1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

2 That Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

3 And they said to me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.

4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

5 And said, I beseech you, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keeps covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

6 Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you: both I and my father's house have sinned.

7 We have dealt very corruptly against you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which you commanded your servant Moses.

8 Remember, I beseech you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

9 But if you turn to me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out to the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

10 Now these are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power, and by your strong hand.

11 O LORD, I beseech you, let now your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who desire to fear your name: and prosper, I pray you, your servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.

PART III ( Neh 1:1 to Neh 7:73 a). The Work of Nehemiah.

Neh 1:1-11 a. Nehemiah, Hearing of the Evil Plight of his Brethren in Jerusalem, Prays for Divine Aid.

Neh 1:1. The words. Hacaliah: these introductory words are not likely to have stood here originally when Ch.- Ezr.- Neh. formed one continuous book. they were probably added by a later scribe. the month Chislev, in the twentieth year: i.e. the ninth month ( Ezr 10:9 *). The last date mentioned was in Ezr 10:17, the first day of the first month of the eighth year of Artaxerxes. By the twentieth year here is presumably meant the twentieth year of Artaxerxes (see Neh 2:1), so that an interval of about thirteen years would have elapsed from the settlement of the mixed marriages question and the arrival of Hanani at Shushan. The month here given is, however, obviously wrong (see Neh 2:1); but the year is in agreement with Neh 5:14, from which it was probably taken by the Chronicler and inserted here. Shushan: also written Susa; the winter residence of the Persian kings, and later, in the Macedonian period, it gave the name Susiana to the whole province. palace: better castle.

Neh 1:2. Hanani: probably the actual brother of Nehemiah (see Neh 7:2). It does not appear that Hanani himself had come from Judah, he merely brings to his influential brother certain men who had. the Jews. Jerusalem: there appears to be a reference here to some well-known occurrence which had happened to the captivity in Judah; the reference is perhaps to Ezr 4:8 ft., which is out of place where it now stands (there had clearly been some strengthening of the walls); this is further borne out by what is said in the next verse (cf. Neh 2:3; Neh 2:17).

Neh 1:5-11 a. This prayer is full of Deuteronomic phrases. Its form is strongly liturgical in character, and with the exception of the last sentence is quite general, and can be paralleled with several passages in the more ancient elements of the Jewish Liturgy. If we had here the actual words of Nehemiah some more direct reference to the purpose for which the supplication was offered would assuredly have been forthcoming. It is more than probable that the Chronicler took this prayer from the Temple Liturgy and put it into the mouth of Nehemiah. The text runs perfectly smoothly if one reads Neh 1:11 b (Now I was cupbearer to the king.) immediately after Neh 1:4.

Neh 1:11 b - Neh 2:8. Nehemiah Receives Permission from Artaxerxes to Go to Jerusalem and Rebuild the City Walls.

Neh 1:1. the twentieth year of Artaxerxes: 444 B.C. I had not been aforetime sad: this cannot be got out of the Heb. which says simply I was not sad; the meaning would appear to be that Nehemiah, knowing as a courtier that it was contrary to usage at court for a royal servant to appear sad in the presence of the king, had determined that he would not offend in this manner even though he had received the bad news about his brethren in Judah; nevertheless, his looks betrayed him in spite of his resolution; hence his words, then I was very sore afraid when the king noticed this. To the best of his knowledge Nehemiah had not appeared sad.

Neh 1:2. And the king said. : better, nevertheless the king said..

Neh 1:3. Let the king live for ever: cf. Dan 2:4; Dan 3:9.

Neh 1:6. For how long shall. : Neh 5:14 *.

Neh 1:8. the castle: cf. Neh 7:2; the word in Heb., birah, is a loan-word, perhaps from the Babylonian; in the Greek it is called baris, so too, by Josephus. This castle was intended as a defence for the Temple (the house). That Nehemiah should have had all these particulars ready to explain to the king without ever having been in Jerusalem is not easy to account for. Probably the Chronicler's hand has to some extent filled in the details.