Providing clear exposition built on solid scholarship, F. Charles Fensham examines two books of Scripture that are especially important for understanding the last century of Old Testament Jewish history and for marking the beginnings of Judaism.

A biblical scholar well known for his work in ancient Near Eastern studies, and in Ugaritic particularly, Fensham places Ezra and Nehemiah firmly in that environment. His introduction takes up the original unity of the two books and the problems of authorship before he treats the historical and religious background and works through the text. Now part of the Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries.