The Books Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther cover the last century of Old Testament Jewish history. Ezra was a priest who led the exiles to a new commitment to God. His book describes the resettlement of the homeland. Nehemiah was a servant of a Persian king who organized the building of the walls of Jerusalem. Esther is the Jewish queen of a Persian king who saved her people from a plot to destroy them. Her story takes place at a time between the rebuilding of the temple and Ezra's return (Ezra 7:1).
The Book of Job, according to The New Harpers Bible Dictionary, is "the longest-sustained and finest poetic composition in the Hebrew Canon." Along with Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, it can be classified as one of the books of Wisdom Literature which deal with ethical and philosophical questions. It tells the story of Job, a prosperous man in the days of the patriarchs, who confronts the question of why God allows the righteous to suffer.
