Commentators note that Nehemiah showed up on the scene in Jerusalem some 12-15 years after events recorded in the book of Ezra. Guzik offers this summary: “Out of the some two or three million Jews deported from the land, only 50,000 decided to return to the Promised Land. That’s only something like 2%! But they did return, and in the days of Ezra, they rebuilt the temple and laid a spiritual foundation for Israel once again. The Book of Nehemiah begins 15 years after the Book of Ezra ends; almost 100 years after the first captives came back to the Promised Land; and some 150 years after the city of Jerusalem was destroyed.”
Nehemiah 1:1 ¶ The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
The first words in verse one seem to identify this book as a record of Nehemiah’s personal journal. The month Chisleu corresponds to our November/December. The 20th year seems to be a reference to the reign of Artaxerxes taken in context with verse 1 of chapter 2.
Nehemiah 2:1 “And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king….”
Nehemiah notes that he was in the palace at Shushan serving as the king’s cupbearer as noted in the last verse of this chapter. JFB identifies Shushan as “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.”
I liked Wiersbe’s observation: “God put Nehemiah in Shushan (also rendered as Susa) just as He had put Esther there a generation before, and just as He had put Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. When God wants to accomplish a work, He always prepares His workers and puts them in the right places at the right time.”
Nehemiah 1:2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
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 notes that his brother Hanani came to him with some other men of Judah and, at his request, gave him a report of what was happening in Jerusalem. They reported that the surviving remnant were suffering and enduring mistreatment from the surrounding people. The wall of Jerusalem was broken down and the gates had been destroyed by fire; they were just as Nebuchadnezzar’s army had left them when they destroyed the city.
Guzik makes this observation that helps explain Nehemiah’s reaction: “An unwalled city was always a backwater town, with nothing valuable in it. If there were anything of value in an unwalled city, it could be stolen away easily because there was no defense to stop it. Those living in an unwalled city lived in constant stress and tension; they never knew when they might be attacked and brutalized.”
Verse 2 of chapter 7 indicates that Hanani was truly Nehemiah’s brother.
Nehemiah 7:1–2 “Now it came to pass, when the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and the porters and the singers and the Levites were appointed, That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.”
Nehemiah 1:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
Nehemiah 1:5 ¶ And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
When Nehemiah heard their report, he wept in misery over the plight of his people and the city. Though he had remained in Babylon in service to the king, he loved his people and his country. He mourned with fasting and prayer before God for several days.
Wiersbe: “This is the first of twelve instances of prayer recorded in this book (see also 2:4; 4:4, 9; 5:19; 6:14; 7:5; 9:5-37; 13:14, 22, 29, 31). The book of Nehemiah opens and closes with prayer. Obviously, Nehemiah was a man of faith who depended wholly on the Lord to help him accomplish the work God had called him to do.”
In his prayer Nehemiah addressed the LORD with great reverence and humility. He acknowledged Him as the LORD, YHWH, the self-existent, eternal God (from the Hebrew). To call Him “great and terrible” was in acknowledgement of His mighty power and that He deserved to be reverenced (from Hebrew for “terrible”). He also acknowledged the LORD as the God that kept His covenants (promises) and showed mercy to those that love Him and try to keep His commandments.
That is a statement of two very precious truths about our God. He keeps His promises and shows mercy to those that truly love Him as evidenced by their desire to obey Him. Only because God is merciful, His willingness to spare us the penalty of our sin through the sacrifice of His Son, can we hope for a future in His presence. Because He is a covenant-keeping God, that hope is more than just a desire, it is a confident expectation.
Nehemiah 1:6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.
Nehemiah 1:7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
Nehemiah 1:8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
Nehemiah 1:9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
Nehemiah 1:10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
Nehemiah pleads for the LORD to pay attention to the prayer of one who is His servant; he desires to do God’s will. He is not referencing a one-time petition; he notes that he had persisted in prayer day and night over some period of time. As he prays, he acknowledges his own sin along with the sins of his people.
Nehemiah admits that they have not kept God’s commandments or the laws He had established to govern their lives as revealed and recorded by Moses. He reminds God (as if He needed reminding) of His words to Moses as recorded in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 30:1–5 “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.”
Other scripture identifies Jerusalem as the place upon which God had placed His name.
1 Kings 11:36 “…that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.”
Nehemiah then “reminds” God that these people are the ones that He had redeemed, the very same people for whom he was praying.
Deuteronomy 9:29 “Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.”
Nehemiah 1:11 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 desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
Nehemiah pleads with the LORD to hear his prayer and the prayers of His other servants among the people who desire to revere and honor His name. In other words, he knew that others were beseeching the LORD in prayer in the same way as he was. He then prayed for God’s mercy as he determined to seek the king’s help (as will be shown in the next chapter).
Nehemiah was close to the king as his cupbearer.
Historical note from Courson: “Originally, the cupbearer sat next to the king and would sample the food and drink brought before him to determine if it had been poisoned. But as time progressed, the office of cupbearer became one of close adviser. In Nehemiah’s day, the cupbearer was no longer sampling food, but a ‘chief of staff.’”
Nehemiah 2:1 ¶ And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Nehemiah 2:2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
Nehemiah 2:3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
The month Nisan corresponds to our March/April; so this is 3-4 months after first hearing the report concerning Jerusalem (cf 1:1). The time marker is the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes.
Nehemiah served the king his wine, and it was obvious to the king that he was very sad; he had never seen his servant sad before. When the king questioned Nehemiah as to why he was sad, he answered truthfully but with fear. He knew that the king had not shown favor to the people in Jerusalem in the past due to the influence of the governors of the surrounding lands. (See commentary on Ezra 4.)
Nehemiah responded to the king with humility. However, he truthfully declared that he was sad because the city of his fathers remained in ruins.
Nehemiah 2:4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 2:5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
Nehemiah 2:6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
The king recognized that Nehemiah wanted to help his people and asked him what he could do to help him. Even as he gave answer to the king, he prayed for God’s intervention. He asked, if it pleased the king because he pleased the king, that he send him (as his representative) to his homeland to help rebuild the city of his fathers.
Nehemiah notes that the queen was present at the time of his request; some commentators conclude this to be a reference to Esther. After the king questioned how long he expected to be gone and when he would return, he granted his permission.
I think it is important to note that Nehemiah was prepared and ready with answers for the king. He had carefully thought about what needed to be done and what would be required to do it.
I liked Ironside’s observation about Nehemiah: “He walked with God because he talked with God.” I think that is a key to victorious living.
Nehemiah 2:7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
Nehemiah 2:8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Knowing that he had found favor with the king, Nehemiah proceeded to ask for letters from the king to the governors of the western lands beyond the Euphrates River asking that they provide him support as needed. He also asked for a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, instructing him to provide timber as needed to build the gates that were so important to security, the walls of the city and a house for himself. The king granted his every request.
Chuck Smith makes this observation in light of Daniel’s prophecy: “Now this is one of the most important dates in history, the date that the king gave the commandment to Nehemiah to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem. Because we are told in Daniel the ninth chapter that there are seventy sevens determined upon the nation Israel, and from the time of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto the coming of the Messiah the Prince would be seven sevens, and sixty-two sevens, or 483 years (Daniel 9:24-25). So here on the fourteenth of March 445 B.C. the commandment was given to Nehemiah to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem….So just as was prophesied in the word of God, 483 years later, Babylonian years of 360-day years, Jesus came in His triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem on April 6, 32 A.D.”
Sir Robert Anderson of Scotland Yard is credited with first presenting this information in his book The Coming Prince (1894) based on his study of the book of Daniel.
Nehemiah 2:9 ¶ Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
Nehemiah 2:10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
Nehemiah delivered the letters from the king to the governors in the west. The king had also provided him with a military escort. Two men in particular were not happy to find out that a representative of the king had come to help the people of Israel, Sanballat and Tobiah.
Eerdman’s Dictionary:
Sanballat – “The aforementioned Elephantine papyrus calls Sanballat governor of Samaria, and as such he was also responsible for Judah and Jerusalem. He may well have thought he had jurisdiction over Nehemiah, who instead claimed to be the agent of King Artaxerxes and thus beyond Sanballat’s control…. Despite Nehemiah’s success, Sanballat did not easily relinquish control over Jerusalem, as the marriage of his daughter to the grandson of the high priest Eliashib proves (Neh. 13:28).”
Tobiah – “Tobiah is identified as “the Ammonite,” which suggests he exercised political control over that area. He was allied with nobles in Judah (Neh. 6:17), who may well have opposed Nehemiah’s reforms for economic, political, and/or religious reasons. Further, he was related by marriage to the high priest Eliashib, who prepared a living space for him within the temple precincts while Nehemiah was out of the city (Neh. 13:4-9).”
Nehemiah 2:11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
Nehemiah 2:12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
Nehemiah 2:13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
Nehemiah 2:14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
Nehemiah 2:15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
Nehemiah 2:16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
When Nehemiah reached Jerusalem, he rested three days before taking action. He and a few of his men got up during the night to secretly assess the walls and gates of the city. For some reason, he did not want any of the men of Jerusalem to know what he was doing. I think he wanted to understand the situation before asking the people to follow him in rebuilding the walls.
Guzik made a good application that every Christian should consider: “If someone took a tour of your life the same way Nehemiah took a tour of Jerusalem, they might notice many broken down portions in the figurative walls of your life. Proverbs 25:28 says: Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls. Many lives are like a city with broken walls - living with a constant sense of fear, poverty, and insecurity. We should not hide our eyes from these broken down places; God wants to change them, and make the first steps of change right away.”
Nehemiah 2:17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
Nehemiah 2:18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this goodwork.
I would assume that come morning, Nehemiah confronted the men of the city with what he had found. He urged them to join him in rebuilding the walls of the city in view of the surrounding nations. He also told them how God had given him favor with the king, showing that what he asked of them was in accordance with God’s will.
The people responded positively and determined to get to work promptly. Sometimes, people need the encouragement of a willing leader to accomplish God’s will—especially if the task at hand requires a lot of hard work.
Nehemiah 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
Nehemiah 2:20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
When Sanballat and Tobiah heard that the people were rebuilding the walls of the city, they mocked them and asked why they were rebelling against the king. It seems another of Israel’s enemies decided to join them, Geshem the Arabian. Nehemiah answered without regard to the king. He declared that the “God of heaven” would prosper them and rebuked them, declaring that they had no authority or right of any kind to interfere with what was going on in Jerusalem.
The enemies of the church are no different today. They like to mock what we do and how we live, hoping to distract us from what God would have us to do. In the spirit of Nehemiah, we should keep our focus on the fact that we are servants of the most high God and not give them the satisfaction of keeping us from doing His will.