CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Nehemiah in the civil aspect and Ezra in the religious field are protagonists of the post-exilic restoration of the people of Israel.
Ezra was a priest and a sofer (scribe); that is, lay cleric versed in the Law. He was in charge in the Persian court of all Jewish community affairs, which were regulated according to the Law of Moses. Artaxerxes sent him to Jerusalem with a very important mission: to bring and promulgate in Jerusalem the law he had just codified in Babylon that granted the Jews authorization to return to Judah, elevation of the law of Moses to the category of state law, and different economic provisions aimed at sustaining the restoration of the Yahwist cult in Jerusalem, the city it reached in the 7th year of the reign.
Nehemiah, butler of King Artaxerxes, requested and obtained the sovereign authorization to go to Judah and rebuild the city of his parents. The year 20 of the reign of Artaxerxes arrived in Jerusalem. He communicated to the people his purposes of rebuilding the temple, assigning each family its share.
From the presentation of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, it follows that the order is NOT Ezra-Nehemiah but Nehemiah-Ezra.
- At the arrival of Nehemiah the city was dismantled and its walls in ruins.
3 And they said to me: The remnant, those who remained of captivity, there in the province, are in great evil and affront, and the wall of Jerusalem torn down, and its doors burned with fire. (Nehemiah 1: 3).
Ezra; on the contrary, it speaks of the defense that protects Judah and Jerusalem. Therefore, Nehemiah's work of lifting the wall should have already preceded.
- Upon arrival in Jerusalem, Nehemiah finds the Jewish community in a precarious state, both materially and spiritually. This state of affairs contradicts the review in the book of Ezra (chapters 7-10).
Thus, the order of manifestation of the activities of Ezra and Nehemiah must be: Nehemiah-Ezra