natural and healthy partnership between the king and the Jews, with beneficial outcomes for each party. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah may even consider events ostensibly contemporaneous with the drama described in the book of Esther. But these figures and their books are largely taken up with the following concerns: return from exile, ritual and ethical adherence to the law, the restoration of the walls and temple of Jerusalem, and the maintenance of the Jews’ racial and religious purity and integrity.