Another Bible Commentary: Nehemiah

Nehemiah, rebuilder of the walls of Jerusalem, had been next to power like Joseph, Daniel, Mordecai, etc. A small fraction of those deported returned to Judah. Most preferred to stay where they had ended up. Nehemiah left a position of wealth and prestige to identify with his people in Jerusalem. He did most of his work by praying. He worked to restore what was broken. In these ways, he reminds me of Jesus.

1:1 This is about 10 years after the divorces at the end of the Book of Ezra.

1:8-9 like Deuteronomy 30.

1:11 “cupbearer to the king” was a high rank in Persia. In addition to preventing assassinations, he was a trusted close associate similar to a consigliere.

2:1-2 Sadness was not allowed in royal customer service.

2:3,5 “the city” Notice Nehemiah didn’t name it (Ezra 4:12, Ezra 4:15) or even mention the region until he got approval.

2:5 The king understood the obligation to care for the graves of dead ancestors. Ancient people thought the quality of an afterlife depended upon proper burial and care by living descendants.

2:8 May His hand help you, too.

2:13 “Valley Gate” to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, aka Gehenna.

2:19 Fortifications were seen as preparation for revolt (Ezra 4:12-16).

3:3 “rebuilt by” could mean directly or that they paid/led crews. This line of thinking continues throughout the Book of Nehemiah.

3:13 see Nehemiah 2:13 note.

3:15 the site of John 9:7.

3:16 is a different Nehemiah.

4:4-5 At least they prayed instead of retaliating. Jesus and Stephen prayed that God would forgive their enemies (Luke 23:34, Acts 7:60).

4:9 They prayed and posted a guard. Sometimes taking practical measures is a lack of faith, and other times failing to take practical measures is testing God (Deuteronomy 6:16, Matthew 4:7). Listen to the new heart God put in you, Believer. This principle is illustrated by a very old joke you may have heard in a sermon before:

A storm caused a flood in a small town. As the waters rose, the local preacher knelt in prayer on the church porch, surrounded by water. One of the townsfolk came up the street in a canoe. "Better get in, Preacher,” he said, adding "The waters are rising fast." "No," said the preacher. "I have faith in the Lord. He will save me." Still the waters rose. The preacher was up on the balcony, wringing his hands in supplication, when a man arrived in a motorboat. "Come on, Preacher. We need to get you out of here. The levee's gonna break any minute." Once again, the preacher was unmoved. "I shall remain. The Lord will see me through." After a while, the levee broke. Only the steeple remained above water. The preacher was up there, clinging to the cross, when a helicopter descended from the clouds, and a state trooper called down to him through a megaphone: "Grab the ladder, Preacher. This is your last chance." Once again, the preacher insisted that the Lord would deliver him. He drowned. In Heaven, he asked the Almighty, "Lord, I had unwavering faith in you. Why didn't you deliver me from that flood?" God replied, "What else did you want from Me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter."

4:14 You can trust God and still might have to drop someone if it comes down to it. We’ll cover that in more detail when we get to the Sermon on the Mount.

4:23 Translators’ notes say the meaning of this phrase is uncertain. I suggest it may mean bathing (in this case, applying a wet rag to certain strategic areas), since other options can be performed more easily while clothed.

5:7 See Deuteronomy 23:19.

5:14-18 Even in these trying circumstances, Nehemiah didn’t forget to party. His own estate, being a close associate of the ruler of the Persian Empire, was sufficient for his own needs and even the needs of others without resorting to taxation. The “earlier governors” were the Persian officials from Nehemiah 2:9-10.

6:3 “I’m so busy working I can’t stop the work long enough to let you stop the work.”

6:10 That’s unlawful for laymen; that’s a setup.

6:13 “discredit me” like 1 Corinthians 9:27.

6:14 “remember” Jesus and Stephen prayed the opposite (Luke 23:34, Acts 7:60).

8:1 There is a shift to third person narration (Nehemiah 13:6). Nehemiah is away on business.

8:2 October 8th, 445 BC.

8:9 The Law kills. Only deluded audience members would feel fine hearing Professor Perfect’s 613 rules. See Deuteronomy 12:12 and Deuteronomy 16:11. Religious gatherings like feast days were mandatory fun. “Smile, dangit! I’m warning you!”

8:10 “sweet drinks” Wine mixed with honey. The Romans called it “mulsum” and used it both to party and for medicinal purposes (1 Timothy 5:23).

8:15 See Leviticus 23:40 and its note. Heaven is home, not this world. The exiles who had returned got a new layer of meaning to associate with temporarily living elsewhere.

8:17 “like this” with joy.

9:1-2 October 31st, 445 BC. Measures like this seem spiritual, but don’t forget Hebrews 9:22. God doesn’t deal in “sorry”, but in blood, which Christ paid for us. Instead, have a happy Reformation Day and enjoy the plethora of candy available the day before All Saints Day despite pagan associations (unless your conscience bothers you). We’ll cover why that’s totally fine when we get to Paul’s letters to the Romans and to the Corinthians.

9:17 in Numbers 14:4.

9:33 He’s always good and humans are consistently, predictably, even reliably bad. The Old Covenant illustrates this. Under the New Covenant, we can see better that even though we can be counted on to fail frequently, He’s even better at being good to us (Romans 5:20, 2 Timothy 2:13).

9:36 They had been cast out like the Canaanites, and as of this verse it was like they were in Egypt again. It would only be a few hundred years until they got a chance to metaphorically walk in the Garden with Jesus.

Stories walk out to a point and then walk back, like going to the kitchen to fetch a soda. That structure is called a chiasm. There are lists of them (some of them more of a stretch than others) out there if you’re interested. Sometimes, the central point is special: the “point” of the story. Be careful of going too deep with it. For example, have you ever attended a show in another city? You traveled there, you saw the show, you traveled back home, and the center of the chiasm was the show. However, if the show had an intermission, you watched half of a show, you went to the restroom, and you finished the show. If the point of your story is going to the bathroom in a different place, maybe look at the bigger picture.

10:29 “curse” and “all” See Deuteronomy 27:26 and Galatians 3:10.

10:30-39 is comparable to the “Second Decalogue” of Exodus 34:10-27. They swore to marriage and ritual concerns like tithing; notice the lack of ethical concerns. No wonder Jesus had to re-teach the meaning of things like the Ten Commandments, Leviticus 19, divorce, etc.

10:32 The half-shekel census from Exodus 30:11-16 wasn’t an annual occurrence. Joash’s good intentions in 2 Chronicles 24:4-9 led to behavior similar to well-meaning pastors since the 19th Century trying to convince Christians that they are somehow still required to give the Old Covenant tithe. Other well-meaning “homebrew” rules you may see out there are things like “accountability groups”, etc.

10:38 See Numbers 18:26. This may be the focus of Malachi 3:10.

12:16 Yes, from the Book of Zechariah.

12:22 between about 423 and 404 BC.

12:36 Ezra was an old man by this point.

12:38 “Tower of the Ovens” was perhaps a public space for baking.

12:45-46 as recorded in Psalms.

13:1,4 Tobiah was an Ammonite (Nehemiah 2:10, Deuteronomy 23:3-6).

13:6 First-person narration is back, with an explanation that Nehemiah had been away.

13:7 Nehemiah’s trip and return to clean house mirrors the exile and return of the Judahites as well as the return of Christ.

13:15 See Nehemiah 10:29,31.

13:18 See Ezekiel 20:18-26.

13:19-22 Deuteronomy 5:14 says posting these guards was just as bad for the guards and Nehemiah as the attempted commerce.

13:23 See Nehemiah 10:29-30. Ashdod was a Philistine city (1 Samuel 5).

13:24 Hence, they spoke Phoenician (including the A-Z alphabet we use for English) or Aramaic rather than Hebrew.

13:25 See Deuteronomy 7:3 and Malachi 2:11. At least Nehemiah’s response was less extreme than Ezra’s approximately thirty years ago in Ezra 10.

13:28 See Nehemiah 2:10.

13:31 Is writing a publicly read memoir of your good deeds a great idea since God sees in secret and dislikes showboats (Matthew 6:1-4)?

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