A Communal Pledge of Obedience: Before Jerusalem could be repopulated in line with Nehemiah’s plan in 7:4–5, the last part of the program laid down in chapter 1 had to be implemented. The community had started to take the Torah into account in the readings and responses of chapter 8, but they had to go further. Their prayer of repentance in chapter 9 must logically lead to wholehearted obedience to God’s commands. The divine condition for a return to Jerusalem, “if you return to me and obey my commands” (1:9) is here met in principle. Chapter 10 contains a pledge of obedience to God’s will as revealed in the Torah. The editorial introduction In view of all this marks a transition from returning to God, in chapter 9, to obeying God’s commands by turning from their evil ways (9:35) to follow…