Tobiah was not a priest, so moving his household furniture into the temple desecrated the area (13:5, 7). His presence in the temple also meant that one of Nehemiah’s fierce opponents had been given a luxurious home in the temple.
Dedications were ceremonies performed to consecrate something or someone for service to the Lord.
Why did the small towns of Judah send people to live in Jerusalem? In Nehemiah’s time, Jerusalem was only one-fourth the size it had been before the exile. No one wanted to live in a city without defensive walls. Once… Read More »Why did the small towns of Judah send people to live in Jerusalem?
Seals in the ancient Near East (e.g., 10:1) were stamps pressed into soft wax on documents that demonstrated ownership or authorship.
Word pictures for worship and teaching. Religious images were strictly forbidden under the Mosaic law, but Israel’s leaders often used vivid imagery in their story-telling to teach the people and to help them worship. Chapter 9 gives an example of… Read More »Word pictures for worship and teaching
The Feast of Booths (8:2) marked the end of the agricultural year. It was a time to celebrate God’s provision and to ask his blessing for the next year’s crops. Once every seven years, the Book of the Law of… Read More »The Feast of Booths
Can Nehemiah’s wall be seen today? In the 2,500 years since Nehemiah’s day, Jerusalem has been rebuilt, destroyed, and rebuilt again. This has made evidence of Nehemiah’s wall difficult to find. However, a part of the wall can still be… Read More »Can Nehemiah’s wall be seen today?
An open letter (6:5) was one that was read to the entire public, not just the individual to whom it was addressed. By publicly claiming that Artaxerxes would be angry about the rebuilding of the walls, Sanballat was hoping to… Read More »Open letter
The returned exiles would sometimes mortgage their property (5:3) to raise money for the heavy taxes imposed on them. This mortgaging would have involved temporarily forfeiting the use of one’s property and any fruit it produced to wealthier people who… Read More »Mortgage their property
Why did so many local people oppose Nehemiah? After the exile, people who had been living in Judah for over a hundred years saw it as belonging to them and not to the returning Jews. Nehemiah had the blessing of… Read More »Why did so many local people oppose Nehemiah?
What was the Ophel? The Ophel (3:26) was a hill in Jerusalem between the Kidron and Central Valleys. It was northeast of the older City of David and just south of the Temple Mount. The oldest part of Jerusalem was… Read More »What was the Ophel?
The fortress of the temple (2:8) provided extra defense for the temple area, since this section of Jerusalem was very vulnerable to attack. Many other governors of Jerusalem after Nehemiah built fortresses here, including Herod the Great, whose famous Antonia… Read More »The fortress of the temple
Cupbearer to the king may sound like a lowly position, but it was actually considered a high office. The cupbearer’s job was to taste any wine brought to the king, in case it was poisoned. The king had to trust… Read More »Cupbearer to the king