Nehemiah
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Nehemiah
(nē'əmī`ə), in the Bible. 1 Central figure of the Book of Nehemiah: see EzraEzra,book of the Bible, combined with Nehemiah in the Septuagint to form the book 2 Esdras. In the Vulgate, Ezra and Nehemiah are called 1 and 2 Esdras respectively. Ezra, like Nehemiah, is the work of the Chronicler (see Chronicles) and narrates the history of the Jews from
..... Click the link for more information. . 2 One who returned from the Exile. 3 Worker on the wall.
Nehemiah,
originally combined with EzraEzra,book of the Bible, combined with Nehemiah in the Septuagint to form the book 2 Esdras. In the Vulgate, Ezra and Nehemiah are called 1 and 2 Esdras respectively. Ezra, like Nehemiah, is the work of the Chronicler (see Chronicles) and narrates the history of the Jews from
..... Click the link for more information. to form a single book in the Hebrew canon. In the SeptuagintSeptuagint
[Lat.,=70], oldest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made by Hellenistic Jews, possibly from Alexandria, c.250 B.C. Legend, according to the fictional letter of Aristeas, records that it was done in 72 days by 72 translators for Ptolemy Philadelphus, which
..... Click the link for more information. , Ezra and Nehemiah are combined as Second EsdrasEsdras
[Gr. from Heb. Ezra], name of several books found in the Old Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. The New Revised Standard Version (following the Authorized Version) maintains the titles Ezra and Nehemiah for the books to which the Vulgate gives the titles First and
..... Click the link for more information. . The book narrates the return to Jerusalem of Nehemiah, the cup-bearer of Persian King Artaxerxes I, as governor of the city-state. In the first period of Nehemiah's governorship (445–433 B.C.) as related in the book, Jerusalem's walls were rebuilt. There follows an account of the census taking during the earlier era of ZerubbabelZerubbabel
[Heb.,=seed of Babylon], in the Bible, a grandson of King Jehoiachin (exiled in 597 B.C.) and governor of Jerusalem. He led a company returning from exile in c.520 B.C. under patronage of the Persian King Darius.
..... Click the link for more information. in c.520 B.C. The work continues with the return of Ezra in 458 B.C.; the reading of the Jewish law; the national confession of sin; a return to Nehemiah's first governorship; and a brief account of his second term, which began sometime after 433 B.C.
Bibliography
See EzraEzra,
book of the Bible, combined with Nehemiah in the Septuagint to form the book 2 Esdras. In the Vulgate, Ezra and Nehemiah are called 1 and 2 Esdras respectively. Ezra, like Nehemiah, is the work of the Chronicler (see Chronicles) and narrates the history of the Jews from
..... Click the link for more information. for bibliography.
Nehemiah
high official (cupbearer) of the Persian king Artaxerxes I.
From 445 to 433 B.C., Nehemiah was governor of the Jewish civic and temple community in the Persian satrapy of Judah. Facing a bitter conflict between the community and other groups of the population, Nehemiah fortified Jerusalem and resettled some of the community members there. Struggling against moneylending, the seizure of land, and the enslavement of debtors, Nehemiah issued a law concerning the cancellation of debts in the community and the return of debtors’ property. A “constitution” introduced by Nehemiah, based on the laws of the Pentateuch, demanded the strictest observance of religious regulations and categorically forbade mixed marriages. The steps taken by Nehemiah were the consummation of the process of the shaping of the Jewish community. The Old Testament Book of Nehemiah, based on the records or memoirs of Nehemiah, was compiled in the second half of the fifth or early fourth century B.C.
REFERENCES
Veinberg, I. P. Grazhdansko-khramovaia obshchina v zapadnykh provintsiiakh akhemenidskoi derzhavy. Tbilisi, 1973. (Author abstract of dissertation.)Mowinckel, S. Studien zu dem Buche Ezra-Nehemia, (vols.) 1–3. Oslo, 1964–65.
Ackroyd, P. R. Exile and Restoration. London, 1968.
I. P. VEINBERG