The walls of . Zechariah 1:12 Then the angel of YHWH answered and said, O YHWH of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? 2He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria, What are these feeble Jews doing? * See Aaron Demsky, Who Returned FirstEzra or Nehemiah? Bible Review, April 1996. I have read your theory and I do understand your position. Symbolically, it mightve made more sense for the building of the wall to take place over the course of 312 days [i.e. The following text is the first portion of the Nehemiah Memoir (1:17:4) from the New Revised Standard Version. Nehemiah built a spiritual wall for their covenant with God relationship presence help in time of trouble. Notice the importance YHWH, not man, places on the construction efforts: Zechariah 1:13-16 And YHWH answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words. It also has nothing to do with feasts of weeks, nor does Daniel say anything at all about seventy weeks.. Enemies of God heard the people were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah's leadership; they were jealous and they were furious. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it" ( Nehemiah 2:20 ). You see, God is NOT against building walls! Amazing issues here. Thats 12 years later than what ppl think!! This theme actually comes from the book of Nehemiah (2:20), which describes how God led the people Israel in the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Chapter 6 says this, 6:15So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 8 years of Archaeology Odyssey online, exploring the ancient roots of the Western world in a scholarly and entertaining way, The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Dorothy Resig Willette is the former Managing Editor of Biblical Archaeology Review. Will you please drop me a mail? 492BCE minus 490 years leaves us at the Birth of Christ at 2BCE!! Nehemiah served as the kings cupbearer (Nehemiah 1:11), which evidently put him in a position to speak to the king and request favors from him. 18For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah: and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah. As can be understand now, from the studies in Intelligence, we know this device was a cube shaped set of 5 geometric solids. When Daniel received the vision, the 70 years of the captivity period spoken of in Jeremiah 25 were just drawing to a close. Thus, the time periods being designated in verse 25 are seven Pentecosts and sixty-two Pentecosts. COPYRIGHT 2023 BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY 5614 Connecticut Ave NW #343, Washington DC 20015-2604. Would a man like me go into the temple to save his life? And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. The Finklestein chronology, which dismisses the biblical record, is also incorrect.Dan Bruce, The Prophecy Society, David Rohls chronology works only if one disregards major portions of the Hebrew Scriptures. Will they finish it in a day? So Foto Marburg for the rare occasion that a client specifically wants a Nehemiah labels a statue by an unknown artist thus, taking care to cover themselves legally by stating that actually its a prophet OR (possibly) Nehemiah (when, of course, neither may be true, but prophet is wide enough by definition). Neither can be made to match the biblical record. Joiakim was the son of Jeshua the high priest. Then they said, Let us start building! So they committed themselves to the common good. Jesus is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" ( John 1:29 ). (Nehemiah 6:16). 19But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they mocked and ridiculed us, saying, What is this that you are doing? According to a story, Nehemiah, a high official in the Persian court of King Artaxerxes I at the capital city of Susa, was very troubled that there was no wall to protect his beloved city of Jerusalem, its walls and gates. In the eighth chapter of Daniel, the phrase evening-morning(s) was used to indicate Passovers. If you are talking about Daniel 8:14, I do not see anything about Pesach. Here in the ninth chapter, the word weeks means Feast of Weeks, or, focusing on the main festival day as shorthand, it means the Day of Pentecost. 11:18-19; 1Chron. 4Next to them Meremoth son of Uriah son of Hakkoz made repairs. 17After him the Levites made repairs: Rehum son of Bani; next to him Hashabiah, ruler of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district. Combining Nehemiah's times with his character, we get the message of this book: Nehemiah proves that seemingly impossible things . Will they sacrifice? 21After him Meremoth son of Uriah son of Hakkoz repaired another section from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib. 11So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. This company acts as an image bank/agency they own, or represent photographers (and artists, if recent), with regard to copyright. and more. Just a few years later Cyrus gave his command(at the prompting of YHWH) which allowed the people to return and rebuild the temple. Lots of debate here and that is ok as long as we remember that in-fighting amongst believers only makes the unbelievers more of an unbeliever. We can learn about the society where the ancient Israelites, and later Jesus and the Apostles, lived through the modern discoveries that provide us clues. Although Newton believed the early messianic expectants based their counting from the 1st year of Cyrus, it is more likely as Davidson noted, the 2nd year of Darius Hystaspes which was the basis for the chronological errors that crept into the early rabbinic chronology. Why is this important? The first thing they did was use the weapon of mocking. The word used in Daniyel is shavuim, while the word for weeks is shavuot. It identified the time of the introduction of the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah that would be offered to Israel by John the Baptist, and it identified the anointed one, Jesus, who would confirm that new covenant during the Passion Week. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it'. Nehemiah brought all the Levites to Jerusalem for the inauguration. Ezra soon noticed that contrary to the Jewish law, even Jews of high standing and the priests, had intermarried with pagan, non-Hebrew women. The end of days never refers to Yom Kippur in the Tanach. After hearing about the sad state of affairs in Judah, Nehemiah acquired the kings permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and its fortifications. 7But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and the gaps were beginning to be closed, they were very angry, 8and all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. Yodie. That decree restores Jerusalem to a messiah (anointed one)/political leader (in this case, the high priest and ethnarch Hyrcanus II), and indicates that the seventy weeks will be fulfilled AFTER the broad place and moat has been rebuilt, an event that happened between 44 BCE and 43 BCE, when Antipater, appointed by Rome to assist Hyrcanus govern the city of Jerusalem, is known to have rebuilt the wall and tower gate (with the broad place for assembling troops behind the tower) and restored the moat in front of the wall by clearing out the rubbish that had been used by Pompey in 63 BCE to fill in the moat so his Roman troops could use siege engines against the wall. This information is based on research from one of my favourite bible references- information which is taken from the Bible Encyclopaedia Insight on the Scriptures - No, Just the Outer Wall to The Temple & City: The house of Jehov. . Chapter 13 says Nehemiah 13:6 6 But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king: 7 And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. [] Nehemiah was a high official in the Persian court of King Artaxerxes I at the capital city of Susa, which lay 150 miles east of the Tigris River in what is now modern Iran. How many days did Nehemiah pray? I enjoyed reading it all but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth as I thought how much unbelievers love to see us disagree with one anotherjust some food for thought to all. You too offer an interesting interpretation. Thus Artaxerxes is not another Persian ruler but a title which defines Darius son of Hystaspes. Each time a new Messianic zealot came along and needed a new basis for claiming a fulfillment of Daniel 9 they would conveniently associate the command given by YHWH in the 2nd year of Darius even Artaxerxes with the 2nd year of a new Artaxerxes thus eclipsing the Persian period by jumping from one to another. 7You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, There is a king in Judah! And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. I do not see a reference to Yom Kippur in these verses. In an individual life, then, the rebuilding of the walls would be a picture of re-establishing the strength of that life. As a leader with strong Christian values holding various ministerial positions in government at a state and federal level within our country, the writings of Nehemiah was my blue print on how to be strategic, diplomatic and never forgetting my purpose. Based on Ezra 6:14 this was none other than Darius son of Hystaspes. 18And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. Now he could rebuild his beloved city of Jerusalem, its walls and gates. They knew that the command given by YHWH was in the same year as the command given by Darius, Artaxerxes, son of Hystaspes in his 2nd year. Ok Nissan is April and in the 20th year of the king. Of course, no artist can claim knowledge of what any biblical character looked like. These walls had been down for 100 years. Defying the opposition of Judahs enemies on all sidesSamaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines, the original walls of the City of David were rebuilt by the people in 52 days, working with a trowel in one hand & a sword in the other. Rebuilding the walls showed that God was with His people. Once the defenses had been rebuilt by Antipater, the seven weeks and sixty-two weeks and one week (totaling seventy weeks) could begin, and that is exactly what happened. If you sort through the rather scarce historical references of Messianic expectancy in the 1st century BCE you will find like Newton and Davidson that a huge portion of the Persian era was eclipsed. Nehemiah's willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of others One side is built on the. 19Also they spoke of his good deeds in my presence, and reported my words to him. @ Willaim If you can make that translation fit history, more power to you. interesting question, Wasen,t Nehemiah considered an eunich? 1The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. Just shows to go you that, just because a guy pulls up his sleeves, and is the first one to jump in and work, it sometimes doesnt mean what it appears to mean. 1Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish kin. Ill stick with what the biblical text states, that the key time-location events are the decree of Caesar in 44 BCE and the building of the broad place and moat in 43 BCE.. Nehemiah understood the urgency of rebuilding the wall and because he was obedient to God, it was completed in 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15). [] In it, Nehemiah describes his efforts to rebuild the city, even in the face of hostile neighbors: NehemiahThe Man Behind the Wall Biblical Archaeology Society Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to []. Here is how I understand it. Once there, Nehemiah defied the opposition of Judah's enemies on all sidesSamaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistinesand rebuilt the walls within 52 days, from the Sheep Gate in the North, the Hananeel Tower at the North West corner, the Fish Gate in the West, the Furnaces Tower at the Temple Mount's South West. Notice the common names are in the same order in both lists. Although they simply repaired the pre-existing walls elsewhere in the city, the wall just above the steep Kidron Valley was too damaged and too difficult to mend. In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capital, 2one of my brothers, Hanani, came with certain men from Judah; and I asked them about the Jews that survived, those who had escaped the captivity, and about Jerusalem. Families and professional groups take on the responsibility for repairing stretches of the wall, while gates are provided with attics, doors, bolts and bars, and towers are rebuilt. 2In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. Once there, Nehemiah defied the opposition of Judah's enemies on all sidesSamaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistinesand rebuilt the walls within 52 days, from the Sheep Gate in the North, the Hananeel Tower at the North West corner, the Fish Gate in the West, the Furnaces Tower at the Temple Mount's South West.