Nehemiah

Introduction

Title

Nehemiah (Neḥem-Yah) means “The Comfort of Yahweh.” Originally, the Hebrew scribes lumped Ezra and Nehemiah into one book—not two. Since these two books are so closely linked together, see “Introduction to Ezra” for a longer introduction to this book.

Authorship

Both Ezra and Nehemiah speak in the first person through these books. Ancient Jewish tradition held that Ezra wrote both Ezra and Nehemiah (originally one book titled “Ezra,” see Baba Bathra, 15a). Eugene Merrill synthesizes this by saying that “each made some original contribution which became part of the whole corpus as shaped by some anonymous author.” However, since the events in Nehemiah occur later than Ezra (even though there is overlap in their ministries), then Nehemiah could’ve used Ezra’s writings to incorporate them into one whole book. Again, Merrill writes, “If either Ezra or Nehemiah must be judged author of the book that bears their names, Nehemiah is clearly the more suitable candidate… However, the matter is much too complicated for that either/ or option. There is no doubt that much of the material is original to both these individuals, but the final product can hardly be attributed to either.”

Setting

The book of Nehemiah picks up the account where Chronicles leaves off: the Persian king Cyrus allowed the Jewish people to return from Exile (cf. Ezra 1:1-4). Nehemiah explains how the fortifications and city of Jerusalem were rebuilt.