Nehemiah 1

Nehemiah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Nehemiah. The book opens with Nehemiah, an official at the Persian court, praying after he receives news from Jerusalem. In the Hebrew Bible tradition, Ezra and Nehemiah form a single book. Ezra closes in Ezra 10 with the resolution of the problem of marriages to foreign wives, and in this chapter the narrative shifts to Nehemiah's first-person memoir.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 In the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah was in Shushan the palace. His brother Hanani arrived from Judah with certain other men. When Nehemiah asked about the Jews who had escaped captivity and about the condition of Jerusalem, he was told that the remnant were in great affliction and reproach, that the wall of Jerusalem was broken down, and that its gates had been burned with fire.
• Verse 4 Nehemiah sits down and weeps, mourns for days, and fasts and prays before the God of heaven.
• Verses 5–7 He calls upon the God who keeps covenant and shows mercy. He then confesses the sins of the children of Israel, including himself and his father's house, in failing to keep the commandments, statutes, and judgments given through Moses.
• Verses 8–10 He asks God to remember the word He spoke to Moses: if the people transgressed, He would scatter them among the nations, but if they returned, He would gather them again. He reminds God that they are His people, whom He redeemed by His great power and strong hand.
• Verse 11 He prays that he may find mercy that day "in the sight of this man." He then notes that he was the king's cupbearer.

Key Verses

• Nehemiah 1:4 "I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed" — This is the starting point for the portrait of Nehemiah as a man who prays before he acts.
• Nehemiah 1:6 "both I and my father's house have sinned" — A classic expression of prayer that confesses the community's sin as one's own.
• Nehemiah 1:11 "For I was the king's cupbearer" — This reveals that "this man" in the prayer is the king, and it sets the stage for Nehemiah's petition to the king in chapter 2.

People and Places

• Nehemiah: The son of Hachaliah. He was cupbearer to the Persian king, a trusted official who served the king his wine.
• Hanani: Nehemiah's brother, who comes from Judah and reports on the condition of Jerusalem.
• Artaxerxes: King of Persia. He is commonly identified as Artaxerxes I, and his twentieth year is generally dated to around 445 BC.
• Shushan (Susa): The city where the Persian king's palace was located.
• Jerusalem: Described as having its walls and gates in ruins.
• Moses: Mentioned in the prayer as the servant through whom God gave the law.

Points for Reflection

• When were the walls destroyed? Interpreters differ on what the broken wall of verse 3 refers to. One view takes it as the destruction by Babylon in 586 BC. Another sees it as a later event, such as the halting of reconstruction recorded in Ezra 4. Some interpreters, noting that Nehemiah grieves intensely as though hearing fresh news, take it to be a recent event.
• The citation of Moses' words: Verses 8–9 do not quote a single passage verbatim. They read as a summary of the warnings and promises of restoration found in Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 30, and elsewhere. The expression "the great and terrible God" in verse 5 also appears, in similar form ("the great and dreadful God"), in the prayer of Daniel 9.
• The length of the prayer: From the month Chisleu in chapter 1 to the month Nisan in 2:1 is about four months. Many sermons therefore explain that Nehemiah prayed throughout this period, though the text does not directly state how long he prayed. Because both months are dated to the "twentieth year," various explanations have also been offered for how the years were reckoned.
• Relationship to the New Testament: This chapter is not directly quoted in the New Testament.

In the Korean Church

This chapter is commonly used as a sermon text on intercessory prayer and on prayer for the nation and the church. Nehemiah is frequently presented as an example of a leader who began his work with prayer and repentance.