Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NEHEMIAH

(Heb. nĕḥemyâ),

BOOK OF

The second part of Ezra-Nehemiah recording the events of Nehemiah’s governorship. In English versions it is a separate book.

Name and Canonical Setting

That Ezra-Nehemiah was originally a single work called Ezra is indicated by the earliest manuscripts of the LXX (Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus) that treat the two books as one, calling them Esdras B, and the Masoretic annotations that deal with both books but occur only at the end of Nehemiah. The division into two books first appears with Origen (3rd century c.e.) and Jerome’s Vulgate (4th century), which refers to Nehemiah as liber secundus Esdrae. In Hebrew Bibles there is no separation before 1448 c.e. While the Hebrew canon assigns Nehemiah to its third division, the Writings, and places it after Ezra but before Chronicles, the Alexandrian Greek canon, which forms the basis for our modern English sequence, places Nehemiah among the historical books following Chronicles. Frequently, the apocryphal book 1 Esdras appears between Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah.

Authorship

Vigorous debate concerning the authorship of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah continues to rage. The older consensus position that all three were the work of “the Chronicler” was based upon four arguments: 1) the repetition of the first verses of Ezra at the end of 2 Chronicles; 2) the evidence of 1 Esdras, which begins with 2 Chr. 35–36 and continues through Ezra including Neh. 7:73(MT 72)–8:13a; 3) linguistic similarity; and 4) similarity of theological conception. Recently, a growing number of scholars have been convinced that while the first three arguments are inconclusive on the matter of authorship, research on the fourth has yielded at least four areas of differing theological conception: 1) the emphasis upon David and the Davidic covenant, so prominent in Chronicles, is lacking in Ezra-Nehemiah; 2) the exodus traditions, so prominent in Ezra-Nehemiah, are virtually ignored in Chronicles; 3) Ezra-Nehemiah’s negative stance against marriages with foreigners is difficult to explain in light of the tolerant attitude expressed towards Solomon’s mixed marriages in 2 Chronicles; and 4) Chronicles’ pervasive use of immediate retribution as a theological lodestone is absent in Ezra-Nehemiah.

Date and Place of Composition

Widely varying dates have been proposed for the final form of Ezra-Nehemiah, due in large measure to the variety of positions held regarding the extent, authorship, and compositional theory of this material, as well as conflicting chronologies reconstructed from Josephus. Recent scholarly opinion seems to favor a date of ca. 400 b.c.e. The first quarter of the 4th century has also been suggested to account for the occurrence of “Johanan,” the last-mentioned high priest, who held office until 410, and “Darius the Persian” (Darius II, 425-405) in Neh. 12:22. While the dating of these books remains an open question, there is a strong consensus that Jerusalem, or at least Palestine, is the place of composition.

Sources

The frequent switch between 1st person and 3rd person speech is but one indication that a variety of sources have been utilized in the composition of Nehemiah. Chief among these is the so-called Nehemiah Memoir, a 1st person, autobiographical narrative that presents Nehemiah’s own interpretation of the early events of his career. There is widespread scholarly agreement that the Memoir consists of Neh. 1–7; parts of 12:27-43; and 13:4-31, with the understanding that the lists contained in ch. 3 (a list of those involved in building the wall) and 7:5b-73a(72a) (a list of those returning from exile virtually identical with Ezra 2), while originally compiled by others, were included by Nehemiah in the Memoir. More controversial is the material contained in Neh. 5 (esp. vv. 14-19) which interrupts the flow of the wall-building narrative that is the Memoir’s primary concern and seems to come from a later period; 11:1-2, which reports the completion of Nehemiah’s plan to repopulate Jerusalem initiated in ch. 7; and 12:31-43, which describes the joyous dedication of the wall.

Extensive debate concerning the genre of the Nehemiah Memoir continues in the scholarly literature. Royal inscriptions, votive inscriptions (cf. the repeated requests that Nehemiah be “remembered”: 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29, 31), Egyptian tomb inscriptions, Solomon’s poems, prayers of the unjustly accused, and justifications of one’s activities before the king have all been suggested as possible parallels, though none of these suggestions has gained widespread support. Even the title “Memoir” has been challenged on the grounds that it assumes Nehemiah is the author of the work and that it is essentially an autobiographical piece. The lack of agreement regarding the form of the passage, however, should not deceive us into thinking it is without structure. On the contrary, the first section of the Memoir (1:1–7:3) is carefully arranged, falling into an extensive concentric agreement punctuated by seven similarly introduced episodes of opposition:

The History of Nehemiah (1:1–7:3)

A Hanani’s report, Nehemiah to rebuild
Jerusalem (1:1–2:8)

B Letters to governors vouch for
Nehemiah (2:9)

C Opposition (2:10)

D Inspection by night, reproach of
Jerusalem (2:11-18)

E Opposition, Geshem charges
sedition (2:19-20)

F Wall building (3:1-32)

G Opposition (4:1[3:33])

H Ridicule (4:2-3[3:34-35])

I Prayer (4:4-5[3:36-37])

J Wall “joined” to half its height (4:6[3:38])

J&x#02B9; Opposition “joined together” (4:7-8[1-2])

I&x#02B9; Prayer (4:9[3])

H&x#02B9; Ridicule’s effect (4:10-14[4-8])

G&x#02B9; Opposition (4:15[9])

F&x#02B9; Wall building with defense (4:16-23[10-17])
[Problems of Nehemiah’s second period (5:1-19)]

E&x#02B9; Opposition, Geshem charges
sedition (6:1-9)

D&x#02B9; Nehemiah: threats by night, reproach
(6:10-14)

C&x#02B9; Opposition (6:15-16)

B&x#02B9; Letters to Tobiah defame
Nehemiah (6:17-19)

A&x#02B9; Hanani placed in charge of rebuilt
Jerusalem (7:1-3)

Other sources, probably documents from the temple archives and related to Neh. 3:1-32; 7:6-73(72); 11:1-2; 12:31-43, have also been detected in various passages: 1) Neh. 9:38; 10:28-39(10:1, 29-40), the people’s resolution to abide by the stipulations of God’s law; 2) 10:1-27(2-28), the list of those who signed the previous resolution; 3) 11:4b-20, the residents of Jerusalem; and 4) 13:1-3, a description of the people’s banishment of all those of mixed descent from Israel. Two lists, 11:21-36 (listing the residents of Benjamin and Judah), and 12:1-26 (listing priests and Levites from several different periods) are best seen as much later additions to the book. It is unclear whether the 3rd person portions of the so-called Ezra Memoir (cf. Ezra 7:1–9:15) that appear in Neh. 8; 9:1-5 derive from the final redactor or some other source.

The Order of the Reformers

The traditional view holds that Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in 458, in the “seventh year of King Artaxerxes” (Ezra 7:7) and that Nehemiah followed him in 445, in the “20th year” of Artaxerxes (Neh. 1:1; 2:1; 5:14). Several anomalies arise from this reading of the material, however. Chief among them are the troubling gap of 13 years between Ezra’s arrival and his reading of the Law in Neh. 8:1-8 and Nehemiah’s apparent ignorance of Ezra’s work. Confusion increases with the realization that there were three Persian kings named Artaxerxes: I, Longimanus (465-424); II, Mnemon (404-359); and III, Ochus (359-338).

As early as 1890 Albin van Hoonacker suggested that Ezra’s Artaxerxes was Artaxerxes II. By assigning the “seventh year of Artaxerxes” to Artaxerxes II he arrived at a date of 398 for Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem. This resulted in the reversal of the order of the reformers, a denial that they were contemporaries, and the deletion of those verses that speak of both reformers together (Neh. 8:9; 12:26, 36).

An intermediate position associated with John Bright and Wilhelm Rudolph seeks to preserve the contemporaneity of the reformers by placing Ezra after Nehemiah in the reign of Artaxerxes I. This is accomplished by emending the text of Ezra 7:7 from the “seventh year of Artaxerxes” to the “27th/37th year of Artaxerxes (I).” On this reading, Ezra would have arrived in Jerusalem after Nehemiah in either 438 or 428. Richard J. Saley’s tentative suggestion that we place Nehemiah in the reign of Artaxerxes II has not enjoyed much support.

Virtually all agree that Nehemiah came to Jerusalem under the auspices of Artaxerxes I. Among the late 5th-century Aramaic papyri discovered at Elephantine is a letter to the governor of Judah complaining that Johanan the high priest in Jerusalem has ignored the request for help in temple rebuilding. This must be the Johanan mentioned in Neh. 12:22. Sanballat, the governor of Samaria and Nehemiah’s primary nemesis (cf. 2:9-10), is also mentioned in conjunction with his sons, who appear to be governing in his stead. If Sanballat is governor in name only in 407, this serves as a confirmation of Nehemiah’s description of his old enemy in his prime (445), during the reign of Artaxerxes I. It is unlikely that agreement will be reached about Ezra’s dates without further discoveries.

Nehemiah, the Person

Nehemiah (Heb. “Yahweh comforts”) was a governor of Judah during the Persian period (mid-5th century), best known for overseeing the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. What we know of Nehemiah’s activities comes from the 1st person Nehemiah Memoir, which forms the basic source for the book of Nehemiah. Prior to his governorship, Nehemiah was a high ranking official in the court of Artaxerxes I (465-424). When Nehemiah heard of the ruinous state of Jerusalem’s defenses and the deplorable conditions suffered by his fellow Jews in Palestine at the hands of their neighbors, he was moved to petition his God and then his king for help (Neh. 1–2). This resulted in credentials, monetary support, and a 12-year political appointment as governor (445-433).

Nehemiah’s major achievement is the refortification of Jerusalem despite the threats, intrigues, and plots of the surrounding governors: Sanballat of Samaria, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab, who unjustly accused him of sedition (chs. 2, 4, 6). Josephus reports that the reconstruction took almost two years and four months (Ant. 11.5.8), though the text of Nehemiah claims the project was completed in a remarkable 52 days (6:15).

Nehemiah was also responsible for a series of social and religious reforms. Poor harvests and the usurious practices of the upper classes at the expense of the less fortunate led to serious economic difficulties among the community during his tenure as governor, including the enslavement of children (5:1-5). Nehemiah’s capable leadership and unselfish example led to the restoration of decency (5:6-16). The resettlement of a representative tithe of the outlying population solved the defensive problem of an underpopulated Jerusalem and illustrates the administrative ingenuity of the reformer (7:4-5; 11:1-2), while the joyous dedication of the walls indicates that the governor was keenly aware of the importance of morale (12:27-43). Following a brief absence, Nehemiah carried out a series of reforms having to do with the misuse of the temple (13:4-9), financial support of the Levites (vv. 10-14), observance of the sabbath regulations (vv. 15-22), and the dissolution of mixed marriages (vv. 23-27).

Bibliography. J. Blenkinsopp, Ezra-Nehemiah. OTL (Philadelphia, 1988); T. C. Eskenazi, In an Age of Prose: A Literary Approach to Ezra-Nehemiah. SBLMS 36 (Atlanta, 1988); K. G. Hoglund, Achaemenid Imperial Administration in Syria-Palestine and the Missions of Ezra and Nehemiah. SBLDS 125 (Atlanta, 1992); M. A. Throntveit, Ezra-Nehemiah. Interpretation (Louisville, 1992); H. G. M. Williamson, Ezra, Nehemiah. WBC (Waco, 1985).

Mark A. Throntveit

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NEHEMIAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)