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NEBAIOTH

height. Dr. Robinson noticed several such precipices in the western hill around the village, and with very good reason concludes that one of these, probably the one just indicated, may well have been the spot whither the Jews led Jesus, unto the brow of the hill whereon the city was built, that they might cast him down headlong' (Luke iv. 28-30); and not the precipice, two miles from the village, overlooking the plain of Esdraelon, which monkish tradition indicates to the traveller as the Mount of Precipitation.'

NEAPOLIS, a maritime city of Macedonia, near the borders of Thrace, now called Napoli. Paul landed here on his first journey into Europe (Acts xvi. 11).

NEBAI'OTH, or NEBAJOTH, the first-born son of Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 13; 1 Chron. i. 29), and the prince or sheikh of one of the twelve Ishmaelitish tribes, which, as well as the territory they occupied, continued to bear his name in after times (Gen. xxv. 16; comp. ch. xvii. 20). One of Esau's wives, Mahalath, otherwise called Bashemath, is expressly designated as the sister of Nebaioth' (Gen. xxviii. 9; xxxvi. 3); and by a singular coincidence the land of Esau, or Edom, was ultimately possessed by the posterity of Nebaioth. In common with the other Ishinaelites, they first settled in the wilderness 'before' (i. e. to the east of) their brethren, the other descendants of Abraham; by which we are probably to understand the great desert lying to the east and south-east of Palestine (Gen. xxv. 18; xxi. 21; xvi. 12; and see the article ARABIA). From various references in Scripture it is evident that the tribe of Nebaioth for ages followed the nomadic life of shepherds.

The successful invasion of Western Asia, first by the Assyrians and afterwards by the Chaldæans, could not but affect the condition of the tribes in Northern Arabia, though we possess no record of the special results. The prophet Isaiah, after his obscure oracle regarding Dumah (ch. xxi. 11, 12), introduces a 'judgment upon Arabia,' i. e. Desert Arabia, which some suppose to have been fulfilled by Sennacherib, while others think it refers to the later events that are foretold by Jeremiah (ch. xlix. 28-33) as befalling Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor,' in consequence of the ravages of Nebuchadnezzar. Be this as it may, we know that when the latter carried the Jews captive to Babylon, the Edomites made themselves masters of a great part of the south of Palestine [IDUMEA], while either then or at a later period they themselves were supplanted in the southern part of their own territory by the Nabathæans, though doubtless this general designation included a variety of Arab races who took their common name from the progenitor of the largest or most influential tribe, Nebaioth, the first-bern of Ishmael.

The territory occupied by the Nabathæans in its widest sense included the whole of Northern Arabia from the Euphrates to the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea; but more strictly taken it denoted (at least in later times) only a portion of the southern part of that vast region. We first hear of the Nabathæans in history in the reign of Antigonus, who succeeded Alexander the Great in Babylon, and died in the year B.C. 301. He sent two expeditions against them. but both were unsuccessful. The Nabathaus were as yet essen

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tially a pastoral people, though they were ikewise engaged in commerce, which they afterwards prosecuted to a great extent, and thereby acquired great riches and renown. It was in this way that they gradually became more fixed in their habits; and living in towns and villages they were at length united under a regular monarchical government, constituting the kingdom of Arabia, or more strictly Arabia Petræa, the name being derived not, as some suppose, from the rocky nature of the country, but from the chief city Petra.

The common name of the kings of Arabia Petræa was either Aretas or Obodas. Even in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (about B.C. 166), we read in 2 Mace. v. 8, of an Aretas, king of the Arabians; and from that period downwards they came frequently into contact both with the Jews and Romans, as may be seen in the books of the Maccabees and the writings of Josephus. Long before the kingdom of Arabia was actually conquered by the Romans, its sovereigns were dependent on the Roman power. An expedition was sent thither by Augustus, under Ælius Gallus, governor of Egypt, and a personal friend of the geographer Strabo, who has left us an account of it. After various obstacles, he at last reached Albus Pagus, the emporium of the Nabathæans, and the port of Petra, which was probably at or near Elath. Another friend of Strabo, the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus, had spent some time in Petra, and related to him with admiration how the inhabitants lived in entire harmony and union under excellent laws. The kingdom was hereditary; or at least the king was always one of the royal family, and had a prime minister or vizier, who was styled the king's brother. Another Arabian king of the name of Aretas is the one mentioned by St. Paul (2 Cor. ii. 32; comp. Acts vii. 24, 25; Joseph. Antiq. xviii. 5. 1). We find that a former Aretas had been invited to assume the sovereignty by the inhabitants of Damascus: and now, during the weak reign of Caligula, the same city is seized by another Aretas, and governed through an ethnarch, as related by Paul. The kingdom of Arabia Petræa maintained its nominal independence till about A.D. 105, in the reign of the Emperor Trajan, when it was subdued by Cornelius Palma, governor of Syria, and annexed to the vast empire of Rome.

But

The Nabathæans had, as we have seen, early applied themselves to commerce, especially as carriers of the products of Arabia, India, and the far-distant East, which, as we learn from Strabo, were transported on camels from the above-mentioned Leuke Kome to Petra, and thence to Rhinocoloura (el-Arish) and elsewhere. under the Roman dominion the trade of these regious appears to have widely extended itself, and to have flourished in still greater prosperity; probably from the circumstance that the lawless rapacity of the adjacent nomadic hordes was now kept in check by the Roman power, and partienlarly by the garrisons which were everywhere established for this specific purpose. The country, too, was now rendered more accessible, and the passage of merchants and caravans more practicable, by military ways. But as the power of Rome fell into decay, the Arabs of the desert would seem again to have acquired the ascend

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NEBUCHADNEZZAR

From 2 Kings xxiii. 29, and 2 Chron. xxXV. 20, we gather that in the reign of Josiah (B.C. 610), Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, having approached by sea the coast of Syria, made a friendly application to King Josiah to be allowed a passage through his territories to the dominions of the Assyrian monarch, with whom he was then at war 2 Chron. xxxv. 20, 21). The design of Pharaoh-Necho was to seize upon Carchemish (Circesium or Cercus um), a strong post on the Euphrates; but Josiah, who was tributary to the Babylonian monarch, opposed his progress at Megiddo, where he was defeated and mortally wounded [JOSIAH]. Necho marched upon Jeru

In the course of the fourth century this region came to be included under the general name of 'Palestine.' It became the diocese of a metropolitan, whose seat was at Petra, and who was afterwards placed under the patriarch of Jerusalem, when the Jews became tributary to the king salem. With the Mohammedan conquest in the of Egypt. Upon this, Nebuchadnezzar, king of seventh century its commercial prosperity disap- Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 1; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6. peared. Lying between the three rival empires where this mouarch's name is for the first time of Arabia, Egypt, and Syria, it lost its ancient introduced), invaded Judah, retook Carchemish, independence; the course of trade was diverted with the territory which had been wrested from into new channels; its great routes were aban-him by Necho, seized upon Jehoiakim, the vassal doned; and at length the entire country was of Pharaoh-Necho, and reduced him to submission quietly yielded up to the Bedawees of the sur-(B.c. 607). Jehoiachim was at first loaded with rounding wilderness, whose descendants still claim it as their domain. During the twelfth century it was partially occupied by the Crusaders, who gave it the name of Arabia Tertia, or Syria Sobal. From that period it remained unvisited by Europeans, and had almost disappeared from their maps, until it was partially explored, first by Seetzen in 1807, and more fully by Burckhardt in 1812; and now the wonders of the Wady Mûsa are familiarly known to all.

chains, in order to be led captive to Babylon, but was eventually restored by Nebuchadnezzar to his throne, on condition of paying an annual tribute. Nebuchadnezzar carried off part of the ornaments of the Temple, together with several hostages of distinguished rank, among whom were the youths Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael (Dan. i.). These were educated at court in the language and sciences of the Chaldæans, where they subse1. NE BO, a Chaldæan idol mentioned in Isa.quently filled offices of distinction. The sacred xlvi. 1, and supposed to have been the symbol of vessels were transferred by Nebuchadnezzar to ¦ the planet Mercury, the celestial scribe and in-his temple at Babylon (Isa. xxxix.; 2 Chron. terpreter of the gods, answering to the Hermes xxxvi. 6, 7) [BABYLON]. and Anubis of the Egyptians. He was likewise worshipped by the Sabians in Arabia. The divine worship paid to this idol by the Chaldæans and Assyrians is attested by many compound proper names of which it forms part, as Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, Nebuhashban; besides others mentioned in classical writers, Nabonedus, Nabonassar, Naburianus, Nabonabus, Nabopolassar.

2. NEBO, the name of a mountain on the confines of Moab (Deut. xxxii. 49; xxxiv. 1), and of a town near it (Num. xxxii. 3, 38; Isa. xv. 2). Since the time of Seetzen and Burckhardt, Mount Nebo has been usually identified with Mount Attarus, east of the Dead Sea.

3. NEBO, a town in the tribe of Judah (Ezra ii. 29); or more fully, in order to distinguish it from the preceding, 'the other Nebo' (Neh. vii. 33). NEBUCHADNEZʼZAR (Kings, Chronicles, and Daniel; Jer. xxvii.; xxviii; xxxiv. 1; xxxix. 1; Ezek. xxvi. 7 ; and Ezra v. 12; written also Nebuchadrezzar, generally in Jeremiah, and in Ezek. xxx. 18) was the name of the Chaldæan monarch of Babylon by whom Judah was conquered, and the Jews led into their seventy years' captivity. The name of this monarch has been commonly explained to signify the treasure of Nebo, but according to some it signifies Nebo the prince of gods.

The only notices which we have of this monarch in the canonical writings are found in the books of Kings, Chronicles, Daniel, and Ezra, and in the allusions of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

After the conquest of Judæa, Nebuchadnezzar turned his attention towards the Egyptians, whom he drove out of Syria, taking possession of all the! land between the Euphrates and the river (2 Kings xxiv. 7): which some suppose to mean the Nile, but others a small river in the desert, which was reckoned the boundary between Palestine and Egypt.

The fate of Jerusalem was now rapidly approaching its consummation. After three years of fidelity, Jehoiachim renounced his allegiance to Babylon, and renewed his alliance with Necho, when Nebuchadnezzar sent incursions of Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians, together with Chaldæans, to harass him. At length, in the eleventh year of his reign, he was made prisoner, and slain (Jer xxij.) [JEHOAKIM]. He was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin. who, after three months' reign, surrendered himself with his family to Nebuchadnezzar, who had come in person to besiege Jerusalem, in the eighth year of his reign (2 Kings xxiv. 10-12) [JEHOIACHIN]. Upon this occasion all the most distinguished inhabitants, including the artificers, were led captive [CAPTIVITIES]. Among the captives, who amounted to no less than 50,000, were Ezekiel (Ezek. i. 1) and Mordecai [ESTHER]. The golden vessels of Solomon were now removed, with the royal treasures, and Mattaniah, the brother of Jehoiachin, placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, who gave him the name of Zedekiah, and bound him by an oath not to enter into an alliance with Egypt. Zedekiah, however, in the ninth year of his reign, formed an alliance with Pha

NEBUCHADNEZZAR

NECHO

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raoh-Hophra, the successor of Necho. Hophra, | eat grass as an ox, until he learned that the coming to the assistance of Zedekiah, was driven Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and back into Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, who finally giveth it to whomsoever he will.' The sentence captured Jerusalem in the eleventh year of Zede- was immediately fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar kiah's reign (B.c. 588) [ZEDEKIAH). The Tem- continued in this melancholy state during the preple, and the whole city, with its towers and walls, dicted period, at the end of which he was restored were all razed to the ground by Nebuzaradan, to the use of his understanding (ver. 36). We Nebuchadnezzar's lieutenant, and the principal have no account in Scripture of any of the actions remaining inhabitants put to death by Nebuchad- of this monarch's life after the period of his renezzar at Riblah. Jeremiah was, however, covery, but the first year of the reign of his sucspared, and Gedaliah appointed governor. He cessor Evil-merodach is represented as having was shortly after murdered by Ishmael, a member taken place in the thirty-seventh year of Jehoiaof the royal family, who was himself soon obliged chin, answering to B.C. 562 (2 Kings xxv. 27). to take refuge among the Ammonites. Many of the remaining Jews fled into Egypt, accompanied by Jeremiah; those who remained were soon after expatriated by Nebuchadnezzar, who depopulated the whole country.

He next undertook the siege of Tyre, and after its destruction proceeded to Egypt, now distracted by internal commotions, and devastated or made himself master of the whole country from Migdol to Syene (according to the reading of the Seventy, Ezek. xxix. 10; xxx. 6), transferring many of the inhabitants to the territory beyond the Euphrates.

We have referred to the captivity of the prophet Daniel, and have to turn to the book which bears his name for the history of this prophet, who, from an exile, was destined to become the great protector of his nation. In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, who was found superior in wisdom to the Chaldæan magi, was enabled not only to interpret, but to reveal a dream of Nebuchadnezzar's, the very subject of which that monarch had forgotten [DREAMS]. This was the dream of the statue consisting of four different metals, which Daniel interpreted of four successive monarchies, the last of which was to be the reign of the Messiah. Daniel was elevated to be first minister of state, and his three friends were made governors of provinces. The history of these events (Dan. ii. 4, 8, 9) is written in the Chaldee language, together with the narrative which immediately follows (ch. iii.), of the golden statue erected by Nebuchadnezzar in the plain of Dura, for refusing to worship which, Daniel's three friends were thrown into a furnace, but miraculously preserved. The fourth chapter, also written in Chaldee, contains the singular history of the judgment inflicted on Nebuchadnezzar as a punishment for his pride, and which is narrated in the form of a royal proclamation from the monarch himself, giving an account to his people of his affliction and recovery. This affliction had been, by the monarch's account, predicted by Daniel a year before, in the interpretation of his fearful dream of the tree in the midst of the earth. While walking in his palace, and admiring his magnificent works, he uttered, in the plenitude of his pride, the remarkable words recorded in ver. 30,Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ?' He had scarce uttered the words, when a voice from heaven proclaimed to him that his kingdom was departed from him; that he should be for seven times (generally supposed to mean years, although some reduce the period to fourteen months) driven from the habitations of men to dwell among the beasts of the field, and made to

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The difficulties attending the nature of the disease and recovery of Nebuchadnezzar have not escaped the notice of commentators in ancient as well as modern times. Origen supposed that the account of Nebuchadnezzar's metamorphosis was merely a representation of the fall of Lucifer. Bodin maintains that Nebuchadnezzar underwent an actual metamorphosis of soul and body, a similar instance of which is given by Cluvier on the testimony of an eye-witness. Tertullian confines the transformation to the body only, but without loss of reason, of which kind of metamorphosis St. Augustine reports some instances said to have taken place in Italy, to which he himself attaches little credit; but Gaspard Peucer asserts that the transformation of men into wolves was very common in Livonia. Some Jewish Rabbins have asserted that the soul of Nebuchadnezzar, by a real transmigration, changed places with that of an ox; while others have supposed not a real, but an apparent or docetic change, of which there is a case recorded in the life of St. Macarius, the parents of a young woman having been persuaded that their daughter had been transformed into a mare. The most generally received opinion, however, is, that Nebuchadnezzar laboured under that species of hypochondriacal monomania which leads the patient to fancy himself changed into an animal or other substance, the habits of which he adopts. this disease of the imagination physicians have given the name of Lycanthropy, Zoanthropy, or Insania Canina [DISEASES OF THE JEWS].

To

NEBUSHAS'BAN (Jer. xxxix. 13), a follower of Nebu; the name of one of the Babylonian officers sent by Nebuzar-adan to take Jeremiah out of prison.

NEBUZAR-ADAN (1 Kings xxv. 8; Jer. xxxix. 9; xl. 1; lii. 12, &c.). Nebu is the Lord,' according to the Hebrew; or, according to the Persian, Nebu is wise.' The name of the captain of Nebuchadnezzar's guard, by whom the ruin of Jerusalem was completed.

NE'CHO, an Egyptian king, son and successor (according to Herodotus, ii. 158) of Psammetichus, and contemporary of the Jewish king Josias (B.C. 610). The wars and success of Necho, in Syria, are recorded by sacred as well as profane writers. Studious of military renown, and the furtherance of commerce, Necho, on ascending the throne of Egypt, applied himself to reorganize the army, and to equip a powerful fleet. In order to promote his purposes, he courted the Greeks, to whose troops he gave a post next to his Egyptians. He fitted out a fleet in the Mediterranean, and another in the Red Sea. Having engaged some expert Phoenician sailors, he sent them on a voyage of discovery along the coast of

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Africa. To him belongs the honour of being, the first to equip an expedition for the purpose of circumnavigating Africa, and he thereby ascertained the peninsular form of that continent, twenty-one centuries before the Cape of Good Hope was seen by Diaz, or doubled by Vasco de Gama.

Before entering on this voyage of discovery, Necho had commenced re-opening the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, which had been cut many years before by Sesostris or Rameses the Great. The work, however, if we may believe Herodotus, was abandoned, an oracle warning the Egyptian monarch that he was labouring for the barbarian (Herod. ii. 158).

Necho also turned his attention to the Egyptian conquests already made in Asia: and, fearing lest the growing power of the Babylonians should endanger the territories acquired by the arms of his victorious predecessors, he determined to check their progress, and to attack the enemy on his own frontier. With this view he collected a powerful army, and entering Palestine, followed the route along the sea-coast of Judæa, intending to besiege the town of Carchemish on the Euphrates. But Josiah, king of Judah, offended at the passage of the Egyptian army through his territories, resolved to impede, if unable to prevent, their march. Necho sent messengers to induce him to desist, assuring him that he had no hostile intentions against Judæa, 'but against the house wherewith I have war; for God commanded me to make haste.' This conciliatory message was of no avail. Josiah posted himself in the valley of Megiddo, and prepared to oppose the Egyptians. In this valley the feeble forces of the Jewish king, having attacked Necho, were routed with great slaughter. Josiah, being wounded in the neck with an arrow, ordered his attendants to take him from the field. Escaping from the heavy shower of arrows with which their broken ranks were overwhelmed, they removed him from the chariot in which he had been wounded, and placing him in a 'second one that he had,' they conveyed him to Jerusalem, where he died (2 Kings xxiii. 29, sq.; 2 Chron. xxxv. 20, sq.).

NEHEMIAH

he meant Jerusalem; the word is only a Greek form of the ancient, as well as the modern, name of that city.

Pleased with his success, the Egyptian monarch dedicated the dress he wore to the Deity who was supposed to have given him the victory. He did not long enjoy the advantages he had obtained. In the fourth year after his expedition, being alarmed at the increasing power of the Babylonians, he again marched into Syria, and advanced to the Euphrates. The Babylonians were prepared for his approach. Nebuchadnezzar completely routed his army, recovered the town of Carchemish, and, pushing his conquests through Palestine, took from Necho ali the territory belonging to the Pharaohs, from the Euphrates to the southern extremity of Syria (2 Kings xxiv. 7; Jer. xlvi. 2; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 9; 2 Kings xxiv. 8). Nebuchadnezzar deposed Jehoiachin, who had succeeded his father, and carried the warriors and treasures away to Baby lon; a short time previous to which Necho died, and was succeeded by Psammetichus II.

NEG'INIOTH, a word which occurs in the titles of several Psalms [PSALMS].

NEHEMIAH (comforted of Jehovah). Three persons of this name occur in Scripture; one, the son of Azbuk (Neh. iii. 16), respecting whom no more is known than that he was ruler in Beth-zur, and took a prominent part in repairing the wall of Jerusalem [BETH-ZUR]. Another is mentioned (Ezra ii. 2; Neh. vii. 7) among those who accompanied Zerubbabel on the first return from captivity. Nothing further is known of this man, though some writers hold him, without valid reasons, to be the same with the well-known Jewish patriot.

NEHEMIAH, whose genealogy is unknown, except that he was the son of Hachaliah (Neh. i. 1), and brother of Hanani (Neh. vii. 2). Some think he was of priestly descent, because his name appears at the head of a list of priests in Neh. x. 1-8; but it is obvious, from Neh. ix. 38, that he stands there as a prince, and not as a priest-that he heads the list because he was head of the nation. Others with some probability infer, from his station at the Persian court and the high commission he received, that he was, like Zerubbabel, of the tribe of Judah and of the house of David.

Intent upon his original project, Necho did not stop to revenge himself upon the Jews, but continued his march to the Euphrates. Three months While Nehemiah was cupbearer in the royal had scarcely elapsed, when, returning from the palace at Shushan, in the twentieth year of Artacapture of Carchemish and the defeat of the xerxes Longimanus, or 444 years B.C. [ARTAChaldæans, he learned that, though Josiah had XERXES], he learned the mournful and desolate left an elder son, Jehoahaz had caused himself to condition of the returned colony in Judea. This be proclaimed king on the death of his father, filled him with such deep and prayerful concern without soliciting Necho to sanction his taking for his country, that his sad countenance revealed the crown. Incensed at this, he ordered Jehoahaz to the king his sorrow of heart;' which induced to meet him at Riblah, in the land of Hamath;' the monarch to ascertain the cause, and also to and having deposed him, and condemned the land vouchsafe the remedy, by sending him, with full to pay a heavy tribute, he carried him a prisoner powers, to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and to to Jerusalem. On arriving there, Necho made seek the welfare of the children of Israel.' Being Eliakim, the eldest son, king, changing his name furnished with this high commission, and enjoyto Jehoiakim; and taking the silver and gold ing the protection of a military escort (ch. ii. 9), which had been levied upon the Jewish nation, Nehemiah reached Jerusalem in the year B C. 444, he returned to Egypt with the captive Jehoahaz, and remained there till B.C. 422, being actively who there terminated his short and unfortunate engaged for twelve years in promoting the public career. Herodotus says that Necho, after having good (ch. v. 14). The principal work which he routed the Syrians (the Jews) at Magdolus, took then accomplished was the rebuilding, or rather Cadytis, a large city of Syria, in Palestine, the repairing, of the city wall, which was done which, he adds, is very little less than Sardis (ii. in fifty and two days' (ch. vi. 15), notwithstand159; iii. 5). By Cadytis there is scarcely a doubting many discouragements and difficulties, caused

NEHEMIAH

chiefly by Sanballat, a Moabite of Horonaim, and Tobiah, an Ammonite, who were leading men in the rival and unfriendly colony of Samaria (ch. iv. 1-3). These men, with their allies among the Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites (ch. iv. 7), sought to hinder the re-fortifying of Jerusalem, first by scoffing at the attempt; then by threatening to attack the workmen-which Nehemiah averted by setting a watch against them day and night,' and arming the whole people, so that every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon' (ch. iv. 7-18); and finally, when scoffs and threats had failed, by using various stratagems to weaken Nehemiah's authority, and even to take his life (ch. vi. 1-14). But in the midst of these dangers from without, our patriot encountered troubles and hinderances from his own people, arising out of the general distress, which was aggravated by the cruel exactions and oppression of their nobles and rulers (ch. v. 1-5). These popular grievances were promptly redressed on the earnest and solemn remonstrance of Nehemiah, who had himself set a striking example of retrenchment and generosity in his high office (ch. v. 6-19). It appears also (ch. vi. 17-19) that some of the chief men in Jerusalem were at that time in conspiracy with Tobiah against Nehemiah. The wall was thus built in troublous times' (Dan. ix. 25); and its completion was most joyously celebrated by a solemn dedication (ch. xii. 27-43).

Having succeeded in fortifying the city, Nehemiah turned his attention to other measures in order to secure its good government and prosperity. He appointed some necessary officers (ch. vii. 1-3; also ch. xii. 44-47), and excited among the people more interest and zeal in religion by the public reading and exposition of the law (ch. viii. 1-12), by the unequalled celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles (ch. viii. 13-18), and by the observance of a national fast, when the sins of the people and the iniquities of their fathers were publicly and most strikingly confessed (ch. ix.), and when also a solemn covenant was made by all ranks and classes to walk in God's law,' by avoiding intermarriages with the heathen, by strictly observing the Sabbath, and by contributing to the support of the temple service (ch. x). But the inhabitants of the city were as yet too few to defend it and to ensure its prosperity; and hence Nehemiah brought one out of every ten in the country to take up his abode in the ancient capital, which then presented so few inducements to the settler, that the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem' (ch. vii. 4; also ch. xi. 1-19).

In these important public proceedings, which appear all to have happened in the first year of his government, Nehemiah enjoyed the assistance of Ezra, who is named on several occasions as taking a prominent part in conducting affairs ch. viii. 1, 9, 13; xii. 36). Ezra had gone up to Jerusalem thirteen years before according to ome, or thirty-three years according to others; but on either reckoning, without supposing unusual longevity, he might well have lived to be Nehemiah's fellow-labourer [EZRA].

Nehemiah, at the close of his successful administration, from the twentieth year even to the thirty second year of Artaxerxes the king' (ch. v.

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14), returned to Babylon in the year B.C. 432, and resumed, as some think, his duties as royal cupbearer.

He returned, however, after a while, to Jerusalem, where his services became again requisite, in consequence of abuses that had crept in during! his absence. His stay at the court of Artaxerxes was not very long (certainly not above nine years); for after certain days he obtained leave of the king and came to Jerusalem' (ch. xiii. 6, 7).

After his return to the government of Judæa, Nehemiah enforced the separation of all the mixed multitude from Israel (ch. xiii. 1–3); and accordingly expelled Tobiah the Ammonite from the chamber which the high-priest, Eliashib, had prepared for him in the temple (ch. xiii. 4-9). Better arrangements were also made for the support of the temple service (ch. xiii. 10-14), and for the rigid observance of the Sabbath (ch. xiii. 15-22). One of the last acts of his government was an effort to put an end to mixed marriages, which led him to chase' away a son of Joiada the high-priest, because he was son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite (ch. xiii. 23-29). His second administration probably lasted about ten years, and terminated about the year B.C. 405, towards the close of the reign of Darius Nothus, who is mentioned in ch. xii, 22 [DARIUS]. At this time Nehemiah would be between sixty and seventy years old, if we suppose him (as most do) to have been only between twenty and thirty when he first went to Jerusalem. Of the place and year of his death nothing is known.

THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH, which bears the title Nehemiah's Words, was anciently connected with Ezra, as if it formed part of the same work. It arose, doubtless, from the fact that Nehemiah is a sort of continuation of Ezra [EZRA].

The canonical character of Nehemiah's work is established by very ancient testimony.

The contents of the book have been specified above in the biography of the author. The work can scarcely be called a history of Nehemiah and his times. It is rather a collection of notices of some important transactions that happened during the first year of his government, with a few scraps from his later history. The contents appear to be arranged in chronological order, with the exception perhaps of ch. xii. 27-43, where the account of the dedication of the wall seems out of its proper place: we might expect it rather after ch. vii. 1-4, where the completion of the wall is mentioned.

As to the date of the book, it is not likely that it came from Nehemiah's hand till near the close of his life. Certainly it could not have been all written before the expulsion of the priest, recorded in ch. xiii. 23-29, which took place about the year

B.C. 413.

While the book as a whole is considered to have come from Nehemiah, it consists in part of compilation. He doubtless wrote the greater part himself, but some portions he evidently took from other works. It is allowed by all that he is, in the strictest sense, the author of the narrative from ch. i. to ch. vii. 5. The account in ch vii. 6-75 is avowedly compiled, for he says in ver. 5, ‘I found a register,' &c. This register we actually find also in Ezra ii. 1-70: hence it might be thought that our author borrowed this part from Ezra,

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