Postexilic Prose Traditions in the Writings

This chapter explores the prose traditions in the Writings under the broad division between historiography and storytelling. While 1–2 Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah make use of archival sources and possibly genuine first-person accounts, these materials are arranged and subsumed under an ideological umbrella—much like contemporaneous Greek historiography. Similarly, the storytelling of Daniel, Esther, Ruth, and the prose portions of Job, while clearly exhibiting folkloristic qualities, also show their primary concern to be with and address the realities faced by Jewish communities in the Persian and Hellenistic Diaspora. Overall the prose traditions in the Writings offer evidence of vibrant and active literary cultures among both temple personnel and cultured elites.