Nehemiah
presents itself as a firsthand account by the titular character of his calling
and work to rebuild Jerusalem.
Some think some or all of Nehemiah may have been written by Ezra, who is attributed
authorship of I
Chronicles, II
Chronicles and Ezra. Though divided into four books in Christian
editions of the Old Testament,
Jewish
traditions present these as one or two books.
Nehemiah was cupbearer to Persian king Artaxerxes.
This must have been a high and trusted position. He was deemed trustworthy
enough to serve the king food and set in on the intimate dealings of the king’s
court. He was also considered competent to be governor of a province of the
vast Persian Empire.
Around the middle of Artaxerxes’ reign, Nehemiah was moved by news of
the conditions of Jerusalem and his Jewish brethren there. Though Jewish people
were being permitted to return to their ancestral homeland, the fortifications
of Jerusalem had not been rebuilt and they were subject to the harassment of
surrounding nations. Artaxerxes responded favorably to Nehemiah’s request to do
something about the problem, and appointed him governor.
Nehemiah was a shrewd governor. He had to lead Jewish people who were
disorganized and disheartened after decades of captivity in foreign lands. He
had to manage the clash in cultures between the descendants of those who had
been left in the land and those who were returning after being raised in alien
cultures. He oversaw a renaissance of Jewish culture and religion with
the aid of the priest Ezra and the rediscovery of scriptures in the remains of
Solomon’s temple. He fended off jealous neighbors, some of them Persian
governors who must have had some clout in Artaxerxes’ court. He also retained
the favor of his king, who repeatedly reasserted his desire to rebuild
Jerusalem, and his command that the governors of the region provide material
support for that purpose.
The book suggests that Nehemiah’s success as a political
leader
was due to his moral
leadership.
He desired to set an example for the people. He also expected other leaders to
do the same. This led to a moral renewal of the populace. This fits the model
in I & II Chronicles, in which the uprightness or degeneracy of the king
lead to the same in the people.
This also suggests another point: God is behind it
all. God stirred Nehemiah’s heart, and Artaxerxes’, to help a people chastened
by the exile to turn their hearts back to the God who called them to be His
people.
Books of the Bible that are
closely related to Nehemiah are
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