Summary: A man named Nehemiah is sent to Jerusalem by Artaxerxes to govern Judah. There, he rebuilds the wall around Jerusalem, among other achievements, and is around at the same time as Ezra.
If there’s one theme in Nehemiah (and is there ever), it’s how undeniably awesome Nehemiah himself is. Nehemiah is not only the subject and author of the book, he is also apparently a ridiculously great governor who everyone loves and who changes every aspect of human life for the better.
I mean, when you look at the great heroes of the Bible, they all had flaws. Moses and Aaron took credit for the water coming out of the rock. David had a guy killed so he could marry his widow. Samson was ridiculously violent. But Nehemiah? Oh no. Nehemiah was perfect.
In Chapter 1, he’s so selfless that he prays to God to let him rescue the Jews. In Chapter 4, he overcomes opposition to building the wall around Jerusalem with his brilliant speeches and masterful plans. In Chapter 5, he promotes equality and goodness, and then is so unselfish that he never eats the food he is entitled to as governor, instead throwing a feast for the people. In Chapter 6, he sees through a sinister plot to overthrow him. In Chapter 10, he is the first to sign a written agreement to obey God’s laws. In Chapter 12, he leads the glorification of God, and when the wall is dedicated, “The women and the children joined in the celebration, and the noise they made could be heard for miles.” (12.43)
There’s more things that he does that are glorified in the book, but I think that’s clear enough. Nehemiah, according to the book that he himself wrote, is a flawless person. He’s humble before God, he’s kind to the poor, he rules wisely, he cares deeply about great things, and he never thinks of himself. So what’s more likely: that he was really that great, or that he embellished a little bit to make himself seem cooler?
And really, who wouldn’t like to whitewash their flaws for history? I’m sure that, like anyone with power, Nehemiah did some bad things that were corrupt of him that he shouldn’t have done. But according to the Bible, he was pious, caring, and humble. So who was the real Nehemiah?
Well, I have no idea. Nobody does. Nobody can. I suppose I can be pretty sure that he had a high opinion of himself, and my guess is that most of the things written in the book really happened, but otherwise I just can’t know. There’s just no way that anyone could tell.
The most striking thing about the flagrant self-promotion is that Nehemiah never learned to tone it down to make it seem more real. I mean, Chapter 13 is full of this especially, as it’s just stories about errors made by others that Nehemiah corrected. There was the time that the priest Eliashib allowed a man named Tobiah to live in a storeroom in the temple (Things are just chaos without Nehemiah). There was the time people were selling food on the Sabbath, and Nehemiah barred them from the city on the Sabbath so that they could not do work (Solved that one right quick). And there were the Jewish men who married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab and taught their children those languages instead of the common one (That was pretty simple to solve – Nehemiah just cursed them, beat them, and pulled out their hair).
And who is he bragging to? In the book, he is bragging to God. The very last line, in 13.31, goes like this: “Remember all this, O God, and give me credit for it.” Perhaps there will be a later book that surpasses it, but to me, Nehemiah seems to be nothing but self-important pleas for adoration, from both God and the people. And they’re all so transparent too, washed in desperation and put forward, hoping that no one would notice.
But maybe I’m being too hard on Nehemiah. Maybe he really was exactly as great as he comes off in this book, and he wrote it as accurately as he could. Maybe his unselfishness really was the stuff of legend. Maybe Jerusalem was attacked a bunch of times while he was there, and his contemporaries would say to him, “Nehemiah, you should put that in your book!” And he would, of course, reply, “Oh no. I wouldn’t want to brag.”
Maybe. But I’m not betting on it.
Some other notes…
- This is more of a curiosity or an extremely mild nitpick than anything else, but here’s 2.6: “The emperor, with the empress at his side, approved my request [to rebuild Jerusalem]. He asked me how long I would be gone and when I would return, and I told him.” How did Nehemiah know how long it would take to rebuild an entire city? That seems like the sort of thing you’d only know when you’re finished.
- Also in the mild annoyance category (and in this case, that phrase might even be a little strong), in Chapter 3, the book lists the people who rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. It says things like “Zadok son of Baana built the next section.” Was Zadok alone? Or were there people helping him? These are the stupid questions that keep me from being taken seriously, I guess. That and my complete lack of promotion and therefore readership (Except you, reader! And may I say that you’re looking very attractive today).
- So, in Chapter 10, the people of Israel sign a written document stating that they will obey God’s law. Why? God clearly doesn’t need that, or he would have already requested it. My guess: this is an actual thing that happened, when fallible people decided they needed something more concrete to prove to God how serious they were about his laws.
- And finally, in 13.1, it is mentioned “that no Ammonite or Moabite was ever to be permitted to join God’s people.” I really hope that this is still true. Like, people who want to convert to Judaism have to go through a rigorous background check that comprises three thousand years of history. Though somehow I get the feeling that this isn’t the case. God can’t be happy about that.
