Nehemiah 1 · a question people ask
When was the wall broken down, and by whom?
The chapter doesn't say, and these notes don't guess. It gives only what Hanani and the men of Judah told Nehemiah: "The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire" (1:3). Earlier books tell of a wall broken down: "All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem" (2 Kings 25:10), and "They burned God’s house, broke down the wall of Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 36:19). The book of Ezra tells of a letter to the king saying that the Jews "have finished the walls and repaired the foundations" (Ezra 4:12), and of men who then went to Jerusalem "and made them to cease by force of arms" (Ezra 4:23). Nehemiah 1 names none of these, and doesn't say whether the news was new or old. What it shows is how the news landed: "When I heard these words, I sat down and wept" (1:4).
The verses
“They said to me, “The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned several days; and I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,”
“All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.”
“They burned God’s house, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all of its valuable vessels.”
“Be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us to Jerusalem. They are building the rebellious and bad city, and have finished the walls and repaired the foundations.”