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.

Nehemia 2:10

2:10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official ⁵  heard all this, they were very displeased that someone had come to seek benefit for the Israelites.

Nehemia 3:22

3:22 After him the priests worked, men of the nearby district.

Nehemia 13:16

13:16 The people from Tyre ⁶  who lived there were bringing fish and all kinds of merchandise and were selling it on the Sabbath to the people of Judah – and in Jerusalem, of all places! ⁷ 

[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.”

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “servant” (so KJV, ASV; NAB “slave”; NCV “officer.” This phrase also occurs in v. 19.

[13:16]  ⁶ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[13:16]  ⁷ tn The words “of all places” are not in the Hebrew text but have been supplied in the translation to indicate the emphasis on Jerusalem.