Deirdre N. Fulton investigates the history of Judah during the late-Persian and Hellenistic Periods by analysing Nehemiah 11-12. These chapters exhibit changes in the lists and the procession narrative, preserved in two different traditions, within the MT (Masoretic Text) and the LXX (Greek Septuagint).
In this work, Deirdre N. Fulton examines the differences in the MT and LXX texts of Nehemiah 11-12. She portrays the rebuilding of Judah by focusing on the people who settled in Jerusalem, a catalog of settlements in Judah, a list of temple personnel, and a narrative of the dedication and procession around the walls of Jerusalem. In this systematic study the author analyzes the textual divergences and changes these chapters underwent over time. While both traditions cast Nehemiah 11-12 in Persian period Judah, the textual divergences between the MT and LXX reveal intentional changes that occurred during the Hellenistic period.
Deirdre N. Fulton
is Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at Baylor University.
Achaemenid Period Textual Criticism Ezra-Nehemiah