Nehemi'ah (Heb. Kechemyah', iT^^n?) comforted by Jehovah ; Sept. titfj.iiaQ v. r. Nf fyui'o ; Josephus, Nt- f/ii'rtC, Ant. xi, 5, 6), the name of three men.
1. The second named of the "children of the prov- ince," who had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, and lived to return with Zerubbabel to Judsea (Ezra ii, 2 ; Neh. vii, 7). B.C. 530. He was not the same as No. 3 (see Carpzov, Introd. i, 341 sq.).
2. Son of Azbuk, of the tribe of .judah ; ruler in half the town of Bethzur, in the mountains of Judah, who took a leading part in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. iii, 10), B.C. 445.
3. The son of Hachallah (Neh. i, 1) and brother of Hanani (Neh. vii, 7). He was apparently of the tribe of Judah, since his fathers were buried at Jerusalem, and Hanani his kinsman seems to have been of that tribe (Neh. i, 2 ; ii, 3 ; vii, 2). Some think he was of priestly descent, because his name appears at the head of a list of priests in Neh. x, 1-8 ; but it is obvious, from Neh. ix, 38, that he stands there as a prince, and not as a priest — that he heads the list because he was head of the nation. The Vulgate, in 2 Mace, i, 21, calls him "sacei-dos Nehemias" (comp. Rambach, Pi-o'f. in Keh. p. 112; Carpzov, Introd. i, 338) ; but this is a false version of the Greek, which has iKiXtvai tovq 'iipuc Nftju/of, and not o tcpivc, which the Latin would require. The Syriac agrees with the Greek. The expression in ver, 18, that Nehemiah "offered sacrifice," implies no more than that he provided the sacrifices. Others, with some probability, infer, from his station at the Persian court and the high commission he received, that he was, like Zerubbabel, of the tribe of Judah and of the house of David (Carpzov, Introductio, etc., i, 339). Malalas of Antioch (Chronogr. vi, 160) singularly combines the two views, and calls him " Nehemiah the priest, of the seed of David."
While Nehemiah was cupbearer in the royal palace at Shushan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Lon- gimanus (q. v.), or B.C. 447, learning the mournful and desolate condition of the returned colony in Judaea (Neh. i, 2 sq. ; comp. Kleinert, in the Dorpt. Beitrcig. i, 243 sq.), he obtained permission of the king to make a journey to Jerusalem, and there to act as lieutenant or governor (Heb. riHS, Neh. v, 14. On the title of honor given to Nehemiah [Neh. viii, 9; x, 1], Tirshatha', XriTIPl, see Gesen, Thesaur. s. v. ; Benfey, Monatsnam. s. 196, identifies it with the Zend thvoresta, "command- er." But in Neh. vii, 05, 70, this title denotes not Ne- hemiah, but Zerubbabel, as is evident from Ezra ii, 03- 70). Being furnished with this high commission, which included letters to the satraps and subordinates, and enjoying the protection of a military escort (ii, 9), Ne- hemiah reached Jerusalem in the year B.C. 440, and remained there till B.C. 434, being actively engaged for twelve years in promoting the public good (v, 14), " It is impossible to overestimate the importance to the future political and ecclesiastical prosperity of the
NEHEMIAH
924
NEHEMIAH
-Jewish nation of this great achievement of their patri- otic governor. How low tlie community of the Pales- tine Jews had fallen is api)arent from the fact that from the Gth year of Darius to the 7ih of Artaxerxes there is no history of them whatever; ami that even after Ezra's commission, and tlie ami)le grant^made bj- Artaxerxes in his 7th year, and the considerable re-enforcements, both in wealth and numbers, which Ezra's government brought to them, they were in a state of abject ' afflic- tion and reproach' in the 20th of Artaxerxes: their country pillaged, their citizens kidnapped and made slaves of by their heathen neighbors, robberj' and mur- der rife in their very capital, Jerusalem almost desert- ed, and the Temple again falling into decay. The one step which could resuscitate the nation, preserve the ^losaic institutions, and lay the foundation of future in- dependence, was tlie restoration of the city walls. Je- rusalem being once again secure from the attacks of the marauding heathen, civil government would become ])ossible, the spirit of the people and their attachment to (he ancient capital of the monarchy would revive, the priests and Levites would be encouraged to come into residence, the tithes and first-fruits and other stores would be safe, and Judah, if not actually independent, would preserve the essentials of national and religious life. To this great object, therefore, Nehemiah directed liis wliole energies without an hour's unnecessary delay. 15y word and example he induced the whole population, with the single exception of the Tekoite nobles, to com- mence building with the utmost vigor, even the luke- warm high-priest Eliashib performing his part. In a ■wonderfully short time the walls seemed to emerge from the heaps of burned rubbish, and to encircle the city as in the days of old. Tlie gateways also were rebuilt, and ready for the doors to be hung upon them. But it soon became apparent how wisely Nehemiah had acted in liastening on tlie work. On his very first arrival, as governor, Sanballat and Tobiah had given unequivocal ])roof of their niortilication at his appointment, and be- fore the work was commenced liad scornfully asked whether he intended to rebel against the king of Persia. IJut when the restoration was seen to be rapidly pro- gressing, their indignation knew no bounds. They not only poured out a torrent of abuse and contempt upon all engaged in tlie work, but actually made a great con- spiracy to fall ujion the builders with an armed force and put a stop to tlie undertaking. Tlic jirojcct was defeated by tlie vigilance and prudence of Nehemiah, wlio armed all the people after their families, and showed sucli a strong front that their enemies dared not attack tliera. This armed attitude was continued from that day forward. Various stratagems were then resorted to to get Nehemiah away from Jerusalem, and if possible to take his life" (Smith). But in the face of these difficulties he rebuilt, or repaired, the city Avail, not without serious opposition from parties of Samari- tans, finishing the work in fifty-two days (Neh. vi, 15) ; reformed abuses, redressed grievances (ch. v), introduced law and order (ch. vii), and revived the worship of God (ch. viii sq.). A strange fable is told of his discovering again the holy (ire (2 Mace, i, 18 sq.). The account in 2 Mace, ii, 13 of the compilation by Nehemiah of the Old-Testament writings is disbelieved by Eichhorn {Apokr. p. 255 sq.), and is rightly estimateil by Ileng- stenberg (^Aut/i. d. Dun. p. 24i sq.). See Esduas, Books of. It should be added that the son of Sirach, in celebrating Nehemiah's good deeds, mentions only that he '• raised up for us the walls that were fallen, and set U]) the gates and bars, and raised up our ruins again" (Ecclus. xlix, 13). In his important public proceetl- ings, which appear all to have happened in the first year of his government, Nehemiah enjoyed the assist- ance of Ezra (ip v.), who is named on several occasions as taking a prominent part in conducting affairs (Xeh. viii, 1, 9, 13; xii, 36). Ezra had gone up to Jerusalem thirteen years before, and lived to be Nehemiah's fel- low-laborer. These contemporaries are equally emi-