This week we are studying Nehemiah 7. The chapter has only six verses of narrative development before launching into a lengthy genealogical record. Admittedly, the list is rather boring, but thankfully the narrative section gives us plenty to unpack.
In 445 BCE, after 52 days of nonstop construction, the Jerusalem fortifications were complete, and the workers set the doors in their gates. Chapter 7 begins with a reiteration of the workers’ accomplishment that was already stated in the previous chapter but certainly worth noting again (6:15; 7:1).
For many years, biblical historians wondered if anything was left of Nehemiah’s fortifications in Jerusalem. For example, Hezekiah’s building projects still have a heavy archaeological footprint. Tourists pass by Hezekiah’s broad wall and through his tunnel every day. As for Nehemiah, historians assumed nothing remained of his fortifications since according to the Bible, they had poorly constructed it in the first place. They were wrong...
