Nehemiah 13

Foreigners Separated from Israel

1-3 After reading from “the book of Moses” that Ammonites and Moabites were never to be part of their assembly because of how they treated the Israelites, they “separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.” In Deuteronomy 23:3-6, this is stated as a law. This also seems to be evidence that Moses wrote Deuteronomy.

The Reforms of Nehemiah

4-5 Eliashib the priest, who managed the rooms in the temple, had designated for Tobiah, who was a relative, what was supposed to be the storage room for grain offerings, frankincense, vessels and grain, wine and oil tithes for the Levites. Tobiah opposed the repair of the walls of Jerusalem.

6-9 At the time, Nehemiah had gone to Persia to see King Artaxerxes (in his 32nd year). When he returned and discovered this misappropriation, he was very angry, and threw out Tobiah’s furniture, cleaned the room and brought back in the temple vessels, grain offering and frankincense.

10-13 Not having received the tithes to which they were entitled, the Levites had gone back to work in their fields, so Nehemiah brought back the tithes and the Levites, and appointed treasurers over the storehouse.

14 Another prayer, similar to the one in 5:19: “Remember me, O my God…and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for his service.”

Sabbath Reforms Begun

15-18 Nehemiah sees people treading wine presses, and selling and buying in the market on the Sabbath, so he chastises the nobles and reminds them that doing this was disastrous for their ancestors.

19-21 Nehemiah shuts the gates of the city when it begins to be dark the evening before Sabbath, and sets his servants to guard the gates. When the merchants and sellers began spending the night outside the Jerusalem walls, Nehemiah threatens them, and they quit.

22 He commands the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates, “to keep the sabbath day holy.” Then another prayer of Nehemiah: “Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.”

Mixed Marriages Condemned

23-24 Next, Nehemiah realizes that many Jews have married women of Ashdod, Ammon and Moab, and are so greatly influenced that half their children cannot speak the language of Judah, only “the language of Ashdod.” I have heard this phrase used to describe those who rely on sources other than the Bible for the way they speak and for what they believe.

25-27 Nehemiah confronts them, curses them, and beats some of them, pulling out their hair and forces them to take an oath that they will not give their sons and daughters to foreigners, citing Solomon’s ruin because of his foreign marriages. Apparently, Nehemiah doesn’t think mere persuasion or appealing to the law will change these people – much like the Sabbath buyers and sellers. If he has to use the authority and force of his office, he will.

28-29 Nehemiah chases away a grandson of the high priest Eliashib, the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite, praying “Remember them O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, the covenant of the priests and the Levites.” This reveals the political intrigue here: Eliashib, who was the high priest (!), was related to both Tobiah and by marriage to Sanballat, the two who had made so much trouble when the wall was being constructed.

Nehemiah 12

List of Priests and Levites

1-7 Priests who came with Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: 22 in number.

8-11 Levites, beginning with Jeshua, whose lineage is named and ending with Mattaniah who with his associates was in charge of thanksgiving. Also, Bakbukiah and Unno who stood opposite them. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown have this comment about what this means:

that is, according to some, their stations--the places where they stood when officiating--"ward over against ward" (Nehemiah 12:24); or, according to others, in alternate watches, in course of rotation.

And this comment on why Jeshua’s lineage is specific here, which I found interesting:

This enumeration was of great importance, not only as establishing their individual purity of descent, but because the chronology of the Jews was henceforth to be reckoned, not as formerly by the reigns of their kings, but by the successions of their high priests.

12-21 Heads of ancestral houses in the days of Jeshua’s son Joiakim. Named here are the sons of most of those named in verses 1-7, to show the successions of priests.

22-26 Mentions an existing list that names the ancestral heads in the days of Jeshua’s descendants down to the 6th generation, until the reign of Darius. Then it lists worship leaders and gatekeepers in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra.

Dedication of the City Wall

27-30 All the Levites are brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with singing, cymbals, harps and lyres. Priests and Levites purify themselves, the people, the gates, and the walls.

31-37 Nehemiah brings up leaders and divides them into two companies, one going to the right to the Dung Gate and beyond, some with trumpets, with Ezra in front of them.

38-43 The other company goes to the left, with Nehemiah bringing up the rear.

They offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the women and children also rejoiced. The joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

Reminds me of the day they laid the foundation of the temple, recorded in Ezra 3:12:

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of families, old people who had seen the first house on its foundations, wept with a loud voice when they saw this house, though many shouted aloud for joy,

Temple Responsibilities

44 Men appointed over stores, contributions, first fruits, and tithes, making sure the Levites received their portions, “for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered.” This verse touched me. It’s probably because I’m the wife of a preacher. You’d do what you do anyway, in God’s kingdom, but it’s so much easier when people appreciate it. And, as I think about it, is there any profession or service where this would not be true?

45-47 They performed services the way it was done in the days of David and Solomon. The Levites received their portion from which they in turn gave the “descendants of Aaron” (the priests) their portion. The Old Testament version of the Restoration Movement, restoring worship to the days of the original temples.

Nehemiah 11

Population of the City Increased

1-2 The leaders and rest cast lots to determine which tenth of the people would settle in Jerusalem. They were blessed by the other nine-tenths for being willing to do so.

3-6 Most of the people lived on their own properties in the towns of Judah, while Judahites (named descendants of Perez), 468 valiant warriors, lived in Jerusalem.

7-9 Benjamites who lived in Jerusalem, 928 total, overseen by Joel son of Zichri and Judah son of Hassanuah as second in charge.

10-14 The priests, named: Jedaiah and Seraiah and their associates, who did the work of the temple, 822 in number; Adaiah and his associates, heads of ancestral houses, 242 in number; Amashsai and his associates, valiant warriors, totaling 128; their overseer was Zabdiel.

15-18 Levites named, totaling 284: leaders Semaiah, Shabbethai and Jozabad, who were over the outside work of the temple; Mattaniah, who began the thanksgiving in prayer, with Bakbukiah, his associate; and Abda.

19 Gatekeepers, totaling 172: Akkub, Talmon and associates.

20-21 The rest of Israel, priests and Levites stayed in the towns they inherited. Temple servants, overseen by Ziha and Gishpa, lived in Ophel.

22-24 Uzzi, descendant of Asaph, oversaw the singers, Levites who maintained the interior of the temple. Singers received a daily provision, by order of the king. Pethahiah, descendant of Judah, was “at the king’s hand in all matters concerning the people.” He was the liaison between the Persian king and those living in Judah.

Villages outside Jerusalem

25-36 List of villages settled by the people of Judah, from Beersheba to the valley of Hinnom; then the people of Benjamin (including Obo, the valley of artisans). Some divisions of the Levites in Judah were joined to Benjamin. A special valley for artisans. For some reason, I find that intriguing. The Levites outside Jerusalem were distributed evenly among the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

Nehemiah 10

Those Who Signed the Document

1-27 Lists of those who signed the sealed document, beginning with Nehemiah the governor, then the priests, the Levites and their associates, and the leaders of the people.

Summary of the Covenant

28-31 All the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants and all “who have separated themselves from the peoples of the land” promise to follow the law given by Moses, to

• Not marry their sons or daughters to people of the land
• Not to buy from people of the land on the Sabbath
• Forego the crops and forgive debts every seven years

32-37 Promises of giving one-third of a shekel annually for the temple and celebrations; wood offerings; first fruits of their land, livestock, produce, and firstborn of their sons, according to the law, and tithes for the Levites. According to Numbers 18:15-16, they were to “redeem,” or make recompense for, the firstborn of an unclean animal or a firstborn son.

38-39 The priests and Levites shall store the tithes in the temple storehouse for the temple officials. “We will not neglect the house of our God.”

Nehemiah 9

National Confession

1-2 On the 24th day of the month, the Israelites, fasting and dressed in sackcloth, separate themselves from foreigners and confess their sins.

3-5 For the 4th part of the day (3 hours) they read the law, for another 4th, they confess and worship, then several men and Levites in turn stand on the stairs of the Levites and offer praise to God.

6-8 Ezra, in prayer, praises God as Creator and the One who called Abraham and made a covenant with him to give him the lands of the Canaanites, Hittites, etc.

9-15 Ezra recounts God’s hand in their escape from Egypt, the giving of the commandments, His care for them in the wilderness.

16-25 Even when the people rebelled, even after they made a golden calf to worship, God still did not desert them, but brought them to the land and subdued it.

26-31 Nevertheless, they still rebelled against God, killing his prophets. When they began to suffer for it, they would call on Him again, and He would hear them, patient for many years, until finally He turned them over to their enemies. Nevertheless, He still preserved their nation in captivity.

32-35 Ezra appeals for mercy, for God to consider their present hardships, to remember His faithfulness in times past even in Israel’s wickedness.

36-37 Now they are slaves in their own land, paying tribute to kings who have “power also over our bodies and over our livestock at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.” They were able to return to Jerusalem only by permission of a foreign king, not fully released in their obligations to Persian kings.

Making of a Covenant

38 They put an agreement in writing, signed by officials, Levites and priests.

Nehemiah 8

Ezra Summons the People to Obey the Law

1-5 In the 7th month, 1st day, the people gather in the square in front of the Water Gate, and Ezra the scribe, standing on a wooden platform, opens up the book of the law. As he opens it, all the people stand. I appreciate this show of respect for God’s word.

6-8 Ezra blesses the LORD, the people say “Amen, Amen” and worship, prostate on the ground. As the law is read, the Levites help them understand it. After reading three commentaries about this, I’m not sure how to picture this. [And how could anyone be sure? None of us were there.] The Levites either translated the law from Hebrew to Chaldean, or they explained it to them in practical terms. Also, they either took turns with Ezra reading and interpreting the law for the people, who had never heard it before, or stood among the crowd and explained the reading to the people around them.. In any case, this was not just a cursory reading of the law. Ezra and the Levites wanted to make sure the people understood it. It’s possible it was a combination of translation and interpretation. And it makes sense to me that the Levites led “small groups” to ensure that everyone in each group understood.

9-12 Because the people wept when they heard the law, Nehemiah the governor, Ezra (priest and scribe) and the Levites tell them not to weep, but to celebrate this holy day by eating and drinking sweet wine, and to share with those who had nothing prepared. “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” The people obey with great rejoicing “because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.” Several observations here: 1) The voice changes from Nehemiah’s first person narrative to third person. 2) “The joy of the LORD is your strength” are the words of a song we sing. I would have guessed it came from one of the psalms, not Nehemiah. Being able to picture the circumstances of these encouraging words gives it a deeper meaning. 3) Their joy came from understanding the mind and will of God.

Celebration of the Festival of Booths

13-15 On the 2nd day, ancestral heads come to Ezra to study the law and discover they should be celebrating the Festival of Booths, so they spread the word that people should go out and gather branches of leafy trees to make booths. Doing what they read!

16-17 The people construct tents of tree branches on their roofs, in their courts, in the temple court, and in the Water Gate and Gate of Ephraim squares and live in them, which had not been done since the days of Joshua.

18 They keep the festival seven days, Ezra reading from the law every day, with a solemn assembly on the eighth. It’s so refreshing so read the book of Nehemiah, because the people not only have a will to work; they have a will to learn and to worship. So different from their ancestors, who were defiant and willful, rebelling against God’s words brought by His prophets.

Nehemiah 7

The Wall Completed (Cont’d)

1-4 After completion of the wall, Nehemiah gives charge of Jerusalem to his brother Hanani and Hananiah, commander of the citadel. They are to appoint gatekeepers, who are to close and bar the gates at night, for the city is large, but inhabitants are few.

Lists of the Returned Exiles

5 “My God put it into my mind” to assemble nobles and officials and include their names in a book of genealogy he found. An almost-identical list is found in Ezra 2:1-70. In 8:1-14, Ezra lists the heads of families who came back with him.

6-7a They came out of Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, and others. Heritage and ancestry were very important in maintaining Jewish identity. A recent reading of Luke 3, the ancestry of Christ, led me back to Zerubbabel, one of those who led exiles back. If he hadn’t come back to Judah, how could the prophesies of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem come to pass? How could we have identified Christ’s lineage in the midst and mess of the intermarrying that would have taken place over the centuries in Babylon? Maybe that’s why, in Ezekiel’s prophesies of the return to Israel, he also includes Messianic prophecies.

7b-38 The Israelite people, counted by family heads

39-42 The priests, descendants of Jedaiah, Immer, Pashhur and Harim

43-45 The Levites, singers, and gatekeepers

46-60 The temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants

61-65 List of those who cannot prove their ancestral houses of descent. This includes priests, who are pronounced unclean until a priest with Urim and Thummin comes (first mentioned in Exodus 28:30 as part of Aaron’s “judgment breastplate” by which decisions were made).

66-69 Numbers totaled, plus livestock.

70-72 Acknowledgment of the contributions of heads of ancestral houses, governors and the rest of the people

73 “So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all Israel settled in their towns.” The rest of the verse, “When the seventh month came—the people of Israel being settled in their towns—…” is included in the NRSV with the next chapter. Other versions add it as a stand-alone sentence here.

Nehemiah 6

Intrigues of Enemies Foiled

1-4 When Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem hear the gaps in the wall are filled (except for the gates), they send four different messages to Nehemiah, asking him to meet with him, intending to hurt him, but he tells them he is too busy with the wall.

5-9 In a fifth message from Sanballat, he threatens to tell the king that Nehemiah is setting himself up to be king, but Nehemiah writes him that all that is his own invention. It is a ruse to frighten the workers and stop the work. “But now, O God, strengthen my hands.”

10-13 Shemaiah tells Nehemiah they should go hide in the temple and lock the doors for protection, for the enemies are coming that night to kill Nehemiah, but Nehemiah knows he had been sent by Tobiah and Sanballat to cause Nehemiah to sin. Gill says part of the sin was entering a part of the temple that he, as a priest, had no right to enter, plus the fact that in doing so he would be “distrusting the power and providence of God to protect him.” Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say in doing so he would have brought “discredit on the cause of God and religion by his unworthy cowardice in leaving the temple and city unprotected.”

14 “Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God….” Nehemiah calls on God to mete out the punishment that these men deserve.

The Wall Completed

15-16 After the wall is finished in 52 days, the nations around “fall greatly in their own esteem” because it is clear that God has helped accomplish this.

17-19 Tobiah corresponds frequently with Judean nobles, who support him because of his family connections. They speak of Tobiah’s good deeds in Nehemiah’s presence. Tobiah also sends letters to Nehemiah to intimidate him. Is there any other book in which we get such insight into the author's mind? We hear his prayers; we understand Tobiah’s struggle for political power from Nehemiah’s prospective.

Nehemiah 5

Nehemiah Deals with Oppression

1-5 Jewish officials are oppressing their own brethren, some of whom don’t have enough to eat. Others are having to use their houses as collateral in order to get grain, others have to borrow money to pay taxes, forcing their children into slavery.

6-9 Nehemiah charges the nobles and the officials of taking interest from the people, selling them to slavery, just as other nations had done to them, subjecting Israel to “taunts” from their enemies. Verse 7 begins, “After thinking it over….” Nehemiah was not only a man of faith and prayer, but a man of wisdom. He was very angry, but didn’t immediately react in anger.

10-11 Nehemiah, his brothers and servants were having to loan money and grain to the needy. The charging of interest must stop, and the officials must restore all their property and interest they had received. Taking interest is in direct violation to Exodus 22:25:

If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them.

12-13 The people agreed. Nehemiah took an oath from the priests that they would do this, shaking out his garment as warning that whoever did not fulfill the promise would be shaken from his property. “And all the assembly said, ‘Amen,’ and praised the LORD.” They were ready to do what was right; it appealed to them.

The Generosity of Nehemiah

14-15 As long as he is governor – 12 years – Nehemiah nor his brothers take a food allowance, unlike previous governors (and their servants) who had burdened the people so they could live well. “I did not do so, because of the fear of God.”

16-18 Instead, he works on the wall, feeding 150 people every day, including Jews and officials and foreign visitors.

19 “Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.” This may not seem the humblest of statements, but it shows his accountability to God, as stated in verse 15. Gill’s comment on this:

He expected not any recompense from the people, but from the Lord; and from him not in a way of merit, but of grace and good will, who forgets not what is done for his name's sake, (Hebrews 6:10) .

Nehemiah 4

Hostile Plots Thwarted

1-2 Insults from Sanballat, who is enraged at the building: They are feeble, they’ll never finish it, they’ll never sacrifice.

3-5 Insults from Tobiah the Ammonite: A fox would break down the wall, they despise us, they taunt us, they are sinning. Typical attack from an unrighteous man: The righteous are weak and destructive. Reminds me of accusations against believers today. To paraphrase: “Religion will be the ruin of our nation.” Yes, “religion” might, but those who adhere to the teachings of Christ will build up any nation in which they reside.

6 Nehemiah: “So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was jointed together to half its height; for the people had a mind to work.”

7-9 When the opponents hear the breach is closed, they plot to fight against Jerusalem and cause confusion, so Nehemiah and his co-workers pray and set a guard – relying on both God and their own strength.

10-14 Reports of threats come from the enemies’ neighbors, so Nehemiah stations members of each family, with their weapons, at the lowest parts of the wall, reminding them of their “awesome God.”

15-20 With the enemies robbed of their sneak attack, the crew continues the work, with half guarding and half building, the burden bearers (removing the rubble) carrying weapons, and a trumpeter to sound an alarm for help if there is trouble anywhere along the wall.

21-23 They work and guard from “break of dawn until the stars came out,” staying inside the walls as a precaution all night. No one ever takes off his clothes, but always have a weapon in his right hand. This may explain why they hadn’t done this before. It was not just the work; it was the danger. People might work without passion, but they will seldom face dangers without it. Nehemiah had provided the passion and trust that God would see them through it.

Nehemiah 3

Organization of the Work

1-32 Starting the the Sheep Gate, they organized and divided the work along the wall. Some worked on the parts of the wall that were opposite their houses. According to John Gill, some may not have done the work themselves, but employed others to do it for them.

• Eliashib and his fellow priests
• Men of Jericho
• Zaccur son of Imri
• Sons of Hassenaah – the Fish Gate
• Meremoth son of Uriah son of Hakkoz
• *Meshullan son of Berechiah son of Meshezabel
• Zadok son of Baana
• The Tekoites, except the nobles, who refused to work
• Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah
• Men of Gibeon and Mizpah
• Uzziel, a goldsmith
• Hananiah, a perfumer
• Rephaiah son of Hur, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem
• Jedaiah son of Harumaph and Hattush son of Hashabneiah
• *Malchijah and *Hasshub
• Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, with his daughters
• Hanun and inhabitants of Zanoah
• *Malchijah son of Rechab, ruler of the Beth-haccherem district
• Shallum son of Col-hozeh, ruler of Mizpah district
• Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of half the district of Beth-zur
• Levites [not individually named. Maybe there were too many of them?]
• Rehum son of Bani
• Hashabiah, ruler of half the Keilah district
• Hashabiah’s kin: *Binnui son of Henadad, ruler of half the Keilah district
• Ezer son of Jeshua, ruler of Mizpah
• Baruch son of Zabbai
• Meremoth son of Uriah
• Priests, men of surrounding area
• Benjamin and *Hasshub
• Azariah son of Maaseiah
• *Binnui son of Henadad
• Palal son of Uzai
• Pedaiah son of Parosh and temple servants living on Ophel
• *Tekoites
• Priests, opposite their houses
• Zadok son of Immer
• Shemaiah son of Shecaniah, keeper of the East Gate
• Hananiah son of Shelemiah and Hanun son of Zalaph
• *Meshullan son of Berechiah, opposite his house
• Malchijah, a goldsmith
• Goldsmiths and merchants

*Those listed twice.

It was helpful for me to copy the names of the workers. In taking time to do this, I noticed that many of the workers were leaders in their districts, some were women (daughters of Shallum, ruler of the Jerusalem district), some were too “noble” to work (Tekoite nobles), and some worked in two places along the wall.

It is also notable that so many were willing to work on this, once they had someone to organize them. They could have done it before. But they needed the leadership of Nehemiah, a confident man of faith and prayer.

Nehemiah 2

Nehemiah Sent to Judah

1-4 In the same year, month of Nisan, Nehemiah serves the king, appearing sad for the first time. The king asks about his sadness, and Nehemiah explains his sadness over the state of the “place of my ancestors’ graves.”

5-8 When the king asks him what he wants, Nehemiah first prays then asks the king to send him back to Judah for a certain period of time, for letters of introduction to the governors along the way so he would have safe passage, and timber from the king’s forest so he can build himself a house when he gets there. The king grants it all. Nehemiah had such trust in the king’s opinion of him – and in God’s favor – that he goes beyond just asking for some “personal” time away from his job. He asks the king for help on the way.

9-10 Nehemiah, accompanied by the king’s army officers and cavalry, gives the letters to the governors. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official hear about it, they are displeased that someone is going to help Judah. Horonaim is a city of Moab, so Sanballat was probably a Moabite. According to Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, the term used for Tobiah as an “official” indicates a freed slave who has risen to a position of dignity. The men are magistrates under the government of Syria. The Moabites and Ammonites have a long history of conflict with Israel.

Nehemiah’s Inspection of the Walls

11-16 After three days in Jerusalem, Nehemiah goes out secretly in the night to inspect the walls, not telling any of the officials nor those who would be doing the work. In verse 12, Nehemiah mentions that God has put this “on his heart.” I confess that when I hear people use this term today, it seems presumptuous, as if they’re claiming a direct revelation. It is clearly an answer to Nehemiah’s prayer; he is doing this not only because he wants it done, but because it is God’s will that it be done. Maybe the “on my heart” phrase indicates the passion he has for the task ahead.

Decision to Restore the Walls

17-18 Nehemiah tells the officials, “See the trouble we are in….” Both God and the king have been with him in this effort. They agree. “Let us start building!” Nehemiah doesn’t judge or criticize; he very wisely says “We’re in trouble.”

19-20 Sanballate and Tobiah, with Geshem the Arab, mock them and accuse them of rebellion. Nehemiah replies that God will give them success, and, in essence, it is none of their business.

Nehemiah 1

Nehemiah Prays for His People

1-3 Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah, who is in the Persian capital of Susa in the 20th year [of the reign of Artaxerxes], receives a visit from his brother Hanani, who tells him that the exiles in Jerusalem live in shame, with no city walls nor gates. This is estimated to be in 445 B.C. Artaxerxes the son of Xerxes, AKA Ahasuerus, Esther’s husband, reigned from 465-424 B.C.

4-11 Nehemiah sits and weeps at this news, mourning, weeping and fasting for days, confessing his and his family’s sins to God, citing God’s promise to restore his people’s heritage if they repent, asking God that the king will be merciful to him, for he was the king’s cupbearer. Nehemiah’s position as trusted cupbearer not only gave him influence but frequent access to the king. According to The Woman's Study Bible, this is one of ten prayers of Nehemiah in the book.

Introduction to Nehemiah

The Book of Nehemiah is a continuation of the history recorded in the Book of Ezra. Nehemiah grew up in Persia among the Jews who had been exiles in Babylon before Cyrus restored their freedom. Nehemiah had the honored position of cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, known as Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther. His position was one of great trust and responsibility (I Kings 10:5; II Chronicles 9:4).

Nehemiah was heartbroken when he received a report of the spiritual and physical poverty that existed in Jerusalem. Upon learning of Nehemiah's great concern, the Persian king appointed him governor of Judah and gave him the authority to return to his homeland and rebuild the walls (Nehemiah 2:5-7; 5:14). This was about 100 years after Zerubbabel arrived in Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:5) and about 14 years after Ezra had gone to Jerusalem to restore the Temple worship (7:6). After much opposition, the work ceased. Darius issued the second decree to rebuild the Temple in 519 B.C. In 458, Ezra dedicated the Temple (6:6).

The walls had remained in ruins since Nebuchadnezzar had completely destroyed Jerusalem about 140 years before (II Kings 25:8-11). The Jewish remnant had no protection against surrounding nations, which could easily come in and rob them of their harvests and possessions. In 444 B.C. Artaxerxes issued the third decree permitting Nehemiah to rebuild the wall. Restoring the broken-down walls which had once protected Jerusalem from its enemies was Nehemiah's first major project.

From BiblePathway.com