Texts · 12 · Nehemiah
The first biblical author we actually know
Nehemiah is the only biblical writer we can identify. He names himself, writes in the first person, and doesn't hide his opinions.
An outspoken voice can make it into the canon.
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He criticized the high priest's family and the aristocracy so sharply that a later retelling, 1 Esdras, erased him from history, and the rabbis found him egotistical. Yet later generations preserved and expanded his memoir.
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 189–190
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