Neh. rendered a great service to his eople, and its effect was more enduring than that of Ezra. He was magnanimous in his generosity towards his subjects. He even purchased the li erty of many Jews held as slaves in strange lands (5%); he had refused the remuneration which belonged to his office ; and he entertained at his own expense 150 of the chief Jews (617). But he was ἢ no means unconscious of his virtue, nor unhopeful of receiy- ing a suitable reward from God ; in 5" (ef. 1314. 31) he records a favourite prayer: ‘Remember unto me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people’ (see Montefiore, Hib. Lect. 211). He shows also the vindictive spirit found in some of the psalmists (3%, Eng, 44t 13% ; see also Cheyne, Bamp. Lect. 78). But a frank acknowledgment of such weaknesses does not obscure the real greatness of the man. It has been truly said of him that he was ‘the only man who had at once the spirit to awaken the old fire of national enthusiasm, and the power both to heal dissensions within and to repel attacks from without’ (The Psalms Chronologically arranged, by Four Friends, 311). On Neh.’s char- acter and work, see further Wellh. Gesch,2 173; Rawlinson, Ezr. and Neh, ch. xi. ; Renan, Hist, of the People of Isr. bk. vii. 82 ff. Jose hus says of Neh. : ‘He wasa man of good and righteous char- acter, and very ambitious to make his own nation happy; and he hath left the walls of Jerus. as an eternal monument of himself’ (Ant. ΧΙ. ν. 8).
For other literature, beyond that quoted in the above article, see Ezra-NEHEMIAH, ΒΟΟΚ ΟΡ.
L. W. BATTEN.
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF.—See Ezra-NEHEMIAH, Book or.
NEHEMIAS (Neeulas).—1. 1 Es 58, one of the leaders of the first return from captivity under Zerub. =Nehemiah, Ezr 2, Neh 77. 2. (B Naculas) 1 Es 5®, Nehemiah the contemporary of Ezra. The Insertion of his name here appears to be due to an Incorrect gloss on ‘Ar@aplas or ‘ the Tirshatha,’ Neh. being usually called by that title. In the canonical parallels (Ezr 28, Neh 7®) the name is absent, and
| the Tirshatha alluded to is Zerubbabel.
H. St. J. THACKERA - | NEHILOTH.—See PSALMs,
NEHUM (5:n3).—One of the twelve heads of the Jewish community, Neh 77, This form of the name
--.--- -----. ο Ἅ,07ὔ07.
it μὰν “κω
NEIEL
NEIGHBOUR 511
mind with nd/hdsh, perhaps in the signification ‘the [sacred] serpent’ or ‘the serpent’ par ex- cellence (cf. for form and So 19).*
(2) The reason for the destruction of the Ne- hushtan is clearly stated. Whatever may have been its a eae inquire into this would be to anticipate the article SERPENT (BRAZEN) in vol. iv.—it had in recent times become an object of idolatrous worship. Incense was offered to it as to a divine being. Its continued existence, there- fore, was incompatible with, and would have been a constant menace to, that purer form of the religion of J” which it was the aim of Hezekiah and his spiritual advisers to introduce.
A. R. 5. KENNEDY.
NEIEL (ὅν; Β Ἰναήλ, A ᾿Ανιήλ).--- Α place on the borders of Zebulun and Asher, apparently north of Cabul, Jos 1957; possibly the same place as Neah of v.¥%. The site is uncertain.
NEIGHBOUR (τεῷ shakhén, Arab. sdken, γείτων ‘inhabitant’; ain2 kardbh, Arab. karib, ὁ πλησίον, weplocxos ‘near’; yr rea’, may ‘amith, φίλος ‘ friend ’). —The law of neighbourhood is of great importance and influence in the East. It takes rank after family life with regard to the number and authority of the customs created and regulated by it. Neigh- bourhood is not an occasional incident, but a con- stant necessity of Oriental social life, and the latter cannot be understood apart from it.
The importance of neighbourhood is due to the fact that there are no farmhouses scattered over the agricultural districts of Palestine. For pur- poses of common safety, the population is congre- gated in the villages, following in this respect the custom of the pastoral tribes in their encampments. From these villages, where the houses are generally built quite close to each other, the peasants go out to their daily labours in the surrounding fields. Domestic life is thus touched at every point by the larger circle of neighbourhood. Originating under circumstances of common danger, this social con- dition has now passed into a kindly preference of use and wont. Such village life is now regarded as a convenience. The Oriental dislikes silence and solitude ; very rarely takes a solitary walk for
leasure ; chooses summer lodgings where neigh-
urs are numerous; and, in renting, buying, or
building a house, considers first of all the character of the neighbours.
Among the modern inhabitants of Palestine the Arab. karib, ‘near,’ on account of the surviving similarity of social circumstance, means, like the Heb. karébh, both ‘neighbour’ and ‘relative.’ The sense of religious protection and union that en- shrined the family life is seen in expanded form in large towns such as Damascus and Jerusalem, where Christians, Jews, and Moslems occupy different parts of the town.
All the Bible references to neighbourhood indi- cate that it was an institution of high social value, with privileges to be enjoyed ait duties to be discharged.
1. Its helpfulness is stated in the maxim of Pr 2710 ‘Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother that is afar off.’ The Arabs have a familiar proverb to the same effect, and they further happily indicate the service that can be rendered by a friend or neighbour by saying, ‘ You