Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Liz,

>  > HH: The priests were working on the wall because
> >  they loved their country. They loved God and
> >  their country. They were part of a team that the
>  > returned Israelites formed under Nehemiah.
>
> Sure, and I've a bridge to sell you too.
> Do you think they would have done it if
> Nehemiah, the Persian governor, and the
> satrap of Beyond the River hadn't ordered
> them to? Really, do you think they had a choice?

HH: Why do you think Nehemiah was building that wall? Was it because 
he worked for the Persian governor? That helped, but the real reason 
was that he loved God and felt concern for the people who had 
repented and returned to Israel (Neh 1:9). Why do you think those 
people building the wall went back to Israel? These returnees were 
the faithful ones who believed in the nation. The priests were 
priests of the living God. They knew that a wall needed to be built 
if they were to have strength as a people and nation. Doubtless they 
shared Nehemiah's vision. Remember that Nehemiah learned of the need 
to rebuild the wall from his brother and other men from Judah (Neh 
1:2). Nehemiah came, saw the city, and told the Jews about his goal 
of rebuilding the wall. This is what they said:

Neh 2:18 "Let's start rebuilding," and they were encouraged to do 
this good work.

Hh: The following sentence shows the attitude of the builders:

Neh 4:6 So we rebuilt the wall entire the entire wall was joined 
together up to half its height, for the people had the will to keep 
working.

HH: The people wanted to do this because it needed to be done. Praise 
the Lord even King Artaxerxes saw the wisdom of rebuilding 
Jerusalem's wall and granted Nehemiah the timber to rebuild the gates 
of the temple's fortress, the city wall, and even a home for Nehemiah 
(Neh 2:8). So the people had the resources to accomplish this task.

                                        Yours,
                                        Harold Holmyard