Reading for January 8th

Read James 5.7-11 In 5.7-11: Patience unto judgment. The exhortation to patience comes in two parts: vv. 7-8 and 10-11. Patience, moreover, awaits the great judgment, both its coming (vv. 7-8) and the appearance of the great judge. In verse 7: James reflects agricultural patterns in the Middle East with winter and spring rains. In verse 9: The warning against judgments connects with similar remarks in 4.11-12 and echoes Mt 7.1-5. In Rev 3.20 Jesus the judge stands at the door, although the Judge here is more likely God. In verses 10-11: Like the examples in 2.21-26, the prophets exemplify endurance and faithfulness in difficult times. The premier example if Job. This is the only mention of Job in the New Testament. Comments or Questions..

Reading for January 7th

Read James 4.13-5.6. In 4.13-5.6: pride of the rich. The criticism of the rich in 1.10-11 and 2.1-4 returns. In 4.13-15: Evil speech expresses arrogance focused on getting rich. In contrast, virtuous speech entrusts one's life and prosperity to God. In verses 16-17: Boasting, another form of evil speech, expresses pride in a repeat of "faith and work" (2.14-26), wholeness is lost when someone knows the right thing to do, but fails to do it. In 5.1-4: Continuing his censure of the rich, James first devalues clothing and jewelry as corruptible (Mt 6.19-21). Then, echoing the popular saying that the wealthy are all theirves, he notes that they withhold wages from laborers. In verses 5-6: Finally, the fruits or injustice simple make the wealthy fat for judgment's slaughter, James next topic. Coomments or Questions..

Reading for January 6th

Read James 4.11-12. In 4.11-12: Evil speech again. Continuing 1.19 and 3.1-12, James resumes his censure of internal divison (3.14-18; 4.1-2). Again, James focuses on wrong speech: speak evil against one another and speak evil against the law and the judges. Such people lack wholeness, judging the law but not doing it. This concludes with a reference to God, who both gave the law and will be its judge; see 2.8-13. Comments or Questions..

Reading for January 5th

Read James 4.1-10. In 4.1-10: Friendship with the world; hatred of God. In verses 1-3: In question-and-answer format, James describes the genesis of evil. Conflicts that spring from envy (3.14, 16) lead either to murder or covetousness. In verse 4: Using contrasts, he juxtaposes friendship with enmity, humility with pride, and God with the devil. Friends of the world are God's enemies, and God's friendship means enmity with the world. In verses 5-6: God's jealousy reffers to God's desire to protect what is God's; it is the opposite of envy in 3.16, which seeks to hurt another. Prov 3.34 proves that God resists the proud and enriches the humble, a theme found frequently in James. In verses 7-8: Using spatial metaphors, James urges his addressees to flee from the devil and draw near to God. The path to purity means cleansing one's hands and purifying one's heart, being wholly in God's service. Impurity lies in being double-minded, or mixing contridictory things. In verses 9-10: A return to the theme of humility (v. 6), now with a strong call to repentance. Comments or Questions..

Reading for January 4th

Read James 3.13-18. In 3.13-18: Evil envy. Continuing his justapostion of evil and good. James contrasts two types of wisdom: True wisdom from above is both practical and pure; it yeilds meekness, peace, and mercy, which are manifested in the practice of a good life. In contrast, false wisdom is earthy, unspiritual and devilish; it manifests itself in highly aggressive behavior, such as envy, ambition, and disorder. One is reminded of the description of lowliness in 2.5. Comments or Questions..

Reading for January 3rd

Read James 3.1-12. In 3.1-12: Unbridled tongue equals pollution. Echoing 1.19, James again urges control of bodily orifices. In verses 2-4: Perfection comes from making no mistakes with the tongue. He refers here to strong control of the mouth, noting how a mere bridle guided the horse, as a rudder does a ship. In verses 5-6: The destruction of a large forest by a tiny fire illustrates the power of an uncontrolled tongue. In the world of purity concrns, something so small as a tongue can stain the whole body, the way yeast was thought to corrupt flour. In verses 7-8: He likens the tongue to the animal never tamed, the snake. Both contain poison in their mouths. In verses 9-12: Since holiness is whleness one cannot bless God and curse others. Wholeness applies to natural examples. Springs cannot yeild both pure and brackish water; fig trees produce figs, not olives, and grapevines yeild grapes not figs. Comments or Questions..

Reading for January 2nd

Read James 2.14-26. In 2.14-26: Perfection of active faith. James performs here like a teacher anticipating objections and answering them. In verses 14-17: Some object that faith alone counts; James counters that faith which does not feed the hungry and clothe the naked is dead or unclean. Perfection, then, means wholeness; both faith and works. In verses 18-20: To those who boast of their works, James counters that faith can be manifested only by works, bit without works it is useless. Mere understanding of God's supremacy counts for nothing, unless faithful obedience follows. In verses 21-26: As proof, James cites from the Bible male and female examples of perfect faith. Abraham, a righteous believer (Gen 15.6), showed perfect faithfulness by offering isaac as a sacrifice (Gen 22). Rahab, who extended hospitality to Israelite spies (Josh 2.1-12), is considered holy in spite of being a prostitute. In concusion, James labels the position of faith without works as the ultimate pollution, death. Comments or Questions..

Reading for January 1st

Read James 2.1-13. In verses 1-7: Rich and poor again. Devloping 1.9-11, James contrasts the group's reception of poor and rich. In verses 1-4: Favoritism to the wealthy cancels faith in the risen Lord, because it ignores the fact that Jesus, humbled and brought low, was exalted by God. In verse 5; God obvisously does not evaluate as we do for God chooses the poor to be rich (1 Cor 1.26-30). In verses 6-7: In James' world of opposites, the rich are the oppressors and the poor are their victims; by siding with the rich, they dishonor members of the group and ths blaspheme God's holy name. In verses 8-13: Wholeness as purity. In verses 8-9: James presents two laws: the general law of love (Mk 12.28-33) and some specific commandments. Love means impartiality (2.1-8; Rom 10.12-13; Acts 10.34) and mercy. In verses 10-11: Twice he emphasizes the seriousness of failing to keep even one commandment: perfection means being accountable for all. he interprets this in terms of jewish purity: Failure is pollution, corrupting what is good. In verses 12-13: Fearing lawlessness, he emphasizes God's law ofliberty. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 31st

Read James 1.19-27. In verses 19-21: Ears and mouths. James introduces a topic that will receive detailed treatment in 3.5-12. Since holiness and anger cannot both abide in a pure heart, believers must uproot the weeds to make room for the word of God. In verses 22-27: Ears, eyes, hands, mouth. Continuing the body metaphor, James encourages bodily wholeness, a basic Jewish purity concept. In verses 22-23: Wholeness requires ears that hear God's word to connect with hands acting on it. In verse 25: God's law does not constrain us, but is a perfect guide bringing liberty, not slavery to passion. In verses 26-27: James contrasts good and bad religion in terms of holiness. An uncontrolled tongue corrupts the whole person, but hands that care for the needy indicate pure and undefiled faith. True believers, moreover, keep themselves pure, unstained by the world. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 30th

Read James 1.1-18. In 1.1-8: Faith and faithfulness. James annouces one of the letter's main themes, faith or faithfulness. In verses 3-4: Faithfulness or endurance in trials leads to maturity, thus adult faith is pure and whole; complete, lacking in nothing. In verses 5-7: Next, faith means petitioning God with wholeness of mind. Jewish purity concerns affirm what is whole, but shun what is of two kinds (doubt and faith; see Lev 19.19; Deut 22.9-11). This theme will be developed in 5.13-18. In verses 9-11: Rise of poor, fall of rich. James repeats the tradition that the rich will fall and the lowly rise (Lk 1.51-52; 1 Cor 1.18-29). He likens the fate of the rich to that of desert flowers which quickly wither, thus echoing Jesus' parable (Mk 4.5-6; 1 Pet 1.24-25). In verses 12-18: Temptation and benefaction. In verse 12: James honors with a victor's crown those who faithfully endure trials (2 Tim 4.8). In verses 13-15: Whence come temptations? Not from God, but from human passions; the human life cycle (conception, birth, fully grown) demonstrates how even a small pollution grows into total depravity. In verse 17: Again God's person and gifts are pure: with God there is no variation, and every perfect benefaction descends from God. In verse 18: God who does not tempt, is our best benefactor, whose gift of birth comes through the preaching of the gospel. This is contrasted to the birth of evil in 1.15. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 29th

Read Nehemiah 13.19-30. In verse 19: i set some or my servants over the gates, apparently to ensure that Nehemiah's orders to shut the city gates at the beginning of the sabbath were fulfilled. Cordoning off the city on the sabbath makes the entire city a holy precinct on that day. In verse 22: This explains why Nehemiah commands the Levities that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates. With the entire comunity turned into a "house of God," the Levities should guard the entryways just as they had previously guarded the entrances into the Temple precincts. In verse 27: This great evil: Just as in Ezra, the intermarriage of the community with the surrounding peoples is porttrayed in graphic terms as a most serious vilation of divine order. The discovery of intermarriage was contrary to the pledges of the community in 10.30. While in ch. 10 the community voluntarily takes an oath, here Nehemiah made them take an oath, with a strong public display of anger. In verse 28: One of the sons of Jehoiada: Just as Tobiah's relationship to certain of the priests presented a problem at the beginning of this section, now Sanballat's relationship to a member of the high priestly family presents another challenge. In verse 30: I cleansed them from everything foreign: The community, as a "house of God," has ben cleansed of patterns that would pull them away from their strict observance of the law. Just as david and Solomon made specific provisions for the care of the Temple personnel. Nehemiah places himself in the same company for establishing the duties of the priests and Levities, each in his work. In verse 31: For good, that is all the good that Nehemiah as accomplished on behalf of the community. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 28th

THE POSTLOGUE In 13.4-31: Having described the communal confession of sin, the entry into a solemn covenant, the dedication of the walls, and the redefinition of the community as the "house of God," it remains for the author to clarify what happened to Nehemiah. This postlogue offers a sort of conclusion to Nehemiah's mission, showing the reformer forcefully addressing a number of wrongs in the community. The section as a whole is based on the covenant contents of ch. 10, but in reverse order. For example, where the covenant begins with a vow to end intermarriage (10.30), the present section ends with the same issue (vv. 22-27). Nehemiah's efforts are aimed at trying to get the community to live up to its promises. Read Nehemiah 13.4-18. In verse 5: Prepared for Tobiah a large room in the Temple precinct: Tobiah was not only one of Nehemiah's primary adversaries, but was an Ammonite, a group to be excluded from the Temple (13.1-2). They had priviously put the grain offering suggests that the offerings are not coming in as they had been, allowing for the room to be put to other uses. In verse 6: I was not in Jerusalem: Nehemiah apparently was called back to the court for reasons not directly relating to his governance of the district. The thirsty-second year of Artxerxes would be 432 BCE. In verse 8: I was angry: By making such a public show, Nehemiah may have been hoping to bring the priest Eliashib, a relative of Tobiah, under control. This entire incident is a follow-up to the actions of the community in 13.1-3. In verse 10; The protions of the Levities had not been given them: This is contrary to the pledge made in 10.35-39 not to "neglect the house of our God." It also specifically violates the pledges made in 12.44-47 to ensure the singers could remain in thir posts. In verse 17: Profaning the sabbath day? This is contary to the pledgees made in 10.31 to keep the sabbath, even if foreign merchants come with goods to sell. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 27th

Read Nehemiah 13.1-3. In 13.1-3: The separation of foreigners. Slipping back into first-person form, this brief notice highlights again the now sacred character of the community as a whole. In verse 1: On that day is unclear, but in context it must mean on the day of dedication of the walls. No Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God refers to Deut 23.3-6, where "the assembly of God" is the worshipping community appearing in the Temple. In verse 3: They separated from Israel all of those of forgein descent, presumably including non-Ammonite and non-Moabite persons. The Deuteronomic law is being extended to the community as a whole, not just the worshipping body, and to all foreigners, not just Ammonites and Moabites. This marks a further redefinition of the community as a sacred body. Note that intermarriage is not raised here. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 26th

Read Nehemiah 12.44-47. In 12.44-47: The community ensures Temple service. Shifting back to a third-person narrative, this section recounts efforts the community made to ensure that the contributions to the Temple stores were properly accounted for. The foucus is exclusive on the community and its support for the Temple personnel. In verse 44: Men were appointed: The appointment was by the consensus of the community, not by an individual. Being over the stores included the inventorying and distribution of offerings. Such care was taken because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levities who ministered. Taking care over the offerings that support these persons was an act of thanksgiving for the joy worship provided to the community. In verse 47: The daily portions: The offering that provided daily rations to the Temple personel. Paralleling Zerubbabel, who rebuilt the Temple, and Nehemiah who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, serve the same function as Ezra 1-6 serves in mixing the two efforts together: The rebuilding of the walls and subsequent solemen covenant reformed the house of God just as the physical rebuilding of the building did. To speak of Nehemiah in this manner makes it sound like his term as governor is over. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 25th

Read Nehemiah 12.27-43. In 12.27-43: the dedication of Jerusalem's walls. This section briefly returns to a first-person style, similar to the other sections of the "Nehemiah memior." It recounts the elaborate dedication ceremony, with the community divided into two large portions processing along the walls until they meet at the Temple. The dedication is given a religious dimension with priests and Levities actively participating in the ceremony. In verse 27: They sought out the Levities in all their places: tThe Levities, who lived in common villages, were needed to ensure the full complement of music and praise. In verse 30: Purified themselves: A necessary preparatory step for a religious ceremony. Also necessary was the purification of the people, though purifying the gates and walls respresents a new level of concern for correctness. Such an act extends the arena of God's presence from the Temple to the entire walled city. In verse 36: And the scribe Ezra went in front in recognition of the importance of his contributions to the community. In verse 40: Both companies ... stood in the house of God: No formal entry into the Temple itself has preceded this point. This makes more sense if the entire walled city is being considered the "house of God." In verse 43: The joy of Jerusalem was heard: This offers a conclusion to the rejoicing and jubilation the community had experienced. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 24th

Read Nehemiah 12.1-26. In 12.1-26: Lists of priests and Levities. Though the list appears fairly well organized (priests and Levities from the time of the return , vv. 1-9, high priests during the period of the sixth to fifth centuries, vv 10-11; priests and Levities from the generation after the return, vv. 12-25; and a chronological summary, v. 26), there is evidence the lists have been expanded over time. While th question of sources and historicity are highly debated, the list in its present position serves to emphasize the sacred character of the newly populated holy city. In verse 24: According to the commandment of David: See the account in 1 Chr 23.30, where David sets several families of Levities aside for this purpose. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 23rd

Read Nehemiah 25-36. In 11.25-36: A note about villages outside Jerusalem. This brief account touches on some of the settlements outside Jerusalem that constitued the territory of Judah. Several of the places on the list were not settled by Jews until the Hellenistic period, so this list may be an idealized fiction, approximating the settlements of Judah as described in the tribal allotments of the book of Joshua (Josh 15.1-12). In effect, this makes the same point as the notice of the Festival of Booths earler (8.17). Comments or Qustions..

Reading for December 22nd

Read Nehemiah 11.1-24. In 11.1-24: The community repopulates Jerusalem. Further focusing on the community's dedication to the law, this section depicts the repopulation of Jerusalem, ending with another lengthy list of those who moved into Jerusalem. In verse 1: One out of ten: This applies the tithe (Deut 12.17) to the community's total population. This is the first time Jerusalem is called the holy city, an extension of the Temple precinct's acredness to the entire city now that it is marked by the completed walls. In verse 2: The people blessed ... live in Jerusalem: the community's desire to undertake this task is emphasized. The listing that follows offers leaders (divided into those of Judah and Benjamin), priests, Levities, and gatekeepers. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 21st

Read Nehemiah 10.1-39. In 10.28-39: The terms of the covenant. Having made an extensive confession before God, the community now offers a solemn covenant that covers a wide range of obligations. All these will reform the community and bring it into accord with the law of God. In verse 28: The rest of the people, that is, other than the named signatories. In verse 30: We will not give our daughters ... or take their daughters: The first major commitment is to oppose intermarriage and cease its practice. The dissolution of existing ethnically mixed marriages is not called for. In verse 31: We will will not buy ... on the sabbath or on a holy day: This involves observing thhe sabbath withnew rigor, since the law does not prohibit buying onthe sabbath, though selling on the sabbath may have been customarily forbidden (Am 8.5). Forego the crops of the seventh year: Crop land is to receive a sabbath (Lev 25.1-7), combined with rules regarding the release of debts (Deut 15.1-18). These rules had not previously been linked. In verse 32: One-third of a shekel: This was an annul temple tax that continued intot he Roman period (Mt 17.24-27). The Temple tax was instituted after the Exile since there was no source of regular royal underwriting of Temple functions. In verse 34: The community also commits to supply the wood offering to support the Temple service. In verse 35: First fruits: while the first cuttings of grain are specified in the law (deut 26.1-11), no provision is required for the produce of fruit trees. The remaining obligations commit the community to the support of various aspects of Temple service. In verse 39: The main thrust of this covenant extends the coverge of the law, placing a larger sphere of life intothe realm of the holy as part of service for the house of our God. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 20th

Read Nehemiah 9.26-38 In verse 32: Keeping covenant and steadfast love emphasizes God's enduring relationship with Israel. Do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us is an appeal that God not add to the community's burden but accept the deep contrition being expressed. In verse 36: Here we are, slaves to this day: Though overly dramatic, the community most likely did find itself in a bound condition under imperial constraints. In verse 38: We make firm agreement: The confession has noted the community's present predicament, which now calls for a response that takes the law very seriously, not repeating the sins of the past. To commit to the agreement in writing further affirms the serious intent here. The author has made this intent more apparent by listing the names of the community leadership affirming this covenant in 10.1-27. Surprisingly, Ezra is absent from the list. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 19th

Read Nehemiah 9.9-25. There are no comments for this section.

Reading for December 18th

Read Nehemiah 9.1-8. In 9.1-10.27: A day of community confession. This account explains a solemn covenant to which the community will bind itself. Most of the section is a lengthy prayer, possibly offered by Ezra, which implores God to see the sufferings of the community in the present. God will spare them any additional hardship in spite of their failure to observe the law. The account closes with the names of those who affirmed the covenant. Many have suggested that all or parts of the account fit best after the material of Ezra 10. In 9.1: The twenty-fourth day of this month: Following the author's chronology, the Feast of Weeks, lasting eight days, would have ended on the tenth day of the month. The community had clearly prepared for the expresssion of grief by fasting and being dressed in sackcloth. In verse 2: Seaparated themselves: Possibly a reflection of the "semding away" of the foreign wives of Ezra 10, though the wording here clearly relates to foreign men as well. Since the confession is rooted in the particular experiences of Israel, the wording may simply mean that obly those who have continuity with pre-exilic Israel continued with the confession, while converts to Judaism did not participate. In verse 6: Ezra said: This reading follows the Greek transaltion of Nehemiah. The Hebrew text implies the prayer is offered by the congregation as a whole. The prayer goes on to recount God's special kindness to Israel and the problem with idolatry that led to judgment, though characterzing these transgressions by the more general casting of the "law behind their backs" (v. 26), or particular note is the emphasis on God as a "gracious and merciful God" (v. 31). Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 17th

Read Nehemiah 8.13-18. In 8.13-18: The community keeps the Festival of Booths. One of the specified holy times of the seventh month was the Festival of Booths (Lev 23.33-43), slated to be observed for a week beginning on the fifteenth day of the month. Along with the celebration of the deliverance from Egypt that is the prime focus of the festival, this account continues the reading, and resumably explanation, of the law. In verse 13: On the second day keeps the chronology of 8.2, even though it technically doesnotobeserve the festival specifications of the law. This may be an indication that the precise limits of the festival had not been set in the Persian period. In place of the community as a whole, this gathering consists only of the leadership. In verse 17: All the assembly ... made booths: The whole community is involved. From the days of Jeshua is a reference to the period of conquest and Israel's inheritance of the land. The completion of the city walls and the reformation of the community are parallel to Israel's beginnings. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 16th

Read Nehemiah 7.73b-8.12. In 7.73b-8.12: The community gathers to hear the law. This section brings back into the narrative the figure of Ezra, of whom nothing has been said since the close of the book of Ezra. This sudden reemergence of Ezra and the focus on the importance of the law has led many scholars to conclude that this narrative was originally part of the account of Ezra and was moved to its present position by the editor who has brought Ezra-Nehemiah into its present form. The focus, howeve, remains on the community's request for the reading of the law, and the way the section is placed makes it clear that the goal is to reform itself into a more obeient community on the even of the dedication of the city walls. This ceremony also forms the backdrop to the conclusion of this large section in 13.1-3. In verse 73b: When the seventh month came: the walls were completed inthe month of Elul (6.15), the sixth month of the year. A rough chronological sequence is maintained by the placement, though there is some question if enough time is allowed for the people to return to be settled in their towns before reassembling in Jerusalem. The seventh month was traditonally the time of the day of Atonement (on the tenth day) and the Feast of Tabernacle (for a week starting on the fifteenth day). Several scholars have noted that this was also the month specfied in Deut 31.10-13 for an assembly of the people to hear a reading of the law every seven years. This is apparently the model on which the account is structured. In 8.1: They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book: The way Ezra is portrayed as subservient to the wishes of the "assembly," rather than the forceful leader of the community as in the Ezra tends to weigh the idea that this narrative was originally part of the book of Ezra. In the account of this gathering Ezra is variously termed scribe (vv. 1, 4), the priest (v. 2), and the priest and scribe (v. 9), both being roles attributed to him in the book of Ezra. In verse 7: The Levities helped the people to understand: One of the traditional roles of the Levities was to teach the meaning of the law to Israel (deut 33.10), and this may have involved a brief exposition of the passage. The Levities may have moved about the crowd answering queries since the people remained in thir places. In verse 9: Nehemiah ... and Ezra: This one of only two places inthe Hebrew text of Ezra-Nehemiah where the two reformers appear together. This day is holy: The day of the assembly is a specific sacred occasion. While the specific time of of the reading of the law could be considered a holy day, the account may imply that the day is the Feast of Trumpets, set onthe first day of the eventh month, which was a sacred day (Lev 23.23-25), although no reading of the law is connected with the Feast of Trumpets. Possibly recognizing how far they had strayed from the law, the people wept. In verse 10: Then he said to them: The he may be Ezra. The specified foos are typical of a feastive meal celebrating a scared occassion. The phrase the joy of the Lord is your stregth uses an unusual term for joy, one the occurs here and in 1 Chr 16.27, when strength and joy are in his place. In verse 12: All the people went their way ... to make great rejoicing: Unlike 1 and 2 Chronicles, where the rejoicing takes place in a great corporate sscenes, this account portrays the people retiring to their homes to rejoice. Their ablity to understand the law provides the opportunity to live in accord witht he divine will (Ps 119.34-35). Commenst or Questions..

Reading for December 15th

FORMING THE HOUSE OF GOD In 7.6-13.3: This section drops the first-person style of the "Nehemiah memior" and the concern with the opponent to the rebuilding efforts. Instead, the focus is on the community's concern and corporate commitments. These are presented by means of several large gatherings of the "assembly" of the people interspersed with lengthy lists of the people involved. The culmination is an extended description of the dedication of the city walls and the separation of "Israel" from those of "foriegn descent," thus paralleling the physical separation of the city from the surrounding peoples. Read Nehemiah 7.6-73a. In 7.6-73a: The list of those who returned from Babylon In verse 6: These are the people of the proince: largely repeats the list found in Ezra 2.1-70. Variations between the two lists are minor, but often this list represents a slightly fuller version of the list in Ezra 2. The focus is clearly on the people, and the reduplication of the lists shows the author's concern to focus on the community's efforts. In verse 7: Nehemiah: Notice that this is in the third person, rather than the first-person accounts of the "Nehemiah memior." Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 14th

Read Nehemiah 7.1-5. In verse 1: The gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levities: The addition of the singers and the Levities is unexpected, though since these groups were well organized they may have served as supplementary help to the gatekeepers, who would have to undertake their duties without prior experience. In verse 3: The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot, perhaps as an additional security measure. In verse 5: The book of the genealogy: there is no explanation for where and how the book was found. Those who were the first to come back: Perhaps those who first returned from the exile, or those who first returned with one of the subsequent waves of exiled persons who migrated to Jerusalem. Coments or Questions..

Reading for December 13th

Read Nehemiah 6.15-19. In 6.15-7.5: The walls are completed. This section which recounts the completion of the physical work of refortifiying the city, ends with a note on the relatively few people in the city. The building of the walls is not the final completion of the formation of the "house of God." In 6.17: The nobles of Judah are an indefinite group, but presumably related to a traditional aristocracy. In verse 18: For many in Judah were bound by oath to him: The reasons are not specified. Presumably their support of Tobiah results not from opposition to Nehemiah as much as being bound by their oaths. Commenst or Questions..

Reading for December 12th

Read Nehemiah 6.1-14. In 6.1-14: Nehemiah's life is threatened. While the account of ch 4 deals with threats against the whole community, this section continues a focus on Nehemiah as an individual, revealing a series of plots by the "adversaries" to destroy him. Nehemiah's persistance in directing the rebuilding effort preserved him from being entrapped by their plots. In verse 2: The plain of Ono lay to the northwest of Jerusalem. It may have been in a boundary area between Sanballat's district and Nehemiah's. The intended to do me harm: The account provides no reason forthis conclusion. In verse 6: You and the Jews intend to rebel: In general, walled cities were not built in the Persian empire. The refortification of Jerusalem would provide an opportunity to defy the empire. Sanballat uses the threat of reporting this to the king (v. 7) to draw out Nehemiah out. In verse 10: Shemaiah ... was confined to his house: Though the accound is not clear on the timing, there seems to be some time between Sanballat's efforts to get Nehemiah to meet with him, and this plot. It is not certain why Shemaiah was closed in his house, nor why Nehemiah went to see him. Tonight they are coming to kill you: Perhaps Shemaiah had sent word to Nehemiah thathe had an important message to convey. His advice to meet in the Temple and close the door because the adversaries were coming to kill Nehemiah would have made the governor look cowardly. In verse 13: He was hired for this purpose: It takes Nehemiah time to see through the plot, but Shemaiah may have been a reputable prophet, making the deception difficult to detect. In verse 14: Remember ... O my God: One of Nehemiah's direct appeals to God to keep something before him. Here Nehemiah wants his opponent to be repaid according to their deeds, as well as the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets whomay have engaged in the same kinds of deceit as Shemaiah. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 11th

Read Nehemiah 5.14-19. In 5.14-19: Nehemiah's refusal to collect the food tax. Having hihlighted his generosity in making his own wealth available to those struggling in the famine crisis, in this section Nehemiah shows his refusal to place additional burdens on the populace, despite his right to collect a "food allowance." In verse 14: From the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, or from 445 to 434 BCE. The food allowance was apparently the privilege of the local imperial officials to draw their living support from a taxation surcharge. In verse 15: Former governors suggests the Yehud (as region around Jerusalem was known) had been politically independent for some time prior to Nehemiah. In verse 16: I ... aqucired no land: Imperial priviledges included the ability to amass land holdings. Nehemiah's single-mindedness excluded a concern to build wealth. In verse 17: There were at my table one hundred fifty people: Apparently there were all members of his entourage and lesser officals for who the governor was expected to provide food rations, thereby showing that Nehemiah had every reason to exact the food allowance. In verse 19: Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people: This is the first of five separate appeals for God to bear in mind some particular action by, or against Nehemiah. These appeals make it difficult to asses the character of the so-called "Nehemiah memior," since such pietistic asides would not be expected in an offical report. They do, however, provide insight into the emotions and faith of Nehemiah. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 10th

Read Nehemiah 5.1-13. In 5.1-13: Economic crisis and Nehemiah's solutions. Told in a first-person fashion, this section recounts a grave economic crisis made worse by the profiteering of some members of the community. Faced with a possible revolt, Nehemiah forcefully takes dramatic steps to allevate the crisis. In verse 1: Now there was a great outcry: The implication of the placement of this account is that the work of rebuilding was continuing when the crisis reached its potential breaking point. Three differnt issues are raised by the crowd, all the result of a periodic famine (v. 3). The first issue is the difficulty getting grain for food (v. 2); the second, the use of fields as collateral to obtain loans for purchasing grain (v. 4); and most seriously, the use of the labor of children as collateral on borrowing money to pay the king's tax (v. 5). Normally taxes were paid in grains in the Persian empire, but when grain was not available; taxes could be paid in the monetary equivalent (usually in terms of weight, such as as "so many mina of silver") of the amount of grain owned. In a famine, as the cost of grain escatlated, so would the relative value of the taxes owed to the empire. Also, famine was usually triggered by drought, making it difficult for farmers to raise the necessary crop yield to repay a debt. Brokers could loan grains or silver in return for receiving pledges on the future yeilds of the land or on the available labor in the family group. If the loan was not repaid in the time frame agreed to, the broker could sieze all the yield of a given crop, or take mmbers of the family into indentured servitude, often exacting interest on the remaining balance due until the whole loan plus accured interest was repaid. Nehemiah attampts to address this situation by first calling a great assembly (v. 7), announcing the release of new resources intothemarkets (v. 10). He also requires that productive lands be returned to the debtors so that they will have some means of raising capital to make the debt good ((v. 11). The call to stop this taking of interest (v. 10) is most likely a reference to the additional interest on the loan when the original repayment schedule cannot be met. This seems to be what the brokers agree to in pledging they will demand nothing more from them (v. 12). In verse 13; May God shake out everyone from the house and from property: having forced the brokers to take a solemn oath before the priests (v. 12), Nehemiah engages in a symbolic action, placing a curse on all who violate the pledge. The brokers, being people of means, would take seriously the possibility of losing their wealth. The peole did as they promised suggests Nehemiah's solution worked. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 9th

Read Nehemiah 4.10-23. In verse 10: But Judah said, "The stregth 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 "repeatly." 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 the 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 any attacker. In verse 14: Do not be afraid ... remeber the Lord: In the Biblical tradition of the holy war the armed forces is 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: Half of my servants: Probably a chosen group of individuals under direct employ of Nehemiah and whose loyalty he could count on. With such careful provision,the danger of general military action aagainst the community was stymied. Comments or Questions..