Reading for July 12th

Read Nehemiah 4.10-23. In verse 10: But Judah said, "the strength of the burden bearers is failing": Facing not only external pressure to cease. Nehemiah now had to contend with wavering resolve among the builders. Judah is a metaphor for the whole community. The burden bearers hauled materials up to the points on the wall where they are needed. In verse 12: They said to us ten times is an idiom for "repeatedly." These informants want to be sure the community understands that rebuilding may provoke a general raid. In verse 13: So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places: Nehemiah's strategy was to place people where they would be ready to respond to an attack anywhere along the wall line.  The lowest parts may have been chosen to conceal the force from the attacker. In verse 14: Do not be afraid ... remember the Lord: In the biblical tradition of the holy war the armed force was promised that God will fight on their behalf. In verse 15: We all returned to the wall; The immediate threat of military challenge having passed, the community could now return to the task of rebuilding the wall. Nehemiah's subsequent orders are designed to maximize the work on the wall while demonstrating a preparedness for defense. In verse 16: All of my servants: Probably a chosen group of individuals under direct employ of Nehemiah and whose loyalty he could count on. With such careful provisions, the danger of general military action against the community was stymied. Comments or Questions

Reading for July 11th

 Read Nehemiah 4.1-9. In 4.1-23: Opposition and the community's response. Though written as a first person narrative, presumably from Nehemiah view, the focus is on the community. The account alternates between the scorn and plots of the adversaries of the rebuilding, and the community's determination to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. In verse 2: Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? The taunt relates to restoring Jerusalem to its former glory, a task that would take a great deal of time. The community's enthusiasm may be strong at the moment, but as time passses, Sanballat believes they will give up the task. The issue of sacrifice relates to dedicating the walls at the completion of the project (see 12.43). In verse 6: All the wall was joined together to half its height: it is unclear if this was half it original height or half of its planned height (which may have been considerably less, given the restricted resources). In verse 8: All plotted together to come and fight, maybe not as an "official" military force, but perhaps in a series of raids designed to destabilize the building project. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 10th

 Read Nehemiah 3.15-32. No comments.

Reading for July 9th

 Read Nehemiah 3.1-14. In 3.1-32: The community organizes to rebuild the walls. This section marks the centerpoint combined work Ezra-Nehemiah and place the emphasis squarely on the community's efforts. While Ezra and Nehemiah are marked by having "the hand of God" on them, the heroes of the narrative are the community members, elaborated in various lists, who willingly undertake the formation of the "house of God." The historical value of this list has been under discussion, and many believe it reflects an authentic, if only partial, record of the organization of the rebuilding effort. In verse 1: Then the high priests ... with his fellow priests ... rebuilt the Sheep Gate: This gate was located in the northeast corner of the city adjacent to the Temple precinct and was the principal entry for animals brought for sacrifice. Perhaps because of this, the section of wall is consecrated or "made holy." Another possibility is that this section was most vulnerable to attack, and consecrating the wall in effect called on God to help defend it. In verse 5: Tekoites: Tekoa was on the fringe of the Judean desert to the south of Jerusalem. It was the traditional village of the prophet Amos (Am1.1). The common people's willingness to contrasted with nobles, whose reasons for opposing Nehemiah are not given. It is possible that Tekoa lay near the boundary between Yehud's administrative area and Gershem's, and the nobles may have feared their involvement would bring difficulties with Gershem. Their Lord is a probable reference to Nehemiah. In verse 7: Gibeon and of Mizpah ... under the jurisdiction of the governor or the province Beyond the River: the Hebrew phrasing is difficult, but it may be that Mizpah and the city of Gibeon which lies slightly south of it, were under some special status. Mizpah was not destroyed by the Babylonians, and it became the administrative center for their rule over the devastated Judean kingdom (Jer 40.7-10). It may have retained some special status as a provincial center as Jerusalem remerged as the regional capital. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 8th

 Read Nehemiah 2.17-20. In 2.17-20: Nehemiah's decree to the people and opposition to the project. Just as the previous section introduced Nehemiah's determination to fulfill the commission given him, and introduced the main personalities who opposed him, this section brings the community into the picture by Nehemiah's leadership, yet notes the opposition. In verse 17: Then I said to them: The whole community, as defined in v. 16. Disgrace was a term often associated with the Exile as God's punishment of the community, in other words, the refortification of the city would finally put an end the negative results of God's punishment of the community. In verse18: They committed themselves to the common good; just like as Ezra had found a willingness to undertake the difficult task of separation from the surrounding peoples, Nehemiah finds the community ready to undertake rebuilding the walls. In verse 19: Geshem the Arab is a new figure among the opponents, thought to be the governor of a region in the Shephelah with an administrative center at Lachish. Are you rebelling against the king? would be the normal assumption about an effort to rebuild a city's fortifications since it would provide the means to defy imperial power. it is a hallow taunt since Nehemiah was directly commissioned by the imperial court. In verse 20: You have no share or claim or historic right in Jerusalem was a stinging rebuke to his opponents that essentially undercut their intrusion into Nehemiah's administrative affairs. The expression strongly parallels the rejection of help from "adversaries" in the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 4.3), joining the theme of resestabling the "house of God" to the rebuilding of the walls. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 7th

 Read Nehemiah 2.9-16. In 2.9-16: Nehemiah's coming to Jerusalem. As with the account of Ezra, there are few details of the lengthy journey from Persia to Jerusalem. The focus is on significant opposition to Nehemiah's task and his consequent need to be cautious in his planning. In verse 9: Gave them the king's letters: Since Nehemiah came directly from the imperial court, it would be convenient for him to carry vital dispatches as well as official declarations of his office. The king had sent officers of the army and cavalry with me highlights both the military nature of Nehemiah's commission and the importance the imperial court placed on his success. In verse 10: Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official: Sanballat is a Babylonian name and is known from Aramaic documents of the Persian period to have been the name of the governor of the Persian district of Samaria. Horonite probably means his family was from beth-horon, two israelite cities located some 12 miles north of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 8.5) and controlling a strategic pass. Tobiah is a Hebrew name, his exact role is less certain. The Ammonite official is perhaps a reference to his region of Administrative responsibility. Some have linked him to a powerful family of the same name of a later period that had significant interests in the Transjordan. Others have suggested he is the same as the Tabeel of Ezra, apparently a junior official  in the regional administration. As a Ammonite (if this is a reference to family of origin), Tobiah would be excluded from the "assembly" of Israel (Deut 23.3-6). It displeased them: Perhaps because the new preference the imperial court is showing to Jerusalem, which will bring new revenues and prestige to the city. In verse 11: The account of the rest of the three days parallels Ezra's account (Ezra 8.32). In verse 13: I went out by night by the Valley Gate: Nehemiah's inspection of the city's fortifications that could be communicated to the king and cause delay in the project. His inspection tour seems to follow the area known as the "City of David," a spur of land that lies along the western edge of the Kidron valley south of the temple area. Nehemiah moves from the northwest corner of this region along the city's walls, which stretched southeastward along the city wall, which stretched southeastward until they turned and went back north above the Kidron. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 6th

 Read Nehemiah 2.1-8. In 2.1-8: Artaxerxes' grant to Nehemiah. Just as Ezra's mission was the result of a gracious act by Artaxerxes, so Nehemiah's appointment as governor is by the favor of the same king. This account shows the conditions of Nehemiah's appointment and underscores God's working through both Artaxerxes and Nehemiah. In verse 1" In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year: Nisan is early spring roughly March-April in our calendar, some three months after receiving the report of 1.3. The twentieth year of Artaxerxes would place this in 445BCE, about 13 years after Ezra's mission. In verse 3: The city, the place of my ancestor's graves, lies waste is a somewhat exaggerated description, though it is probable that sections of the city remain uninhabitable from the ruins of the Babylonian conquest. In verse 6: How long will you be gone, and when will you return? Artaxerxes' reply assumes the granting of Nehemiah's request to rebuild Jerusalem, and the value of Nehemiah to the court. In verse 8: To give me timber to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress, and for the wall of the city: Nehemiah's task in rebuilding the city will include refortification, something the Persian empire would not allow without royal dispensation. Since the beams over the gate ways need to be of larger and stronger wood than is readily available in the region, Nehemiah asks for timber from the imperially controlled sources, probably the cedar forests of Lebanon. The granting of timber supplies was also the empowering of Nehemiah to refortify the city, an act undertaken because of troubled conditions in the Egyptian holdings of the empire. the gracious hand of my God was upon me parallels Ezra's claim of divine support (Ezra 7.6, 28). Comments or Questions..