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  • From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] Isaiah 53 read within the book as a whole
  • Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 22:36:33 -0500

Dear Liz,

> HH: Why do you think Nehemiah was building that wall? Was it because
he worked for the Persian governor?
Nehemiah didn't work for the Persian governor, he was the Persian governor.
He worked for the satrap and the king.

HH: Sorry, I meant the Persian king.

Harold, do you realize that you are reading this from Nehemiah's point
of view? Nehemiah, the Persian governor, was the one who wrote this.
Do you think you might get another point of view if someone else wrote
it? Nehemiah came to Judah to install a Persian garrison in it, a birah.
But you only see one side.
Read the first chapter of First Maccabees. Then you will get the
perspective of the local population when the foreign monarch
installed a birah, an akra in the city. You will realize the
true feelings of the population. The purpose of a birah is for
the installation of Persian soldiers. These were the soldiers
the elite cavalry commanders of the Persian army that Nehemiah
brought with him. I suspect that Nehemiah is a rab shakah. That
literally means "cupbearer", but the cupbearer is the title
of a military commander. Nehemiah brought soldiers with him.
They held spears and were armed, these were Nehemiah's "boys,"
na'arim, his servants who were at his disposal to build the
wall, to guard the people, to force them to build. THey also
guarded the wall during Shabbat.
Whether the people wanted to or not, it was forced labor.

HH: Liz, I am reading it from the Holy Spirit's perspective:

2Tim. 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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