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.
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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 ...
Nehemiah is interpreted in Latin as “My consoler is the Lord” or “the consoler from the Lord.” For when Nehemiah restored Jerusalem’s walls and, after delivering them from the disdain of their enemies, raised up the people of God to the observance of the divine law, it is surely clear that by his word and deed and person he not unsuitably designates the mediator of God and people, the man Christ Jesus, who indicates that he was sent to console the poor in spirit when he said to his disciples as he was about to ascend to heaven: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete,” that is, a Consoler, by whom the psalmist showed that God’s holy city (namely, the church) would be rebuilt and also those who mourn would be consoled when he said, “The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted,” and so on.
And it came to pass in the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, and I took the wine and gave it to the king, and I was sad in his presence. Nisan is the first month of the year, according to the Hebrews, in which they were always to celebrate Passover; this month we call April. Therefore, from what he said above, namely that he mourned, fasted, and prayed for many days, it is unquestionably evident that for four successive months (namely the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth) he gave attention to that most sacred devotion, waiting for an opportune moment in which he could tell his desire to the king. What is more, he was the chief butler;1 he used to offer the cup to the king and outwardly perform a joyful service, but inwardly was overcome by a grave sadness because he remembered that the holy city had been destroyed and that the people of God were held in disgrace and contempt by the enemies of God. Hence with those like him he bears wi...
