The Book of Nehemiah in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

by Nehemiah, a Hebrew prophet and high official at the Persian court, concerning the rebuilding of the walls of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

after the Babylonian exile and the dedication of the city and its people to God's laws (

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

). Since the 16th century, Nehemiah has generally been treated as a separate book within the Bible. Before then, it had been combined with the

Book of Ezra The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible which formerly included the Book of Nehemiah in a single book, commonly distinguished in scholarship as Ezra–Nehemiah. The two became separated with the first printed Mikraot Gedolot, rabbinic bib ...

; but in Latin

Christian Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

s from the 13th century onwards, the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

's Book of Ezra was divided into two texts called the First and Second Books of Ezra, respectively. This separation became canonised with the first printed Bibles in Hebrew and Latin. Mid-16th century Reformed Protestant Bible translations produced in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, such as the Geneva Bible, were the first to introduce the title "Book of Nehemiah" for the text formerly called the "Second Book of Ezra". The

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity deno ...

of Nehemiah, his objectives, and the "Nehemiah memoir" have recently become very controversial in biblical scholarship, with maximalists viewing it as a historical account and minimalists doubting whether Nehemiah existed.

Summary

The events take place in the second half of the 5th century BC. Listed together with the Book of Ezra as Ezra–Nehemiah, it represents the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible. The original core of the book, the first-person memoir, may have been combined with the core of the

around 400 BC. Further editing probably continued into the Hellenistic era. The book tells how Nehemiah, at the court of the king in Susa, is informed that

is without walls, and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as governor of Judah and he travels to Jerusalem. There he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israel's enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the

law of Moses The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Heb ...

. After 12 years in

, he returns to Susa but subsequently revisits Jerusalem. He finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Hebrew wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law. ;''Chapters'' # In the 20th year of Artaxerxes I of Persia, Nehemiah,

cup-bearer A cup-bearer was historically an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty was to pour and serve the drinks at the royal table. On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues (such as poisoning), a person had to be regarded as thor ...

to the king in Susa (the Persian capital), learns that the wall of Jerusalem is destroyed. He prays to God, confessing the sins of Israel, then reminding God of His promise to restore the

Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...

. He asks God for success in asking King Artaxerxes for permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild its wall. # While Nehemiah is serving wine the king notices his sadness. Nehemiah humbly confesses it is because the city of his ancestors is in ruins and asks permission to rebuild the city wall. The king agrees. Nehemiah then asks for letters of safe-conduct and for permission to obtain timber from the royal forest. The king agrees to these requests and additionally dispatches a military escort to accompany Nehemiah to Jerusalem. When Nehemiah arrives he secretly inspects the wall before encouraging the local leaders to join him in rebuilding. However, when Sanballat of Samaria, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab hear about it they mock the Israelites and accused them of rebelling against the king. # The families and leaders of Jerusalem each take a gate or a section of wall and begin rebuilding. # The leaders of the opposing tribes – Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, Geshem the Arab, and the men of Ashdod – plot together to attack Jerusalem, which forces the Hebrews rebuilding the wall to work with weapons in their hands. # Nehemiah, having seen the Hebrew nobles oppressing the poor, orders the cancellation of all debt and mortgages; previous governors have been corrupt and oppressive, but he has been righteous and just. # Sanballat accuses Nehemiah of planning rebellion against Artaxerxes, and Nehemiah is opposed even by Hebrew nobles and prophets, but the wall is completed. # Nehemiah appoints officials and sets guards on the wall and gates; he plans to register the Hebrews, and finds the census of those who had returned earlier. # Nehemiah assembles the people and has Ezra read to them the law-book of Moses; Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites institute the Feast of Booths, in accordance with the Law. # The Hebrews assemble in penance and prayer, recalling their past sins, God's help to them, and his promise of the land. # The priests, Levites and the Israelite people enter into a covenant, agreeing to separate themselves from the surrounding peoples and to keep the Law. # Jerusalem is repopulated by the Hebrews living in the towns and villages of Judah and Benjamin. # A list of priests and Levites who returned in the days of Cyrus (the first returnees from Babylon) is presented; Nehemiah, aided by Ezra, oversees the dedication of the walls and the rebuilt city. # After 12 years Nehemiah returns to Susa; he later comes back to Jerusalem, and finds that there has been backsliding in his absence. He takes measures to enforce his earlier reforms and asks for God's favour.

Historical background

The book is set in the 5th century BC. Judah is one of several provinces within a larger satrapy (a large administrative unit) within the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

. The capital of the empire is at Susa. Nehemiah is a

to king Artaxerxes I of Persia – an important official position. At his own request Nehemiah is sent to Jerusalem as governor of Yehud, the official Persian name for Judah. Jerusalem had been conquered and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC and Nehemiah finds it still in ruins. His task is to rebuild the walls and to re-populate the city. He faces opposition from three powerful neighbours, the

Samaritans Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

, the

Ammon Ammon (; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; '; ) was an ancient Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking kingdom occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Wadi Mujib, Arnon and Jabbok, in present-d ...

ites, and the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

, as well as the city of Ashdod, but manages to rebuild the walls. He then purifies the Hebrew community by enforcing its segregation from its neighbours and enforces the laws of Moses.

Textual history

The single Hebrew book Ezra–Nehemiah, with title "Ezra", was translated into Greek around the middle of the 2nd century BC. Slightly later a second, and very different Greek translation was made, in the form of

1 Esdras 1 Esdras (), also Esdras A, Greek Esdras, Greek Ezra, or 3 Esdras, is the ancient Greek Septuagint version of the biblical Book of Ezra in use within the early church and among many modern Christians with varying degrees of canonicity. 1 Esdra ...

, from which the deeds of Nehemiah are entirely absent, those sections either being omitted or re-attributed to Ezra instead; and initially early Christians reckoned this later translation as their biblical 'Book of Ezra', as had the 1st century Jewish writer

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

. From the third century the Christian

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

in Greek supplemented the text of 1 Esdras with the older translation of Ezra–Nehemiah, naming the two books Esdras A and Esdras B respectively; and this usage is noted by the 3rd century Christian scholar

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

, who remarked that the Hebrew 'book of Ezra' might then be considered a 'double' book.

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

, writing in the early 5th century, noted that this duplication had since been adopted by Greek and Latin Christians. Jerome himself rejected the duplication in his Vulgate translation of the Bible into Latin from the Hebrew; and consequently all early Vulgate manuscripts present Ezra–Nehemiah as a single book, as too does the 8th century commentary of

Bede Bede (; ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, Bede of Jarrow, the Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable (), was an English monk, author and scholar. He was one of the most known writers during the Early Middle Ages, and his most f ...

, and the 9th century bibles of

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; ; 735 – 19 May 804), also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin, was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Ecgbert of York, Archbishop Ecgbert at Yor ...

and Theodulf of Orleans. However, sporadically from the 9th century onwards, Latin bibles are found that separate the Ezra and Nehemiah sections of Ezra–Nehemiah as two distinct books, then called the first and second books of Ezra; and this becomes standard in the Paris Bibles of the 13th century. It was not until 1516/17, in the first printed Rabbinic Bible of Daniel Bomberg that the separation was introduced generally in Hebrew Bibles. In later medieval Christian commentary, this book is referred to as the 'second book of Ezra', and never as the 'Book of Nehemiah"; equally citations from this book are always introduced as "Ezra says ...", and never as 'Nehemiah says ...".

Composition and date

The combined book Ezra–Nehemiah of the earliest Christian and Hebrew period was known as Ezra and was probably attributed to Ezra himself; according to a rabbinic tradition, however, Nehemiah was the real author but was forbidden to claim authorship because of his bad habit of disparaging others. The Nehemiah Memorial, chapters 1–7 and 11–13, may have circulated as an independent work before being combined with the Ezra material to form Ezra–Nehemiah.La Sor, W.S., William Sanford La Sor, Hubbard, D.A., Bush, F.W.,
Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament
(Eerdmans, 1996) p. 551 Determining the composition of the Memorial depends on the dates of Nehemiah's mission: It is commonly accepted that "Artaxerxes" was Artaxerxes I (there were two later kings of the same name), and that Nehemiah's first period in Jerusalem was therefore 445–433 BC; allowing for his return to Susa and second journey to Jerusalem, the end of the 5th century BC is therefore the earliest possible date for the Memorial.Graham, M.P, and McKenzie, Steven L.,
The Hebrew Bible Today: An Introduction to Critical Issues
(Westminster John Knox Press, 1998) p. 213 The Nehemiah Memorial is interrupted by chapters 8–10, which concern Ezra. These have sometimes been identified as another, separate work, the Ezra Memorial (EM), but other scholars believe the EM to be fictional and heavily altered by later editors. Both the Nehemiah and Ezra material are combined with numerous lists, Censuses and other material. The first edition of the combined Ezra–Nehemiah may date from the early 4th century BC; further editing continued well into the following centuries.

References

External links