NEHEMIAH,
BOOK
OF
returned
to
the
Persian
court,
and
was
absent
from
Jerusalem
for
some
years.
How
long
exactly
Nehemiah's
first
governorship
lasted,
and
for
how
great
an
interval
he
was
absent
from
Jerusalem,
are
uncertain.
In
5"
it
seems
to
be
stated
definitely
that
he
was
governor
in
the
first
instance
for
12
years.
But
in
13«
Nehemiah
says:
'But
all
this
time
I
was
not
at
Jerusalem:
for
in
the
two-and-thirtieth
year
of
Artaxerxes,
king
of
Babylon,
I
went
unto
the
king,
and,
after
certain
days,
asked
I
leave
of
the
king.'
On
the
whole
it
seems
probable
that
5**
means
that
during
the
twelve
years
Nehemiah,
though
absent
on
court
duty,
was
actually
governor,
ruling
by
deputies;
and
that
in
the
32nd
year
of
the
king's
reign
he
again
secured
leave
of
absence,
and
came
to
Jerusalem
(B.C.
433).
The
evils
he
found
on
hia
return
miist
have
taken
some
considerable
time
to
develop.
On
his
return
to
Jerusalem
in
433
Nehemiah
found
various
abuses
and
internal
disorders
rampant
in
the
community.
EUashib
'the
priest'
had
provided
Tobiah
with
quarters
in
one
of
the
Temple-chambers
(13*'),
the
Levites
had
not
received
their
dues,
the
Sabbath
was
openly
desecrated
in
and
around
Jerusalem
(13'"),
and,
In
spite
of
Ezra's
great
puritanical
move-ment,
mixed
marriages
were
still
common,
and
the
children
of
such
marriages
spoke
'
half
'
in
their
mothers'
foreign
speech
(13Mf.).
Possibly
information
as
to
these
developments
had
impelled
Nehemiah
to
return.
At
any
rate,
on
his
arrival
he
asserted
himself
with
characteristic
vigour,
and
inaugurated
drastic
measures
of
reform.
One
characteristic
sentence
vividly
illustrates
this
relentless
zeal:
'And
one
of
the
sons
of
Joiada,
the
son
of
EUashib
the
high
priest,
was
son-in-law
to
San-ballat
the
Horonite:
therefore
I
chased
him
from
me'
(1328).
'Thus
cleansed
I
them'
—
he
proceeds
—
'from
every
thing
strange,
and
appointed
wards
for
the
priests
and
for
the
Levites,
every
one
to
his
work:
and
for
the
wood
offering
at
times
appointed,
and
for
the
first-fruits'
(13S1).
The
Book
of
Nehemiah
(see
next
article)
is
composite
in
character,
and
the
narrative
is
in
part
fragmentary.
Hence
the
actual
course
of
events
is
by
no
means
always
clear
and
certain.
Some
scholars
are
of
opinion
that
the
Artaxerxes
referred
to
is
Artaxerxes
ii.
Mnemon
(reigned
B.C.
4()4-358)
,
and
suppose
that
Nehemiah
was
governor
for
the
12
years
384-372,
and
again
at
a
later
period.
Josephus
places
Nehemiah
in
the
time
of
Xerxes.
The
personality
of
Nehemiah,
as
revealed
in
his
memoirs,
is
in
many
respects
strangely
attractive.
He
appears
as
a
gifted
and
accomplished
man
of
action,
well
versed
in
the
ways
of
the
world,
and
well
equipped
to
meet
difficult
situations.
The
combination
of
strength
and
gracefulness,
the
generosity,
fervent
patriotism,
and
religious
zeal
of
the
man
contributed
to
form
a
personahty
of
striking
force
and
power.
He
is
a
unique
figure
in
the
OT,
and
rendered
services
of
incalculable
value
to
the
cause
of
Judaism.
Even
his
limitations
reveal
a
certain
strength
ie.g.
his
naive
prayer:
'Re-member
unto
me,
O
my
God,
for
good
all
that
I
have
done
for
this
people').
Like
all
great
men,
he
has
become
the
subject
of
legend
(cf.
2
Mac
l'"-).
But
he
deserves
in
every
respect
the
eulogium
pronounced
upon
him
by
ben-Sira
(Sir
49'')
and
by
Josephus,
who
{Ant.
XI.
V.
8)
says
of
him:
'He
was
a
man
of
good
and
righteous
character,
and
very
ambitious
to
make
his
own
nation
happy;
and
he
hath
left
the
walls
of
Jerusalem
as
an
eternal
monument
of
himself.'
'^
G.
H.
Box.
NEHEMIAH,
BOOK
OF.
—
The
two4ooks,
separated
in
our
Bible
and
appearing
there
as
Ezra
and
Nehemiah,
originally
formed
a
single
book
(as
appears
from
the
Talmud,
the
LXX,
and
from
internal
evidence),
which
was
the
sequel
to
Chronicles.
In
fact
Eitra
verbally
continues
the
narrative
of
2
Ch
36
(cf.
2
Ch
36»-
»
with
Ezr
!'■
'),
and
the
whole
work
—
1
and
2
Chron.,
Ezra,
and
Nehemiah
—
^forms
a
single
continuous
narrative
from
Adam
to
Nehemiah's
second
visit
to
Jerusalem,
and
was
probably
compiled
by
the
Chronicler.
That
part
of
this
voluminous
work
which
now
bears
the
title
Nehemiah
NEHEMIAH,
BOOK
OF
is
so
called
because
it
deals
largely
with
the
career
of
the
Jewish
patriot
whose
name
it
carries,
and
embodies
excerpts
of
considerable
extent
from
his
personal
memoirs.
1
.
Extracts
from
the
memoirs
embodiedin
Nehemiah
.
—
(a)
l'-7'.
At
the
outset
we
meet
with
a
long
section
where
the
first
person
sing,
is
used
throughout,
viz.
l'-7'.
These
chapters
are
indubitably
authentic
extracts
from
Nehemiah's
personal
memoirs.
They
are
distinguished
by
individual
characteristics
which
help
us
to
form
a
distinct
idea
of
the
writer's
personahty.
Enthusiasm
for
a
great
idea,
and
unstinting
and
unselfish
devotion
to
its
reaUzation,
are
marked
features.
From
5"
it
is
clear
that
the
narrative
can
not
have
been
put
into
its
present
form
till
some
years
after
the
events
re-counted.
Doubts
have
been
raised
as
to
the
authenticity
of
6"
(the
walls
finished
in
52
days),
but
the
objection
is
not
a
fatal
one.
It
should
be
noted,
however,
that
according
to
Josephus
(Ant.
xi.
v.
8)
the
building
of
the
walls
lasted
2
years
and
8
months.
On
what
authority
Josephus
bases
this
assertion
is
not
known.
(3'-'^
a
Ust
of
persons
who
helped
to
rebuild
the
walls
of
Jerusalem,
has
also
been
the
subject
of
doubt.)
(6)
7«-Js».
This
section
contains
a
fist
of
the
exiles
who
returned
with
Zerubbabel,
which
Nehemiah
(7')
says
he
'found':
it
also
appears
in
Ezra's
memoirs
(Ezr
2),
with
sUght
differences.
It
forms
a
natural
and
easy
continuation
to
7',
and
probably
from
the
very
first
stood
as
a
constituent
element
in
Nehemiah's
memoirs.
(c)
Ch.
11.
This
chapter,
which
contains
a
list
of
persons
who
drew
lots
to
reside
at
Jerusalem,
and
other
details
regarding
the
settlement
of
the
capital,
prob-ably
also
stood
in
the
original
memoirs.
The
hst
—
which
partly
recurs
in
1
Ch
9'-"
—
^is
to
be
regarded
as
the
Immediate
continuation
of
ch.
7
(with
Ewald),
and
refers
to
measures
taken
by
Zerubbabel.
Doubt-less
it
was
followed
in
the
memoirs
by
an
account
of
what
Nehemiah
did
to
resume
and
complete
these
measures
(cf.
7'-
'),
but
this
has,
unfortunately,
not
been
preserved
to
us.
((f)
l2"-«.
Account
of
the
dedication
of
the
walls.
Notice
the
resumption
of
the
1st
pers.
sing,
(vv."-
"■
">).
This
passage
is
an
excerpt
from
the
memoirs,
but
has
been
abridged
and
revised
by
the
compiler.
(e)
13*-".
Another
extract
from
the
memoirs,
giving
details
of
a
time
some
12
or
more
years
later
than
that
referred
to
in
the
earlier
extracts.
It
deals
with
Nehemiah's
second
visit.
2.
Passages
in
Nehemiah
not
derived
from
the
memoirs.
—
(a)
77ab_io4o
(39).
This
long
section
breaks
the
connexion
which
It
is
generally
agreed
exists
between
7"»
and
ch.
11.
In
its
present
form
it
is
doubtless
due
to
the
compiler;
but
it
contains
so
many
details
of
an
apparently
authentic
character,
its
rep-resentation
is
often
so
vivid,
that
it
is
probable
that
the
work
of
an
eye-witness
has
been
used
and
worked
up
by
the
compiler
in
producing
the
present
narrative.
Probably
Q'-IO*"
has
been
taken
over
directly
from
the
memoirs
of
Ezra
(the
LXX
ascribes
the
prayer
beginning
in
9»
to
Ezra:
'And
Ezra
said').
The
whole
section,
therefore,
can
be
regarded
as
of
first-rate
authority.
(6)
12'-2».
A
Ust
of
priests
and
Levites
who
returned
with
Zerubbabel.
Notice
how
the
priestly
genealogy
is
carried
tar
down
below
Nehemiah's
time,
as
tar,
in
fact,
as
the
reign
of
Darius
the
Persian
(.v.^),
i.e.
Darius
iii.
Codomannus
(reigned
B.C.
335-331).
The
high
priest
Jaddua
mentioned
in
v."
is
known
from
Josephus
to
have
been
a
contemporary
of
Alexander
the
Great.
3.
Historical
value
of
the
Book.
—
On
the
whole,
recent
criticism
has
been
favourable
to
the
older
view
as
to
the
essential
trustworthiness
of
the
narrative
of
events
given
in
Ezra-Nehemiah.
Reference
has
already
been
made
in
the
previous
article
to
the
view
that
the
Artaxerxes
mentioned
is
the
second
of
that
name.
If
