“[Synopsis on Nehemiah] In the second book he says the same things (as the book of Ezra) concerning the return from Babylon, except the riddles. On the other hand, he relates more things concerning Nehemiah the eunuch, how he too asked for the building of the temple, and how Ezra performed the function of a scribe, while Josue, Baneas and Habia instructed the people. He relates that Ezra explained the knowledge of the Lord by reading; that the people, through his reading, understood what things must be done and celebrated the phase. They also observed a fast in the seventh month, and the feast of the Tabernacles, as is written. "They had not done so since the days of Josue the son of Nun", he says. When Ezra saw Azotian women married to Hebrews, he mourned and cried, and made everyone promise to keep God's law, and he cast out those women, as being joined by unlawful union, and everyone swore to keep the law. And, thus sanctified and cleansed, they rejoiced, and each man went away to his house. It is also told about Ezra that, when the books had been lost owing to the people's negligence and the long captivity, he, being a man fond of virtue, industrious, and a scribe, kept them all with him, and eventually brought them forth and transmitted them to all, and thus preserved the Bible.”

“The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah, etc. Nehemiah is interpreted in Latin as "the Lord comforts," or "comforter from the Lord"; who, when he had renewed the walls of Jerusalem and freed the people of God from the insults of their enemies, elevated observance of the divine law; it is evident that in both name and deed and person he fittingly designates the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who declares himself sent for the comfort of the poor in spirit, when about to ascend to heaven, he says to his disciples: I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that is, consoler (John 14). The Psalmist shows that it is He who builds up the city of God, namely the holy Church, and comforts the mourners when he says: The Lord builds up Jerusalem, and gathers the dispersed of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted (Psalm 147), etc. The figure of Nehemiah also suits the holy preachers, through whose ministry heavenly consolation is conferred upon us, while, after the fall into sin, they promise penitent ones hope of divine pardon and propitiation, as they rebuild the walls of Jerusalem destroyed by enemies. The month of Chislev is the same we call December, and is the ninth month among the Hebrews, the last month of the year with us; whose name, interpreted in Latin "his hope," most clearly matches the desires of him who directed his mind to raising up the ruins of the holy city. For the first foundation of good action is that we have undoubted hope of the Lord's assistance in accomplishing what we desire. It is the same month in which our Lord was born in the flesh, beautifully prefiguring long beforehand by its name that in it the true Nehemiah, that is the comforter from God the Father, so long hoped for by the chosen, would come into the world for the building of the holy Church. But that Nehemiah writes that he was in the citadel of Susa when men came who reported about Jerusalem. Susa is the metropolis of the kingdom of the Persians, as we read in the history of Esther (Esther 1); which Nehemiah calls a citadel, as does the prophet Daniel (Daniel 8); not because the city is a citadel, but because it is built with such strength that it seems to be one. Susa is interpreted as "horsemanship" or "returning", a name suitably adapted to the fortification of the faithful minds of those especially concerned with the captivity of Jerusalem, that is, the salvation of those who, once snatched from the Church by the devil's snares, have now by penance been brought back to the Church through the grace of God. Such are in the returning citadel, that is, in the strength of a mind called back from weak delights to the desire for the heavenly homeland, from which they fell in the first parent. Such are in the strong host of holy hearts, who bear God as rider. As the prophet says: Riding upon your horses, and your ridership is salvation. The Lord indeed ascends upon his horses when he enlightens the hearts of preachers which he governs with the grace of his piety; and his ridership is salvation, because he leads to eternal salvation those whom he governs, and he makes others too, through them, who are equally governed, partakers of the same eternal salvation. Therefore, Nehemiah inquiring about those who had remained from the captivity of Jerusalem, let us see what follows:”

“The words of Nehemiah, etc. Nehemiah wrote this book from here on. the twentieth year This refers to the twentieth year of King Darius, who is identical with Artaxerxes. In Tractate Rosh Hashanah (3a, b), we find that the phrase “the twentieth year” is mentioned twice using similar wording [to teach us that it is speaking of the identical year]. It states below (2:1), “And it came to pass in the month of Nissan of the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, etc.” The years were calculated from the month of Tishrei. It says here, “And it was in the month of Kislev of the twentieth year, etc.” This refers to the Kislev coming after Tishrei. Further down it says (2:1), “And it was in the month of Nissan of the twentieth year, etc.” This refers to the Nissan of the same year. And I cannot explain that they calculated their years from the month of Nissan and that the incident mentioned below: “And it was in the month of Nissan, etc.” occurred before this incident: “And it was in the month of Kislev, etc.” It is true that events [in the Torah] are not necessarily recorded in chronological order. Nevertheless, the chapters indicate that the second chapter took place only because of the events of the first chapter.”

“Words, or transactions written by Nehemias. (Menochius) — Helcias, or Hebrew and Septaugint, “Chelcias.” — Casleu, the third of the civil year, 1 Esdras x. 9. — Year of Artaxerxes, (Calmet) after he was associated with his father on the throne; (Tirinus) or rather the death of Xerxes. From this period the seventy weeks of Daniel are dated, (Du Hamel) or from the 23rd of Artaxerxes, and the 28th of Xerxes, (Tirinus) as above three years must have been consumed in making preparations for the walls, &c. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] xi. 5.) — The name of Nehemias, “comforter of God,” as well as his being sent by a king to build, &c., prefigured Jesus Christ, sent by God to comfort and establish his Church. (Ven. Bede) (Worthington) (Haydock) — Susa. Hebrew, “in Susa, the palace,” where the kings of Persia resided in the months of winter, (Athen. xii. 1.) and of spring. (Xenophon) (Cyr. viii.) (Curt. v. 8.) — Here Darius probably kept his court at other times, Esther i. 2. (Calmet) — Susa was situated on the river Coaspes, between the provinces of Babylon and Persia. (Du Hamel)”

“In the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, Nehemiah, being then at Susa, received from one of his brethren, and other individuals from Judah, information which deeply grieved him, concerning the sad condition of the captive who had returned to the land of their fathers, and the state of Jerusalem. Neh 1:1 contains the title of the whole book: the History of Nehemiah. By the addition "son of Hachaliah," Nehemiah is distinguished from others of the same name (e.g., from Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, Neh 3:16). Another Nehemiah, too, returned from captivity with Zerubbabel, Ezr 2:2. Of Hachaliah we know nothing further, his name occurring but once more, Neh 10:2, in conjunction, as here, with that of Nehemiah. Eusebius and Jerome assert that Nehemiah was of the tribe of Judah, - a statement which may be correct, but is unsupported by any evidence from the Old Testament. According to Neh 1:11, he was cup-bearer to the Persian king, and was, at his own request, appointed for some time Pecha, i.e., governor, of Judah. Comp. Neh 5:14; Neh 12:26, and Neh 8:9; Neh 10:2. "In the month Chisleu of the twentieth year I was in the citadel of Susa" - such is the manner in which Nehemiah commences the narrative of his labours for Jerusalem. Chisleu is the ninth month of the year, answering to our December. Comp. Zac 7:1, 1 Macc. 4:52. The twentieth year is, according to Neh 2:1, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus. On the citadel of Susa, see further details in the remarks on Dan 8:2. Susa was the capital of the province Susiana, and its citadel, called by the Greeks Memnoneion, was strongly fortified. The kings of Persia were accustomed to reside here during some months of the year. Neh 1:2-3 There came to Nehemiah Hanani, one of his brethren, and certain men from Judah. מאחי אחד, one of my brethren, might mean merely a relation of Nehemiah, אחים being often used of more distant relations; but since Nehemiah calls Hanani אחי in Neh 7:10, it is evident that his own brother is meant. "And I asked them concerning the Jews, and concerning Jerusalem." היּהוּדים is further defined by וגו הפּליטה, who had escaped, who were left from the captivity; those who had returned to Judah are intended, as contrasted with those who still remained in heathen, lands. In the answer, Neh 1:3, they are more precisely designated as being "there in the province (of Judah)." With respect to המּדינה, see remarks on Ezr 2:1. They are said to be "in great affliction (רעה) and in reproach." Their affliction is more nearly defined by the accessory clause which follows: and the wall = because the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates burned with fire. מפרצת, Pual (the intensive form), broken down, does not necessarily mean that the whole wall was destroyed, but only portions, as appears from the subsequent description of the building of the wall, Neh 3. Neh 1:4 This description of the state of the returned captives plunged Nehemiah into such deep affliction, that he passed some days in mourning, fasting, and prayer. Opinions are divided with respect to the historical relation of the facts mentioned Neh 1:3. Some older expositors thought that Hanani could not have spoken of the destruction of the walls and gates of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, because this was already sufficiently known to Nehemiah, but of some recent demolition on the part of Samaritans and other hostile neighbours of the Jews; in opposition to which, Rambach simply replies that we are told nothing of a restoration of the wall of Jerusalem by Zerubbabel and Ezra. More recently Ewald (Geschichte, iv. p. 137f.) has endeavoured to show, from certain psalms which he transposes to post-Babylonian times, the probability of a destruction of the rebuilt wall, but gives a decided negative to the question, whether this took place during the thirteen years between the arrivals of Ezra and Nehemiah. "For," says he, "there is not in the whole of Nehemiah's record the most distant hint that the walls had been destroyed only a short time since; but, on the contrary, this destruction was already so remote an event, that its occasion and authors were no longer spoken of." Vaihinger (Theol. Stud. und Krit., 1857, p. 88, comp. 1854, p. 124f.) and Bertheau are of opinion that it indisputably follows from Neh 1:3-4, as appearances show, that the walls of Jerusalem were actually rebuilt and the gates set up before the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, and that the destruction of this laborious work, which occasioned the sending of an embassy to the Persian court, was of quite recent occurrence, since otherwise Nehemiah would not have been so painfully affected by it. But even the very opposite opinion held concerning the impression made upon the reader by these verses, shows that appearances are deceitful, and the view that the destruction of the walls and gates was of quite recent occurrence is not implied by the words themselves, but only inserted in them by expositors. There is no kind of historical evidence that the walls of Jerusalem which had been destroyed by the Chaldeans were once more rebuilt before Nehemiah's arrival. The documents given by Ezr 4:8-22, which are in this instance appealed to, so far from proving the fact, rather bear testimony against it. The counsellor Rehum and the scribe Shimshai, in their letter to Artaxerxes, accuse indeed the Jews of building a rebellious and bad city, of restoring its walls and digging its foundations (Ezr 4:12); but they only give the king to understand that if this city be built and its walls restored, the king will no longer have a portion on this side the river (Ezr 4:16), and hasten to Jerusalem, as soon as they receive the king's decision, to hinder the Jews by force and power (Ezr 4:23). Now, even if this accusation were quite well founded, nothing further can be inferred from it than that the Jews had begun to restore the walls, but were hindered in the midst of their undertaking. Nothing is said in these documents either of a rebuilding, i.e., a complete restoration, of the walls and setting up of the gates, or of breaking down the walls and burning the gates. It cannot be said that to build a wall means the same as pulling down a wall already built. Nor is anything said in Neh 1:3 and Neh 1:4 of a recent demolition. The assertion, too, that the destruction of this laborious work was the occasion of the mission of Hanani and certain men of Judah to the Persian court (Vaihinger), is entirely without scriptural support. In Neh 1:2 and Neh 1:3 it is merely said that Hanani and his companions came from Judah to Nehemiah, and that Nehemiah questioned them concerning the condition of the Jews in the province of Judah, and concerning Jerusalem, and that they answered: The Jews there are in great affliction and reproach, for the wall of Jerusalem is broken down (מפרצת is a participle expressing the state, not the praeter. or perfect, which would be found here if a destruction recently effected were spoken of). Nehemiah, too, in Neh 2:3 and Neh 2:17, only says: The city of my fathers' sepulchres (Jerusalem) lieth desolate (חרבה is an adjective), not: has been desolated. Nor can a visit on the part of Jews from Judah to their compatriot and relative, the king's cup-bearer, be called a mission to the Persian court. - With respect also to the deep affliction of Nehemiah, upon which Bertheau lays so much stress, it by no means proves that he had received a terrible account of some fresh calamity which had but just befallen the community at Jerusalem, and whose whole extent was as yet unknown to him. Nehemiah had not as yet been to Jerusalem, and could not from his own experience know the state of affairs in Judah and Jerusalem; hence he questioned the newly arrived visitors, not concerning the latest occurrences, but as to the general condition of the returned captives. The fact of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldees could not, of course, be unknown to him; but neither could he be ignorant that now ninety years since a great number of captives had returned to their homes with Zerubbabel and settled in Judah and Jerusalem, and that seventy years since the temple at Jerusalem had been rebuilt. Judging from these facts, he might not have imagined that the state of affairs in Judah and Jerusalem was so bad as it really was. When, then, he now learnt that those who had returned to Judah were in great affliction, that the walls of the town were still lying in ruins and its gates burned, and that it was therefore exposed defenceless to all the insults of hostile neighbours, even this information might well grieve him. It is also probable that it was through Hanani and his companions that he first learnt of the inimical epistle of the royal officials Rehum and Shimshai to Artaxerxes, and of the answer sent thereto by that monarch and thus became for the first time aware of the magnitude of his fellow-countrymen's difficulties. Such intelligence might well be such a shock to him as to cause the amount of distress described Neh 1:4. For even if he indulged the hope that the king might repeal the decree by which the rebuilding of the wall had been prohibited till further orders, he could not but perceive how difficult it would be effectually to remedy the grievous state in which his countrymen who had returned to the land of their fathers found themselves, while the disposition of their neighbours towards them was thus hostile. This state was indeed sufficiently distressing to cause deep pain to one who had a heart alive to the welfare of his nation, and there is no need for inventing new "calamities," of which history knows nothing, to account for the sorrow of Nehemiah. Finally, the circumstance that the destruction of the walls and burning of the gates are alone mentioned as proofs of the affliction and reproach which the returned exiles were suffering, arises simply from an intention to hint at the remedy about to be described in the narrative which follows, by bringing this special kind of reproach prominently forward.”

“Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah--Hanani is called his brother (Neh 7:2). But as that term was used loosely by Jews as well as other Orientals, it is probable that no more is meant than that he was of the same family. According to JOSEPHUS, Nehemiah, while walking around the palace walls, overheard some persons conversing in the Hebrew language. Having ascertained that they had lately returned from Judea, he was informed by them, in answer to his eager enquiries, of the unfinished and desolate condition of Jerusalem, as well as the defenseless state of the returned exiles. The commissions previously given to Zerubbabel and Ezra extending only to the repair of the temple and private dwellings, the walls and gates of the city had been allowed to remain a mass of shattered ruins, as they had been laid by the Chaldean siege.”

“And they said to me: Those who remained and were left, etc. The sense of the letter is clear, because those who had remained from captivity, although they seemed to live in peace with the king of Persia being their friend, whom he had also sent with letters much earlier, who had power in the whole region beyond the river; nevertheless, they were in great affliction of mind, because their enemies reproached them that the holy city still remained in ruins. But now also in the holy Church, it is justly afflicted, and pricked with salutary sadness, they who, themselves repenting from past crimes, consider that their neighbors still lie under vices, so that through the negligence of those who could have benefited many of the corrected, the devil has a free entrance into the Church as if through the walls of a destroyed city. This is all the more necessary to be lamented, if even those who ought to have benefited others by teaching or example, wrongly living, show themselves as an example over destruction to those who see them. For this is what it means for the gates of Jerusalem to be burned with hostile flames, those who ought to have introduced the worthy into the company of the elect by living and teaching well, and kept away the unworthy, to perish by the fire of avarice, lust, pride, contention, envy, and other vices which the malignant enemy is accustomed to incite. But what seems to us to be done about these things, or what ought to be done, is shown when it is immediately added:”

“And they said to me They answered my first question first and my latter question last; first, concerning the Jews and afterwards, concerning the wall and the gates. who remained Those Jews who remained in the province of Jerusalem are in great trouble and reproach because the gentiles plunder and pillage them. and the wall of Jerusalem is breached And the wall of the city is breached, and the gates are burned with fire as they were before, for Israel had not built the wall of the city or its gates, only the Temple. were burned Heb. נִצְתוּ, like נֻצְתוּ.”

“Province of Judea, subject to the Persians, as it was afterwards to the Romans; though, at present, they were allowed to have governors of their own nation. (Menochius) — Reproach, on account of the surrounding enemies. (Haydock) — Fire, recently; (Menochius. See 1 Esdras iv. 12., and ix. 9.) or rather by Nabuchodonosor; as the kings of Persia would not suffer the city to be fortified, for fear of a fresh rebellion. (Lyranus) (Tirinus) — We find that little progress (chap. iii., and iv.; Calmet) had at least been made in the work, though the blame must rather be laid on the enemies of Israel, than on several of the kings of Persia, who seem to have authorized the undertaking, which Cambyses, or Smerdis, had for a time interrupted. They only specify, indeed, that leave was granted to build the temple. But they allowed them to erect houses for themselves, which could not have been done to any purpose, among so many enemies, unless they had been defended by some sort of fortifications. (Haydock)”

“And when I heard such words, I sat and wept, etc., up to And direct your servant, etc. For if a holy man, hearing the buildings of stones and wood destroyed, rightly mourned, fasted, and prayed, and for a long time sat in sadness; how much more in the destruction and ruin of souls, which is committed through sin, should continuous mourning, tears, and prayers be insisted upon? So that, with the Lord pitying, those who lay filthy in the longlasting filth of vices, as a reproach against religion, with the enemy triumphing, may be raised to their former health.”

“HIS PRAYER. (Neh 1:4-11) when I heard these words, that I sat down . . . and mourned . . . and fasted, and prayed--The recital deeply affected the patriotic feelings of this good man, and no comfort could he find but in earnest and protracted prayer, that God would favor the purpose, which he seems to have secretly formed, of asking the royal permission to go to Jerusalem.”

“Nehemiah's prayer, as given in these verses, comprises the prayers which he prayed day and night, during the period of his mourning and fasting (Neh 1:4 comp. Neh 1:6), to his faithful and covenant God, to obtain mercy for his people, and the divine blessing upon his project for their assistance. Neh 1:5 The invocation of Jahve as: Thou God of heaven, alludes to God's almighty government of the world, and the further predicates of God, to His covenant faithfulness. "Thou great and terrible God" recalls Deu 7:21, and "who keepest covenant and mercy," etc., Deu 7:9 and Exo 20:5-6. Neh 1:6 "Let Thine ear be attentive, and Thine eyes open," like Ch2 6:40; Ch2 7:15 - לשׁמע, that Thou mayest hearken to the prayer of Thy servant, which I pray, and how I confess concerning ... מתדּה still depends upon אשׁר in the sense of: and what I confess concerning the sins. היּום does not here mean to-day, but now, at this time, as the addition "day and night" compared with ימים in Neh 1:4 shows. To strengthen the communicative form לך חטאנוּ, and to acknowledge before God how deeply penetrated he was by the feeling of his own sin and guilt, he adds: and I and my father's house have sinned. Neh 1:7 We have dealt very corruptly against Thee. חבל is the inf. constr. instead of the infin. abs., which, before the finite verb, and by reason of its close connection therewith, becomes the infin. constr., like אהיה היות, Psa 50:21; comp. Ewald, 240, c. The dealing corruptly against God consists in not having kept the commandments, statutes, and judgments of the law. Neh 1:8-10 With his confession of grievous transgression, Nehemiah combines the petition that the Lord would be mindful of His word declared by Moses, that if His people, whom He had scattered among the heathen for their sins, should turn to Him and keep His commandments, He would gather them from all places where He had scattered them, and bring them back to the place which He had chosen to place His name there. This word (הדּבר) he designates, as that which God had commanded to His servant Moses, inasmuch as it formed a part of that covenant law which was prescribed to the Israelites as their rule of life. The matter of this word is introduced by לאמר: ye transgress, I will scatter; i.e., if ye transgress by revolting from me, I will scatter you among the nations, - and ye turn to me and keep my commandments (i.e., if ye turn to me and ... ), if there were of you cast out to the end of heaven (i.e., to the most distant regions where the end of heaven touches the earth), thence will I gather you, etc. נדּח, pat. Niphal, with a collective meaning, cast-out ones, like Deu 30:4. These words are no verbal quotation, but a free summary, in which Nehemiah had Deu 30:1-5 chiefly in view, of what God had proclaimed in the law of Moses concerning the dispersion of His people among the heathen if they sinned against Him, and of their return to the land of their fathers if they repented and turned to Him. The clause: if the cast-out ones were at the end of heaven, etc., stands verbally in Neh 1:4. The last words, Neh 1:9, "(I will bring them) to the place which I have chosen, that my name may dwell there," are a special application of the general promise of the law to the present case. Jerusalem is meant, where the Lord caused His name to dwell in the temple; comp. Deu 12:11. The entreaty to remember this word and to fulfil it, seems ill adapted to existing circumstances, for a portion of the people were already brought back to Jerusalem; and Nehemiah's immediate purpose was to pray, not for the return of those still sojourning among the heathen, but for the removal of the affliction and reproach resting on those who were now at Jerusalem. Still less appropriate seems the citation of the words: If ye transgress, I will scatter you among the nations. It must, however, be remembered that Nehemiah is not so much invoking the divine compassion as the righteousness and faithfulness of a covenant God, the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy (Neh 1:5). Now this, God had shown Himself to be, by fulfilling the threats of His law that He would scatter His faithless and transgressing people among the nations. Thus His fulfilment of this one side of the covenant strengthened the hope that God would also keep His other covenant word to His people who turned to Him, viz., that He would bring them again to the land of their fathers, to the place of His gracious presence. Hence the reference to the dispersion of the nation among the heathen, forms the actual substructure for the request that so much of the promise as yet remained unfulfilled might come to pass. Nehemiah, moreover, views this promise in the full depth of its import, as securing to Israel not merely an external return to their native land, but their restoration as a community, in the midst of whom the Lord had His dwelling, and manifested Himself as the defence and refuge of His people. To the re-establishment of this covenant relation very much was still wanting. Those who had returned from captivity had indeed settled in the land of their fathers; and the temple in which they might worship God with sacrifices, according to the law, was rebuilt at Jerusalem. But notwithstanding all this, Jerusalem, with its ruined walls and burned gates, was still like a city lying waste, and exposed to attacks of all kinds; while the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah were loaded with shame and contempt by their heathen neighbours. In this sense, Jerusalem was not yet restored, and the community dwelling therein not yet brought to the place where the name of the Lord dwelt. In this respect, the promise that Jahve would again manifest Himself to His repentant people as the God of the covenant was still unfulfilled, and the petition that He would gather His people to the place which He had chosen to put His name there, i.e., to manifest Himself according to His nature, as testified in His covenant (Exo 34:6-7), quite justifiable. In Neh 1:10 Nehemiah supports his petition by the words: And these (now dwelling in Judah and Jerusalem) are Thy servants and Thy people whom Thou hast redeemed, etc. His servants who worship Him in His temple, His people whom He has redeemed from Egypt by His great power and by His strong arm, God cannot leave in affliction and reproach. The words: "redeemed with great power" ... are reminiscences from Deu 7:8; Deu 9:26, Deu 9:29, and other passages in the Pentateuch, and refer to the deliverance from Egypt. Neh 1:11 The prayer closes with the reiterated entreaty that God would hearken to the prayer of His servant (i.e., Nehemiah), and to the prayer of His servants who delight to fear His name (יראה, infin. like Deu 4:10 and elsewhere), i.e., of all Israelites who, like Nehemiah, prayed to God to redeem Israel from all his troubles. For himself in particular, Nehemiah also request: "Prosper Thy servant to-day (היּום like Neh 1:6; לעבדּך may be either the accusative of the person, like Ch2 26:5, or the dative: Prosper his design unto Thy servant, like Neh 2:20), and give him to mercy (i.e., cause him to find mercy; comp. Kg1 8:50; Psa 106:46) before the face of this man." What man he means is explained by the following supplementary remark, "And I was cup-bearer to the king," without whose favour and permission Nehemiah could not have carried his project into execution (as related in Neh 2).”

“We have dealt corruptly Heb. חֲבֹל, a noun, an expression of corruption, since the “heth” is vowelized with a “hataf pattah,” and I cannot interpret it as a verb form, because in that case, it would have to be vowelized with a large “kamatz.” we have dealt corruptly Heb. חָבַלְנוּ, an expression of corruption, as in Daniel (6:23): “I have done no harm.””

“But I say, Has the Lord used iniquity to snatch the nations from the power of his enemies and recall them to faith in him and to his dominion? By no means. For "Israel" was once "the Lord's portion," but they made Israel turn from their God in sin, and because of their sins God said to them, "Behold, you have been separated by your sins and because of your sins you have been scattered under the whole heaven." But again he says to them, "If your dispersion should be from one end of heaven to the other, from there I will gather you, says the Lord." Because, therefore, "the princes of this world" had first invaded "the Lord's portion," "the good shepherd" had, necessarily, the ninety and nine having been left on the heights, to descend to the lands and seek the one sheep that was lost, and when it was found and carried back on his shoulders, to recall it to the sheepfold of perfection on high.”

“I beseech You, O Lord, may Your ear now be attentive At the beginning of his prayer he used this expression, and so after his prayer. Your servant This is what he prayed for himself. before this man before the king. butler Heb. מַשְּׁקֶה, like (Gen. 40:1): “...the butler of (מַשְּׁקֶה) the king of Egypt.” This is what I explained above (Ezra 2:63) according to the words of our Sages, that Hattirshatha is Nehemiah.”

“Man; ( virum ) the great king, (Haydock) Artaxerxes. (Calmet) — Cup-bearer; Athersatha, 1 Esdras ii. 63., and 2 Esdras vii. 65. Bible Text & Cross-references: Nehemias, hearing of the miserable state of his countrymen in Judea, lamenteth, fasteth, and prayeth to God for their relief. 1 The *words of Nehemias, the son of Helchias. And it came to pass in the month of Casleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in the castle of Susa, 2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and some men of Juda; and I asked them concerning the Jews, that remained and were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me: They that have remained, and are left of the captivity there in the province, are in great affliction and reproach: and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire. 4 And when I had heard these words, I sat down, and wept, and mourned for many days: and I fasted, and prayed before the face of the God of heaven. 5 And I said: *I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, strong, great, and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy with those that love thee, and keep thy commandments: 6 Let thy ears be attentive, and thy eyes open, to hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, night and day, for the children of Israel, thy servants: and I confess the sins of the children of Israel, by which they have sinned against thee: I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have been seduced by vanity, and have not kept thy commandments, and ceremonies, and judgments, which thou hast commanded thy servant, Moses. 8 Remember the word that thou commandedst to Moses, thy servant, saying: If you shall transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 But if you return to me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though you should be led away to the uttermost parts of the world, I will gather you from thence, and bring you back to the place which I have chosen for my name to dwell there. 10 And these are thy servants, and thy people: whom thou hast redeemed by thy great strength, and by thy mighty hand. 11 I beseech thee, O Lord, let thy ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and direct thy servant this day, and give him mercy before this man. For I was the king’s cup-bearer.”