An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 83: Ezra got planning permission, now Nehemiah repairs the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1-5)

Nehemiah 1-5
Ezra got planning permission, now Nehemiah repairs the walls of Jerusalem.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.
For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Nehemiah 1

“The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,”

Firstly, should that not be Chislev for the month? Anyway, this chapter begins with a first person testimony of Nehemiah, who at the end we are told is the king’s cupbearer, who learns from his friend Hanani that many of the Jews have returned to Jerusalem. Nehemiah himself is Jewish, originally from Judah. Nehemiah offers a prayer to God, returning to the covenant with Moses. Nehemiah admits that the Jews did wrong by God and so their captivity and scattering was deserved according to the covenant, but he also reminds God of His promise to restore the people if they repent. And Nehemiah offers repentance.

As with the end of Ezra, the first person perspective gives the narrative more force and direction, even if this is largely similar to what has gone before. Also, I noticed, but didn’t mention, that the Israelites are now referred to as Jews as of Ezra, almost as if this particular term for their identity comes about during the Babylonian captivity. Prior to this they have always been Israelites (even when referring to the kingdom of Judah sometimes), and occasionally Hebrew (often by an outside party like the Egyptians), so I’ve been primarily using the term Israelites. Also this prevents any confusion with modern forms of Judaism; I will probably continue to use Israelites predominantly.

Nehemiah 2

“And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.”

Nehemiah petitions Ataxerxes to travel to Jerusalem and help repair it, and Ataxerxes agrees, giving him letters of passage to help him (an indication that the power of the Persian kings extends all the way to Jerusalem). When he gets there, Nehemiah rides around the walls, including the evocatively named Dragon Well and Dung Gate, and finds that all the gates are burned and useless. He determines to rebuild the walls and the gates, but several men – Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Servant (an Ammonite) and Geshem the Arabian mock him for it, and suggest that he intends rebellion.

Nehemiah 3

“Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.”

The walls are rebuilt, and this chapter is a list of everyone who helped, and the portion of the walls that they helped make. It also serves as a little travelogue around the walls of Jerusalem and its various gates. These are the Sheep Gate, the Fish Gate, the Old Gate, the Dung Gate (repaired by Malchiah – I mention this as it is probably the worst job given), the Gate of the Fountains, the Water Gate and the East Gate. Also of note, amongst those who helped where two joint rulers of the city (at least, they are given as ruling half the city); Rephaiah and Shallom. Rulers of other cities help as well, but not the nobles of the Tekoites.

Nehemiah 4

“Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.”

Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem are angry that the city is being rebuilt, presumably because they are worried by a fortified city being built on their doorstep, but they don’t go much further than mockery at the moment. Nonetheless, Nehemiah sets armed guards around the building works and makes sure that someone is always on alert. He also sets up a signalling system with trumpeters spaced around the walls to warn of attack, and everyone, including leaders, is either working or guarding when they are not resting. I really have nothing else to say on this chapter, everything seems sensible and measured, which is a refreshing change from reckless kings. “A fox could break that wall down” is very weak as an insult. Come on Tobiah, is that the best you can do? I wonder if there’s some pun in Hebrew that has been lost in translation.

Nehemiah 5

“Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them.”

The people complain of high taxation and abuses, so Nehemiah rebukes the leaders of the Jews for committing usury and also of taking the people from one form of bondage to another. The commentary for this chapter makes a good point that it doesn’t matter how high or thick the walls of your city are if the people themselves are against you; this isn’t stated explicitly, nor much implied, in the chapter itself but it’s a good point. Maybe that's the point of Tobiah's insult - a strong wall can still be undone using cunning (hence the fox reference). Redress is made and society is made fairer, although I’m not entirely convinced by Nehemiah’s argument at the end, that he only had six sheep and an ox per day, but at least he didn’t have any bread.