History
The book of Nehemiah
Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, rebuilds the walls of Jerusalem and renews the people’s covenant.
Much of Nehemiah is Nehemiah’s own memoir in the first person (“I” and “my God,” Nehemiah 1:1; 5:19; 13:31). He came to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes and finished the wall in fifty-two days. The book closes with his reforms on a later visit.
Written at: Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:11–12)
Kinds of writing
- Narrative 79%
- Genealogy 21%
Key verses
The wall finished in fifty-two days. So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days.
Nehemiah 6:15 (World English Bible)
The joy of Yahweh is your strength. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for today is holy to our Lord. Don’t be grieved, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:10 (World English Bible)
People
NehemiahArtaxerxesSanballatTobiahEzra
Places
SusaJerusalemSheep GateWater Gate
On the timeline
Nehemiah rebuilds Jerusalem's wallsEzra reads the Law to the peopleNehemiah's second term and reforms
Dating notes
Ussher: 454 BC for his coming and 441 BC for his reforms; most scholars: 445 BC and about 432 BC. The span is an estimate; Scripture doesn’t say when the book was written.