Ezra 10:44

strange = foreign.

Thus ends the first part of this book "Ezra-Nehemiah"; not abruptly; as it is followed by the second part, which is concerned mainly with the rebuilding of the city and the walls, instead of with the Temple. The incidents recorded in Nehemiah 1:1 Nehemiah 7:4 had taken place before the first return under Zerubbabel, See the Structures and notes on pp 617, 618, and App-58 . Compare also Nehemiah 7:4 with Haggai 1:1-4 .