NEHER
739
NEHER
treatment of foreign merchants (verse 31), the yearly
tribute of a third part of a side for the Temple (verse
32), and other measures to ensure the regular celebra-
tion of sacrifices (verses 33-34), the offering of the first-
fruits and of the first born (verses 35-37), and the pay-
ment and the distribution of the tithes (verses 35-39).
After chapter x it is advisable to read xii, 43-xiii, 1-3;
the appointment of a commission for the administration
of things brought to the Temple, and the expulsion of
foreigners from among the community. Chapter xi,
1, 2, recalls the measures taken to people Jerusalem;
verses 3-36 give the census of Jerusalem and of the
other towns as Neheraias' measures left it. In chap-
ter xii, 27-43, we have the account of the solemn dedi-
cation of the walls of Jerusalem; Esdras the scribe is
mentioned as being at the head of a group of singers
(verse 35). The list in xii, 1-26, has no connexion
whatever with the events of this epoch.
(4) The proceedings set forth in viii-x are closely connected with the other parts of the history of Nehe- raias. The obligations imposed by the covenant, de- scribed in X, have to do with just the very matters with which Nehemias concerned himself most during his second stay (see above, section III). The regula- tion concerning the providing of the wood for the altar (x, 34) is recalled by Nehemias in xiii, 31, and the very words used in x, 39 (end of verse), we find again in xiii, 11. The covenant entered into by the people during Nehemias' first mission was broken in his ab- sence. At the time of his second mission he put down the abuses with severity. For instance, the attitude he takes towards mixed marriages is quite different from his attitude at the beginning of his first stay [see above section I (5); section III]. This change is ex- plained precisely by the absolute prohibition pro- nounced against these marriages in the assembly de- scribed in ix-x. The view has been put forward that viii-x gives an account of events belonging to the pe- riod of the organization of worship under Zorobabel, the names of Nehemias (viii, 9; x, 1) and Esdraa (viii, 1 ff.) having been added later. But there was cer- tainly sufficient reason for the reorganization of wor- ship in the time of Nehemias (cf. the Book of Mala- chias and Neh., xiii). Others on the contrary would regard Neh., viii-x, as the sequel to the narrative of I Esdras, ix-x, and they likewise hold that Nehemias' name has been interpolated in Neh., viii, 9, and x, 1. This theory is equally untenable. It is true that in the Third Book of Esdras (the Greek I Esdras) the narrative of Neh., viii, is reproduced immediately after that of Esdras, ix-x; but the author of the third Book of Esdras wa. led to do this by the fact that Neh., viii, presents his hero as reader of the Law. He has moreover preserved (III Esd., ix, 50) the informa- tion of Neh., viii, 9, about the intervention of the Athersatha (Nehemias), Esdras' superior, which clearly proves that this account does not refer to the epoch when Esdras had returned to Jerusalem en- trusted by the king with full powers for the adminis- tration of the Jewish community. See, moreover, the following paragraph.
(5) According to our view the return of Esdras with his emigrants and the reform effected by him (I Esd., vii-x) ought, chronologically, to be placed after the history of Nehemias, and the Artaxerxes, in the seventh year of whose reign Esdras returned to Jerusalem, is Artaxerxes II (b. c. 40.5-3.5S). As a matter of fact, Esdras finds the wall of Jerusalem rebuilt (I Esd., ix, 9), Jerusalem well populated (x, 1 ff.), the Temple treasure under proper management (viii, 29 ff.), Jona- than, son of Eliasib, high priest (x, 6; cf. Neh., xii, 23, Hebrew text), and the unlawfulness of mixed mar- riages recognized by every one (ix, 1 ff.). The radical reform, which Esdras introduced in this matter with- out being troubled by foreigners who still held the upper hand at the time of Nehemias' first coming, definitively put an end to the abuse in question which
had proved rebellious to all preventive measures (x)>
The political and social situation described in the first
six chapters of Nehemias [see above, section I (4), (5),
(0)1, the religious situation to which the proceedings of
the gathering in Neh., x, bear witness [see above, sec-
tion II (3)1, do not admit of being explained as imme-
diately following after the mission of Esdras, who
particularly, in virtue of the king's edict, disposed of
very valuable resources for the celebration of worship
(I Esd., vii, viii, 25 ff.). Esdras is again entirely un-
noticed in Neh., i-vi, and in the list of the subscribers
to the covenant (x. Iff.). He is mentioned in Neh.,
viii, 1 ff., and in xii, 35, as fulfilling .suliordinate func-
tions. Considering the singulur nunibcr dl' the verbs
in Neh., viii, 9, 10, it is probable dial, in I In- iormer of
these two verses "Esdras anil the Levites" being
named as part of the subject of the phrase is due to a
later hand. At the epoch of Nehemias, therefore, Es-
dras was at the beginning of his career, and must have
gone a Hull' later to Babylonia, whence he returned at
the head of a band of emigrants in tlie .seventh year of
Artaxerxes II (b. c. 398). (6) Many critics have
maintained that in Neh., viii, we have the history of
the first promulgation of the "Priestly Code" by
Esdras, but the narrative in question does not author-
ize such an interpretation. Esdras was probably still
a very young man at this time, and all he does is to
read the Law before the assembled people. It is quite
true that in I Esd., vii, there is made mention in the
royal edict of the Law of his God which Esdras has in
mind (verse 14), but besides the fact that we hold the
events related in I Esd., vii, to be posterior to Neh.,
viii [see above (5)], these words must not be under-
stood literally of a new document of which Esdras was
the bearer. In the same terms mention is made of the
wisdom of his God which Esdras has in mind (verse
25), and in this same passage it is supposed that Es-
dras' compatriots already know the Law of their God.
Rawunson, Ezra and Nehemiah; their lives and times (London,
1890) ; Ryle, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (Cambridge, 1896) ;
WiTTON D.AVIES, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther (Edinburgh, The
Century Bible) ; Bertheau, Die Biicher Ezra, Nehemia und Ester,
ed. Ryssel (Leipzig, 1SS7); Schlatter, zur Topographic und
Geschichte Paldstina (Calw and Stuttgart, 1893); Nikel, Die
Wiederherslellung des Jildischen Gemeinwesens nach dem bahylon-
ischen Exit (Freiburg, 1900) ; Van Hoonacker, NehSmie et Esdras
(Louvain, 1890) ; Idem, Nehemie en Van 20 d' Artaxerxes I, Esdras
en Van 7 d' Artaxerxes II (Gand and Leipzig, 1892) ; Idem, Nouvel-
les iludes sur la Restauration juive aprks Vexil de Bahylone (Paris
and Louvain, 1890) ; Idem, Notes sur Vhistoire de la Restauration
juive opr^s Vexil de Babylone in Revue biblique (Paris, January-
April, 1901). A. Van Hoonacker.
Neher, Stephan Jakob, church historian; b. at Ebnat, 24 July, 1829; d. at Nordhausen, 7 Oct., 1902. His family were country people of Ebnat, a village in the district of Neresheim in Wiirtemberg, and upon the conclusion of his studies in the gymnasium Neher devoted himself to the study of theology in the Uni- versity of Tubingen. After his ordination, he laboured as pastor of Dorfmerkingen, then of Ziibingen, and finally of Nordhausen (in the district of Ellwangen, Wiirtemberg). In addition, Neher devoted himself throughout his life to intellectual pursuits, princi- pally to canon law and church history, giving his at- tention, in the latter study, chiefly to the two branch sciences of ecclesiastical geography and ecclesiastical statistics, in which he accomplished great results. In his first considerable work, which apiieared in IStll, he deals with the topic of the privilegeil Altar (altare ■primlegiatum) . In 1S64 he published the first volume of his great and carefully ijlaiined work, "Kirchliche Geographie und Stati.stik", which comprises three volumes (Ratisbon, 1864-68). It was, for that day, a most important work, indispensable to historians. Its author was one of the first in modern times to rec- ognize the importance jof this branch of church his- tory, collecting with great care material often very difficult to procure, and arranging it systematically. His book on the celebration of two Masses by a priest
