Nehemiah 1:2
in Nehemiah 1Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, that were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
KJV
That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
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This verse in Nehemiah 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verseI asked them concerning the Jews - Josephus gives a probable account of this business: “Nehemiah, being somewhere out of Susa, seeing some strangers, and hearing them converse in the Hebrew tongue, he went near; and finding they were Jews from Jerusalem, he asked them how matters went with their brethren in that city, and what was their state?” And the answer they gave him is, in substance, that recorded in the text; though with several aggravations in Josephus. - Joseph. Ant. lib. xi., c. 5.
This site's exposition
in the citadel of Susa
on Nehemiah 1:1-2
The book opens with Nehemiah "in the citadel of Susa," the Persian court. "Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah," and Nehemiah asks after two things, the remnant who survived the exile and Jerusalem. A man serving at court counts the exiles of Judah as his brothers.
This site's exposition
Hanani, one of my brothers
Josephus, as Clarke reports, has Nehemiah hear men from Judah speaking Hebrew in Susa and question them about the Jews in Jerusalem. Henry notes that a man high in the king's court still owned these men as his brothers. The same Hanani is later put in charge of Jerusalem (7:2).
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The dignity to which he was advanced. Though he was a great man, and probably rising higher, yet he did not think it below him to take cognizance of his brethren that were low and despised, nor was he ashamed to own his relation to them and concern for them.
That Hanani, one of my brethren,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hanani seems to have been an actual brother of Nehemiah Neh 7:2.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The words of Nehemiah, etc. Nehemiah wrote this book from here on.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And they said to me They answered my first question first and my latter question last; first, concerning the Jews and afterwards, concerning the wall and the gates.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹ֨א | vaiyavo' | and he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| חֲנָ֜נִי | chanani | Hanani | H2607 → | 11 times |
| אֶחָ֧ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| מֵאַחַ֛י | meachai | of brothers my | H251 → | 630 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וַאֲנָשִׁ֖ים | vaanashim | and people | H582 → | 566 times |
| מִֽיהוּדָ֑ה | mihudah | from Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וָאֶשְׁאָלֵ֞ם | vaeshalem | and I asked them | H7592 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | about | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַיְּהוּדִ֧ים | haiyehudim | the Jews | H3064 → | 75 times |
| הַפְּלֵיטָ֛ה | hapeleitah | the escaped remnant | H6413 → | |
| אֲשֶֽׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נִשְׁאֲר֥וּ | nisharu | they had survived | H7604 → | 133 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֖בִי | hashevi | the captivity | H7628 → | 49 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
וַיָּבֹ֨אand he came
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
חֲנָ֜נִיHanani
chananiH2607 →11 times
אֶחָ֧דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
מֵאַחַ֛יof brothers my
meachaiH251 →630 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
וַאֲנָשִׁ֖יםand people
vaanashimH582 →566 times
מִֽיהוּדָ֑הfrom Judah
mihudahH3063 →819 times
וָאֶשְׁאָלֵ֞םand I asked them
vaeshalemH7592 →
עַל־about
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַיְּהוּדִ֧יםthe Jews
haiyehudimH3064 →75 times
הַפְּלֵיטָ֛הthe escaped remnant
hapeleitahH6413 →
אֲשֶֽׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
נִשְׁאֲר֥וּthey had survived
nisharuH7604 →133 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַשֶּׁ֖בִיthe captivity
hasheviH7628 →49 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃Jerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 6:9Then in the nations to which they have been carried captive, your survivors will remember Me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts that turned away from Me, and by their eyes that…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:43
There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done.
- Isaiah 7:13
Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God as well?
- Job 42:6
Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
- Isaiah 43:24
You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver, nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.
- Psalms 78:40
How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!
- Ezekiel 20:43
Through
Ezra 9:14shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not become so angry with us as to wipe us out, leaving no remnant or survivor?
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:8
At Horeb you provoked the LORD, and He was angry enough to destroy you.
- Deuteronomy 9:14
Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
- Deuteronomy 9:8
Through
Nehemiah 7:2Then I put my brother Hanani in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah the commander of the fortress, because he was a faithful man who feared God more than most.
it leads to
- Psalms 101:6
My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me.
- Psalms 101:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
About Nehemiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.