Notes on Nehemiah

I just recently read through the book of Nehemiah again. I'm not sure why the LORD compelled me to read that particular book, but He did - so I did.

My interest in the book has been renewed, and I'm likely to post more than once on the subject. I thought I'd start with a simple observation and open it into a discussion about human nature in general...

If you're not familiar with the story of Nehemiah, I'd highly recommend you read it before finishing this post. Read the whole thing straight through - it won't take you too long. If you don't have a Bible handy, here's a link to the NET Bible version. [If you're unfamiliar with the NET Bible, take some time to acquaint yourself here; it's a great resource.]

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So did you read it? Good.

Did you notice the words of 4:6-7? "So we rebuilt the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height. The people were enthusiastic in their work."

A more word-for-word rendering of the Hebrew text would by something like: "the people had a heart/mind for work". [The same Hebrew word can be translated "heart" or "mind", depending on context and English idiom.] But how can that be? Aren't these the same people that were not a few chapters earlier living in and around a hollow shell of a city? Didn't these same people manage to accomplish nothing in terms of restoring the wall for years prior? Weren't there a dozen or more excuses to offer?

What explains the difference in mindset?

As I see it, you could reasonably offer a few different and/or inter-related explanations. I'll list them here, and then I'd like to know how you see it - does one of my suggestions resonate with you, or is there something I've not considered?

Possible explanations:

1. They were previously leaderless; now they've been given leadership.

2. The polarizing presence of Nehemiah dramatically increased their risk of attack; they worked out of necessity.

3. They were destitute and forgotten; now they've been given hope.

4. They were a fundamentally selfish lot; Nehemiah tapped that by having them work on the wall directly in front of their own home.


It's important in these discussions to remember that the Bible doesn't explicitly tell us why the people were enthusiastic about this work; there can be no single "correct" answer to this question. But the context of the passage can certainly help support a handful of conclusions with some degree of certainty.

What do you think?

Hatushili