Nehemiah

How Nave’s arranged it

• 1. Son of HachaliahNehemiah 1:1
• The cupbearer of Artaxerxes, a very trusted positionNehemiah 1:11Nehemiah 2:1
• Is grieved over the desolation of his countryNehemiah 1
• Is sent by the king to rebuild JerusalemNehemiah 2:1–8
• Register of the people whom he led from BabylonNehemiah 7
• Register of the priests and LevitesNehemiah 12:1–22
• Rebuilds JerusalemNehemiah 2Nehemiah 3Nehemiah 4Nehemiah 5Nehemiah 6
• His administration as ruler of the peopleNehemiah 5Nehemiah 6Nehemiah 8Nehemiah 9Nehemiah 10Nehemiah 11Nehemiah 13
• 2. Two Jews who returned to Jerusalem from exileEzra 2:2Nehemiah 3:16Nehemiah 7:7

The passages, in Bible order (17)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Ezra 2:2

   accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

   ›Commentary on Ezra 2:22 voices

   “Which came with Zerubbabel,.... The head of them, the prince of Judah; and the chief that came with him are the ten following; Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah; the first of these, Jeshua, was Joshua the high priest, the son of Josedech, Hag 1:

   “Which came with Zerubbabel - There are many difficulties in this table of names; but as we have no less than three copies of it, that contained here from Ezra 2:1-67, a second in Nehemiah 7:6-69, and a third in 1 Esdras 5:7-43, on a careful examination they will be found to correct each other. The versions also, and the Variae Lectiones of Kennicott and De Rossi, do much toward harmonizing the names.

   Everything gathered on Ezra 2:2→

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2. Nehemiah 1:1

   These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 1:12 voices

   “The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah - The prophetical books commence generally with a title of this kind (see Jer 1:1); but no other extant historical book begins thus. Nehemiah, while attaching his work to Ezra, perhaps marked in this manner the point at which his own composition commenced. (See the introduction of the Book of Nehemiah.) Chisleu - The ninth month, corresponding to the end of November and beginning of December. In the twentieth year - i. e. of Artaxerxes Longimanus (465-425 B.C.). Compare Neh 2:

   “The words - Or rather, the acts, as the word often signifies. Chisleu - Which is the ninth month, containing part of November, and part of December. Shushan - The royal city of Persia.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 1:1→

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3. Nehemiah 1:11

   O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 1:112 voices

   “NEHEMIAH was earnest in his prayer for the good of his sorrow-stricken nation, but he did not make the mistake of thinking that he was the only praying man in the world. He said, "Be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants, who desire to fear Your name." In this one respect, I like Nehemiah better than Elijah.

   “I was the king's cupbearer--This officer, in the ancient Oriental courts, was always a person of rank and importance; and, from the confidential nature of his duties and his frequent access to the royal presence, he possessed great influence.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 1:11→

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4. Nehemiah 2:1

   Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 2:12 voices

   “The reasons for so long a delay cannot be ascertained. I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king--XENOPHON has particularly remarked about the polished and graceful manner in which the cupbearers of the Median, and consequently the Persian, monarchs performed their duty of presenting the wine to their royal master.

   “Nisan was the name given by the Persian Jews to the month previously called “Abib,” the first month of the Jewish year, or that which followed the vernal equinox. It fell four months after Chisleu Neh 1:1. The twentieth year - As Artaxerxes ascended the throne in 465 B.C., his 20th year would correspond to 445-444 B.C.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 2:1→

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5. Nehemiah 3:1

   At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower of Hananel, they dedicated the wall.

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 3:12 voices

   “Eliashib (compare the marginal reference) was the grandson of Joshua, the high priest contemporary with Zerubbabel. The sheep gate - This was a gate in the eastern wall, not far from the pool of Bethesda, marginal reference, which was perhaps originally a sheep-pool. The exact line which the writer follows in describing the circuit of the wall will probably be always a matter of dispute.

   “The priests repaired the sheep-gate, so called because through it were brought the sheep that were to be sacrificed in the temple; and therefore the priests undertook the repair of it because the offerings of the Lord made by fire were their inheritance. And of this gate only it is said that they sanctified it with the word and prayer, and perhaps with sacrifices perhaps, 1.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 3:1→

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6. Nehemiah 3:16

   Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth-zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Mighty.

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 3:161 voice

   “The pool that was made - Calmet supposes that this was the reservoir made by Hezekiah, when besieged by Sennacherib, 2Ch 32:4. The house of the mighty - Probably a place where a band of soldiers was kept, or the city guard.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 3:16→

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7. Nehemiah 4:1

   Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious and filled with indignation. He ridiculed the Jews

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 4:12 voices

   “But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall,.... Or were building it; for as yet it was not finished, see Neh 4:6, he was wroth, and took great indignation; inwardly, though outwardly he pretended to treat the work with contempt, as if it never would be accomplished, which yet he feared: and mocked the Jews; as a set of foolish builders, and unable to finish what they had begun.

   “The strength and safety of the church are the grief and vexation of its enemies. They despised it, and made it the subject of their ridicule. In this they sufficiently displayed their malice; but good was brought out of it; for, looking upon it as a foolish undertaking that would sink under its own weight, they did not go about to obstruct it till it was too late.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 4:1→

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8. Nehemiah 5:1

   About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.

   ›Commentary on Nehemiah 5:11 voice

   “The condition of the poorer inhabitants was indeed deplorable; for, besides the deficient harvests caused by the great rains (Ezr 10:9; also Hag 1:6-11), a dearth was now threatened by the enemy keeping such a multitude pent up in the city, and preventing the country people bringing in provisions.

   Everything gathered on Nehemiah 5:1→

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9. Nehemiah 6:1

   When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Nehemiah 7:1

    When the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, singers, and Levites were appointed.

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 7:11 voice

    “Since the watch of the temple had hitherto been kept by porters, singers, and Levites 1 Chr. 26:1-19, so now the watch of the entire city was committed to men of the same three classes, their experience pointing them out as the most suitable persons.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 7:1→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Nehemiah 7:7

    accompanied by Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. This is the count of the men of Israel:

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 7:72 voices

    “Who came with Zerubbabel - The register which he found was that of the persons only who came long before Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Joshua the son of Josedek, which register could not answer in every respect to the state of the people then. Several persons and families were no doubt dead, and others had arrived since. Nehemiah probably altered it only in such parts, leaving the body of it as it was before; and this will account for the difference between it and the register that is found in Ezra, chap. 2.

    “So it is no wonder that the number of the monies, and other things here contributed, differ from that Ezra ii, 68, 69, because this is another collection.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 7:7→

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12. Nehemiah 8:1

    At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 8:11 voice

    “The street - Rather, “the square” or “court.” So in Neh 8:16 (compare Ezr 10:9). The court seems to have been one between the eastern gate of the temple and the watergate in the city-wall. It would thus lie within the modern Haram area. Ezra the scribe - This is the first mention of Ezra in the present book, and the first proof we have had that he was contemporary with Nehemiah.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 8:1→

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13. Nehemiah 9:1

    On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 9:12 voices

    “A solemn fast was now observed for the expression of those penitential and sorrowful feelings which the reading of the law had produced, but which had been suppressed during the celebration of the feast; and the sincerity of their repentance was evinced by the decisive steps taken for the correction of existing abuses in the matter of marriage.

    “The festival lasted from the 15th day of the 7th month to the first. The 22nd day was a day of solemn observance Neh 8:18. One day seems to have been allowed the people for rest; and then the work of repentance, for which they had shown themselves ready Neh 8:9, was taken in hand, and a general fast was proclaimed.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 9:1→

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14. Nehemiah 10:1

    Now these were the ones who sealed the document: Nehemiah the governor, son of Hacaliah, and also Zedekiah,

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 10:12 voices

    “But the signatories were Nehemiah the Tirshatha, etc. Another translation has, Nehemiah, who is the Tirshatha; for Nehemiah had two names. Hence it is uniquely added, the son of Hacaliah; which is more clearly indicated above, where it is said: But Nehemiah said, he is …

    “The “Zidkijah” of this passage is probably the same as “Zadok” Neh 13:13. “Zadok” is expressly called “the scribe,” and it was probably as the scribe who drew up the document that “Zidkijah” signed it immediately after Nehemiah.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 10:1→

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15. Nehemiah 11:1

    Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city of Jerusalem, while the remaining nine were to dwell in their own towns.

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 11:12 voices

    “To bring one of ten - Artificial enlargements of capitals by forcible transfers of population to them, were not unusual in ancient times. About 500 B.C., Syracuse became a great city in this way. Tradition ascribed the greatness of Rome, in part, to this cause.

    “Jerusalem was no trading city, and therefore there was no money to be got there by merchandise, as there was in the country by corn and cattle. Note, All seek their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's, Phil. ii. It is a general and just complaint that most people prefer their own wealth, credit, pleasure, ease, and safety, before the glory of God and the public good.

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 11:1→

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16. Nehemiah 12:1–22

    Now these are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

    ›Commentary on Nehemiah 12:1–222 voices

    “The priests - The number of the names here given, which is 22, is probably to be connected with that of the Davidic “courses,” which was 24 1Ch 24:7-18. Eight names are identical with those of the heads in David’s time. On comparing the present list with that of the families who sealed to Nehemiah’s covenant Neh 10:2-8, we shall find that the first sixteen recur in that document nearly in the same order; but that the last six are absent from it.

    “But these were divided by Zerubbabel, or Jeshua, into the original number of twenty-four. Twenty-two only are enumerated here, and no more than twenty in Ne 12:12-21. The discrepancy is due to the extremely probable circumstance that two of the twenty-four courses had become extinct in Babylon; for none belonging to them are reported as having returned (Ne 12:2-5).

    Everything gathered on Nehemiah 12:1–22→

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