News from Jerusalem, Prayer in Susa

"The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah." The book opens like a prophet's book, then becomes a first-person account: "in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace." Hanani, "one of my brethren," arrives with men from Judah.

Nehemiah asks about the Jews who escaped, "which were left of the captivity," and about Jerusalem. They answer: "The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire."

"And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven."

His prayer begins with God's character: "the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him." He confesses: "both I and my father's house have sinned." He reminds God of the word to Moses: if you transgress, I will scatter you; if you return, I will gather you "unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there."

He ends with a request for the next day: "prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer."

Susa, the citadel

Shushan habbirah, "Susa the fortress/citadel," was an ancient Elamite city that Darius I rebuilt as a royal capital (his Susa foundation charter describes materials brought from across the empire). French excavations since the 19th century have uncovered the palace and the great columned audience hall (apadana). The site is real; the scene of Nehemiah's prayer and his later request is known only from this book. Esther and Daniel 8:2 are also set at Susa.

Chislev and the twentieth year

Chislev is the ninth month (November–December). Chapter 2 places the request in Nisan, the first month, of the same "twentieth year." If years were counted from Nisan, Nisan should come after Chislev in a new year. Possible explanations: Nehemiah counted regnal years from the king's accession in autumn; the year was reckoned on an autumn calendar (Tishri to Tishri); or 1:1 originally read "nineteenth" or omitted the number. If the king is Artaxerxes I, the twentieth year is 445/444 BC. The text does not resolve the question.

Hanani

Hanani is "one of my brethren" (1:2); 7:2 calls him "my brother Hanani." The Hebrew 'ah can mean brother or kinsman. An Elephantine letter of 419 BC mentions a Hananiah involved in Passover instructions to the Jewish garrison; some identify him with Hanani or the Hananiah of Neh 7:2. The names were common; the link is a proposal.

The cupbearer

Royal cupbearers in Persia, as in Assyria, were trusted officials with direct access to the king. Herodotus (3.34) and Xenophon (Cyropaedia 1.3.8–9) describe the office. Whether Nehemiah was also a eunuch, as some later Greek manuscripts of 1:11 read (eunouchos instead of oinochoos), is debated; the Hebrew says only "cupbearer."

A prayer woven from Scripture

The prayer echoes Deuteronomy 7:9 ("keepeth covenant and mercy"), Deuteronomy 4:25–31 and 30:1–5 (scattering and gathering), 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 6 (praying toward the chosen place) and Daniel 9:4. It is not a single quotation; it gathers the language of the covenant into one plea.

"We have sinned"

Nehemiah confesses for "the children of Israel… both I and my father's house." Collective confession, common in post-exilic prayers (Ezra 9, Daniel 9, Nehemiah 9), expresses solidarity; it does not mean every person shared equal blame.

Who was Nehemiah?

No inscription, seal or document outside the Bible names Nehemiah. The Elephantine papyri of 407 BC name a later governor of Judah, Bagohi. Ben Sira (49:13, early 2nd century BC) praises Nehemiah "who raised for us the walls that had fallen," and 2 Maccabees 1:18–2:13 credits him with building the temple and altar and founding a library, later and legendary traditions.