PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
Adeney, Walter F. (Walter Frederic) · 116,604 words · 154 reading sections
_The Cost Of An Idealist'S Success._
[119] Ezra iv. 6. [120] Ezra iv. 7. The third letter is the only one that the chronicler has preserved. He gives it in the Aramaic language, and from Ezra iv. 8, where this is introduced, to vi. 18, his narrative proceeds in that language, probably because he found his materials in some Aramaic document. Some have a…
975 wordsSECTION 62_The Cost Of An Idealist'S Success._
[121] Ezra iv. 10. [122] Herodotus, i. 101. [123] Gen. x. 2. [124] Gen. x. 10. [125] Herodotus, i. 125. This was the issue of Ezra's reformation. Can we call it a success? The answer to such a question will depend on what kind of success we may be looking for. Politically, socially, regarded from the standpoint of…
721 wordsSECTION 63_Nehemiah The Patriot._
NEHEMIAH i. 1-3. The Book of Nehemiah is the last part of the chronicler's narrative. Although it was not originally a separate work, we can easily see why the editor, who broke up the original volume into distinct books, divided it just where he did. An interval of twelve or thirteen years comes between Ezra's reform…
756 wordsSECTION 64_Nehemiah The Patriot._
Nehemiah opens his story by telling us that he was in "the palace,"[129] or rather "the fortress," at Susa, the winter abode of the Persian monarchs--an Elamite city, the stupendous remains of which astonish the traveller in the present day--eighty miles east of the Tigris and within sight of the Bakhtiyari Mountains. …
775 wordsSECTION 65_Nehemiah The Patriot._
[133] Josephus, _Ant._, XI. v. 6. Evidently Nehemiah was expressly sought out. His influence would naturally be valued. There was a large Jewish community at Susa, and Nehemiah must have enjoyed a good reputation among his people; otherwise it would have been vain for the travellers to obtain an interview with him. Th…
709 wordsSECTION 66_Nehemiah The Patriot._
The opening scene in the patriotic career of Nehemiah exactly fit in with the events which came under our consideration in the previous chapter. There we saw that the opposition to the Jews which is recorded as early as Ezra iv., but attributed to the reign of an "Artaxerxes," must have been carried into effect under A…
853 wordsSECTION 67_Nehemiah'S Prayer._
NEHEMIAH i. 4-11. Nehemiah records the twofold effect of the melancholy news which his brother and the other travellers from Jerusalem brought him. Its first consequence was grief; its second prayer. The grief was expressed in the dramatic style of the Oriental by weeping, lamentations, fasting, and other significant …
724 wordsSECTION 68_Nehemiah'S Prayer._
[134] Neh. ii. 4. [135] Neh. ii. 20. [136] Ezra i. 2. [137] Ezra vi. 10. [138] Ezra vii. 12, 21, 23. [139] It is used by the chronicler, and it is found in Jonah and Daniel, and once even in our recension of Genesis (Gen. xxiv. 7). We cannot say for certain, however, that Nehemiah's phrase was coined in a Persia…
881 wordsSECTION 69_Nehemiah'S Prayer._
From another point of view the covenant and the mercy go together. The mercy follows the covenant. The expression "the uncovenanted mercies of God" has been used in bitter irony, as though any hope that depended on such mercies was poor indeed, a bare refuge of despair. But so to treat the unknown goodness of God is to…
653 wordsSECTION 70_Nehemiah'S Prayer._
Immediately after his invocation of God's gracious attention Nehemiah plunges into a confession of sin. Ezra's great prayer was wholly occupied with confession,[143] and this mournful exercise takes a large place in Nehemiah's prayer. But the younger man has one special ground of confession. The startling news of the r…
712 wordsSECTION 71_Nehemiah'S Prayer._
[145] Neh. i. 7 [146] Luke xv. 18. After his confession Nehemiah goes on to appeal to the Divine promises of restoration made to the penitent in the great national covenant. He sums them up in a definite sentence, not quoting any one utterance of Deuteronomy, but garnering together the various promises of mercy and d…
626 wordsSECTION 72_The Prayer Answered._
NEHEMIAH ii. 1-8. Nehemiah's prayer had commenced on celestial heights of meditation among thoughts of Divine grace and glory, and when it had stooped to earth it had swept over the wide course of his nation's history and poured out a confession of the whole people's sin; but the final point of it was a definite reque…
731 wordsSECTION 73_The Prayer Answered._
There is an apparent contradiction in Nehemiah's statement concerning this sad appearance of his countenance which is obscured in our English translation by the unwarrantable insertion of the word "beforetime" in Nehemiah ii. 1, so that the sentence reads, "Now I had not been _beforetime_ sad in his presence." This wor…
818 wordsSECTION 74_The Prayer Answered._
[149] Neh. ii. 4. [150] Neh. ii. 1. [151] Neh. ii. 2. Such a sudden uplifting of the soul to God is the most real of all prayers. This at least is genuine and heartfelt, whatever may be the case with the semi-liturgical composition the thought and beauty of which engaged our attention in the previous chapter. But th…
748 wordsSECTION 75_The Prayer Answered._
[152] Neh. ii. 8. [153] Jer. xlv. 5. It was a daring request; yet the king received it most favourably. Again, then, we have the pleasing spectacle of a Persian monarch showing kindness to the Jews. This is not the first time that Artaxerxes has proved himself their friend, for there can be no doubt that he is the sa…
889 wordsSECTION 76_The Midnight Ride._
[158] Neh. ii. 8. All these details evince the practical nature of Nehemiah's patriotism. His last word on the happy conclusion of the interview with Artaxerxes, which he had anticipated with so much apprehension, shows that higher thoughts were not crushed out by the anxious consideration of external affairs. He conc…
799 wordsSECTION 77_The Midnight Ride._
The highly dangerous nature of his undertaking and the necessity for exercising the utmost caution were apparent to Nehemiah as soon as he approached Jerusalem. Watchful enemies at once showed themselves annoyed "that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel."[161] It was not any direct injury…
700 wordsSECTION 78_The Midnight Ride._
And what did he gain by his journey? He gained knowledge. The reformation that is planned by the student at his desk, without any reference to the actual state of affairs, will be, at best, a Utopian dream. But if the dreamer is also a man of resources and opportunities, his impracticable schemes may issue in incalcula…
786 wordsSECTION 79_The Midnight Ride._
[162] James i. 27. Nehemiah does not despair. He has no time to grieve. We hear no more of his weeping and lamentation and fasting. Now he is spurred on to decisive action. Fortified by the knowledge he has acquired in his adventurous night ride, and urged by the melancholy sights he has witnessed, Nehemiah loses no …
834 wordsSECTION 80_The Midnight Ride._
[164] Gen. xxviii. 16. [165] Isa. i. 3. Lastly, Nehemiah not only perceived the hand of God and took courage from his assurance of the fact; he made this glorious fact known to the nobles of Jerusalem in order to rouse their enthusiasm. He had the simplicity of earnestness, the openness of one who forgets self in adv…
494 wordsSECTION 81_Building The Walls._
NEHEMIAH iii. The third chapter of the Book of Nehemiah supplies a striking illustration of the constructive character of the history of the Jews in the Persian period. Nor is that all. A mechanical, Chinese industry may be found side by side with indications of moral littleness. But the activity displayed in the rest…
1,047 wordsSECTION 82_Building The Walls._
In rebuilding the city walls, then, Nehemiah was accomplishing two good objects; he was fortifying the place, and he was restoring its organic unity. The two advantages would be mutually helpful, because the weakness of Jerusalem was destroying the peculiar character of her life. The aristocracy, thinking it impossible…
652 wordsSECTION 83_Building The Walls._
Next it is to be observed that this building was done by "piece work," and that with the names of the workmen attached to it, so that if any of them did their work ill the fact would be known and recorded to their lasting disgrace; but also so that if any put an extra amount of finish on their work this too should be k…
886 wordsSECTION 84_Building The Walls._
[170] Neh. iii. 1. There are two points to be noticed in the special work of the priests. First, _its locality_. These ministers of the temple set up the "Sheep Gate," which was the gate nearest to the temple. Thus they made themselves responsible for their own quarters, guarding what was especially entrusted to their…
866 wordsSECTION 85"_Mark Ye Well Her Bulwarks._"
[171] Neh. iii. 5. Happily we may set exceptional devotion in another quarter over against the exceptional remissness of the nobles of Tekoa. Brief as is his summary of the division of the work, Nehemiah is careful to slip in a word of praise for one Baruch the son of Zabbai, saying that this man "_earnestly_ repaired…
1,124 wordsSECTION 86"_Mark Ye Well Her Bulwarks._"
[173] Neh. xi. 1. As we follow Nehemiah round the circuit of the walls the more special features of the city are brought under our notice. He begins with the "Sheep Gate," which was evidently near the temple, and the construction of which was undertaken by the priests as the first piece of work in the great enterprise…
656 wordsSECTION 87"_Mark Ye Well Her Bulwarks._"
Next we come to the work of men from the northern Benjamite towns of Gibeon and Mizpah,[174] whose volunteer service was a mark of their own brotherly spirit. It should be remembered, however, that Jerusalem originally belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. Working at the northern wall, in accordance with the rule observed…
653 wordsSECTION 88"_Mark Ye Well Her Bulwarks._"
This long, unbroken stretch of wall ends at the "Dung Gate," through which the refuse of the city was flung out to the now degraded valley which once had been so famous for its pleasure gardens. Sanitary regulations are of course most necessary. We admire the minuteness with which they are attended to in the Pentateuch…
815 wordsSECTION 89"_Mark Ye Well Her Bulwarks._"
"Mark ye well her bulwarks." Alas! they are buried in a desolation so huge that the utmost skill of engineering science fails to trace their course. The latest great discovery, which has simply revolutionised the map by identifying the _Tyropoeon_ with the Old Testament "Valley of Hinnom" or "Tophet," is the most strik…
271 wordsSECTION 90_On Guard._
NEHEMIAH ii. 10, 19; iv. All his arrangements for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem show that Nehemiah was awake to the dangers with which he was surrounded. The secrecy of his night ride was evidently intended to prevent a premature revelation of his plans. The thorough organisation, the mapping out of the whole line…
744 wordsSECTION 91_On Guard._
[182] Neh. ii. 10. At first we only hear of this odious distress of the jealous neighbours. But the prosecutions of Nehemiah's immediately lead to a manifestation of open hostility--verbal in the beginning. No sooner had the Jews made it evident that they were responsive to their leader's appeal and intended to rise a…
825 wordsSECTION 92_On Guard._
After receiving an annoying answer it was only natural that the antagonistic neighbours of the Jews should be still more embittered in their animosity. At the first news of his coming to befriend the children of Israel, as Nehemiah says, Sanballat and Tobiah were grieved; but when the building operations were actually …
654 wordsSECTION 93_On Guard._
[188] Neh. iv. 4. But now more serious opposition was to be encountered. Such enemies as those angry men of Samaria were not likely to be content with venting their spleen in idle mockery. When they saw that the keenest shafts of their wit failed to stop the work of the citizens of Jerusalem, Sanballat and his friends…
813 wordsSECTION 94_On Guard._
4. _Arms._--Nehemiah gave the first place to the spiritual and moral defences of Jerusalem. Yet his material defences were none the less thorough on account of his prayers to God or his eloquent exhortation of the people and their leaders. They were most complete. His arrangements for the military protection of Jerusa…
329 wordsSECTION 95_Usury._
NEHEMIAH v. We open the fifth chapter of "Nehemiah" with a shock of pain. The previous chapter described a scene of patriotic devotion in which nearly all the people were united for the prosecution of one great purpose. There we saw the priests and the wealthy citizens side by side with their humble brethren engaged i…
772 wordsSECTION 96_Usury._
Nehemiah was not slow in recognising the public need, when it was brought under his notice by the cry of the distressed debtors. According to the truly modern custom of his time in Jerusalem, he called a public meeting, explained the whole situation, and appealed to the creditors to give back the mortgaged lands and re…
783 wordsSECTION 97_Usury._
[192] Exod. xxii. 25. This is one side of the subject, and it is not to be denied that it exhibits a considerable amount of truth from its own point of view. Even on this ground, however, it may be doubted whether the advantages of the debtor are as great as they are represented. The system of carrying on business by …
852 wordsSECTION 98_Usury._
[193] Neh. v. 11. [194] Deut. xv. 1-6. [195] _E.g._, Isa. v. 8. Far worse than the alienation of their estates was the selling of their children by the hard-pressed creditors. An ancient law of rude times recognised the fact and regulated it in regard to daughters;[196] but it is not easy to see how in an age of civ…
651 wordsSECTION 99_Usury._
[197] Neh. v. 7, 10, where instead of "usury" (A.V.) we should read "pledge." [198] Deut. xv. 3-6. We see then that what Nehemiah and the Jewish law really condemned was not so much the practice of taking interest in the abstract as the carrying on of cruel usury among brothers. The evil that lies in that also appea…
505 wordsSECTION 100_Wise As Serpents._
NEHEMIAH vi. Open opposition had totally failed. The watchful garrison had not once permitted a surprise. In spite of the persistent malignity of his enemies, Nehemiah had raised the walls all round the city till not a breach remained anywhere. The doors had yet to be hung at the great gateways, but the fortification …
725 wordsSECTION 101_Wise As Serpents._
The first proposal had danger written on the face of it, and the persistence with which so lame a device was repeated does not do much credit to the ingenuity of the conspirators. Their very malignity seems to have blinded them to the fact that they were not deceiving Nehemiah. Perhaps they thought that he would yield …
1,143 wordsSECTION 102_Wise As Serpents._
The third was managed very differently. This time Nehemiah was attacked within the city, for it was now apparent that no attempts to lure him outside the walls could succeed. A curious characteristic of the new incident is that Nehemiah himself paid a visit to the man who was the treacherous instrument of his enemies' …
972 wordsSECTION 103_Wise As Serpents._
[206] 1 John iv. 1. [207] Neh. vi. 11. [208] Rom. xiv. 14. Nehemiah's answer to the proposal of the wily prophet is very blunt--"I will not go in." Bluntness is the best reply to sophistry. The whole scheme was open to Nehemiah. He perceived that God had not sent the prophet, that this man was but a tool in the hand…
590 wordsSECTION 104The Law.
NEHEMIAH viii. 1-8. The fragmentary nature of the chronicler's work is nowhere more apparent than in that portion of it which treats of the events immediately following on the completion of the fortifications of Jerusalem. In Nehemiah vii. we have a continuation of the governor's personal narrative of his work, descri…
1,118 wordsSECTION 105The Law.
In such a condition of affairs the city was ripe for the public exposition of The Law. But even then Ezra only published it after having been requested to do so by the people. We cannot assign this delay of his to any reluctance to let his fellow-countrymen know the law which he had long loved and studied in private. W…
804 wordsSECTION 106The Law.
[221] In Neh. viii. 4 six names are given for the right-hand contingent and seven for the left-hand. But since in the corresponding account of 1 Esdras fourteen names occur, one name would seem to have dropped out of Nehemiah. The prominence given to the Levites in all these scenes and the absence of reference to t…
658 wordsSECTION 107The Law.
It is important that we should see clearly what was contained in this roll of The Law out of which Ezra read to the citizens of Jerusalem. The distress with which its contents were received would lead us to suppose that the grave minatory passages of Deuteronomy were especially prominent in the reading. We cannot gathe…
1,110 wordsSECTION 108_The Joy Of The Lord._
NEHEMIAH viii. 9-18. "All the people wept when they heard the words of the law." Was it for this mournful end that Ezra had studied the sacred law and guarded it through the long years of political unrest, until at length he was able to make it known with all the pomp and circumstance of a national festival? Evidently…
730 wordsSECTION 109_The Joy Of The Lord._
"I will delight in Thy statutes: I will not forget Thy word. * * * * "Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold Wondrous things out of Thy law. * * * * "Unless Thy law had been my delight, I should have perished in mine affliction. * * * * "Great peace have they that love Thy law, And they have none occasion of …
779 wordsSECTION 110_The Joy Of The Lord._
[230] Neh. viii. 9. This leads to a thought of wider range and still more profound significance, a thought that flashes out of the sacred page like a brilliant gem, a thought so rich and glad and bountiful that it speaks for its own inspiration as one of the great Divine ideas of Scripture--"The joy of the Lord is you…
756 wordsSECTION 111_The Joy Of The Lord._
Now the great idea that is here suggested to us connects this Divine joy with strength--the joy is an inspiration of energy. By the nature of things joy is exhilarating, while pain is depressing. Physiologists recognise it as a law of animal organisms that happiness is a nerve tonic. It would seem that the same law obt…
897 wordsSECTION 112_The Religion Of History._
[231] Neh. viii. 14, 15 Finally, like the Christians who collected food and money at the _Agape_ for their poorer brethren and for the martyrs in prison, the Jews were to "send portions" to the needy.[232] The rejoicing was not to be selfish; it was to stimulate practical kindness. Here was its safeguard. We shrink fr…
699 wordsSECTION 113_The Religion Of History._
The Jews' confession of sin led up to a prayer which the Septuagint ascribes to Ezra. It does so, however, in a phrase that manifestly breaks the context, and thus betrays its origin in an interpolation.[233] Nevertheless the tone of the prayer, and even its very language, remind us forcibly of the Great Scribe's outpo…
825 wordsSECTION 114_The Religion Of History._
The recital opens where the Jews delighted to trace their origin, in Ur of the Chaldees. These returned exiles from Babylon are reminded that at the very dawn of their ancestral history the same district was the starting-point. The guiding hand of God was seen in bringing up the Father of the Nation in that far-off tri…
706 wordsSECTION 115_The Religion Of History._
From this picture of the wilderness life we are led on to the conquest of the Promised Land. The Israelites overthrow the kings east of the Jordan, and take possession of their territories. Growing in numbers, after a time they are enough to cross the Jordan, seize the land of Canaan, and subdue the aboriginal inhabita…
937 wordsSECTION 116_The Religion Of History._
[236] Neh. ix. 32. After this confession the prayer deplores the present state of the Jews. No reference is now made to the temporary annoyance occasioned by the attacks of the Samaritans. The building of the walls has put an end to that nuisance. But the permanent evil is more deeply rooted. The Jews are mournfully c…
267 wordsSECTION 117_The Covenant._
NEHEMIAH x. The tenth chapter of "Nehemiah" introduces us to one of the most vital crises in the History of Israel. It shows us how the secret cult of the priests of Jehovah became a popular religion. The process was brought to a focus in the public reading of The Law; it was completed in the acceptance of The Law whi…
1,200 wordsSECTION 118_The Covenant._
The Jews were prepared for their covenant by two essential preliminaries. The first was knowledge. The reading of The Law preceded the covenant, which was entered into intelligently. There is no idea of what is called "implicit faith." The whole situation is clearly surveyed, and The Law is adopted with a consciousness…
688 wordsSECTION 119_The Covenant._
[238] Neh. xiii. 13. Most of the names in this list of priests occur again in a list of those who came up with Zerubbabel and Jeshua,[239] from which fact we must infer that they represent families, not individuals. But some of the names in the other list are missing here. A most significant omission is that of the hi…
730 wordsSECTION 120_The Covenant._
[242] _Ibid._ After the general acceptance of the whole law, the covenant specifies certain important details. First comes the separation from the heathen--the burning question of the day. Next we have Sabbath observance--also made especially important, because it was distinctive of Judaism as well as needful for the …
448 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.