GOVERNOR OF JUDAH · EXILE & RETURN

Nehemiah. Twelve years governor; the wall rebuilt in fifty-two days.

GOVERNEDi

12 years c. 445–433 BC (dates vary)

SEAT

Jerusalem

HOUSE

Son of Hachaliah (Neh 1:1) 9th of 9 in Persia

SCRIPTURE SAYS

“The former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people… but so did not I, because of…”

PROPHETS

Shemaiah son of Delaiah · Noadiah

PERSIA: 9 RULERS CYRUS → NEHEMIAH

AUTHORITY

Under whose authority

SUCCESSION

Before and after

WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS

What Scripture says of him

  • "The former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people… but so did not I, because of the fear of God." Nehemiah 5:15
  • "Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people." Nehemiah 5:19
  • "Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in." Nehemiah 6:11
  • "These were in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua… and in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the priest, the scribe." Nehemiah 12:26
  • His last words in the book: "Remember me, O my God, for good." Nehemiah 13:31

THE KINGDOM

Jerusalem and the places of the reign

Persia. Only places Scripture names are shown, each where the Atlas puts it.

EVENTS

Wars, works and turning points

Each mark sits at the year of the reign the Bible gives for it.

UNDATED IN SCRIPTURE

THE NATION

What the nation did

  • The wall and its gates were rebuilt by families, each over against its house, and finished in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 3:1 Nehemiah 6:15 Nehemiah 7:1

PROPHETS

Prophets of the reign

  • Sh Shemaiah son of Delaiah “God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him”
  • No Noadiah "The prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in fear."

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The powers of the day

PERSIA

Artaxerxes

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · 408 BC

Elephantine papyrus (Cowley No. 30)

DATES DIFFER

When was it?

SCRIPTURE'S NUMBERS

No years given

From Artaxerxes' twentieth year to his thirty-second: 12 years (Neh 5:14).

IF ARTAXERXES I: 445–433 BC (PARKER AND DUBBERSTEIN, 1942)

c. 445–433 BC[3]

Artaxerxes I's twentieth year began in spring 445 and his thirty-second in spring 433.

445–433 BC (RYLE, 1893; COWLEY, 1923)

c. 445–433 BC[34][6]

Ryle: the twentieth year is 445 BC; Cowley, from the Elephantine letter, concludes that the thirty-second year was 433 BC.

Artaxerxes I

H. E. Ryle (1893); R. Dick Wilson (1915); A. Cowley (1923)

Sanballat's sons and the high priest Johanan appear in an Elephantine letter of 408 BC, which fits Sanballat as Nehemiah's opponent about 445 and makes Nehemiah's king Artaxerxes I, not II. Nehemiah 2:10 Nehemiah 12:22 [34][17][6]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 13

Nehemiah 1 Nehemiah 2 Nehemiah 3 Nehemiah 4 Nehemiah 5 Nehemiah 6 Nehemiah 7 Nehemiah 8 Nehemiah 9 Nehemiah 10 Nehemiah 11 Nehemiah 12 Nehemiah 13

PASSAGES · 7

Nehemiah 1:1–7:5 Nehemiah 7:65–70 Nehemiah 8:1–12 Nehemiah 9:38–10:39 Nehemiah 11:1–2 Nehemiah 12:26–47 Nehemiah 13:1–31

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture does not say how long his second stay lasted, or when and where he died.
  • Scripture does not name the governors between Zerubbabel and Nehemiah; he speaks only of "the former governors that had been before me" (Neh 5:15).
  • Nehemiah 1:1 dates the news to Chisleu "in the twentieth year" and 2:1 his audience to Nisan of Artaxerxes' twentieth year; Scripture does not explain how the two months fall in one year.
  • Scripture calls Sanballat only "the Horonite"; the title "governor of Samaria" comes from the Elephantine letter.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the textNehemiah son of Hachaliah is a different man from the Nehemiah who came up with Zerubbabel and from Nehemiah son of Azbuk. Nehemiah 1:1 Ezra 2:2 Nehemiah 3:16
  • From the textHe calls himself governor, and the book calls him "Nehemiah the governor" and "Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha". Nehemiah 5:14 Nehemiah 12:26 Nehemiah 8:9 Nehemiah 10:1
  • Scholars' view"Tirshatha" is a Persian-era title; R. Dick Wilson (1915) notes it stands beside pechah, "governor", for the same men.[16]

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), pp. 380–384 (the Cylinder of Cyrus, lines 12–35).
  • R. F. Harper (ed.), Assyrian and Babylonian Literature: Selected Translations (1901), pp. 168–171 ("The Annals of Nabonidus").
  • R. A. Parker and W. H. Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.–A.D. 45 (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 24; dates cited as facts only) (1942), pp. 11–15 (kings' reigns) and the tables of years.
  • L. W. King and R. C. Thompson, The Sculptures and Inscription of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistûn in Persia (1907), Persian text, §§ I–IV and X–XIII, pp. 1–13.
  • A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. (1923), No. 6, pp. 15–16 (introduction and translation).
  • A. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. (1923), No. 30, pp. 108–114 (introduction and translation).
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 1 (1890), Book I §§191, 214.
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 1 (1890), Book III §88.
  • Herodotus, tr. G. C. Macaulay, The History of Herodotus, vol. 2 (1890), Book VII §§4, 61, 114; Book IX §§109–112.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Darius", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections (1)–(3).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Ahasuerus", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 1, 2 and 4.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Artaxerxes", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections (1)–(3).
  • T. G. Pinches, "Cyrus", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 9, 10, 12 and 14.
  • Burton Scott Easton, "Xerxes", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Zerubbabel", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 1, 3 and 4.
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Tirshatha", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • R. Dick Wilson, "Nehemiah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), sections 3 and 5.
  • James Crichton, "Gedaliah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), (1), sections 2–3.
  • John Urquhart, "Vashti", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • John Urquhart, "Esther", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915).
  • George L. Robinson, "Isaiah", International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (1915), the sections on chapters 40–66 and on the critical view.
  • Gerson B. Levi, Kaufmann Kohler and George A. Barton, "Ahasuerus", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 1 (1901), biblical data and critical view.
  • Emil G. Hirsch and Isaac Broydé, "Ezra the Scribe", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 5 (1903).
  • Joseph Jacobs, M. Seligsohn, Morris Jastrow Jr. and D. S. Margoliouth, "Ezra, Book of", Jewish Encyclopedia vol. 5 (1903).
  • James Ussher, The Annals of the World (English translation of the Annales) (1658), The sixth Age of the World, pp. 108–112 and 118 (read from the page scans, leaves 59–64).
  • L. McFall, "A Translation Guide to the Chronological Data in Kings and Chronicles", Bibliotheca Sacra 148 (facts only) (1991), numbered texts 1–68; page numbers of the author's PDF.
  • W. F. Albright, "The Chronology of the Divided Monarchy of Israel", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 100 (facts only) (1945), Chronological table, pp. 20–22.
  • C. F. Keil, tr. M. G. Easton, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on Dan 9:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. S. Taylor, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Keil and Delitzsch) (1873), note on Ezra 1:8 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. S. Taylor, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Keil and Delitzsch) (1873), note on Ezra 6:14 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. A. Harper, The Books of the Chronicles (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), note on 1 Chr 3:17–19 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. D. Patrick, The Prophecies of Jeremiah (Keil and Delitzsch) (1880), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. E. Ryle, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1893), note on Ezra 1:8 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. E. Ryle, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1893), note on Neh 2:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers: 1 Chronicles (c. 1878–1884), note on 1 Chr 3:19 (read on Bible Hub).
  • S. R. Driver, The Book of Daniel (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1900), note on Dan 5:31 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Daniel (1880–1897), note on Dan 6:28 and the "Excursus on Darius the Mede" (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Esther (1880–1897), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. W. Streane, The Book of Esther (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1907), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1748–1763), note on Esth 2:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Jeremiah (1880–1897), note on Jer 41:1, reporting H. Graetz (read on Bible Hub).
  • A. W. Streane, The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1881), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on Jer 41:1 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), Pulpit Commentary: Isaiah (1880–1897), note on Isa 44:28 (read on Bible Hub).

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