Bible Commentary - Nehemiah Introduction

The book of Nehemiah has much in common with the book of Ezra.  One can pretty easily group together Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther together as a core set of post-exilic historical narratives.  Out of these four books, Chronicles is very similar to Samuel and Kings both in terms of the format as well as the content.  Esther (which is the next book after Nehemiah) is very similar to Ruth in that it’s presented as a stand-alone story that has a clear narrative and moral arc.

Ezra and Nehemiah don’t have any close parallels in the other OT books, but are exceptionally similar to each other.  They both have a diary-esque kind of flavor as they intermix narrative descriptions of factual events with commentary on their emotions reacting to those situations.  Both of these books are highly personal, reflecting the viewpoint of their authors during a major transitional period for their nation.

Ezra and Nehemiah both have a “return to Jerusalem” story, they both have some kind of building project they undertake to help restore Jerusalem to its former glory, and they both face hostility and resistance from their non-Israelite neighbors.  They also both face a moral crisis of some kind due to Judeans not properly following the Law (in the case of Ezra, it was intermarriage with foreigners, in the case of Nehemiah, it’s wealthy Judeans charging excessive interest rates on loans to other Judeans during a famine).  Both Ezra and Nehemiah seek to restore a religious festival to popular observance, with Ezra re-instituting the Passover and Nehemiah re-instituting the festival of Booths.  Since the book describe similar events, they also have similar themes and messages.

There are many other similarities in the writing style and general historical setting, but I want to also point out some of the differences.  Perhaps the most important difference is that Ezra is a priest and a scribe, while Nehemiah is a royal official from the Persian king’s court, and Nehemiah is appointed to be governor of Judah.  In essence, this means that Nehemiah is acting as a political official and a formal element of the Persian administration, while Ezra is a religious official.  They are both in positions of authority, but different kinds of authority.  I think this gives them different perspectives, though Nehemiah is still obviously very devout.  I don’t think there is any real distinction between Ezra and Nehemiah’s moral systems, but we do see differences between their spheres of authority.  Ezra attempts to rebuild the temple (the religious center) and Nehemiah attempts to rebuild the city wall (necessary for military defense).

When reading Nehemiah, my readers should observe two parallel narratives that are interwoven throughout the book.  The first is the narrative of Nehemiah himself.  This is a highly personal narrative about his own journey first in captivity, as a servant to the king, then his return to Jerusalem, and lastly his challenges and accomplishments as governor of Judea.  One thing I like a lot about Nehemiah (and to a similar extent Ezra) is the records of his emotional state in various situations.  I remember commenting at length about the earlier books in the OT that tended to have very dry and emotionless descriptions, even in the narrative portions.  Nehemiah is a welcome break from that trend.

The second narrative is the story of Judah’s redemption in the midst of their ongoing subjugation to a foreign power.  As described above, that story involves Judah battling external enemies (in a political sense), attempting to rebuild the city and facing a moral crisis all at the same time.  They are weak, but God is with them and they accomplish much.

Reading through this book, what I see over and over again is the struggles and weakness of the Jewish people.  I see their fear in the face of powerful and threatening adversaries, but I see them persisting and struggling and fighting to rebuild.

Overall, I think Nehemiah is a longer book than Ezra and it is more complex, but I don’t think there is anything else that I need to cover in the Introduction; everything else can be discussed more appropriately in each chapter’s commentary.  Therefore, let us begin with the first chapter of Nehemiah.