Nehemiah 1:1 - John Trapp Complete Commentary

Bible Comments

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,

Ver. 1. The words of Nehemiah] Or, the deeds, for he was good at both; and so a singular comfort to his countrymen, according to the notation of his name Nehemiah, i.e. The comfort or rest of the Lord. Here hence also some infer, that Nehemiah himself was the penman of this book (and not Ezra, as the vulgar Latin and many ancients would have it), like as Julius Caesar wrote his own acts (so did Alexander Severus and M. Aurelius, emperors), and by a more modest name, called his book Commentaries, and not Histories; yet did it so well, ut praerepta non praebita facultas scriptoribus videatur, said Aulus Hirtius, that historians had their work done to their hands; he wrote with the same spirit he fought, saith Quintilian, Eodem animo dixit, quo bellavit, lib. 10.

And it came to pass] This book then is a continuation of the former; Nehemiah being a third instrument of procuring this people's good, after Zerubbabel and Ezra; and deservedly counted and called a third founder of that commonwealth, after Joshua and David.

In the month Chisleu] In the deep of winter: then it was that Hanani and his brethren undertook their journey into Persia, for the good of the Church.

In the twentieth year] sc. Of Artaxerxes Longimanus, thirteen years after Ezra and his company first came to Jerusalem, Ezra 7:8, with Nehemiah 2:1 .

I was in Shushan the palace] i.e. In the palace of the city Susan; this Susan signifieth a lily, and was so called, likely, for the beauty and delectable site. Now it is called Vahdac of the poverty of the place. Here was Nehemiah waiting upon his office, and promoting the good of his people. Strabo and others say, that the inhabitants of Susia were quiet and peaceable; and were therefore the better beloved by the kings of Persia, Cyrus being the first that made his chief abode there, in winter especially; and that this city was long, and in compass fifteen miles about.

Nehemiah 1:1

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,