The Concern with Mixed Marriages in Ezra-Nehemiah in Light of Epigraphic Evidence

The book of Ezra-Nehemiah depicts both of its main protagonists, Ezra the Scribe and Nehemiah the Pehah, as dealing with the “problem” of mixed marriages between the men of Yehud and women from neighboring nations. In the “Makkedah” ostraca published in recent years, several of the people mentioned have “Jewish” names with Yahwistic theophoric elements, while their descendants have “Edomite” names, including the theophoric element “QWS”. This has been seem as a sign of “low boundary maintenance” and relative flexibility of religious/ethnic identity under Persian rule. A similar situation can be seen in the Elephantine material. This paper will examine the literary and historical contexts of the “mixed marriage” episodes in Ezra and Nehemiah and attempt to understand their background in light of the reality of the Persian Period, as seen in the Makkedah and Elephantine inscriptions.