nehemiah Summary and Overview

comforted by Jehovah. (1.) Ezra 2:2; Neh. 7:7. (2.) Neh. 3:16. (3.) The son of Hachaliah (Neh. 1:1), and probably of the tribe of Judah. His family must have belonged to Jerusalem (Neh. 2:3). He was one of the "Jews of the dispersion," and in his youth was appointed to the important office of royal cup-bearer at the palace of Shushan. The king, Artaxerxes Longimanus, seems to have been on terms of friendly familiarity with his attendant. Through his brother Hanani, and perhaps from other sources (Neh. 1:2; 2:3), he heard of the mournful and desolate condition of the Holy City, and was filled with sadness of heart. For many days he fasted and mourned and prayed for the place of his fathers' sepulchres. At length the king observed his sadness of countenance and asked the reason of it. Nehemiah explained it all to the king, and obtained his permission to go up to Jerusalem and there to act as "tirshatha", or governor of Judea. He went up in the spring of B.C. 446 (eleven years after Ezra), with a strong escort supplied by the king, and with letters to all the pashas of the provinces through which he had to pass, as also to Asaph, keeper of the royal forests, directing him to assist Nehemiah. On his arrival he set himself to survey the city, and to form a plan for its restoration; a plan which he carried out with great skill and energy, so that the whole was completed in about six months. He remained in Judea for thirteen years as governor, carrying out many reforms, notwithstanding much opposition that he encountered (Neh. 13:11). He built up the state on the old lines, "supplementing and completing the work of Ezra," and making all arrangements for the safety and good government of the city. At the close of this important period of his public life, he returned to Persia to the service of his royal master at Shushan or Ecbatana. Very soon after this the old corrupt state of things returned, showing the worthlessness to a large extent of the professions that had been made at the feast of the dedication of the walls of the city (Neh. 12. See EZRA T0001294). Malachi now appeared among the people with words of stern reproof and solemn warning; and Nehemiah again returned from Persia (after an absence of some two years), and was grieved to see the widespread moral degeneracy that had taken place during his absence. He set himself with vigour to rectify the flagrant abuses that had sprung up, and restored the orderly administration of public worship and the outward observance of the law of Moses. Of his subsequent history we know nothing. Probably he remained at his post as governor till his death (about B.C. 413) in a good old age. The place of his death and burial is, however, unknown. "He resembled Ezra in his fiery zeal, in his active spirit of enterprise, and in the piety of his life: but he was of a bluffer and a fiercer mood; he had less patience with transgressors; he was a man of action rather than a man of thought, and more inclined to use force than persuasion. His practical sagacity and high courage were very markedly shown in the arrangement with which he carried through the rebuilding of the wall and balked the cunning plans of the 'adversaries.' The piety of his heart, his deeply religious spirit and constant sense of communion with and absolute dependence upon God, are strikingly exhibited, first in the long prayer recorded in ch. 1:5-11, and secondly and most remarkably in what have been called his 'interjectional prayers', those short but moving addresses to Almighty God which occur so frequently in his writings, the instinctive outpouring of a heart deeply moved, but ever resting itself upon God, and looking to God alone for aid in trouble, for the frustration of evil designs, and for final reward and acceptance" (Rawlinson). Nehemiah was the last of the governors sent from the Persian court. Judea after this was annexed to the satrapy of Coele-Syria, and was governed by the high priest under the jurisdiction of the governor of Syria, and the internal government of the country became more and more a hierarchy.

(consolation of the Lord). 1. Son of Hachaliah, and apparently of the tribe of Judah. All that we know certainly concerning him is contained in the book which bears his name. We first find him at Shushan, the winter residence of the kings of Persia, in high office as the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes Longimanus. In the twentieth year of the king's reign, i.e. B.C. 445, certain Jews arrived from Judea, and gave Nehemiah a deplorable account of the state of Jerusalem. He immediately conceived the idea of going to Jerusalem to endeavor to better their state, and obtained the king's consent to his mission. Having received his appointment as governor of Judea, he started upon his journey, being under promise to return to Persia within a given time. Nehemiah's great work was rebuilding, for the first time since their destruction by Nebuzar-adan, the walls of Jerusalem, and restoring that city to its former state and dignity as a fortified town. To this great object therefore Nehemiah directed his whole energies without an hour's unnecessary delay. In a wonderfully short time the walls seemed to emerge from the heaps of burnt rubbish, end to encircle the city as in the days of old. It soon became apparent how wisely Nehemiah had acted in hastening on the work. On his very first arrival, as governor, Sanballat and Tobiah had given unequivocal proof of their mortification at his appointment; but when the restoration was seen to be rapidly progressing, their indignation knew no bounds. They made a great conspiracy to fall upon the builders with an armed force and put a stop to the undertaking. The project was defeated by the vigilance and prudence of Nehemiah. Various stratagems were then resorted to get Nehemiah away from Jerusalem and if possible to take his life; but that which most nearly succeeded was the attempt to bring him into suspicion with the king of Persia, as if he intended to set himself up as an independent king as soon as the walls were completed. The artful letter of Sanballat so-far wrought upon Artaxerxes that he issued a decree stopping the work till further orders. If is probable that at the same time he recalled Nehemiah, or perhaps his leave of absence had previously expired. But after a delay, perhaps of several years he was permitted to return to Jerusalem land to crown his work by repairing the temple and dedicating the walls. During his government Nehemiah firmly repressed the exactions of the nobles and the usury of the rich, and rescued the poor Jews from spoliation and slavery. He refused to receive his lawful allowance as governor from the people, in consideration of their poverty, during the whole twelve years that he was in office but kept at his own charge a table for 150 Jews, at which any who returned from captivity were welcome. He made most careful provision for the maintenance of the ministering priests and Levites and for the due and constant celebration of divine worship. He insisted upon the sanctity of the precincts of the temple being preserved inviolable, and peremptorily ejected the powerful Tobiah from one of the chambers which Eliashib had assigned to him. With no less firmness and impartiality he expelled from all sacred functions those of the high priest's family who had contracted heathen marriages, and rebuked and punished those of the common people who had likewise intermarried with foreigners; and lastly, he provided for keeping holy the Sabbath day, which was shamefully profaned by many both Jews and foreign merchants, and by his resolute conduct succeeded in repressing the lawless traffic on the day of rest. Beyond the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, to which Nehemiah's own narrative leads us, we have no account of him whatever. 2. One of the leaders of the first expedition from Babylon to Jerusalem under Zerabbabel. #Ezr 2:2; Ne 7:7| 3. Son of Azbuk and ruler of the half part of Beth-zur, who helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem. #Ne 3:18|

NEHEMI'AH (whom Jehovah consoles). 1. Son of Hachaliah, the distinguished and pious restorer and governor of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. The forlorn condition of the remnant of returned Hebrews in Jerusalem awakened his deepest sympathy and enkindled his patriotism, Neh 1:4. The condition of his feelings soon became known to King Artaxerxes, at whose court he held the high position of cup-bearer. Ruth 2:1. At his eager request, Neh 2:5, the king granted Nehemiah permission to return to the land of his fathers, Num 2:7, and gave him letters of safe escort to the governors beyond the Euphrates, and orders for timber on the keeper of the royal forest. At Jerusalem desolation and ruin met him on every hand, but he makes the proposition and oversees the execution of restoring the city. Num 2:18. The people co-operate heartily with their enthusiastic leader in the reconstruction of the walls and gates, but the work is not completed without insidious and determined opposition. Sanballat was at the head of it. These enemies endeavored to overthrow Nehemiah by false charges of intended rebellion against the Persian supremacy, Neh 6:7-19, and to intimidate him, but all in vain. The work of reconstruction accomplished, he re-established the religious customs of his fathers by bringing the Law into new esteem, Isa 8:3, and the reinstitution of the Sabbath, offerings, etc., Ezr 10:29, sqq. He also made special legislation for the government of the city. Nehemiah administered the government of Jerusalem twelve years, Neh 5:14, and at the end of this period returned to Persia, where he remained for some time. Neh 13:6. During his absence most flagrant abuses crept in, which on his return he made it his first business to correct, especially the violation of the Sabbath and heathen marriages, Neh 13. By these means he restored his people, in some degree, to their former happy condition, and probably remained in power till his death, which it is supposed took place in Jerusalem. Few men in any age of the world have combined in themselves a more rigid adherence to duty, a sterner opposition to wrong, private or public, a more unswerving faith in God, or a purer patriotism, than Nehemiah. Book of, is the sixteenth in the order of the books of the O.T. It may be regarded as a continuation of or supplement to the book of Ezra, which immediately precedes it. It is concerned with Nehemiah's great work of rebuilding Jerusalem and the reclamation of the customs and laws of Moses, which had fallen into desuetude. It gives the whole history of this movement in the circumstances which led to it, the elements of opposition which threatened to defeat it, and the complete success which crowned it. Incidentally we are admitted to a glance at the then condition, moral and political, of the Jews, at the growing bitterness between them and the Samaritans, and at some scenes in Assyrian life. The account of the walls and gates in Neh 3 is among the most valuable documents for the settlement of the topography of ancient Jerusalem. The registers and lists of names are also of value. Nehemiah is the author of the first seven chapters, and part of the twelfth and thirteenth. The change from the use of the first person to that of the third in the remaining chapters, and the fact that some names in the lists were not extant till after Nehemiah's death, point to some other hand as their author. 1. One who returned in the first expedition from Babylon under Zerubbabel. Ezr 2:2; Neh 7:7. 2. The son of Azbuk, who helped to repair the gates of Jerusalem. Neh 3:16.

(See EZRA; MALACHI.) 1. Son of Hachaliah, seemingly of Judah, as his kinsman Hanani was so (Nehemiah 1:2); and Jerusalem was "the place of his fathers' sepulchres" (Nehemiah 2:3). Probably he was of David's lineage, as his name varied appears in it, "Naum" (Luke 3:25), and his kinsman's name too, Hananiah, son of Zerubbabel (1 Chronicles 3:19); his "fathers' sepulchres" would be those of David's royal line. Cupbearer of Artaxerxes (Longimanus) according to his own autobiography, at Susa or Shushan, the principal Persian palace; Ecbatana was the royal summer residence, Babylon the spring, Persepolis the autumn, and Susa the winter. In Artaxerxes' 20th year Hanani with other Jews came from Jerusalem, reporting that the remnant there were in great affliction, the wall broken down, and the gates burned. Sorrow at the news drove him to fasting in expression of sadness, and prayer before the God of heaven, who alone could remedy the evil. His prayer (Nehemiah 1:4-11) was marked by importunate continuity, "day and night" (compare Isaiah 62:6-7; Luke 18:7), intercession for Israel, confession of individual and national sin, pleading that God should remember His promises of mercy upon their turning to Him, however far cast out for transgression; also that He should remember they are His people redeemed by His strong hand, therefore His honour is at stake in their persons; and that Nehemiah and they who pray with him desire to fear God's name (Isaiah 26:8; contrast Psalm 66:18; compare Daniel 9, Leviticus 26:33-39; Deuteronomy 4:25-31); lastly he asks God to dispose Artaxerxes' heart to "mercy" (Proverbs 21:1). "Let Thine ear ... Thine eyes be open ... hear the prayer," is an allusion to Solomon's prayer (1 Kings 8:28-29). After four months (Nehemiah 1:1; Nehemiah 2:1), from Chisleu to Nisan, of praying and waiting, in Artaxerxes' 20th year Nehemiah with sad countenance ministered as his cupbearer. The king noticed his melancholy (Proverbs 15:13) and asked its cause. Nehemiah was "sore afraid," but replied it was for the desolation of the city "the place of his fathers' sepulchres." Artaxerxes said, "for what dost thou ... request?" Nehemiah ejaculated his request to God first, then to the earthly king. There seemed no interval between the king's question and Nehemiah's answer, yet a momentous transaction had passed between earth and heaven that decided the issue in behalf of Nehemiah (Isaiah 65:24). Artaxerxes, "according to the good hand of Nehemiah's God upon him," granted him leave to go to Jerusalem for a time, and letters to the provincial governors beyond the Euphrates to convey him forward, and to Asaph to supply timber for the palace gates, etc. As "governor" (pechah, also tirshatha') he had an escort of cavalry, and so reached Jerusalem, where he stayed inactive three days, probably the usual term for purification after a journey. Notwithstanding Ezra's commission in Artaxerxes' seventh year (457 B.C.), after the dead period from the sixth of Darius to that year, a period in which there is no history of the returned Jews (Ezra 6:15-7;Ezra 6:1, etc.) and only the history of the foreign Jews in Esther, and notwithstanding the additional numbers and resources which Ezra had brought, Nehemiah now, in Artaxerxes' 20th year, in his secret ride of observation by night found Jerusalem in deplorable plight (Nehemiah 2:12-16; compare Isaiah 64:9-12). (See EZRA.) The account is given in the first person, which often recurs; he forms his secret resolution to none but God in whose strength he moved. How the greatest movements for good often originate with one individual! He next enlisted in the restoration the nobles, priests, and rulers. But his continual dependence was "the hand of his God good upon him" (Nehemiah 2:8; Nehemiah 2:18), a phrase common to Ezra also (Ezra 7:6; Ezra 7:9; Ezra 7:28; compare Ezra 5:5), and marking their joint fellowship in God. Where a good work is there will be opposition; so Sanballat the Horonite, and the slave Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian mocked the work, and alleged it was rebellion against the king; Nehemiah told them he would persevere in reliance upon "the God of heaven," but "ye have no right in Jerusalem." Psalm 123 was eventually written at this time in reference to their "scorn" while "at ease themselves"; Nehemiah's "hear, O our God, for we are despised" (Nehemiah 4:3-4) answers to Israel's "unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, our soul is filled with the contempt," etc. His great work was the restoration of the city walls as the first step toward civil government, the revival of the national spirit, and the bringing back of the priests and Levites to reside with a feeling of security for their persons and for the tithes and offerings. Messiah's advent was associated by Daniel (Daniel 9:25-27) with the command to "restore and build Jerusalem"; and Jeremiah too had foretold "the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner, and the measuring line shall go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb ... to Gath" (Jeremiah 31:39). Each repaired over against his house (Nehemiah 3), teaching that in the spiritual building we must each begin with our own home and neighbourhood and circle; then charity beginning at home will not end there. "Shallum repaired, he and his daughters" (Nehemiah 3:12; compare Romans 16:1; Romans 16:3-5; Romans 16:6; Romans 16:12). Even Eliashib the half hearted high priest repaired. The Tekoite "nobles (alone) put not their necks to the work of their Lord" (compare Judges 5:23); but generally "the people had a mind to work" (Nehemiah 4:6), so that soon "all the wall was joined." The 42 stations of restoration (chapter 3) answer to the 42 stations of Israel's pilgrim march in the desert (Numbers 33). Sanballat's party then "conspired to fight against Jerusalem and hinder it." Nehemiah used means, "setting a watch day and night," at the same time "praying unto our God" to bless the means. He had not only to contend with adversaries plotting to attack when the Jews should "not know nor see," but with his own men complaining "the strength of the bearers is decayed, and there is much rubbish, so that we are not able to build" (Nehemiah 4:8-11). Moreover, the Jews dwelling among the adversaries again and again kept him in alarm with warnings, "from all places (from whence) ye shall return unto us (i.e. from whence ye can come out to us) they will set upon you." L. De Dieu takes asher not "from whence" but "truly" (as in 1 Samuel 15:20): "yea, from all places, truly (yea) return to us," leaving off your work, for the foes are too many for you; counsel of pretended friends (compare Nehemiah 4:12 with Nehemiah 6:17-19). But Nehemiah, by setting the people by families with weapons in the lower as well as the higher places of the wall, and encouraging them to "remember the Lord," baffled the enemy; thenceforward half wrought and half held the weapons, the builders and the bearers of burdens wrought with one hand and with the other held a weapon. Nehemiah had the trumpeter next him to give alarm, so as to gather the people against the foe wherever he should approach; none put off their clothes all the time (Nehemiah 4:23). Nehemiah also remedied the state of debt and bondage of many Jews by forbidding usury and bond service, and set an example by not being chargeable all the twelve years that he was governor, as former governors had been, on the Jews; "so did not I," says he, "because of the fear of God" (Nehemiah 5). Nay, more, he daily entertained 150 Jews, besides those that came from among the pagan. His prayer often repeated is "think upon me, my God, for good according to all that I have done for this people" (Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 13:14; compare Hebrews 6:10; Acts 10:4; Matthew 10:42). While he pleads his efforts, not feigning a mock humility, he closes with "remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of Thy mercy" (Nehemiah 13:22-31), the publican's and the dying thief's prayer. Sanballat in vain tried to decoy him to a conference (Nehemiah 6). Nehemiah replied, "I am doing a great work, I cannot come down" (Luke 9:62). Then Shemaiah, suborned by Sanballat, tried to frighten him to flee into the temple, where he was detained by a vow (1 Samuel 21:7), in order to delay the work and give an appearance of conscious guilt on the part of Nehemiah; but neither he nor the prophetess Noadiah could put him in fear, "should such a man as I (the governor who ought to animate others) flee!" Fearing God (Nehemiah 6:9; Nehemiah 6:14; Nehemiah 5:15) I have none else to fear (Isaiah 28:16). His safeguard was prayer; "strengthen my hands, my God, think Thou upon" my enemies (Nehemiah 6:9; Nehemiah 6:14). So David repelled the false friends' counsel to "flee" (Psalm 11:1). Nehemiah's foes were "much cast down when they perceived that this work was wrought of our God." Psalm 126:2 is Israel's song at the time: "then said they among the pagan, the Lord hark done great things Jot them ... turn again our captivity (reverse our depression by bringing prosperity again) as the streams of the S. (as the rain streams in the Negeb or dry S. of Canaan return, filling the wadies and gladdening the parched country); they that sow in tears shall reap in joy." The Jews kept the Passover "with joy" on the dedication of God's house, the foundation of which had been laid amidst "loud weeping" mingled with shouts of joy (Ezra 3:11-13; Ezra 6:22). Psalm 125 belongs to the same period, encouraging the godly to persevere, "for they that trust in Jehovah shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed," for they have "Jehovah round about" them "as the mountains are round about Jerusalem," and "the sceptre (rod) of the wicked (Persia, the world power then) shall not (always) remain upon the lot of righteous" Israel, lest, patient faith giving way (Psalm 73:13), God's people should relieve themselves by unlawful means (Isaiah 57:16); "putting forth the hands" is said of presumptuous acts, as in Genesis 3:22. "Turners aside unto their own crooked ways" were those who held correspondence with Tobiah, as Shemaiah and the nobles of Judah (Nehemiah 6:10-14; Nehemiah 6:17-19; Nehemiah 13:4, Eliashib). The wall having been built and the doors set up (Nehemiah 7), Nehemiah gave charge of Jerusalem to Hanani and Hananiah, "a faithful man who feared God above many," and set "every one in his watch over against his house." Next he found a register of the genealogy of those who first returned from Babylon, 42,360, and took the census; see Ezra 2, which is drawn from the same document. Nehemiah took the register in a later form than that given by Ezra, for the number of those who could not prove their pedigree is reduced by subsequent searches from 652 in Ezra 2:60 to 642 in Nehemiah 7:62. The tirshatha in Ezra 2:63 is Zerubbabel 90 years before, in Nehemiah Nehemiah himself. The items vary, the sum total 42,360 is the same, Ezra 2:64; Nehemiah 7:66; Ezra has 200, Nehemiah 245, singers, the number being augmented by his time. In offerings, the drams of gold in sum are 61,000 in Ezra, but in Nehemiah (Nehemiah 7:70-72) Nehemiah 7:20; Nehemiah 7:000 from the chief fathers, 20,000 from the people, and 1,000 from the tirshatha. Only 100 priests' garments were needed in "setting up the house of God" at its foundation (Ezra 2:68-69); but at its dedication after complete renovation 530 were given by the tirshatha and 67 by the people (Nehemiah 7:70; Nehemiah 7:72). The occasions of Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 are palpably distinct, though each embodied from a common document sanctioned by Haggai and Zechariah (Zerubbabel's helpers) as much as suited their distinct purposes. Ezra's reading of the law to the assembled people followed: Nehemiah 8 (he had just returned from Persia with Nehemiah), 445 B.C. Nehemiah comforted them when weeping at the words of the law: "weep not, for the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Isaiah 61:3; Matthew 5:4; Psalm 51:12-13); "send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared" (Luke 14:13); and the keeping of the feast of tabernacles more formally according to the law than the earlier one in Ezra 3:4 at the setting up of the altar, indeed with greater enthusiasm of all as one man (not excepting 1 Kings 8:2; 1 Kings 8:65) than had been since Joshua's days, reading the law not merely the first and eighth days (as enjoined in Leviticus 23:35-36), but every day of the feast (Nehemiah 8:18). The 119th Psalm doubtless was written (probably by Ezra) at this time, expressing such burning love to the law throughout. A fast followed. The law awakened a sense of sin (Nehemiah 9); so first they put away strangers, as Israel must be a separate people, and read the law a fourth of the day, and another fourth confessed sin and worshipped, the Levites leading; then they made a covenant to walk in God's law, not to intermarry with pagan, to keep the sabbath, and to pay a third of a shekel each for the service of God's temple, to bring the firstfruits and firstborn, and not to "forsake the house of our God," (Nehemiah 10) the princes, Levites, and priests sealing it. The reason for taking the census in Nehemiah 7:4-5, etc., now appears, namely, to arrange for so disposing the people who were "few" in the "large" but scantily built city as to secure its safety and future growth in houses (Nehemiah 11). Of the census the heads of Judah and Benjamin dwelling at Jerusalem are given, also of priests and Levites there; but merely the names of the villages and towns through the country (Nehemiah 11, compare 1 Chronicles 9). Then the heads of the courses of priests, and the corresponding names at the time of the return from Babylon, with a few particulars of the priests' and Levites' genealogy (Nehemiah 12:1-26). The rulers were to dwell at Jerusalem; of the people one of ten by lot were to dwell there and nine in other cities (Nehemiah 11). In Nehemiah 12 the high priests are given from the national archives down to Jaddua, and the Levites down to his contemporary Darius the Persian, Codomanus. (See JADDUA; DARIUS.) The dedication of the walls by Nehemiah, the princes, priests, and Levite singers in two companies, followed (Nehemiah 12:27-47); Nehemiah 12:2 Maccabees alleges that the temple too was now dedicated after its repair by funds gathered from the people. This will explain Nehemiah's contributions including "priests' garments" (Nehemiah 7:70) after the census, besides other gifts. Finally, in Artaxerxes' 32nd year (434 B.C.) Nehemiah severed from Israel all the mixed multitude (Nehemiah 13), Ammonites and Moabites, and boldly cast out Tobiah from the chamber in the temple which Eliashib his connection had assigned him, and restored to it, after its cleansing, the temple vessels, meat offerings, and frankincense which had been previously kept there. Firmly he reproved the rulers for breaking their covenant (Nehemiah 10:39 ff), saying "why is the house of God forsaken?" and insisting that the Levites' portions should be given them, for the neglect of this duty had driven the Levites to their country fields. Nehemiah caused Judah to bring the tithes to the temple treasuries (in which Malachi supported him, Malachi 3:8), and appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and the Levite Pedaiah, as "faithful" treasurers, to distribute unto their brethren. (See MALACHI.) Also he "testified against" those selling victuals and treading winepresses, and contended with the nobles for trafficking with Tyrian and other waresmen on the sabbath, one great cause of God's past judgment on the nation (2 Chronicles 36:21; Leviticus 26:34-35; Leviticus 26:43). So, he closed the gates from sabbath eve to the end of the sabbath, and drove away the merchants lodging outside the wall. His last recorded act is his contending with, cursing, smiting, and plucking the hair off, some of those who formed intermarriages with pagans, the source of Solomon's apostasy, and his chasing away Joiada's son, Eliashib's grandson, for marrying the daughter of Sanballat the Horonite. Zeal for the purity of God's worship, priesthood, and people, makes the act praiseworthy as one of faith, whatever exception may be taken to the manner. The Antitype combined holy firmness and rigor of act with calm dignity of manner (John 2:13-17; Psalm 59:9; Matthew 21:12-13). The language of Malachi (Malachi 2:4-5; Malachi 2:10-12), Nehemiah's supporter, is in undesigned harmony with Nehemiah 13:27; Nehemiah 13:29, "transgress against our God in marrying strange wives," "defiled ... the covenant of the priesthood." After Artaxerxes' 32nd year we know no more of Nehemiah. Like Moses, he left a splendid court, to identify himself with his countrymen in their depression. Disinterestedly, patriotic, he "came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel" (Nehemiah 2:10). Courageous and prompt as a soldier in a crisis requiring no ordinary boldness, at the same time prudent as a statesman in dealing alike with his adversaries and with the Persian autocrat, rallying about him and organizing his countrymen, he governed without fear or partiality, correcting abuses in high places, and himself setting a bright example of unselfishness and princely liberality, above all walking in continual prayerfulness, with eyes ever turned toward God, and summing up all his work and all his hope in the humble prayer at the close, "remember me, O my God, for good." 2. A chief who returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:2). 3. Son of Azbuk, ruler of half Bethzur, repaired the wall (Nehemiah 3:16)