Book Introduction - Nehemiah

Fourteen years after the return of Ezra to Jerusalem, Nehemiah led up a company (B.C. 444) and restored the walls and the civil authority. Of those events this book is the record. It is in eight divisions:

1. The journey to Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:1-2:20).

2. The building of the wall (Nehemiah 3:1 - 6:19).

3. The census (Nehemiah 7:1-73).

4. The revival (Nehemiah 8:1 - 11:36).

5. The census of the priests and Levites (Nehemiah 12:1-2)6

6. Dedication of the wall (Nehemiah 12:27-43).

7. Restoration of the temple worship (Nehemiah 12:44-47).

8. The legal order restored (Nehemiah 13:1-31).

The moral state of the time is disclosed by the prophet Malachi. This book affords many instances of individual faith acting on the written word (e.g. Neh 1:8-9; Neh 13:1). It is the principle of 2 Timothy 2.

The events recorded in Nehemiah cover a period of 11 years (Ussher).