Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Samson's decision to marry a Philistine 14:1-4
  Timnah was only about four miles southwest of Zorah. The word "woman"in verse 2 is in the emphatic position in the Hebrew text. Samson described her to his parents as the ideal woman from his viewpoint. Dating was unknown in ...
• Scope
  The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
• Solomon's foreign wives 11:1-8
  The writer's condemnation of Solomon in verses 1-2 rests on Deuteronomy 23:3-9 as well as Deuteronomy 7:3-4. The phraseology goes back to 23:3-9 and the motive to 7:3-4 (cf. Exod. 23:31-33; 34:15-16; Ezra 9:1; Neh. 13:26). So...
• The news of apostasy 9:1-4
  The Mosaic Law strictly forbade intermarriage with the native Canaanites (Exod. 34:11-16; Deut. 7:1-5). Furthermore intermarriage with other non-Israelites had resulted in tragic consequences in Israel's earlier history (cf. ...
• The completion of the proceedings 10:16-44
  The people were able to complete the divorce proceedings in three months (vv. 9, 17). A total of 113 Israelites had married and now divorced their foreign wives, only a fraction of the total number of Jews then living in Juda...
• Writer and Date
  The use of the first person identifies the author as Nehemiah, the governor of the Persian province of Judah (1:1-2:20; 13:4-31). His name means "Yahweh has comforted."The mention of Darius the Persian in 12:22 probably refer...
• Scope
  The years of history the book covers are 445-431 B.C. or perhaps a few years after that.In 445 B.C. (the twentieth year of Artaxerxes' reign, 1:1) Nehemiah learned of the conditions in Jerusalem that led him to request permis...
• Message3
  For many years, believers regarded Ezra and Nehemiah as twin books. They called them 1 and 2 Ezra (or Esdras, the Greek transliteration of Ezra). Jerome, who lived in the fourth century A.D., gave 2 Ezra the name Nehemiah. Th...
• Outline
  I. The fortification of Jerusalem chs. 1-7A. The return under Nehemiah chs. 1-21. The news concerning Jerusalem 1:1-32. The response of Nehemiah 1:4-113. The request of Nehemiah 2:1-84. The return to Jerusalem 2:9-20B. The re...
• I. THE FORTIFICATION OF JERUSALEM chs. 1--7
  "The first seven chapters of Nehemiah as well as 12:31-13:31 are written in the first person. This, as well as all or part of Neh 11 and the rest of Neh 12, constitutes what is called the Nehemiah Memoirs. As such it offers a...
• 3. The request of Nehemiah 2:1-8
  Nehemiah prayed for four months about conditions in Jerusalem before he spoke to Artaxerxes about them (cf. 1:1; 2:1). Artaxerxes' reign began in the seventh Jewish month, Tishri (late September and early October), of 464 B.C...
• 3. The strife among the workers ch. 5
  This chapter evidently describes a situation that prevailed for more than the 52 days the wall was under construction (cf. v. 14). The writer probably included it in the text here because it was another situation that threate...
• II. THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS chs. 8--13
  One writer viewed chapters 8-13 (really 7:73-13:37) as the third part of the tripartite structure of Ezra-Nehemiah. Ezra 1:1-4 deals with "potentiality,"the decree to the community to build God's house. Ezra 1:5--Nehemiah 7:7...
• The reading of the law 8:1-8
  This ceremony reflects the form of Israelite worship that had developed in exile. Almost the same elements that characterized the synagogue services begun then appear here. The people assembled, there was a request for the re...
• 2. The expulsion of Tobiah 13:4-9
  Eliashib was the high priest (3:1, 20; 13:28). He was evidently a close relative of Tobiah, the Jewish Ammonite leader who had opposed Nehemiah's efforts to rebuild the walls (2:19; 6:1, 17-18). Probably Eliashib cleaned out ...
• 3. The revival of tithing 13:10-14
  Because the people had failed to bring their tithes to the temple the Levites had to abandon their service in the temple to provide for their own physical needs. This failure may have resulted in rooms standing vacant for Tob...
• 4. The observance of the Sabbath 13:15-22
  Nehemiah discovered that foreign merchants were selling goods in Jerusalem on the Sabbath and that the Jews were also preparing and transporting goods on that holy day. He rebuked both the merchants and the Jewish nobles (cf....
• 5. The rebuke of mixed marriages 13:23-29
  Nehemiah confronted this problem as Ezra had several years earlier (Ezra 9-10). The text records only Nehemiah's words to the people, but since we know what kind of person he was we can safely assume that he followed up his w...
• Conclusion
  The Book of Nehemiah records the fortification of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Jews, two essential steps that were necessary to reestablish God's people in His will and in their land.Nehemiah continued the good work t...
• 2. The queen's dismissal 1:10-22
  The Persian kings castrated many of the men who served the king and his family (v. 10) so they could not have sexual relations with the female members of the royal court and start dynasties of their own."Vashti"("best,""the b...
• The importance of Sabbath observance 17:19-27
  This section contains one of Jeremiah's sermons. Notice its introduction, proclamation of the law, promise of blessing for the obedient, and threat of judgment for the disobedient.17:19-20 The Lord commanded Jeremiah to stati...
• The assurance of restoration in the future 11:14-21
  11:14-15 The Lord then replied that many of the Jews in Jerusalem were saying that the Judahites who had gone into captivity were the ones that God was judging. They believed that the Jews left in Jerusalem were the remnant t...
• The ordinary priests and their service 44:4-14
  The emphasis on the holiness of God that has marked this vision continues strong in this pericope and the next. God's holiness will determine who serves as priests and how they serve.44:4 The guide proceeded to take Ezekiel t...
• Date
  "Haggai and Zechariah . . . are noteworthy for the chronological precision with which they related their lives and ministries to their historical milieu. This is not the case at all with Malachi. In fact, one of the major pro...
• Message11
  Malachi prophesied during the times of Nehemiah. The dates of Nehemiah's ministry were about 445-420 B.C. Possibly Malachi ministered during the time when Nehemiah returned to Babylon following the completion of Jerusalem's w...
• IV. Oracle three: the people's mixed marriages and divorces 2:10-16
  "The style of the third oracle differs from the others. Instead of an initial statement or charge followed by a question of feigned innocence, this oracle begins with three questions asked by the prophet. However, as at the b...
• VI. Oracle five: The people's sin of robbing God 3:7-12
  The Lord had said that Israel's earlier history was a time when the priests and the people of Israel pleased Him (v. 4). Now He said that those early days were short-lived (cf. Exod. 32:7-9). In contrast to His faithfulness (...
• 2. The antagonism of the Jewish authorities 5:10-18
  More than once Jesus used His Sabbath activities to make the Jews consider who He was (cf. Matt. 12:1-14; Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 13:10-17; 14:1-6). Here He wanted them to realize that He had the right to work on the Sabbath as H...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Sabbath Observance
  In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath da...
• III. Nehemiah's Prayer Occurs Thrice In This Chapter, At The Close Of Each Section Recounting His Reforming Acts.
  In the first instance (Neh. 13:14) it is most full, and puts very plainly the merit of good deeds as a plea with God. The same thing is implied in its form in Neh. 13:22. But while, no doubt, the tone of the prayer is startli...