Nehemiah 1

Ne 1:1-3.

NEHEMIAH,

UNDERSTANDING BY

HANANI THE

AFFLICTED

STATE OF

JERUSALEM,

MOURNS,

FASTS, AND

PRAYS.

1. Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah--This eminently pious and patriotic

Jew is to be carefully distinguished from two other persons of the same

name--one of whom is mentioned as helping to rebuild the walls of

Jerusalem

(Ne 3:16),

and the other is noticed in the list of those who accompanied

Zerubbabel in the first detachment of returning exiles

(Ezr 2:2;

Ne 7:7).

Though little is known of his genealogy, it is highly probable that he

was a descendant of the tribe of Judah and the royal family of David.

in the month Chisleu--answering to the close of November and the

larger part of December.

Shushan the palace--the capital of ancient Susiana, east of the

Tigris, a province of Persia. From the time of Cyrus it was the

favorite winter residence of the Persian kings.

2, 3. Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of

Judah--Hanani is called his brother

(Ne 7:2).

But as that term was used loosely by Jews as well as other Orientals,

it is probable that no more is meant than that he was of the same

family. According to JOSEPHUS, Nehemiah, while

walking around the palace walls, overheard some persons conversing in

the Hebrew language. Having ascertained that they had lately returned

from Judea, he was informed by them, in answer to his eager enquiries,

of the unfinished and desolate condition of Jerusalem, as well as the

defenseless state of the returned exiles. The commissions previously

given to Zerubbabel and Ezra extending only to the repair of the temple

and private dwellings, the walls and gates of the city had been allowed

to remain a mass of shattered ruins, as they had been laid by the

Chaldean siege.

Ne 1:4-11.

HIS

PRAYER.

4. when I heard these words, that I sat down . . . and mourned . . .

and fasted, and prayed--The recital deeply affected the patriotic

feelings of this good man, and no comfort could he find but in earnest

and protracted prayer, that God would favor the purpose, which he seems

to have secretly formed, of asking the royal permission to go to

Jerusalem.

11. I was the king's cupbearer--This officer, in the ancient Oriental

courts, was always a person of rank and importance; and, from the

confidential nature of his duties and his frequent access to the royal

presence, he possessed great influence.