Nehemiah 1:1-4

TEXT AND VERSE-BY-VERSE COMMENT

I. The Wall is Rebuilt, and Reforms are Instituted at Nehemiah's First Visit: Chapter s 1-7
A. Nehemiah hears of Jerusalem's helplessness.
1. Report on Jerusalem.

TEXT, Nehemiah 1:1-4

1

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol,

2

that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity and about Jerusalem.

3

And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity-are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.

4

Now it came about when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

COMMENT

Nehemiah 1:1 begins with a statement that its source is Nehemiah: adequate evidence that he is the author of the entire book, or at least the major part of it, The month Chislev, their ninth month, would correspond roughly with our December. The reference to the twentieth year is explained more fully in Nehemiah 2:1. The custom of the time was to date all events from the beginning of the rule of the present king; each king's rule would begin with the year one. Comparing this with Ezra 7:1; Ezra 7:8, and assuming that the Artaxerxes is the same person in each case, we can determine that the events of the book of Nehemiah begin thirteen years after Ezra's start for Jerusalem, or twelve years after the conclusion of Ezra's book, i.e., 445 B.C.

Susa was the city in Elam, 200 miles east of Babylon, where the Persian kings maintained a residence, and from which they ruled their kingdom for a part of each year (cf. comments on Ezra 6:2).

The Hanani of Nehemiah 1:2 was probably Nehemiah's own brother: cf. Nehemiah 7:2. From the emphasis which is made in the sentence, it would appear that the visitors from Judah had not searched Nehemiah out with a grievance, but that Nehemiah had initiated the inquiry concerning his fellow-Jews who had escaped, i.e. returned to their homeland, and concerning affairs at Jerusalem.

Their report in Nehemiah 1:3 indicates both physical and mental distress, arising out of the condition of the city's walls and gates. The breaking down of the wall (chiefly of stone) and the burning of the gate (chiefly of timbers) had been done by Nebuchadnezzar, 141 years earlier. Some suppose that this is a reference to more recent events of which Nehemiah would not have been aware before this, and that therefore, the walls and gates had been partially restored after the Captivity. The Bible makes no mention of previous reconstruction of the walls, except in the false report of Israel's enemies in Ezra 4:12. If there had been any repairs, they surely could not have been very extensive.

Nehemiah's grief as portrayed in Nehemiah 1:4 (It was perfectly acceptable for a man to weep because of mental anguish in their culture.) would be easily understood. Without walls the city would have no defense against vandalism or military action, except what they could supply with watchful human bodies. They would be especially vulnerable to the Samaritan'S, their nearest neighbors. There was something he could do, however: he could fast and pray.

WORD STUDIES

SUSA (Nehemiah 1:1; Shushan): lily, something brightly colored. It was named possibly from the lilies growing in its pools, or from the beauty of the city as the king's residence. Its base is the origin of the names, Susan, or Susanna, and of the headings for Psalms 45, 80.

COMMANDMENT (Nehemiah 1:7; Mitzvah): what has been set up, or put, or placed; that is, a monument. Something established, confirmed, appointed, ordained; hence commanded. By keeping these, one is enabled to stand, or endure: Exodus 18:23. Bar Mitzvah, son of the commandment, uses this word.

STATUTE (Nehemiah 1:7): to cut in, hew, hack; engrave, or carve. Then, something decreed, prescribed, appointed, because it is carved in stone.

ORDINANCE (Nehemiah 1:7): the primary idea is to set upright, or erect, or render justice; to govern or rule; hence, judgments.

NEHEMIAH: The last three letters represent the name of God: Jehovah. The first five letters portray drawing the breath forcibly, panting, sighing, or groaning; they come to mean console, comfort. Thus the name means Comfort of Jehovah or Jehovah has comforted. The word comfort, also occurs in the names Menahem and Nahum. It is the first word in Isaiah 40.