That Hanani, one of my brothers, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, who were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
All Commentaries on Nehemiah 1:2 Go To Nehemiah 1
Bede
AD 735
Nehemiah writes that he was in the fortress of Susa when the men came who brought the news about Jerusalem. Susa is the capital city of the kingdom of the Persians, as we read in the book of Esther. Not only Nehemiah but also the prophet Daniel calls it a “fortress,” “not because the city itself is a fortress, for as we have stated it is a capital city and a very powerful one, but because it is so solidly built that it looks like a fortress.” Now Susa means “riding” or “returning.” The name aptly befits the defenses of the mind of the faithful, especially of those who are charged with the capture of Jerusalem, that is, for the salvation of those who are occasionally snatched away from the church through the devil’s attacks but by repenting are brought back to the church again by the grace of God. For such people are in a returning fortress—that is, in the strength of a mind called back from the lowest delights to a longing for the heavenly homeland, from which they had fallen in their first parent; such people are in the very strong cavalry of the hearts of the saints who carry God as their rider, according to the prophet’s saying: “Mounting your horses, and your riding is salvation.” For the Lord indeed mounts his horses when he illuminates the hearts of preachers with the grace of his mercy so that he can rule them; and his riding is salvation because he not only carries to eternal salvation those over whom he presides by ruling them but also, so that he may likewise preside over them too, and through them makes others sharers of this same everlasting salvation as well.
