The Pulpit Commentary — Nehemiah — Section 6

Ver. 1.-The words of Nehemiah the Ver. 4,-When I hee.rd these things, I se.t aon of He.cha.lia.h. Compare Jer. i. l ; down e.nd wept. The revelAtion of tho Hosea i. 2; Amos i. 1, &c. No other his- e.ctue.l condition of Jerusalem came upon ton'cal book commences in this manner, and Nehemiah with a shock. Ho had perhaps we may best e.ccount for the introduction of not thought much upon the subject before ; the cl~use by the consideration that " N ehe- he had had no means of exact iuformation ; miah" having been origine.lly appended to he had supposed tho city flourishing under the "Ezra," it marked the point at which a new superintendence of Ezra, whose piety 1111d narrative began by e. new author. The patriotism were no doubt known to him. It month Chisleu. The word Chisleu, or was a bitter grief to him to find that his rather Kislev, is probably Persian. It was people were still "a reproach to their neigh- unknown to the Jews before the captivity, bours," laughed to scorn by those whose and is found only in this passage and in walls had never been destroyed, or who had Zech. vii. 1, where Kislev is said to be "the been allowed to rebuild them. And he ninth month," corresponding nearly to our may have felt that his city, under the cir- December. The twentieth yee.r. The twen- cumstances of the time, was in real danger. tieth regnal year of Artaxerxes (Longimanus) As Dean Stanley observes: "In those days, is intended (see eh. ii. 1). This began in rather one may say in those countries of B. c. 445, and terminated in B. c. 444. Shu- diBorder, a city without locked go.tea o.nd she.n the pa.lace, where Daniel saw the lofty walls was no city at all " (' Lectures on nsion of the ram with two horns (Dan. viii. the Jewish Church,' Third Series, p. 124). 2), and Ahasuerus (Xerxes) made his great A few years previously Egypt had been in feast to all hiB princes and servants (Esther revolt ; she might revolt again, and can-y her i 3), is beyond all doubt Susa, the capital arms into Syria. Arab tribes from the desert city of Kissia, or Susiana, one of the most might extend their raids into Judrea, and be ancient cities in the world, and the place tempted by the known value of the temple which, from the time of Darius Hystaspis, treasures to swoop upon the unwalled town. was the principal residence of the Persian Such thoughts occurring to an excitable court. It was situated in the fertile plain Oriental, produced not grief and anxiety east of the Lower Tigris, and lay on or near merely, but a flood of tears (comp. Ezra x. the river Choaspes, probably at the spot 1). And fasted. Fasting had become a now known e.s Sus, or Shush. Remains of frequent practice among the Jews during the the palace were discovered by the expedition captivity. Solemn fasts had been introduced under Sir Fenwick Williams in the year 1852, on the anniversaries of the taking of Jeru- and have been graphically described by Mr. salem, the burning of the temple, and the Loftus ( 'Chald:eaand Susiana,' pp. 373-375). murder ofGedaliah (Zech. viii. 19). Fasting Yer. 2.-Hanani, one of my brethren. had also taken a prominent place in the Afterwards given the che.rge of the gates of devotions of individuals. Daniel fasted Jerusalem by Nehemi.a.h (eh. vii 2}. (Dan. ix. 3; x. 3} ; Esther fasted (Esther iv. Ver. 3.-The wa.ll of leruse.lem also is 16); Ezra fasted (Ezra x. 6); e.nd now Nehe- broken down. It has been supposed, either miah fasted. On the grounds of natural that the demolition of the wall here referred piety out of which the practice arises, see the to was quite recent, having occurred during co=ent on Ezra x. 6. The God of heaven. the space of twelve years which intervenes See the comment on Ezra i. 2. between the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, Ver. 5.-And ea.id, I beseech thee. The -or else that it belonged to a time of depres- opening of Nehemiah's prayer follows so sion which followed shortly after the com- closely the thoughts and words of Daniel's pletion of the temf.le by Zerubbabel (Ewald, (Dan. ix. 4), that it is al.most impossible to 'History of Israe ,' voL v. pp. 120, 121, suppose that one of the two writers had not and 148, note 3, E. Tr.); but there is really the words of the other before him. .As there no reason to believe that the demolition are no sufficient grounds for questioning the effected under the orders of Nebnchadnezzar generally received date of Daniel's prophecy (2 Kings :u:v. 10) had ever hitherto been (B.C. 536), we must suppose Nehemiah fa. repaired, or the restoration of the wall even miliar with his writings, and an admirer of attempted. The Samaritan accusation in their tone and spirit. In this verse he differs Ezra iv. 12 falls short of a statement that from Daniel only in substituting " J ehovo.h" the wall was restored, e.nd, if it asserted the for "Lord" (Adonai), e.nd introducing his fact, would be insn.fficient e.uthority for it. own favourite phrase "God of heaven." The supposition of Ewald, that "as soon as Ver. 6.-Both I and my father's house the city was rebuilt, the attempt would be have 1inned. Ewald well observes, "In thi 'ITULdt to fortify it" (p. 121, note 3), ignores prayer of Nehemiah the keynote is struck in the jee.louey of the Persians and their power the words, • I and my father's house have to step in and prevent a subject town from sinued'" (' History of Israel,' vol. v. p. 149, fortifying itself. note 1). The desolation which he mourns is 0B I, 1-11.J THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH. 3