sources in their own right, our recognition of the historiographical principle that “time will tell” means that the lion’s share of attention in this volume will be given to the (hi)story that the editor in his time felt called to tell. If this history (i.e., Ezra-Nehemiah)—told in the fullness of time—does not agree entirely with Ezra’s and Nehemiah’s own accounts, the differences should, however, not be exaggerated. Most importantly for our purposes, the degree of theological interest remains largely