Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:1–11; Nehemiah 2:1–8; Nehemiah 2:12; Nehemiah 2:17–20; Nehemiah 4:14; Nehemiah 5:14–19; Nehemiah 6:3; Nehemiah 6:10–13; Nehemiah 6:15–16; Nehemiah 7:5; Nehemiah 8:1–10; Nehemiah 10:1; Nehemiah 12:27–43; Nehemiah 13:6–8; Nehemiah 13:11; Nehemiah 13:25; Nehemiah 13:31)

Cupbearer, Governor, Rebuilder of the Wall

Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah, cupbearer to the king at Shushan, who wept and prayed over the broken wall of Jerusalem, was sent to Judah, built the wall in fifty-two days amid the plots of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, stopped usury, refused the governor's bread, and returned to put the house of God in order.

The book opens, “The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah” (Nehemiah 1:1). Much of it is told in the first person, so many of the quotations below are in his own words. In Shushan the palace, Hanani, one of his brethren, and men out of Judah told him that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates burned. “I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 1:4). “Now I was cupbearer to the king” (Nehemiah 1:11). In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king asked why his countenance was sad, and Nehemiah, after he “prayed to the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 2:4), asked to be sent “unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it” (Nehemiah 2:5).

At Jerusalem he viewed the walls by night, then said to the people, “come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach” (Nehemiah 2:17). Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian mocked, plotted, and sent for him; he answered, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down” (Nehemiah 6:3). “So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days” (Nehemiah 6:15). While the wall was building he held a great assembly against the nobles who exacted usury (Nehemiah 5:6-13), and he says that for twelve years he and his brethren did not eat “the bread of the governor” (Nehemiah 5:14).

Nehemiah the governor is named beside Ezra the priest the scribe when the law is read and the people are told to rejoice (Nehemiah 8:9), and his name heads the list of those who sealed the covenant (Nehemiah 10:1). He tells how the wall was dedicated with two companies of thanksgiving (Nehemiah 12:31-40). After a time away at the king's court, he returned to find Tobiah in a chamber of the house of God, the Levites unpaid, the sabbath profaned, and marriages with foreign women, and he dealt with each (Nehemiah 13:6-30). The book ends with his prayer, “Remember me, O my God, for good” (Nehemiah 13:31). Scripture does not record his birth, his death, or the name of any wife or child, and the New Testament does not name him.

Strengths

• Prayer and fasting
• Confessing his own house's sin
• Resting on the good hand of his God
• Steadiness under plotting
• Refusing the governor's bread
• Anger at the oppression of the poor
• Zeal for the house of God and the sabbath

Themes

• Prayer
• Rebuilding the wall
• Opposition
• Justice for the poor
• The law read aloud
• Reform of the house of God

The report from Jerusalem and the prayer (Nehemiah 1:1–11)

Hanani and men out of Judah tell Nehemiah that the wall is broken down and the gates burned; he sits down and weeps, fasts, and prays, confessing the sin of Israel and of his own father's house.

The report from Jerusalem and the prayer

“Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped … and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto 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” (Nehemiah 1:2-3).

“And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 1:4). He prays to “Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments” (Nehemiah 1:5), and confesses “the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee. Yea, I and my father’s house have sinned” (Nehemiah 1:6).

He asks the Lord to “prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (Nehemiah 1:11) Then he adds, “Now I was cupbearer to the king” (Nehemiah 1:11).

Before the king (Nehemiah 2:1–9)

In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, the king sees Nehemiah's sadness; Nehemiah prays to the God of heaven, asks to be sent to Judah to build the city, and receives letters and timber.

The night survey and the call to build (Nehemiah 2:10–20)

After three days in Jerusalem Nehemiah views the broken walls by night, tells the people of the good hand of his God upon him, and they rise up to build while Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem laugh them to scorn.

Mockery, a conspiracy, and the armed watch (Nehemiah 4:1–23)

Sanballat and Tobiah mock the builders and conspire to fight against Jerusalem; the people pray and set a watch, and Nehemiah arms the builders and appoints a trumpeter by his side.

Mockery, a conspiracy, and the armed watch

When Sanballat heard that they were building, “he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews” (Nehemiah 4:1), and Tobiah said, “if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall” (Nehemiah 4:3). “So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half the height thereof: for the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6).

When the enemies “conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 4:8), “we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them” (Nehemiah 4:9). Nehemiah set the people by families with swords, spears and bows, and said, “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses” (Nehemiah 4:14).

“Half of my servants wrought in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail” (Nehemiah 4:16), and “he that sounded the trumpet was by me” (Nehemiah 4:18). “In what place soever ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us; our God will fight for us” (Nehemiah 4:20). “So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard that followed me, none of us put off our clothes, every one went with his weapon to the water” (Nehemiah 4:23).

Usury stopped and the governor's bread refused (Nehemiah 5:1–19)

The poor cry out over mortgaged fields and sons and daughters in bondage; Nehemiah is very angry, holds a great assembly against the nobles and rulers, and they promise to restore all; he tells that he and his brethren did not eat the bread of the governor.

Usury stopped and the governor's bread refused

While the wall went up, “there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews” (Nehemiah 5:1). They were mortgaging fields, vineyards and houses for grain and for the king's tribute, and bringing their sons and daughters into bondage (Nehemiah 5:2-5). “And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and therulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I held a great assembly against them” (Nehemiah 5:6-7).

“The thing that ye do is not good: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God” (Nehemiah 5:9). He counts himself among the lenders: “And I likewise, my brethren and my servants, do lend them money and grain. I pray you, let us leave off this usury” (Nehemiah 5:10). They answered, “We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do, even as thou sayest” (Nehemiah 5:12), and he took an oath of them before the priests.

Of his own governorship he says, “from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.” (Nehemiah 5:14) The former governors “took of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver … but so did not I, because of the fear of God” (Nehemiah 5:15). Though a hundred and fifty men sat at his table, “yet for all this I demanded not the bread of the governor, because the bondage was heavy upon this people” (Nehemiah 5:18). He closes, “Remember unto me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people” (Nehemiah 5:19).

Plots refused and the wall finished (Nehemiah 6:1–19)

Sanballat and Geshem send four times to draw him to Ono, a fifth letter accuses him of rebellion, and Shemaiah is hired to frighten him into the temple; Nehemiah refuses each, and the wall is finished in fifty-two days.

Plots refused and the wall finished

When the wall had no breach left, Sanballat and Geshem sent, “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:2-3). They sent four times, and he answered the same way (Nehemiah 6:4).

The fifth time came an open letter saying “that thou and the Jews think to rebel … and thou wouldest be their king” (Nehemiah 6:6). He answered, “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart” (Nehemiah 6:8), and prayed, “But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands” (Nehemiah 6:9).

Shemaiah the son of Delaiah said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee” (Nehemiah 6:10). “And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And I discerned, and, lo, God had not sent him … and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him” (Nehemiah 6:11-12).

“So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days” (Nehemiah 6:15), and when the nations about heard, “they perceived that this work was wrought of our God” (Nehemiah 6:16).

Charge over Jerusalem and the book of the genealogy (Nehemiah 7:1–5)

With the doors set up, Nehemiah gives his brother Hanani and Hananiah charge over Jerusalem, and his God puts it into his heart to gather the people to be reckoned by genealogy.

Ezra reads the law (Nehemiah 8:1–12)

The people gather before the water gate; Ezra reads the book of the law from early morning until midday, and Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites tell the weeping people that the day is holy and they are to rejoice.

The sure covenant (Nehemiah 9:38; Nehemiah 10:1)

The people make a sure covenant and write it, and the princes, Levites and priests seal it, with Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, first on the list.

The dedication of the wall (Nehemiah 12:27–43)

The Levites are sought out for the dedication, the people and the wall are purified, and Nehemiah appoints two great companies that give thanks and go in procession on the wall.

The reforms of the second term (Nehemiah 13:4–31)

Returning to Jerusalem after a time with the king, Nehemiah casts Tobiah's goods out of the chamber, restores the Levites' portions, shuts the gates against sabbath trade, and contends with those who married foreign women.

The reforms of the second term

“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, and I came to Jerusalem, and understood the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber” (Nehemiah 13:6-8). Finding that the Levites had fled each to his field, “then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place” (Nehemiah 13:11). He prays, “Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God” (Nehemiah 13:14).

Seeing the sabbath profaned, “I contended with the nobles of Judah” (Nehemiah 13:17); he commanded that the doors be shut before the sabbath, and told the merchants lodging by the wall, “if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you” (Nehemiah 13:21). “Remember unto me, O my God, this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy lovingkindness” (Nehemiah 13:22).

Of the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon and Moab, he writes: “I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God” (Nehemiah 13:25). He asks, “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?” (Nehemiah 13:26), and he chased from him a son of Joiada, son-in-law to Sanballat (Nehemiah 13:28).

“Thus cleansed I them from all foreigners, and appointed charges for the priests and for the Levites, every one in his work … Remember me, O my God, for good” (Nehemiah 13:30-31).

Hacaliah (Nehemiah 1:1; Nehemiah 10:1)

Nehemiah is named as the son of Hacaliah in the opening words of the book and again in the list of those who sealed.

Hanani (Nehemiah 1:2; Nehemiah 7:2)

One of his brethren, who came out of Judah with the report and whom he later set with Hananiah over Jerusalem.

Ezra (Nehemiah 8:1–9; Nehemiah 12:26; Nehemiah 12:36)

Ezra the priest the scribe reads the law, is named with Nehemiah the governor, and goes before the first company at the dedication.

Artaxerxes the king (Nehemiah 2:1–8; Nehemiah 5:14; Nehemiah 13:6)

The king whose cupbearer he was, who granted his request, and in whose thirty-second year he went to him again.

The LORD, the God of heaven (Nehemiah 1:5; Nehemiah 2:4; Nehemiah 2:8; Nehemiah 2:12; Nehemiah 13:31)

To whom he prayed, whose good hand he says was upon him, and who he says put into his heart what to do.

Sanballat the Horonite (Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 4:1–8; Nehemiah 6:1–14)

Grieved at his coming, mocked the builders, plotted to fight against Jerusalem, and sent him letters.

Tobiah the Ammonite (Nehemiah 4:3; Nehemiah 6:17–19; Nehemiah 13:4–8)

Mocked the wall, sent letters to put him in fear, and was given a chamber in the house of God by Eliashib.

Geshem the Arabian (Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 6:1–6)

Joined in scorning the builders and, with Sanballat, sent to draw Nehemiah to Ono.

Eliashib the priest (Nehemiah 13:4–9)

The priest appointed over the chambers of the house of God, allied unto Tobiah, who prepared him a great chamber there.

The people of Judah (Nehemiah 2:18; Nehemiah 4:6; Nehemiah 5:12–13)

They answered, Let us rise up and build, and the people had a mind to work.

Major sections

• Nehemiah 1:1–2:20
• Nehemiah 3:1–6:19
• Nehemiah 7:1–73
• Nehemiah 8:1–10:39
• Nehemiah 11:1–12:47
• Nehemiah 13:1–31

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