Charles Ellicott Commentary Nehemiah 1
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Nehemiah 1
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Nehemiah 1
"The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace," — Nehemiah 1:1 (ASV)
In the month Chisleu. —The names rather than the numbers of the months are generally employed after the captivity: Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishri, Marchesvan, Chisleu, Tebeth, Shevat, Adar; with an intercalary month, the second Adar. Chisleu corresponds approximately to our December.
In the twentieth year. —Of the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, which began 465 B.C. and ended 425 B.C.
In Shushan the palace. —Susa, the capital of Susiana, where, after the capture of the Babylonian empire, a great palace was built by Darius Hystaspis, whose ruins can still be seen. It was the principal and favourite residence of the Persian court, alternating with Persepolis, the older capital, and Babylon. Shushan was one of the most ancient cities in the world and is associated with the visions of Daniel and with the feast of Ahasuerus (Daniel 8:2, Esther 1:3).
"The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, that were left of the captivity, 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 1:1-3 (ASV)
Introductory: News brought to Nehemiah concerning the sad state of Jerusalem and the people.
"that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, that were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem." — Nehemiah 1:2 (ASV)
He and certain men of Judah. — From Judah: Hanani was Nehemiah’s own brother (Nehemiah 7:1). He and his companions came from “the province” of Judah (Nehemiah 1:3); nothing is said as to their motive in coming; and certainly there is no intimation that they had been sent to the Persian court on account of recent disturbances.
"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 1:3 (ASV)
And they said. —Nehemiah’s question and his friends’ answer refer first to the people and then to the city. As to the former, the terms used have a deep pathos. Those who had returned to their country—now only the province—are, in the question, the Jews that had escaped; in the answer, they are the Remnant that are left: both being from the captivity.
In great affliction and reproach. —They were in distress because of the contempt of the people around them. All these expressions are familiar in the prophets, but they are united here in a distinctive and affecting combination. Regarding the city, the report was that the walls were still broken down: lying prostrate, with partial exceptions, as Nebuchadnezzar had left them a hundred and forty-two years before (2 Kings 25:10). Moreover, and this was a point not previously recorded, the gates thereof burned with fire. Though the Temple had been rebuilt, there is no valid reason for supposing that the walls of the city had been partly restored and then demolished again.
"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, and said, I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments: Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee. Yea, I and my father`s house have sinned: we have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trespass, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples: but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heavens, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen, to cause my name to dwell there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. Now I was cupbearer to the king." — Nehemiah 1:4-11 (ASV)
Nehemiah’s appeal to God. The prayer is a perfect example of the private and individual devotion with which the later Hebrew Scriptures abound. It begins with formal and appropriate invocation (Nehemiah 1:5–8), flows into earnest confession (Nehemiah 1:6–7), pleads the covenant promises (Nehemiah 1:8–10), and supplicates a present answer (Nehemiah 1:11). The extant Scriptures, freely used, are the foundation of all.
Fasted. —Like Daniel, Esther, and Ezra, Nehemiah fasted: fasting appears in later Judaism a prominent part of individual devotion, as it is in the New Testament.
Both I and my father’s house have sinned. —The supplication was for the nation; and in such cases of personal intercession the individual assumes the sin of all the past.
The spirit of many warnings and promises is summed up, as in the prayer of Nehemiah 9:0.
This day ... this man. —During his “certain days” of mourning, Nehemiah had decided on his plan, suggested by his God. “This day” is “this occasion”: the appeal itself was deferred for some months. The king becomes “this man” in the presence of the “God of heaven.”
For I was the king’s cupbearer. —One of his cupbearers, therefore in high authority, having confidential access to him.
Jump to: