The Pulpit Commentary — Nehemiah — Section 3

and asked for an explanation. Nehemiah upon this unbosomed himself, and :finding the king sympathetic, obtained leave of absence from the court, an appointment to be governor of Jerusalem, and permission to rebuild the wall, to restore the temple fortress, and to repair the residence of the governor, of which he was to take possession. With these instructions, and with letters to the satraps of the provinces through which he had to pass, Nehemiah quitted Susa, accompanied by a strong escort, in the spring or early summer of B.c. 444. We are not told how much time was occupied by his journey ; but having arrived in safety at Jerusalem, he, like Ezra, rested" three days" (comp. Ezra viii. 32 with Neh. ii. 11). He then proceeded, under cover of night, to make a survey of the wall. It was well known to him that any attempt to put the city into a state of defence would meet with a formidable opposition on the part of powerful persons in the neighbourhood.• He therefore kept his com- mission secret, effected his survey of the wall secretly, and let no word of his intentions go forth, until he had made such preparations that the whole work might be begun and ended within a few weeks. The essence of his arrange- ment was the partitioning out of the task among a large number of working- parties, t all prepared to act simultaneously, and each completing its own portion of the wall without reference to the remainder ( eh. iii.). The plan succeeded. Though opposition of various kinds was made, and open violence threatened, no actual collision took place between the Jews and their adversaries ; and in little more than seven weeks the entire wall was repaired and restored to its full height (eh. vi. 15). Solid folding-doors were then placed in the gateways, guards established, and a rule laid down that the gates should be closed at nightfall, and not opened in the morning "11I1ti1 the sun was hot" (eh. vii. 3). Thus the main work which Nehemiah had set himself to do was accomplished within six months of the day that he obtained his commission from Artaxerxes. His administration during the remainder of the time that he governed Judma, which was certainly not less than thirteen years, was characterised by the same vigour, promptness, and energy which had marked its opening months. It was also remarkable for the consideration which he showed for those under his rule, and for the noble hospitality which he dispensed both towards natives and towards foreigners (eh. v. 14-18). He augmented the population of Jerusalem, too scanty for the size of its walls, by bringing men in from the country districts (eh. xi. I); redeemed large numbers of Jews, who had been sold into slavery among the heathen, and restored them to their native land ( eh. v. 8) ; put an end to a system of borrowing money upon mortgage, or raising it by selling sons and daughters into servitude, which was reducing the lower class of J ewe to the condition of the poor Roman plebeians of the early commonwealth (ibid. vers. 1-13; eh. x. 31); restored the strict observance of • This knowledge is indicated by the mention of Sanballat and Tobiah, before they come naturally upon the scene, in eh. ii 10. . , . , t Thirty-seven e.t the lee.st; forty-two, according to Ewe.Id ( H1Story of Israel, vol. v. p. 158, E. Tr.~  THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. ., the Sabbath, and of the sabbatical year (eh. x. 31; xiii. 15-22); established the annual payment of one-third of a shekel by each adult male towarda the temple service and fa.bric (eh. x. 32), together with a system for supplying the wood necessary for the sacrifices (ibid. ver. 34); prevented the temple from being polluted by the heathen, and profaned by being used for secular purposes (eh.xiii. 4-9); enforced the payment of tithes, which was falling into disuse (eh. x. 37; xiii. 10-13); and, like Ezra, compelled all those who had married foreign wives to divorce them, and send them back, with their children, to their own people (eh. xiii. 1-3, and 23-28). His efforts to effect these reforms were thwarted and resisted by an important party among the priests and nobles, which leant towards secularism, was addicted to intermarriage with the heathen, and desirous of fusion with the surrounding nations. An ordinary man might have shrunk from affronting the views of a party so strong and so powerful, one supported by neighbouring princes, and upheld at Jerusalem by the high priest of the time, Eliashib. Nehemiah set himself to " contend with the rulers" (eh. xiii. 11) and the "nobles" (ibid. ver. 17); "chased from him" the grandson of the high priest (ibid. ver. 28); "cursed," or at any rate "reviled," those who had married the foreign wives, and even" smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair" (ibid. ver. 25). When Eliashib himself, the natural guardian of the temple, disregarding its sacredness, assigned one of the chambers within its precincts to Tobiah the Ammonite, who furnished it and made it into a residence, Nehemiah of his own authority turned all the furniture out of doors (ibid. ver. 8). Strict, zealous, prompt, uncompromising, he would allow no relaxation of the old law, no departure from primitive custom, no con- sorting with foreigners. Not only did he re-establish the walls of J erusa.lem on their ancient foundations, but he built up the state too on the old lines, "sup- plementing and completing the work of Ezra," and giving it "internal cohesion and permanence." * There was one day in the latter part of his administration which must have been to him a day of exquisite pleasure, and have almost repaid him for all the anguish that he had endured from the perversity of the people and the opposi- tion of the nobles. After holding office for twelve years, he had had occasion to visit the court, either to make some special report, or because "his leave of absence had expired." t While there, he had perhaps obtained permission to conduct ~ ceremony which he must have long had in his mind, but which he may have been afraid to venture on without the king's express sanction. This was the dedication of the wall. On returning to Jerusalem, in Artaxerxes' thirty-third year, B.O. 431, he felt that the time was come to inaugurate his great work with appropriate pomp and circumstance. By his arrangement, " two vast processions passed round the walls, halting at one or another of those venerable landmarks which," twelve years before, "had signalised the various • Ewald, p. 161. t Ibid. p. 160 V1 INTRODUCTION TO