A) ROYAL OR NOT ROYAL.

B) THE CUP-BEARER.

C) THE COMMISSION.

D) NEHEMIAH VERSES EZRA.

 

 

A) ROYAL OR NOT ROYAL

 

 

Nehemiah means, “comforted by Jehovah.”  He was the son of “Hachaliah,” Nehemiah 1:1, whose other name was “Azbuk,” Nehemiah 3:16, and probably of the tribe of Judah, in that he was possibly of David’s lineage because his name, being varied, appears as “Naum,” in Luke 3:25.  Also, his kinsman’s name was “Hananiah,” son of Zerubbabel, First Chronicles 3:19.  It is possible that he was of the royal line of Judah, inasmuch as he refers to his “fathers’ sepulchers” at Jerusalem (Neh. 2:3).  However, that would be a good argument only if it could be shown that no one but kings had sepulchers at Jerusalem.

 

It has also been argued that he was of noble lineage (from the tribe of Judah) because of his position as cup-bearer to the king of Persia.  To substantiate this argument, it would need to be shown that none but persons of noble birth could serve in this position, which has yet to be established historically.

 

By contrast, from Nehemiah 10:1-8, it may be inferred that he was a Levitical priest, since Nehemiah comes first in the list of names ending with the phrase, “these were the priests,” verse 8.  This view is supported by the “Syriac” and “Arabic” versions of Nehemiah 10:1, which read:  “Nehemiah the elder, the son of Hananiah the chief of the priests;” and by the “Latin Vulgate” (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) in “2 Maccabees” 1:21, where he is called, “Nehemiah the priest,” and possibly by “2 Maccabees” 1:18, where it is said that Nehemiah “offered sacrifices, after that he had builded the Temple and the Altar.”

 

The argument based upon Nehemiah 10:1-8 for Nehemiah being of the tribe of Judah, may fall if we change the pointing of “Seraiah,” mentioned in Nehemiah 10:2, and read it as, “its princes,” referring back to the princes of Nehemiah 10:1.  In this case, Nehemiah and Zedekiah would be the princes; then would come the priests, and then the Levites.  However, changing Biblical texts to conform to your conjectures is NEVER a good idea.  It is also possible that his family may have belonged to Jerusalem (Neh. 2:3), because his remarks to the king may have been of a personal, rather than patriarchal method.

 

 

B) THE CUP-BEARER

 

 

He was one of the Jews of the dispersion, and in his youth was appointed to the important office of royal cup-bearer at the palace of Shushan.  The office of cupbearer was, “one of no trifling honor,” “Herod.” iii. 34.  It was one of his chief duties to taste the wine for the king to see that it was not poisoned, and he was even admitted to go before the king while the queen was present (Neh. 2:6).  The king, Artaxerxes Longimanus (ruling over Persia from B.C. 464 to 424), seems to have been on terms of friendly familiarity with his attendant, Nehemiah.  According to his own autobiography, he was the cup-bearer at Susa (“Shushan” of the Bible), the principal Persian palace; Ecbatana being the royal summer residence; Babylon the spring; Persepolis the autumn; while Susa was the winter abode.

 

In Artaxerxes’ 20th year, Hanani, with other Jews, came from Jerusalem reporting that the remnant there were in great affliction, the wall broken down, and the gates burned.  Therefore, it was perhaps through his brother Hanani (Neh. 1:2; 7:2) that Nehemiah heard of the condition of Jerusalem.  However, it could have come from other sources (Neh. 2:3).

 

Upon hearing of the mournful and desolate condition of the Holy City, Nehemiah was filled with sadness of heart.  For many days, he fasted and mourned and prayed for the place of his father’s sepulchers.  At length, the king observed his sadness of countenance (Neh. 2:2) and asked the reason of it.  Nehemiah sent up a quick prayer [which for me and in my life -- when I have been in a situation where I didn’t have time to go away and pray about my response, this has always been known to me as my “Nehemiah prayer”], then he explained it all to the king (Neh. 2:3-5), and obtained his permission to go up to Jerusalem and there to act as “tirshatha,” or governor of Judea [the power of prayer at work].

 

 

C) THE COMMISSION

 

 

Notwithstanding, Ezra’s commission in Artaxerxes’ seventh year (about B.C. 457), there is a dead period from the sixth of Darius to that year; a period in which there is no history of the returned Jews (Ezra 6:1-15) and only the history of the foreign Jews in the Book of Esther.  We find that Nehemiah went up in the spring of about B.C. 446 (eleven years after Ezra), with a strong escort supplied by the king, and with letters to all the “pashas” of the provinces through which he had to pass, and also to Asaph, keeper of the royal forests, directing him to assist Nehemiah (see also Neh. 7:7 and Ezra 2:2).

 

On his arrival, he determined to survey the city.  Notwithstanding the additional numbers and resources, which Ezra had brought, Nehemiah now, in Artaxerxes’ 20th year, endeavors upon his secret ride around Jerusalem, and observed by night (Neh. 2:12), especially the walls, in a deplorable plight (Neh. 2:12-16).  He formed a plan for its restoration; a plan which he carried out with great skill and energy, so that the whole was completed in about six months.

 

He remained in Judea for thirteen years as governor, carrying out many reforms, notwithstanding much opposition that he encountered (Neh. 13:11).  He built up the state on the old lines, supplementing and completing the work of Ezra, and making all arrangements for the safety and good government of the city.  At the close of this important period of his public life, he returned to Persia to the service of his royal master at Shushan or Ecbatana.

 

Very soon after this the old corrupt state of things returned, showing the worthlessness to a large extent of the professions that had been made at the feast of the dedication of the walls of the city (see Nehemiah, Chapter 12).  Malachi now appeared among the people with words of stern reproof and solemn warning; and Nehemiah again returned from Persia (after an absence of some two years), and was grieved to see the widespread moral degeneracy that had taken place during his absence.  He set himself with vigor to rectify the flagrant abuses that had sprung up, and restored the orderly administration of public worship and the outward observance of the Law of Moses.

 

Finally, in Artaxerxes’ 32nd year (about B.C. 434), Nehemiah severed from Israel all the mixed multitude (see Nehemiah, Chapter 13), that being mostly consisting of the Ammonites and Moabites; from which he boldly casted out Tobiah from the chamber in the Temple which Eliashib had assigned him (Neh. 13:7).  He then restored to it, after its cleansing, the Temple vessels, meat offerings, and frankincense; which had been previously kept there.  Firmly he reproved the rulers for breaking their covenant with Jehovah (Neh. 10:39), saying, “why is the House of God forsaken?”  Nehemiah 13:11.  He then, insisted that the Levites’ portions should be given them, for the neglect of this duty had driven the Levites to their country fields.

 

 

D) NEHEMIAH VERSES EZRA

 

 

Nehemiah resembled Ezra in his fiery zeal and in his active spirit of enterprise, and in the piety of his life.  By contrast, he was of a fiercer mood; he had less patience with transgressors; he was a man of action rather than a man of thought, and more inclined to use force than persuasion.  His practical understanding and high courage were very markedly shown in the arrangement with which he carried through the rebuilding of the wall and balked at the cunning plans of his adversaries.

 

The piety of his heart, his deeply religious spirit and constant sense of communion with and absolute dependence upon God, are strikingly exhibited, first in the long prayer recorded in Nehemiah 1:5-11, and secondly and most remarkably in what have been called his “interjectional prayers,” those short but moving addresses to Almighty God which occur so frequently in his writings, which is the instinctive outpouring of a heart deeply moved, but ever resting itself upon God.

 

Of his subsequent history we know nothing.  Nehemiah was the last of the governors sent from the Persian court.  Probably he remained at his post as governor until his death (about B.C. 413) in a good old age.  The place of his death and burial is, however, unknown.  It is certain, however, that he was no longer governor in B.C. 407, for at that time, according to the “Aramaic Letter,” written from Elephantine to the priests of Jerusalem, Bagohi was occupying the position of governor over Judea.  Judea after this was annexed to the satrapy of “Coele-Syria,” and was governed by the high priest under the jurisdiction of the governor of Syria, and the internal government of the country became more and more a hierarchy.