nent among the benefactors of the Jewish people — alike patriotic and zealous, though not uniform in character, or the same in operation. h\ the character of Ezra we find no indication of the self-complacency which forms a marked feature in that of Nehemiah. The former, in accordance with his priestly calling, labored chiefly in promoting the interests of religion, but the latter had most to do with the general affairs of government ; the one was in charge of the Temple, the other of the state. Nehemiah refused to receive his lawful allowance as governor from the people, in consideration of their pov- erty, during the whole twelve years that he was in of- fice, but kept at his own charge a table for 150 Jews, at which any who returned from captivity were welcome. Nehemiah returned to Persia B.C. 434, but soon heard of new abuses creeping in among the Jews, and he de- termined to visit Juda;a again. The time of this sec- ond journey is indefinitely stated as '"after some days" (xiii, 6, 7), which many have understood as meaning a single year; but this is not long enough to account for such abuses as would require Nehemiah's presence. Prideaux {Connection, i, 520 sq. ; comp. Jahn, .! rchdol. II, i, 272 sq. ; Einleitunf/, ii, 288 S(i.) has shown suffi- cient reason for referring it to the second half of the reign of Darius Nothus, say B.C. 410. (But Iliivernick, Einleitung ins A. 7'. ii, 324, holds a medium view, dating this visit B.C. cir. 424, Sec further, Michaelis on A'e- hemiah xiii; Clericus, ad idem; Petavius, Doctrina Temp, xii, 25 ; Cellarius, Dissertat. p. 130 ; Jour, o/ Sac. Lit. Jan. 1862, p. 446.) See Seventy Wekks. After his return to the government of Judiea, Nehemiah en- forced the separation of all the mixed multitude from Israel (Xeh. xiii, 1-3), and accordingly expelled Tobiah the Ammonite from the chamber which the high-priest, Eliashib, had prepared for him in the Temple (xiii, 4- 9). Better arrangements were also made for the sup- port of the Temple service (xiii, 10-14), and for the rigid observance of the Sabbath (xiii, 15-22). One of the last acts of his government was an effort to put an end j to mixed marriages, which led him to '• chase" away I a son of Joiada, the high-priest, because he was son-in- law to Sanballat the Horonite (xiii, 23-29). It is noi unlikely that Nehemiah remained at his post till about the year B.C. 405, towards the close of the reign of Da- rius Nothus, who is mentioned in xii, 22. See Daiucs. At this time Nehemiah would be between sixty and seventy years old, if we suppose him (as most do) to have been only between twenty and thirty when he first went to Jerusalem. That he lived to be an old man is thus quite probable from the sacred history; and this is expressly declared by Josephus, who (Ant. xi, 5, 6) states that he died at an advanced age. Of the place and year of his death nothing is known. '"On reviewing the character of Nehemiah, we seem unable to find a single fault (unless it be a slightly Ciceronian egotism) to counterbalance his many and great virtues. For pure and disinterested patriotism he stands unri- valled. The man whom the account of the miscrj- and ruin of his native country, and the perils with which his countrymen were beset prompted to leave his s|ilendid residence, and a (lost of wealth, power, and intluiiicc, in the first court in the worhl, that he might sliarc and alleviate the sorrows of his native land, must have been pre-eminently a patriot. Every act of his during his government bespeaks one who had no selfishness in his nature. All he did was noble, generous, high-minded, courageous, and to the highest degree upright. But to stern integrity he united great humility and kindness, and a princely hosi)itality. As a statesman he com- bined forethought, prudence, and sagacity in counsel, with vigor, prom])titudc, and decision in action. In dealing with the enemies of his country he was wary, penetrating, and bold. In directing the internal econ- omy of the state, he took a comprehensive view of the real welfare of the people, and adopted the measures best calculated to promote it. In dealing both with friend and foe, he was utterly free from favor or fear, con-
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
925
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF
spicuous for the simplicity with which he aimed only at doing what was right, without respect of persons. But in nothing was he more remarkable than for his piety, and tlie singleness of ej-e with which he walked before God. He seems to have undertaken everything in de- pendence upon God, with prayer for his blessing and guidance, and to have sought his reward only from God" (Smith). See Randall, Nthemtah the Tirshatha (Lond. 1874).
NEHEMIAH, BOOK OF, the latest of all the his- torical books of Scripture, both as to the time of its composition and the scope of its narrative in general, and as to the supplementar}' matter of ch. xii in par- ticular, which reaches down to the time of Alexander the Great.
1. Authorship. — This book, which bears the title iT^'itj? '''^3^, NehemiaKs Words, was anciently con- nected with Ezra, as if it formed part of the same work (Eichhorn, Einleititng, ii, G27). This connection is in- dicated by its first word, "'fl^l, "And it came to pass." It arose, doubtless, from the fact that Nehemiah is a sort of continuation of Ezra (q. v.). Some ancient writ- ers called this book the second Book of Ezra, and re- garded that learned scribe as the author of it (Carpzov, Jntroductio, etc., p. 336). There can, however, be no reasonable doubt that it proceeded from Nehemiah, for its style and spirit, except in one portion, are wholly unlike Ezra's. Here we find no Chaldee documents, as in Ezra, though we might expect some from ch. ii, 7, 8, 9, and ch. vi, 5 ; and here also the writer discovers a species of egotism never manifested by Ezra (Neh. v, 14-19; Eichhorn, Einleitunr/ his A. Test, ii, 619).