THIS chapter relates how that Nehemiah, being
at Shushan in Persia, and meeting with some Jews,
inquired of the state of Jerusalem, of which having a
melancholy account, hc betook to mourning, fasting,
and prayer, ver. 1--4. and his prayer is recorded,
yet. 5--11.
Ver. 1. The words of Nehemiah the son of Itachaliah,
&c.] Or his transactions and deeds; for dibre sig-
nifies things done, as well as words spoken; who
Hachaliah his father was is not known; the Arabic
version adds, the high-priest, without any foundation;
though some have thought that Nehemiah was a
priest, from a passage in 2 Maccab. i. 18, &c. and fi'om
signing and sealing the covenant at the head of
priests, ch. x. 1. but he rather seems to be of the tribe
of Judah, see ch. if. 3, 5. and Nehemiah may be the
same that went up with Zcrubbabel, and returned
again, and then became the king's cupbearer ;--
though some are of another opinion, see the note on
Ezra if. c2.. and it came to pass in the month Chisleu ;
the 9th month, as the Arabic version; of which see
Ezra x. 9. in the o. Oth year; not of Nehemiah's age,
for, if he went up with Zerubbabel, he must be many
years older; but in the 20th year of the reign of Arta-
xerxes, ch. if. 1. as I was in Shushan the palace; a
city in Persia, the royal seat of the kings of it; as
Ecbatana was in the summer-time, this in the spring,
as Cyrus made it, according to Xenophon {b}; but others
say {c} it was their seat in winter, and this was the season
now when Nehemiah was with the king there; for
Chisleu was a winter-nlonth, answering to part of No-
vember and of December; of Shushan, see the note
on Dan. viii. 2. to which may be added what a travel-
let of the last century says d Of it, "we rested at Val-
"dac, once the great city Susa, but now very ruinous;
"it was first built byTythonus, and his son Memnon,
"but enlarged by Darius the son of' Hystaspes; in the
"building whereof Memnon was so exceeding proall-
" gal, that, as Cassiodorus writcth, he joined the stones
"together with gold--such was the beauty and de-
'' lectableness of it for situation, that they called it
"Susa, which in the Persian tongue signified a lily,
"but now it is called Valdac, because of the poverty of
"the place;" and it is generally supposed to have
its name from the abundance of lilies about it; bat
Dr. Hyde {e} gives another signification of its name, he
says the Persians called it *******, Sus, which signifies
liquorice, bat for what reasons he says not. There is
a city now called Shustera, and is thought by some
travellets to be built at least very near where Shushan
tbrmerlv stood f.
Ver. 'c2_. That Hanani, one of my brethren, &c._']
Either in natural relation, ch. vii. 2. or being a Jew
of the same natlot1 and religion; so Jarchi intcr-
preti it, one of my companions or acquaintance: he
and certain men of Judah; who came from thence to
Shushan on some account or another: and I as/cod
them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were
left of the capticit!/; who were returned from it to
their own laud; he inquired of their health and pro-
sperity, in what circumstances they were, whether
prosperous or adverse, whether they flourished, or were
in distress: and concerning Jerusalem; whether it was
rebuilt, the tlouscs and walls of it, and in what con-
dition it was.
Vet. 3. And they said unto me, the remnant that are
left of the captivity there in the province, &c.] ht
Judea, now reduced to a province of the Per'sian em-
pire: are in great affliction and rcproach; harassed and
distressed, calumniated and viiifled, by thcir enemies
the Samaritans: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken
down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fi're ; that is,
its wall and gates were in the same condition in whiclt
Nebuchadnezzar had left them, for since his times as
yet they had never been set up; for this is not to be
understood of what was lately done by their adver-
saries, which is not at all probable.
Ver. 4. And it came to pass, when I heard these uords,
&c.] This sad and melancholy account of things:
that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days;
sat down upon the ground in dust and ashes, after
the manner of mourners, and wept bitterly, and
mourned in a most sorrowful manner, see Job if. 8,
12, 13. and .fasted and prayed before the God of hea-
ven; that made it, and dwells in it.
Ver. 5. And said, I beseech thee, 0 Lord God of hea-
ven, &c.] He prayed not to the host of heaven, the
sun in it, as thc Persians, but to the God of it, in an
humble supplicant manner: the great and terrible God;
who is to bc feared, and had in reverence of all his
creatures, because of his greatness and glory, being
God over all, blessed for ever, and his name holy and
reverend: that keepeth covenant and mercy for them
that lovc him, and observe his commandments ; who keep
them from a principle of love to him; to those he has
made gracious promises in his covenant, which he
truly and faithfully performs; and the consideration
of these perfections in God animates and encouragcs
good men in prayer to him.
Vcr. (3. Let thine-ear be now attentive, &c.] To his
prayer, as in yet. 11. and thine eyes open; to behold
with pity and compassion the distressed case of Je-
rusalem, and the Jews in it: Ipray before thee now,
day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants;
this he had continued to do ever since he heard of
their trouble and calamity: and confess the sins of the
children of Israel, which we bane sinned against thee:
both I and my father's house have sinned; he considered
sin as the cause of all this evil that had befallen his
people, and confesses it with sorrow and humiliation,


{b} Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 44.
{c} Athenaeus, l. 12. c. 1.
{d} Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 87, 88.
{e} Hist. Relig. Vet. Pers. c. 35. p. 414.
{f} Tavernier, tom. 1. l. 4. c. 1.