Nehemiah 2 Footnotes

2:3 Rightful claim to Jerusalem is hotly debated today. This is nothing new. Nehemiah’s later response to Sanballat and his associates suggests that even in his day rightful claim to Jerusalem was contested (v. 20). Nehemiah’s ancestral relationship to Jerusalem helps support the priority of the Jewish claim to this ancient city.

2:8 Some people doubt God’s active involvement in the affairs of people. Nehemiah acknowledged just the opposite. He knew that God was responsible for his success (see v. 18; 4:15,20; 6:16). God’s direct involvement in Nehemiah’s success also serves as a reminder that he had not abandoned his people. His covenant with the nation of Israel is an everlasting covenant (see Gn 17:1-9).

2:10 The animosity that Israel’s neighbors felt toward the nation should not be thought of as a recent development brought on by the restoration of the nation of Israel in 1948. Hostilities were the same in Nehemiah’s day.

2:16 A significant population was already established in Jerusalem when Nehemiah arrived. This fact helps to support the biblical order of the return, in contrast to the contention of some that Nehemiah’s return preceded Ezra.