BOOK OF NEHEMIAH - BIBLE STUDY

The Books of Nehemiah and Ezra are our most important literary sources for the period of the Restoration, the formation of the Jewish religious community after the Babylonian Captivity. The two most responsible for the reorganization of Jewish life at that time were Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra restored the Mosaic Law and the liturgical practices of Judaism, while Nehemiah restored the gates and walls of Jerusalem. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah also played an important role in encouraging the people to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple of the Lord. The Second Temple was rebuilt in Jerusalem and completed in 516 BC.

Nehemiah 1.5 opens with a prayer to the Lord God of Heaven, "for you preserve your covenant of mercy with those who love you and keep your Commandments."

Nehemiah 8:17 refers to Joshua, Son of Nun. Joshua and Jesus are spelled the same in both Hebrew and Greek. The name Yeshua - in Hebrew יֵשׁוּאַ - means "the Lord saves." In Greek Jesus and Joshua are both spelled as Iesous - ἸησΠᠦς.

Nehemiah - נְחֶמְיָה - rebuilt the walls and gates of Jerusalem in 52 days (6:15). Nehemiah named Twelve Gates to the City of Jerusalem. He enumerated ten of them counterclockwise in Chapter 3 beginning with the Sheep Gate (3:1, 3:32, 12:39) and the Fish Gate (3:3, 12:39) on the Northern Wall; the Old Gate (3:6, 12:39) on the West; the Valley Gate on the Southwest and the Dung Gate (3:14, 12:31) on the South; then the Fountain Gate (2:14, 3:15, 12:37) by the City of David, the Water Gate (3:26, 12:37) by Ophel on the East, the Horse Gate (3:28), and the East Gate (3:29). Then followed the Miphkad or Inspection Gate (3:31) and back to the Sheep Gate. Also named are the Gate of Ephraim (8:16, 12:39), and the Prison Gate or Gate of the Guard (12:39). There are also Twelve Gates in the New Jerusalem as noted in the Book of Revelation 12:21. The Gates of Jerusalem are named throughout the Bible, such as the Gate of Ephraim in Second Kings 14:13, the Fish Gate in Second Chronicles 33:14 and Zephaniah 1:10, and the Sheep Gate in the Gospel of John 5:2. Only two gates persist with the same name to the present day: the Sheep Gate (also known as the Gate of Flowers or Herod's Gate) on the Northern Wall, and the Dung Gate on the Southern Wall.

The Book of Nehemiah was originally combined with the Book of Ezra and served as a continuation of the two Books of Chronicles. The Book of Esther described part of the Jewish Diaspora which stayed behind in Persia and did not return to Jerusalem during the Restoration. Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther were originally part of the Writings of Hebrew Scripture, but were placed in the Historical Books in the Greek Septuagint Old Testament. Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah are followed by Tobit, Judith, and then Esther in the Greek Septuagint. The Historical Books are followed by Psalms and the Wisdom Books in the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, and Christian Old Testaments of the Bible.

This app includes commentaries on verses of all 13 chapters of the Book of Nehemiah, which makes it great for Bible Study and analytical purposes.

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