Rebuilding Jerusalem: Ezra-Nehemiah as Narrative Resilience

This study analyzes the final form of Ezra-Nehemiah through the lens of historical trauma, which focuses on the cross-generational genetic, epigenetic and social effects of trauma. Sociologists suggest that narrative construction is essential for multigenerational resilience. Based on parallels of forced migration and colonized repatriation, I use findings about historical trauma in indigenous American communities to illuminate the experiences constructed in the Masoretic form of Ezra-Nehemiah. From a colonized perspective, Ezra-Nehemiah imagines a response of resilience to the exile and long-term colonization of repatriated Judeans. Historical trauma theory frames the reestablishment of the temple, the city walls and the law as a narrative source of agency, resilience and cultural clarity. Ezra-Nehemiah communicates to future generations that even though the trauma of exile has not ended, the ability to reassert agency and an adaptable differentiated identity is continual, pressing and restorative.