It was after this that the enemies made attempts to stop the rebuilding work. Four times they tried to allure Nehemiah away from his project, but he informed them that he was unable to take time off from the great work that he was doing. Thereafter Sanballat sent an open letter that contained false charges and suggested that they meet for counsel. Nehemiah replied: “Things such as you are saying have not been brought about, but it is out of your own heart that you are inventing them.” Trying still another trick, Tobiah and Sanballat hired a Jew to frighten Nehemiah into wrongfully hiding in the temple. Nehemiah, however, did not give way to fear, and the repair work came to a successful completion on the twenty-fifth day of Elul (August-September), just fifty-two days after construction work began. Nevertheless, Tobiah continued to send intimidating letters to Nehemiah.—Neh. chap. 6.

With the wall completed, Nehemiah directed his attention to the work of organizing the temple servants. Next he placed two men in command of the city, one of these being his brother Hanani. Nehemiah also gave instructions regarding the opening and the closing of the city gates and the guarding of them.—Neh. 7:1-3.

GENEALOGICAL ENROLLMENT

At this time Jerusalem’s population was quite small. This seemingly was why God put it into Nehemiah’s heart to assemble the nobles, deputy rulers and people to get them enrolled genealogically, for the information procured thereby could have served as a basis for taking steps to increase the population of Jerusalem. Apparently while Nehemiah was giving consideration to this genealogical enrollment, he found the record of those who had returned from Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel.—Neh. 7:4-7.

LAW OBSERVANCE RESTORED

It was probably at Nehemiah’s direction that an assembly was held in the public square near the Water Gate. Although Ezra the priest evidently took the lead in giving instruction in the Law, Nehemiah also shared therein. (Neh. 8:1-12) Next the eight-day festival of booths was held. Two days later the Israelites convened again. During this assembly a general confession of Israel’s sin was made. Thereafter a written confession contract was drawn up. This confession contract or “trustworthy arrangement” was attested by the princes, Levites, and priests. Nehemiah, the “Tirshatha [governor]” was the first to attest it by seal. (Neh. 8:13–10:1) All the people agreed to refrain from intermarriage with foreigners, to observe the sabbaths and to support the temple service. Next, one person out of every ten was selected by lot to dwell permanently in Jerusalem.—Neh. 10:28–11:1.

It was after this that the wall of Jerusalem was inaugurated. For the occasion Nehemiah appointed two large thanksgiving choirs and processions to make a tour of the wall in opposite directions. This was done and all met at the temple to offer sacrifices. Additionally, men were appointed to be in charge of the contributions for the priests and Levites.—Neh. 12:27-47.

About twelve years later, in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, Nehemiah left Jerusalem. Upon his return, he found deplorable conditions among the Jews. Eliashib the high priest had made a dining hall in the courtyard of the temple for the use of Tobiah, the very man who earlier had viciously opposed the work of Nehemiah. Immediately Nehemiah took action. He threw all of Tobiah’s furniture outside the dining hall and instructed that the dining hall be cleansed.

Additionally, Nehemiah took measures to ensure the contributions for the Levites and enforced strict sabbath observance. He also administered discipline against those who had taken foreign wives, their sons by these women not even being able to speak the Jewish tongue: “And I began to find fault with them and call down evil upon them and strike some men of them and pull out their hair and make them swear by God: ‘You should not give your daughters to their sons, and you should not accept any of their daughters for your sons or yourselves.’”

Nehemiah’s ‘finding fault’ with these men doubtless was his reproving and rebuking them by means of God’s law, exposing their wrong action. These men were bringing the restored nation into disfavor with God, after God had kindly repatriated them from Babylon to restore true worship at Jerusalem. Nehemiah ‘called down evil upon them,’ meaning that he recited the judgments of God’s law against such violators. He “struck” them, probably not personally, but ordered them flogged as an official judicial action. He ‘pulled out [a portion of] their hair.’ This was a symbol of moral indignation and ignominy before the people. (Compare Ezra 9:3.) Nehemiah then chased away the grandson of High Priest Eliashib, who had become a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite.—Neh. 13:1-28.

NEHEMIAH AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE

Nehemiah stands out as a sterling example of faithfulness and devotion. He was unselfish, leaving behind a prominent position as cupbearer in the courtyard of Artaxerxes to undertake the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls. As there were many enemies, Nehemiah willingly exposed himself to danger in behalf of his people and true worship. Not only did he direct the work of repairing the wall of Jerusalem, but he also had an active personal share in the task. He wasted no time, was courageous and fearless, relied fully on Jehovah and was discreet in what he did. Zealous for true worship, Nehemiah knew God’s law and applied it. He was concerned about building up the faith of his fellow Israelites. He showed himself to be a man who manifested a proper fear of Jehovah God. Though enforcing God’s law zealously, he did not domineer over others for selfish benefit, but showed concern for the oppressed. Never did he demand the bread due the governor. Instead, he provided food for a considerable number of persons at his own expense. (Neh. 5:14-19) Appropriately Nehemiah could pray: “Do remember me, O my God, for good.”—Neh. 13:31.

NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF

A book of the Hebrew Scriptures that primarily relates events occurring shortly before and during Nehemiah’s governorship in Judah. (Neh. 5:14; 13:6, 7) The opening words of this inspired account identify the writer as “Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah” (Neh. 1:1), and much of it is written in the first person.

TIME COVERED AND TIME OF WRITING

The month of Chislev (November-December) of a certain twentieth year is the reference point with which the historical narrative begins. (Neh. 1:1) As evident from Nehemiah 2:1, this twentieth year must be that of Artaxerxes’ reign. Obviously, the twentieth year in this case is not reckoned as starting in Nisan (March-April), for Chislev of the twentieth year could not then precede Nisan (mentioned at Nehemiah 2:1) of the same twentieth year. So it may be that Nehemiah used his own count of time, reckoning the lunar year as beginning with Tishri (September-October), which month Jews today recognize as the beginning of their civil year. Another possibility is that the Persians, unlike the Babylonians, may have reckoned the reigns of their kings as starting in the fall or on the actual date that the monarch ascended the throne. This could be so even though the Babylonian scribes continued to reckon the years of the Persian king’s reign on their customary basis of a Nisan-to-Nisan count, as their cuneiform tablets show they did.

Reliable historical evidence and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy (see ARTAXERXES No. 3) point to 455 B.C.E. as the year in which Nisan of the twentieth year of Artaxerxes’ reign fell. Accordingly, the Chislev preceding Nisan of that twentieth year would fall in 456 B.C.E. and the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes’ reign (the last date mentioned in Nehemiah [13:6]) would include part of 443 B.C.E. Therefore, the book of Nehemiah covers a period from Chislev of 456 B.C.E. until sometime after 443 B.C.E.

It was in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes’ reign that Nehemiah left Jerusalem. Upon his return, he found that the Jews were not supporting the priests and Levites, the sabbath law was being violated, many had married foreign women, and the offspring of the mixed marriages did not even know how to speak the language of the Jews. (Neh. 13:10-27) For conditions to have deteriorated to this point indicates that Nehemiah’s absence entailed a considerable period. But there is no way to determine just how long after 443 B.C.E. Nehemiah completed the book bearing his name.

AGREEMENT WITH OTHER BIBLE BOOKS

The book of Nehemiah exalts Jehovah God. It reveals him to be the Creator (Neh. 9:6; compare Genesis 1:1; Psalm 146:6; Revelation 4:11), a God who answers the sincere prayers of his servants (Neh. 1:11–2:8; 4:4, 5, 15, 16; 6:16; compare Psalm 86:6, 7) and is the Defender of his people. (Neh. 4:14, 20; compare Exodus 14:14, 25.) He is a “God of acts of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness” (Neh. 9:17; compare Numbers 14:18), “the God of the heavens, the God great and fear-inspiring, keeping the covenant and loving-kindness toward those loving him and keeping his commandments.”—Neh. 1:5; compare Deuteronomy 7:9, 10, 21.

Numerous allusions to the Law are found in the book of Nehemiah. These involve the calamities to result from disobedience and the blessings to come from repentance (Lev. 26:33; Deut. 30:4; Neh. 1:7-9), loans (Lev. 25:35-38; Deut. 15:7-11; Neh. 5:2-11), marriage alliances with foreigners (Deut. 7:3; Neh. 10:30), sabbaths, the release from debts (Ex. 20:8; Lev. 25:4; Deut. 15:1, 2; Neh. 10:31), the altar fire (Lev. 6:13; Neh. 10:34), the festival of booths (Deut. 31:10-13; Neh. 8:14-18), the entry of Moabites and Ammonites into the congregation of Israel (Deut. 23:3-6; Neh. 13:1-3), and tithes, firstfruits and contributions.—Ex. 30:16; Num. 18:12-30; Neh. 10:32-39.

There is also historical information in this book that is found elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures. (Neh. 9:7-35; 13:26; compare Nehemiah 13:17, 18 with Jeremiah 17:21-27.) And contemporary history in the account illustrates other Biblical passages. Psalms 123 and 129 find a historical parallel in what was experienced by Nehemiah and the other Jews in connection with their rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. (Neh. 4:1-5, 9; 6:1-14) Jehovah’s causing Artaxerxes to do his will by granting Nehemiah’s request to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem historically illustrates Proverbs 21:1: “A king’s heart is as streams of water in the hand of Jehovah. Everywhere that he delights to, he turns it.”—Neh. 2:4-8.

Both the book of Ezra (2:1-67) and the book of Nehemiah (7:6-69) list the number of persons from various families or houses who returned from Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel. The accounts harmonize in giving 42,360 as the total number of returned exiles, apart from slaves and singers. (Ezra 2:64; Neh. 7:66) However, there are differences between the numbers given for each family or house, and in both listings the individual figures yield a total of far less than 42,360. Many scholars would attribute these variations to scribal errors. While this aspect cannot be completely ignored, there are other possible explanations for the differences.

It may be that Ezra and Nehemiah based their listings on different sources. For example, Ezra could have used a document listing those who enrolled to return to their homeland, whereas Nehemiah might have copied from a record listing those who actually did return. Since there were priests who were unable to establish their genealogy (Ezra 2:61-63; Neh. 7:63-65), it is not unreasonable to conclude that many of the other Israelites faced the same problem. Consequently, the 42,360 persons could be the combined total of the number from each family plus many others who were unable to establish their ancestry. Later, however, some may have been able to establish their correct genealogy. This could explain how a fluctuation in numbers might still give the same total.

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS

I. Nehemiah’s reaction to report concerning conditions at Jerusalem (1:1-11)

A. Visit to Shushan of Nehemiah’s brother Hanani and other Jews; their answer to Nehemiah’s inquiry about the Jews in the jurisdictional district of Judah (1:1-3)

B. Nehemiah is moved to mourn, fast and pray (1:4-11)

II. Nehemiah’s request to go to Jerusalem; his subsequent restoration of Jerusalem’s wall attended by opposition (2:1–4:23)

A. Nehemiah granted royal authorization to go to Judah; his departure with chiefs of the military force and horsemen (2:1-10)

B. Restoration of wall of Jerusalem in the face of opposition (2:11–4:23)

1. Nehemiah inspects wall at night (2:11-20)

2. Those sharing in making repairs on various sections of the wall (3:1-32)

3. Opposition intensifies; Nehemiah arms workmen to counter enemy threat (4:1-23)

III. Nehemiah urges wealthy Jews to make restoration for wrongly having charged fellow Israelites interest on loans; his unselfishness as governor (5:1-19)

IV. Enemies unsuccessful in plots against Nehemiah, but, even after wall is rebuilt in fifty-two days, Tobiah continues to threaten him (6:1-19)

V. Events immediately following completion of wall (7:1–12:47)

A. Nehemiah makes appointments of gatekeepers, places Hanani and Hananiah in command of Jerusalem and gives instructions on opening and closing gates of sparsely populated city (7:1-4)

B. Finds book of genealogical enrollment (7:5-73)

C. People assembled at public square near Water Gate hear reading of Law and explanations (8:1-15)

D. Festival of booths follows (8:16-18)

E. On Tishri (Ethanim) 24, about two days after festival of booths, another assembly is held (9:1–10:39)

1. During assembly Israelites make confession of sins and hear review of God’s dealings from the time he chose Abram (9:1-37)

2. A trustworthy arrangement is contracted and attested by seal; people obligate themselves to refrain from marriage alliances with foreigners, to keep the sabbaths and to support temple services (9:38–10:39)

F. One out of every ten is designated by lot to dwell in Jerusalem; listing of those dwelling in Jerusalem and other places; genealogical information about priests and Levites (11:1–12:26)

G. Events associated with the inauguration of Jerusalem’s wall (12:27-47)

VI. Activities following Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem after his being away for some time (13:1-31)

A. Law read to people; they respond by separating themselves from mixed company (13:1-3)

B. Nehemiah has dining halls in temple courtyards cleansed, sees to it that material support is given to the Levites and the temple; enforces sabbath observance, chastises those involved in mixed marriages; purifies and gives assignments to priests and Levites (13:4-31)