Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles

The words of (A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in (B)the month Chislev, (C)in the twentieth year, while I was in (D)Susa the [a]capitol, that (E)Hanani, one of my brothers, [b]and some men from Judah came; and I asked them about the Jews who had escaped [c]and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the (F)province who survived the captivity are in great distress and (G)disgrace, and (H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and (I)its gates have been burned with fire.”

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 1:1 Or acropolis
  2. Nehemiah 1:2 Lit he and men
  3. Nehemiah 1:2 Lit who survived

Introduction

In this document, I,[a] Hacaliah’s son Nehemiah, recount[b] what occurred during the twentieth year of Artaxerxes.[c]

Background

In the month of Chislev,[d] while I was in Shushan at the palace, Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped, about those who had survived the Babylonian[e] captivity, and about Jerusalem.

They told me, “The survivors of the captivity there in the province are living in great distress and shame. Furthermore, the Jerusalem wall remains broken down and its gates have been burned by fire.”

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Footnotes

  1. Nehemiah 1:1 Lit. The words of
  2. Nehemiah 1:1 The Heb. lacks recount
  3. Nehemiah 1:1 The Heb. lacks of Artaxerxes; cf. 2:1
  4. Nehemiah 1:1 I.e. about 445-444 BC
  5. Nehemiah 1:2 The Heb. lacks Babylonian