Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
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). 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.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(consolation of the Lord).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
NEHEMI'AH (whom Jehovah consoles). 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. One who returned in the first expedition from Babylon under Zerubbabel. Ezr 2:2; Neh 7:7. The son of Azbuk, who helped to repair the gates of Jerusalem. Neh 3:16.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
consolation; repentance of the Lord
Schaff's Bible Dictionary
NEHEMI'AH (whom Jehovah consoles). 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. One who returned in the first expedition from Babylon under Zerubbabel. Ezr 2:2; Neh 7:7. The son of Azbuk, who helped to repair the gates of Jerusalem. Neh 3:16.