated admonition that there should be one law for the Israelite and alien alike. Ezra, on the other hand, is not so open to outsiders, at least when they are getting married to Israelites. Any thoughts on this Steve?
On January 28th, 2007 at 8:33 am
Thanks for the referral, Kevin! And thanks for starting this conversation! I have started to take up your challenge over on my blog: http://biblische.blogspot.com/2007/01/ezra-and-outsiders.html
Please respond, either here or there, when you have a chance. Your friend, —Steve
On January 30th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
[…] groups of priests in postexilic Yehud: Zadokites, Aaronides, and Levites. I asked Steve a brief question about Ezra and the Holiness School, to which he kindly responded. I wanted to push the conversation a bit farther, though in a […]