Editing Book of Nehemiah (section)

== Composition and date ==
The combined book Ezra–Nehemiah of the earliest Christian and Hebrew period was known as Ezra and was probably attributed to [[Ezra]] himself; according to a rabbinic tradition, however, Nehemiah was the real author but was forbidden to claim authorship because of his bad habit of disparaging others.<ref>Blenkinsopp, Joseph, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=m1V1DeBS6P0C&pg=PA86 Judaism: The First Phase]" (Eerdmans, 2009) p. 86</ref>

The Nehemiah Memorial, chapters 1–7 and 11–13, may have circulated as an independent work before being combined with the Ezra material to form Ezra–Nehemiah.<ref name="books.google">La Sor, W.S., William Sanford La Sor, Hubbard, D.A., Bush, F.W., "[https://books.google.com/books?id=6wSWpZmmlAoC&pg=PA551 Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament]" (Eerdmans, 1996)  p. 551</ref> Determining the composition of the Memorial depends on the dates of Nehemiah's mission: It is commonly accepted that "Artaxerxes" was Artaxerxes I (there were two later kings of the same name), and that Nehemiah's first period in Jerusalem was therefore 445–433&nbsp;BC;<ref>Graham, M.P, and McKenzie, Steven L., "[https://books.google.com/books?id=owwhpmIVgSAC&pg=PA205 The Hebrew Bible Today: An Introduction to Critical Issues]" (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998) p. 205</ref> allowing for his return to Susa and second journey to Jerusalem, the end of the 5th century BC is therefore the earliest possible date for the Memorial.<ref>Graham, M.P, and McKenzie, Steven L., "[https://books.google.com/books?id=owwhpmIVgSAC&pg=PA213 The Hebrew Bible Today: An Introduction to Critical Issues]" (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998) p. 213</ref> The Nehemiah Memorial is interrupted by chapters 8–10, which concern Ezra. These have sometimes been identified as another, separate work, the Ezra Memorial (EM), but other scholars believe the EM to be fictional and heavily altered by later editors. Both the Nehemiah and Ezra material are combined with numerous lists, Censuses and other material.

The first edition of the combined Ezra–Nehemiah may date from the early 4th century BC;<ref name="books.google" /> further editing continued well into the following centuries.