Nechem-Yah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Illustration from https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/nehemiah-the-man-behind-the-wall/
So, for example, we cannot say for certain whether Ezra was the first of the two to return to Yeru-Shala'im, as he appears to claim, or whether in fact Nechem-Yah preceded him by a couple years, but then went back to Persia, and returned for his second visit thirteen years after Ezra's arrival (and if so, did his report back to the king lead to Ezra being sent, and himself not needing to go back again at this stage?). The key to this lies in their shared involvement in the reading of the Torah - a full discussion of this subject can be found here, though you may need to register for a free jstor account to be able to read it.
What we can say, even despite the virtual absence of each other in their texts, is that the two worked concurrently, to restore the city, to rededicate its people to whoever their deity was at that time (that too is unclear from the texts, but probably still the polytheon of Elohim, led by "Prime Minister" YHVH, and not yet the autocratic Omnideity of "President" YHVH); and that Ezra (the scribe, the priest), despite not himself being the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) drove the spiritual and cultural side, while Nechem-Yah took the role that Zeru-Bavel had taken previously, as leader of the political side, eventually, perhaps from the outset, the officially appointed Persian governor.
So closely did they work, the records and memoirs that each of them left behind,
"The Book of Nehemiah" and "The Book of Ezra", tend to be regarded as a single book (see for example Mishnah Yoma 1:6), and are presented as such in traditional Yehudit versions of the Tanach; indeed, one section of Nechem-Yah (chapters 8–10) is combined by many scholars with Ezra 7–10, the two together now known as "the Ezra Source".
The reason for this is tied in with another of the problems of the two books, that there is first person narrative in both, but that there is also third person narrative, so that there are the records and memoirs that Ezra and Nechem-Yah wrote down themselves, and the rest assembled, at the time or later, by ... who can say? perhaps a scribe, a biographer, a historian, a journalist.
What we can say is that Nehemiah 1–7 and 11–13 are written in the first person, and together can be described as "Nechem-Yah's Memoir". Whether he wrote them to make money (highly unlikely), or for self-aggrandisement (possible, but unlikely), or to ensure that history remembered him as he wished to be remembered (definitely a factor), or because he was expected, or at least felt the need, to provide the Persian king with a detailed report (extremely probable), or because, as Governor, the keeping of official records in this manner is simply what you do, these chapters found their way into the Temple archive, and thence into the Tanach.
Quick(ish) Look-Up text:
Nechem-Yah 1: Before coming to Yeru-Shala'im, Nechem-Yah may have been a high official in the Persian court of King Artaxerxes I (Artachsast or Artachsast'a in the Yehudit texts), summering in Bavel (Babylon) on the Euphrates river, wintering in Susa, 150 miles east of the Tigris in what is now Iran. I say "may have been" because he was "the king's cupbearer" (1:11), and "king's cup-bearer" - think of the Yoseph tales - could well be an official title for an important person in the court, but it could just as easily have been a "Hebrew" slave of zero status.
Either way, it is while serving in this capacity that men come from Yeru-Shala'im, and tell him of the parlous state in which the Yehudim are living. Nechem-Yah responds by taking himself apart and praying.
Nechem-Yah 2 finds him answering the king's question about the sad expression on his face. He seems to have built a sufficient personal relationship with the king that he is able to share with him his deep concern that the Yehudim who had returned to Yeru-Shala'im were in such a sorry state, and obtains permission to go to Yeru-Shala'im himself, ostensibly to rebuild the city walls and fortifications which Zeru-Bavel had partially rebuilt seventy years before, but which alas had been torn down again in the Greco-Persian war that followed. So fully supported by the king was he, he even carried documents of safe passage, a military escort, and letters enabling him to purchase timber from the king's forest for the gates and walls.
The confusion of dates with Ezra may be a consequence of his being sent a first time to observe and report back, and then, a few years later, being sent a second tim, to undertake the rebuild; unfortunately the text does not give us this information, so we can only speculate on it. What we can say for certain is that Ezra 8 has Ezra arriving in Yehudah in the 7th year of Artaxerxes' reign, which was 458 BCE; the first verses of Nechem-Yah have him arriving in the 20th year, which is 445 BCE, now officially the provincial governor of what he sometimes calls Yehudah, and sometimes Yehud.
By verse 10 he has arrived, and his royal letters have alerted Sanvalat and Tovi-Yah, the two locally most powerful men, that trouble may be afoot for then; the struggles between Nechem-Yah and these two men will continue unabated until the end of the book.
Verse 12 finds him taking his nightly walk around the city, surveying the damage to the walls, but also the condition of the city as a whole, and garnering support from the people to undertake a major reconstruction.
The last six verses of chapter 2 are counted as the first six of chapter 3 in most English translations; they set up the response of Sanvalat and the rest of the opposition to the work being carried out.
Nechem-Yah 3 is a guided tour of the wall, inventorying an honour roll of those who undertook the repair work.
The walls are rebuilt to half-height, the gates finished, despite the hostility of the surrounding non-Jews. A system of guards is established, less against a potential Greek attack (there was an official peace treaty in place at the time between the Greeks and Persians, the "Peace of Callias" which was signed with Artachsast'a in 449 BCE), but against those non-Yehudim inside Yehudah who wanted to disrupt, even to prevent the work from going ahead - most particularly the Shomronim, who had essentially become the sovereign rulers of the land while the Yehudim were in captivity in Babylon; but also the Beney Amon, based in Damasek (Damascus), and the Pelishtim whose capital at this time was Ashdod.
Nechem-Yah 4: (4:18) finishing the wall, and the houses on the wall, and trying to establish a civil as well as a clerical political structure, but doing so like 1940s Israeli kibbutzniks, a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other, effectively under siege from Sanvalat et al. Deep concerns at to which was the safer: to bring everyone from the surrounding villages to the capital, and defned it together, or reduce the capital to a minimum, and send the people out to their villages? In the end, the latter.
Nechem-Yah 5: (5:14) Nehemiah appointed governor from the 20th to 32nd year of Artaxerxes. As governor, Nehemiah tells us, he never took advantage of food and land allotments that were allowed him due to his office, because there was already such a great burden on the people of his province (verses 14–19). But the people are protesting that the other nobles and officials are tithing and extorting and exploiting them mercilessly, so Nechem-Yah issues an edict requiring them to forgive all outstanding debts, and ordering them to return all land and money that had been taken as taxes so the people would be able to feed themselves and their families.
Nechem-Yah 6: (6:1) tells of attempts by Sanvalat and Tovi-Yah to kill Nechem-Yah, but these are thwarted; (6:15) the wall is finished, in just 52 days, on the 25th of Elul.
Nechem-Yah 7: (7:2) Nechem-Yah's "kinsman" Chanani is appointed city-ruler of Yeru-Shala'im, Chanan-Yah of the citadel; (7:7) Another of Nechem-Yah's accomplishments was to make a record of the genealogy of all the nobles, priests, officials and people who had come to Yehudah with Zeru-Bavel - this list can also be found in Ezra, though there are many variations. 7:64 tells us why it was needed: any Kohen whose name was not able to appear in the lists was expelled from the priesthood, and racial purity thereby guaranteed.
Nechem-Yah 7: (7:2) Nechem-Yah's "kinsman" Chanani is appointed city-ruler of Yeru-Shala'im, Chanan-Yah of the citadel; (7:7) Another of Nechem-Yah's accomplishments was to make a record of the genealogy of all the nobles, priests, officials and people who had come to Yehudah with Zeru-Bavel - this list can also be found in Ezra, though there are many variations. 7:64 tells us why it was needed: any Kohen whose name was not able to appear in the lists was expelled from the priesthood, and racial purity thereby guaranteed.
Nechem-Yah 8: (8:1) Ezra brings the law scrolls to the courtyard of the Water Gate;(8:6) worship in the form of prostration; (8:13) Sukot re-established for the first time (8:17) since Yehoshu'a's day.
Nechem-Yah 9: (9:1) has sackcloth and fasting on the 24th Tishrey – though it isn't obvious why this date. Vidu'i and selichot in abundance, leading to the making of a covenant , sealed by the leaders in 10:1-27, committing themselves to the lifestyle-choices described in the Torah; it includes separation (ghettoization) by choice from the Goyim, and the divorcing of "foreign" wives.
In fact we have already been witness to the planning of this covenant, but haven't realised it. 8:30 affirmed patrilocal marriage, which is important for Ezra's Torah redaction; it also affirmed the centrality of both the Sabbath and the Jubilee, and re-affirmed the Solomonc Temple practices.
Nechem-Yah 10: Another lengthy list, this one of the those who swore the covenant, followed by some of its detail.
Nechem-Yah 11: adds more detail to the covenant: Nine-tenths of the people are to live outside Yeru-Shala'im. The names of the leaders of the secular life are given, as well as the Leviyim.
Nechem-Yah 12: delineates the map of what is now the formally combined Yehudah and Bin-Yamin. The names of the leaders of the Kohanim are given. The dedication ceremony for the now-finished Wall includes (12:31) the re-institution of the choir and orchestra, with the Psalms.
Nechem-Yah 13: Nechem-Yah goes back to Babylon (13:6), then returns to Yeru-Shala'im to find the covenant already in tatters and Sanvalat and Tovi-Yah in cahoots, even if not actually in power; he goes out like a Prophet, railing, and condemning everybody.
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David Prashker
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