Nehemiah 1 - Introduction
_A.M. 3558. B.C. 446._ Nehemiah is informed of the deplorable state of the Jews at Jerusalem, Nehemiah 1:1. He fasts and prays, Nehemiah 1:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 3558. B.C. 446._ Nehemiah is informed of the deplorable state of the Jews at Jerusalem, Nehemiah 1:1. He fasts and prays, Nehemiah 1:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The words of Nehemiah_ Or, _the acts_, as the Hebrew word here used often signifies; that is, the things which Nehemiah did. _In the month Chisleu_ Which answers to part of our November and December. _In the twentieth year_ Namely, of the reign of Artaxerxes. _As I was in Shushan the palace_ In the... [ Continue Reading ]
_I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped_ Either concerning those who were not carried captives when others were, but remained in the land; or rather, those that had escaped out of the slavery which they had endured in Assyria, Babylon, and other strange lands. _Which were left of the capt... [ Continue Reading ]
_They said, The remnant that are left in the province_ In Judea, which was now made a province under the Persian kings; _are in great affliction and reproach_ Despised and distressed by the neighbouring nations. _The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down_, &c. The walls and gates continue as the Cha... [ Continue Reading ]
_When I heard these words I sat down_ Probably upon the ground, as the manner was, in great sorrow, and perhaps in ashes; _and wept and mourned certain days_ Thus the desolations and distresses of the church of Christ ought to be the matter of our grief, how much soever we live at ease. _And fasted... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which I pray before thee night and day_ He refers to all the prayers which he had for some time been addressing to God, during his sorrow for the desolations of Jerusalem.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if ye turn unto me, I will gather them from thence_, &c. This promise made by Moses he trusted God would fulfil, as he had the threatening. It is to be observed, that Nehemiah was directed in this prayer to God, and in his efforts for the restoration of Jerusalem, by the predictions of Moses, D... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power_, &c. In days of old, and thy power is still the same; wilt thou not therefore still redeem them, and perfect their redemption? Let not them be overpowered by the enemy that have a God of infinite power on their side.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who desire to fear thy name_ Who are not only called by thy name, but really have a reverence for it: who now worship thee, and thee only, according to thy will, and have an awful sense of all the discoveries which thou art pleased to make of thyself. Those who truly desire to fear his name shall b... [ Continue Reading ]