Table of Contents
Nehemiah 1
Nehemiah 1
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,
2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer.
Notes
Cross Reference
Concordance
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>The words of Nehemiah, etc.</b> Nehemiah wrote this book from here on. <b>the twentieth year</b> 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.</html>
Verse 2
<html><b>one of my brethren</b> one of my companions. <b>and I asked them about the Jews</b> I asked them about the Jews who had escaped the Babylonian captivity and remained in Jerusalem. <b>who had escaped</b> because they were saved from the Babylonian exile. <b>and about Jerusalem</b> And I asked them about the city.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>And they said to me</b> They answered my first question first and my latter question last; first, concerning the Jews and afterwards, concerning the wall and the gates. <b>who remained</b> Those Jews who remained in the province of Jerusalem are in great trouble and reproach because the gentiles plunder and pillage them. <b>and the wall of Jerusalem is breached</b> 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. <b>were burned</b> Heb. נִצְתוּ, like נֻצְתוּ.</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>for days</b> Heb. יָמִים, many days.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>I beseech You</b> Heb. אָנָא, an expression of request and supplication.</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>attentive</b> Heb. קַשֶּׁבֶת, like קוֹשֶּׁבֶת, listening, for just as one says from אוֹהֵב, אָהַב, so does one say from קָשַּׁב, קוֹשֵּׁב and קוֹשֶּׁבֶת.</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>We have dealt corruptly</b> 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.” <b>we have dealt corruptly</b> Heb. חָבַלְנוּ, an expression of corruption, as in Daniel (6:23): “I have done no harm.”</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>if your exile is</b> like the matter that is stated (Deut. 30:4): “If your exile is at the end of the heavens, etc.”</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>I beseech You, O Lord, may Your ear now be attentive</b> At the beginning of his prayer he used this expression, and so after his prayer. <b>Your servant</b> This is what he prayed for himself. <b>before this man</b> before the king. <b>butler</b> 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.</html>