Readings:
Nehemiah 1-3

This book is named after the main character in the story, but most scholars don’t think he was the actual author. Until the early Middle Ages, this book was called 2 Ezra because it was believed that he wrote this book too. It was also previously just a single book before they were split into 1 & 2 Ezra.

Nehemiah, whether he wrote it or not, is the focus of this book. He was the royal Persian governor of Judah, his appointment and arrival being spurred on by reports that some of the gentiles around Jerusalem are harassing the returned exiles and the construction on the city has ground to a halt. He receives his commission from Xerxes and sets off for the holy land about 20 years after Ezra’s arrival.

When Nehemiah sets out to Jerusalem he brings the letters commissioning him as an official and royal governor of Judah. And right away we meet some of the antagonists of the story, and to me the most interesting one is Sanballat the Horonite. He was a Samaritan, and the Jewish-Samaritan relationship was already contentious at this point some 400 years before Christ. His name is theophoric, but the god in his name is the Sumerian god of the moon, Sīn. This means “sīn gives life” and is not in anyways related to the English word sin. But it’s interesting to note that many Israelite and later Jewish names reference the God of Abraham in their names, but the samaritans often had names referencing foreign gods. The town he was from is often thought to be a small village near modern day Nablus, and that’s what the horonite means.

Something to note about this Sanballat is that he is known to history in documents outside of the Bible. The Jewish community in elephantine Egypt actually sent a letter to him requesting aid in rebuilding their temple there. This community was established around the time of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the northern kingdom so it contained a mix of all ten tribes. They also built their temple outside of the law of Moses since there was to be one central place of worship in Jerusalem, but this didn’t stop them from seeking aid from the Jews of Jerusalem and the samaritans.

When Nehemiah announces his plans to rebuild the walls the adversaries react by plotting to undermine his activities, but they’re initially rebuffed by Nehemiah telling them he doesn’t care what they say because they have no inheritance in the holy city.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Nehemiah 4-7