Nehemia 1:1

A Prayer of Nehemiah

1:1 ¹ These are the words of Nehemiah ²  son of Hacaliah:

It so happened that in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, ³  I was in Susa ⁴  the citadel.

Ester 1:2

1:2 In those days, as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa ⁵  the citadel, ⁶ 

Daniel 8:2

8:2 In this ⁷  vision I saw myself in Susa ⁸  the citadel, ⁹  which is located in the province of Elam. In the vision I saw myself at the Ulai Canal. ¹⁰ 

[1:1]  ¹ sn In ancient Judaism Ezra and Nehemiah were regarded as a single book with dual authorship. According to the Talmud, “Ezra wrote his book” (b. Bava Batra 15a). The Gemara then asks and answers, “And who finished it? Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.” Accordingly, the two are joined in the Leningrad Codex (ca. A.D. 1008), the manuscript upon which modern printed editions of the Hebrew Bible (e.g., BHK and BHS) are based.

[1:1]  ² sn The name Nehemiah in Hebrew (נְחֶמְיָה, nÿkhemyah) means “the LORD comforts.”

[1:1]  ³ tn That is, the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign (cf. 2:1).

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Shushan.”

[1:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “Shushan” (so KJV, ASV). Most recent English versions render this as “Susa.”

[1:2]  sn The city of Susa served as one of several capitals of Persia during this time; the other locations were Ecbatana, Babylon, and Persepolis. Partly due to the extreme heat of its summers, Susa was a place where Persian kings stayed mainly in the winter months. Strabo indicates that reptiles attempting to cross roads at midday died from the extreme heat (Geography 15.3.10-11).

[1:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word בִּירָה (birah) can refer to a castle or palace or temple. Here it seems to have in mind that fortified part of the city that might be called an acropolis or citadel. Cf. KJV “palace”; NAB “stronghold”; NASB “capital”; NLT “fortress.”

[8:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “the.”

[8:2]  ⁸ sn Susa (Heb. שׁוּשַׁן, shushan), located some 230 miles (380 km) east of Babylon, was a winter residence for Persian kings during the Achaemenid period. The language of v. 2 seems to suggest that Daniel may not have been physically present at Susa, but only saw himself there in the vision. However, the Hebrew is difficult, and some have concluded that the first four words of v. 2 in the MT are a later addition (cf. Theodotion).

[8:2]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew word בִּירָה (birah, “castle, palace”) usually refers to a fortified structure within a city, but here it is in apposition to the city name Susa and therefore has a broader reference to the entire city (against this view, however, see BDB 108 s.v. 2). Cf. NAB “the fortress of Susa”; TEV “the walled city of Susa.”

[8:2]  ¹⁰ tn The term אוּבַל (’uval = “stream, river”) is a relatively rare word in biblical Hebrew, found only here and in vv. 3 and 6. The Ulai was apparently a sizable artificial canal in Susa (cf. NASB, NIV, NCV), and not a river in the ordinary sense of that word.