Nehemiah 1:1-11 - Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

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PART III (Nehemiah 1:1 to Nehemiah 7:73 a). The Work of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 1:1-11 a. Nehemiah, Hearing of the Evil Plight of his Brethren in Jerusalem, Prays for Divine Aid.

Nehemiah 1:1. The words. Hacaliah: these introductory words are not likely to have stood here originally when Ch.- Ezr.- Neh. formed one continuous book. they were probably added by a later scribe. the month Chislev, in the twentieth year: i.e. the ninth month (Ezra 10:9 *). The last date mentioned was in Ezra 10:17, the first day of the first month of the eighth year of Artaxerxes. By the twentieth year here is presumably meant the twentieth year of Artaxerxes (see Nehemiah 2:1), so that an interval of about thirteen years would have elapsed from the settlement of the mixed marriages question and the arrival of Hanani at Shushan. The month here given is, however, obviously wrong (see Nehemiah 2:1); but the year is in agreement with Nehemiah 5:14, from which it was probably taken by the Chronicler and inserted here. Shushan: also written Susa; the winter residence of the Persian kings, and later, in the Macedonian period, it gave the name Susiana to the whole province. palace: better castle.

Nehemiah 1:2. Hanani: probably the actual brother of Nehemiah (see Nehemiah 7:2). It does not appear that Hanani himself had come from Judah, he merely brings to his influential brother certain men who had. the Jews. Jerusalem: there appears to be a reference here to some well-known occurrence which had happened to the captivity in Judah; the reference is perhaps to Ezra 4:8 ft., which is out of place where it now stands (there had clearly been some strengthening of the walls); this is further borne out by what is said in the next verse (cf. Nehemiah 2:3; Nehemiah 2:17).

Nehemiah 1:5-11 a. This prayer is full of Deuteronomic phrases. Its form is strongly liturgical in character, and with the exception of the last sentence is quite general, and can be paralleled with several passages in the more ancient elements of the Jewish Liturgy. If we had here the actual words of Nehemiah some more direct reference to the purpose for which the supplication was offered would assuredly have been forthcoming. It is more than probable that the Chronicler took this prayer from the Temple Liturgy and put it into the mouth of Nehemiah. The text runs perfectly smoothly if one reads Nehemiah 1:11 b (Now I was cupbearer to the king.) immediately after Nehemiah 1:4.

Related Commentaries of Nehemiah 1:1

Nehemiah 1:1-11

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,

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.

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.

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,

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:

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.

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.

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:

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.

10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.

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.