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,
Nehemiah (comforted of Yahweh) the son of Hachaliah (whose eyes Yahweh enlivens). This eminently pious and patriotic Jew is to be carefully distinguished from two other persons of the same name-one of whom is mentioned as helping to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:16), and the other is noticed in the list of those who accompanied Zerubbabel in the first detachment of returning exiles (Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7). Though little is known of his genealogy, it is highly probable that he was a descendant of the tribe of Judah and royal family of David.
In the month Chisleu - answering to the close of November and the larger part of December.
Shushan the palace - the capital of ancient Susiana, east of the Tigris, a province of Persia. From the time of Cyrus it was the favourite winter residence of the Persian kings.