Remembering Three Nehemiahs in Late Second Temple Times: Patterns and Trajectories in Memory Shaping

Abstract

This article explores the workings of a set of memory-shaping patterns that were influential in the construction of Nehemiah as an evolving site of memory during the late Second Temple period. Its main focus is on the three Nehemiahs of memory evoked in and encountered by readers of the three main sources that shaped memories of the Nehemiah: Ezra-Neh, Sirach, and 2 Macc. The article’s focus is on the generative pattern that scripted expectations about how good kings should behave, and which played an important role in the way memories of Nehemiah were constructed and communicated by these texts.