The Book of Nehemiah presents the restoration of Jerusalem and the reforms of the returned Jewish community under Nehemiah. Its material includes memoirs, registers, lists, and accounts of worship and public administration.
Definition
The Book of Nehemiah is a historical account of Jerusalem and the returned Jewish community under Persian rule. Its principal material comes from Nehemiah, while other sections include chronicles, registers, supplementary narratives, and reflections. The central history covers approximately twelve years, from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes Longimanus.
Biblical Usage
The book records the restoration of Jerusalem, the dedication of its wall, public worship, covenant commitments, and reforms among the returned captives. It was included in the biblical canon under the broader heading of Ezra by the Hebrews and was called the second book of Ezra by Greeks and Latins.
Historical Background
The narrative gives information about Jerusalem, the returned exiles, Persian government, and the condition of a remote Persian province. The period covered is approximately 445–433 B.C.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Smith's Bible Dictionary
like the preceding one of Ezra, is clearly and certainly not all by the same hand. [Ezra, Book Of, BOOK OF] By far the most important portion, indeed is the work of Nehemiah but other portions are either extracts from various chronicles and registers or supplementary narratives and reflections, some apparently by Ezra, others, perhaps the work of the same person who inserted the latest, genealogical extracts from the public chronicles. The main history contained in the book of Nehemiah covers about twelve years, viz., from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes Langimanus i.e. from B.C. 445 to 433. The whole narrative gives us a graphic and interesting account of the state of Jerusalem and the returned captives in the writer’s times, and, incidentally, of the nature of the Persian government and the condition of its remote provinces, The book of Nehemiah has always had an undisputed place in the Canon, being included by the Hebrews under the general head of the book of Ezra, and, as Jerome tells us in the Prolog. Gal., by the Greeks and Latins under the name of the second book of Ezra.
