Nehemiah

Definition and Meaning

Nehemiah is one of the historical books of the Old Testament and consists of thirteen chapters. In Protestant Bibles it follows Ezra and precedes Esther. The book takes its name from its central figure, Nehemiah, whose name in Hebrew is understood to mean "the LORD comforts." In Korean Catholic Bibles it is titled Neheumiyagi ("the Book of Nehemiah").

Biblical and Historical Background

Nehemiah served as cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes (Artaxerxes I). When he heard that the walls of Jerusalem still lay in ruins, he fasted and prayed (Nehemiah 1:4). He was later sent to Judah as governor in the twentieth year of the king's reign, a date many scholars place around 445 BC. Despite opposition from Sanballat, Tobiah, and others, he completed the wall in fifty-two days (Nehemiah 6:15).

In chapter 8, Ezra the scribe reads the Book of the Law before the people, and the Levites (the tribe responsible for temple service) explain its meaning. In chapters 9–10, the people confess their sins and renew the covenant. In chapter 13, Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem and corrects problems concerning Sabbath observance, intermarriage with foreigners, and the administration of the temple.

In the Hebrew Bible tradition, Ezra and Nehemiah were originally treated as a single book, which is understood to have been divided into two at a later time. There are two views of authorship. The traditional view, based on the memoir sections written in the first person, holds that Nehemiah himself wrote the book; another view holds that a later editor compiled it from various sources.

Practice in the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Nehemiah is frequently preached as a model of "rebuilding" and of "the praying leader." The prayer in chapter 1 serves as a text for prayers of repentance. The words "the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10) are also widely used as a motto. Some churches hold fifty-two-day periods of dedicated prayer or special early morning prayer meetings corresponding to the length of the wall's construction. Churches preparing for church building projects also commonly take Nehemiah as their text. The public reading of the Law in chapter 8 is cited as a basis for the public reading of Scripture and for Word-centered worship.

Some, however, criticize applying the account of the wall's rebuilding directly to the construction of church buildings or to church growth. In this view, the historical context—the restoration of a community that had returned from exile—should be considered first. There are no clear doctrinal differences among denominations in the interpretation of Nehemiah; differences appear mainly in the emphases of preaching and application.