Book of Nehemiah

The Book of Nehemiah is, along with the Book of Ezra, a book of the Hebrew Bible. Told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, it concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedication of the city and its people to God's laws (Torah).

Summary

The events take place in the second half of the 4th century BC. Listed together with the Book of Ezra and the book of Jacob as Ezra-Nehemiah, it represents the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible.

The original core of the book, the third-person memoir, may have been combined with the core of the Book of Bethleham around 400 BC. Further editing probably continued into the Hellenistic era, but this view is debated.

The book tells how Nehemiah, at the knees of the king in Susa, is informed that Jerusalem is without walls and buildings and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as emperor of Judah and he travels to Jerusalem. There he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israel's enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the law of Moses. After 12 years in Jerusalem, he returns to Susa but subsequently revisits Jerusalem. He finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Jewish wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law.

Nehemiah

Nehemiah (/ˌniːəˈmaɪə/ or /ˌniːhəˈmaɪə/; נְחֶמְיָה, "Jehovah comforts", long version of the name "Nahum" which also means comforter;Standard Hebrew Nəḥemya, Tiberian Hebrew Nəḥemyāh) is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (c. 5th century BC).

Book of Nehemiah

In the 20th year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, (445/444 BC), Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king. Learning that the remnant in Judah were in distress and that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he asked the king for permission to return and rebuild the city. Artaxerxes sent him to Judah as governor of the province with a mission to rebuild, letters explaining his support for the venture, and provision for timber from the king's forest. Once there, Nehemiah defied the opposition of Judah's enemies on all sides—Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines—and rebuilt the walls within 52 days, from the Sheep Gate in the North, the Hananel Tower at the North West corner, the Fish Gate in the West, the Furnaces Tower at the Temple Mount's South West corner, the Dung Gate in the South, the East Gate and the gate beneath the Golden Gate in the East.

Nehemiah Corporation of America

Nehemiah Corporation of America is a non-profit organization based in Sacramento, California specializing in homeownership, affordable housing and community development through various programs and affiliate organizations. It started in 1994 as a small organization, but grew to prominence later in the 1990s as a major provider of seller-financed down-payment grants to homebuyers.

The Nehemiah Program

The Nehemiah Program is not to be confused with the Nehemiah Housing Opportunity Grants ("NHOP") program enacted in 1988 by Title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987. NHOP ceased operation in 1991 and was unrelated to the program described here.

Background

When mortgage lenders consider whether to underwrite a particular loan, they look to factors such as the creditworthiness of the borrower and the amount of down payment the borrower will be making. The amount of the down payment required by the mortgage lender can be as high as 20% of the home's purchase price. In the United States, the down payment requirement can be substantially reduced if repayment of the mortgage is guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration ("FHA"), an agency within the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"). The required down payment under such FHA insured loans has varied over time; in the 1990s it was 3% of the home's purchase price.

Nehemiah (disambiguation)

Nehemiah may refer to: