Concise Bible Dictionary:
Nehemiah 1. Nehemiah had God’s interests at heart. He heard at Shushan the desolate state of Jerusalem, and he wept and mourned, and prayed. He occupied a post of honor at the court as the king’s cupbearer.
Nehemiah 2-3. Artaxerxes the king noticed Nehemiah’s sad countenance, and inquired the cause. On being informed, he graciously desired Nehemiah to express his wishes. Nehemiah, after prayer to God, asked to be sent to build Jerusalem, and that he might have timber for the purpose, and letters to the governors. All was granted, and an escort was deputed to accompany him.
On arriving at Jerusalem, Nehemiah was opposed by Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, who were grieved that a man had come “to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.” But this only the more stirred up the energy of Nehemiah, and the work of rebuilding the wall proceeded.
Nehemiah 4. The enemies first mocked him, and then plotted with others to attack him. But being aware of it, he armed the people, and kept part of them ready to repel the attack; and those that worked had a sword as well as a trowel. With Nehemiah was a trumpeter to sound an alarm (compare Num. 10:99And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. (Numbers 10:9)).
Nehemiah 5. Nehemiah also took up the cause of his distressed brethren. The poor had been compelled to mortgage their lands and vineyards to their richer brethren, who made them pay interest, which was contrary to the law. Nehemiah sharply rebuked the rich for this, and bound them by oath to release the persons and lands. He set them an example by feeding a hundred and fifty at his table, and by not taking any stipend as governor.
Nehemiah 6 is significant of the separate path necessary to be maintained by God’s people (Num. 23:99For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. (Numbers 23:9)). Their enemies tried to entice Nehemiah to a conference on various pleas; but in faith he returned the noble answer, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?” They pretended that he was building the city in order to revolt from the king of Persia, saying that he had appointed prophets to say of him at Jerusalem, “There is a king in Judah.” He denied the accusations: they had feigned them in their own hearts. He would not meet them. To add to his distress there were some in Jerusalem who had formed an alliance with Tobiah, and had correspondence with him, reporting the good deeds of Tobiah to him, and sending his words to Tobiah. They thus sought to put him in fear. His devotedness to God’s interests, and obedience to His word, saved him from all the wiles of the adversary. In fifty-two days the wall and gates were finished, and the enemies perceived that the work was wrought of God.
Nehemiah 7. Levites were appointed to their stations, and the charge of the city gates was given to Hanani brother to Nehemiah, and to Hananiah, ruler of the palace, or fortress. A register is given of those who had returned with Zerubbabel, amounting to 42,360, besides their servants. Oblations were then made by Nehemiah and all the people.
Nehemiah 8. In the seventh month they assembled as one man and kept the Feast of Trumpets. Then the law was read, and great pains were taken that the people should understand it. The people wept when they heard what the law enjoined; but the Levites instructed them rather to rejoice, for the day was holy, and the joy of the Lord was their strength. They were exhorted to eat and drink, and to send portions to those who had nothing. The Feast of Tabernacles was then kept, and in such a way as it had not been kept since the days of Joshua. They entered into the joys that belonged to “all Israel.”
Nehemiah 9-10. The people humbled themselves with fasting, and confessed their sins, separating themselves from all persons who were not of the seed of Israel. The word was read, and they worshipped. The Levites then made a solemn confession, recapitulating all the faithfulness and goodness of God towards their nation; acknowledging their sins against Him, and ending with their making a written covenant and calling upon the princes, Levites, and priests to seal it. A list is given of those who sealed, and the covenant itself is set forth, stating clearly what it was the people bound themselves by a curse and an oath to keep. They thus placed themselves again under law, not having yet learned their own weakness and utter inability to keep it. The priests and Levites were provided for, according to Numbers 18.
Nehemiah 11. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were few, and more were needed for its protection. Some volunteered to live there, and the people blessed them; lots were cast for others, one in ten being thus obtained.
Nehemiah 12 gives a list of the priests and Levites, and the joyful dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. Great sacrifices were offered and they rejoiced with their wives and children, for God had made them to rejoice, and the sounds of their rejoicing were heard afar off. Appointments were then made for the service of the temple.
Nehemiah 13. Apparently a period of time elapsed between Nehemiah 12 and Nehemiah 13. The words “on that day” refer to what follows in the verse. Nehemiah, after being twelve years at Jerusalem, had returned to Artaxerxes, in the thirty-second year of his reign, leaving, according to the end of Nehemiah 12, all things in due order in Jerusalem. How long he remained at the court is not stated, but after a certain time he obtained leave, and returned to Jerusalem, and he proceeds to relate what had taken place during his absence.
The service of the temple had been neglected; for the tithes had been withheld, so that the Levites had to go to their fields for support. The sabbath was also desecrated, work being done and things sold in Jerusalem. Nehemiah expostulated with them and caused the gates of the city to be kept shut on the sabbath day. The merchants then tarried outside the walls on the sabbath, but Nehemiah threatened them, and the evil ceased. It was also found that some had married heathen wives, and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod and could not speak in the Jews’ language. Nehemiah cursed these men, and sharply rebuked, and chastised them. One of the grandsons of Eliashib having married the daughter of Sanballat, was cast out from the priesthood. (Josephus relates that he went to Samaria, where Sanballat built a temple on Gerizim, which became a refuge for apostate Jews.)
The book closes with the setting right, outwardly, of all these evils. Nothing more is said of the solemn covenant that had been sealed by so many. It had been altogether violated; and Nehemiah felt his loneliness. Again and again he says, “Remember me, O my God,” speaking of the good deeds he had done, and casting himself upon the greatness of God’s mercy.
The Book of Nehemiah gives the partial and outward re-establishment of some of the Jews in their own land. There was no throne of God, nor throne of David, and they were still subject to the Gentiles. The decree Lo-ammi was not removed; but they were restored to the land, ready for the manifestation of their Messiah, who would come seeking fruit, and ready in grace to bless them. The prophecy of Malachi followed this return, and shows the sad moral condition of the people, and the coming of Jehovah in judgment.
The spiritual value of this book, and of Ezra, is the setting forth of the principle that, in a day of ruin, a humble godly remnant represents the whole body, and receives mercy, and enjoys the best privileges of the dispensation, though at the same time being identified with, and suffering for the sins of the whole.
For events succeeding the time of Nehemiah see ANTIOCHUS.
Bible Handbook:
446 B.C. – 13 Chapters – 406 Verses
In this sixteenth book of Holy Scripture, Old Testament history closes. Certain remnants were indeed permitted to gather once more in the land of their fathers, and build their ruined city and temple, but they do so under Gentile authority. “The times of the Gentiles” cover that long and sad phase of Israel’s history which, commencing with the transference of regal power from Judah to Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2), runs on till its utter destruction by the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7), and the resumption of power and the government of the world by Israel in millennial glory.
The previous book records the ecclesiastical history of the returned Judah-remnants; this unfolds their civil condition in the city and land of their fathers; hence it is the counterpart to that of Ezra, and historically comes after it.
Nehemiah occupied a very important and highly honourable post in the Persian court, namely, cupbearer to Artaxerxes the king. Having heard, upon inquiry, sad accounts of his brethren in captivity, and of Jerusalem’s utter desolation — her walls broken down and her gates burned with fire — he gave himself to prayer, fasting, weeping, and confession of his own and the people’s sin. This was a moral condition of soul truly acceptable to God, who thereupon disposed the heart of the Persian monarch to grant the needful authority for the rebuilding of the city (Neh. 2). The reconstruction of the city occupied a period of seven hebdomads, or 49 years, (Dan. 9:2525Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (Daniel 9:25)), a time of bitter opposition and severe trial to the Jews. Nehemiah was also appointed Tirshatha, or Governor of Judea. The hearty and willing service of all classes of the people — priests, Levites, rulers, goldsmiths, apothecaries, merchants, daughters, and others — in building up the walls and gates (Neh. 3), and in the free-will offerings of the people (Neh. 7:70-7270And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests' garments. 71And some of the chief of the fathers gave to the treasure of the work twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand and two hundred pound of silver. 72And that which the rest of the people gave was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pound of silver, and threescore and seven priests' garments. (Nehemiah 7:70‑72)), is a beautiful example of the energy of faith. The perseverance in the work of the Lord in “the troublous times” of Daniel 9:25,25Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (Daniel 9:25) in spite of the opposition and artifices of the crafty heads of the Samaritans, Sanballat and Tobiah, display the power of faith which, when set on God, and deriving its strength from the consciousness that His glory and interests are ours, is more than a conqueror over the whole power of the enemy.
The twelve years’ administration of Nehemiah, previous to his return to the Persian Court (Neh. 13:66But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king: (Nehemiah 13:6)), was characterized by great diligence in the correction of abuses. Usury and oppression were strongly put down, and restitution of mortgaged lands and property enforced. The genealogy of the nobles, rulers, and people was carefully verified by registry. No doubt the chronicles drawn up during the captivity (1 Chron. 6:1515And Jehozadak went into captivity, when the Lord carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. (1 Chronicles 6:15)) were invaluable in this respect. The public and daily reading of the law, and united worship of the people (Neh. 8); the full and thorough confession of national sin, and separation from the Gentiles and surrounding heathen (Neh. 9); the holy determination to cleave to the Lord and return to the written Word (Neh. 10), Nehemiah, the Governor, and Ezra, the Priest, zealously co-operating in establishing and settling all, both sacred and secular, according to the law of Moses (Neh. 11-12) — make up a scene most touching to behold, and one most fruitful in lessons to the remnant people of these times. On Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem from Persia (ch. 13:6-7) evils of an ecclesiastical and civil kind were most sternly dealt with. Thus closes the last historical notice of Judah till the coming of the Son of God in grace. Work and fighting are characteristic features of the book.
General Divisions
Chapter 1 — Nehemiah’s spiritual exercises and his commission to rebuild the ruined city.
Chapters 3-6 — God with the people in their services and labours; opposition without and within overcome, for God was with them.
Chapters. 7-13 — Obedience to the written Word of God, the ground of blessing and basis of action; all arranged and regulated according to the law of Moses.
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