Charles Ellicott Commentary Nehemiah 1:3

"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.