I Was the King's Bartender
Nehemiah 1:11
The 5th century BCE was a century of shifts, the pinnacle of what was named The Axial Age. In the East, the stars of Buddha and Confucius started shining, while Athens produced Socrates and Plato, Aeschylus and Sophocles, Herodotus and Thucydides. But while Athens rose in its intellectual glory— Jerusalem and its inhabitants were “in great distress and disgrace” as the first verses of the Book of Nehemiah convey.
But not for long. It is this mysterious man along with Ezra the Scribe, who offer the Jewish contribution to The Axial Age - a term coined by the German philosopher Karl Jaspers, referring to broad changes in religious and philosophical thought that occurred globally from the 8th to the 3rd century BCE.
The Book of Nehemiah that begins today, continues the reports of the Return to Zion Project, and picks up where Ezra left off. But that’s only if we read these texts in chronological order that may have been the author’s intent but doesn’t sit well with the way scholars dig through these layers. There are multiple questions about the historicity of these texts, when they were written and if Ezra and Nehmiah ever met despite the fact that this book mentions them working together. The official story here is that Nehemiah, whose name means ‘God’s consolation’ is a Jewish-Persian courtier with close access to the Persian king who becomes the builder of Jerusalem - leading the third wave of return to Zion, following Zerubabel and Ezra, over the span of a century.
History may be more complex than this simplistic narrative and as we read through these next chapters we will try to make sense of who he may have been and what is the legacy he leaves behind, of releaven to our own turbulent times, whatever age this is.
What is extraordinary about the Book of Nehemiah is that it is the first and only autobiography in the Hebrew Bible. Although Moses speaks in the first person in the Torah, it is assumed to be a later literary attempt. Most scholars through the ages, including contemporary ones, agree that this is likely a legitimate memoir - at least its earliest sections.
Jacob Wright writes extensively about Nehemiah in Why the Bible Began:
“Nehemiah’s Memoir stands apart from other biblical texts in an important aspect: this is the only case in which we know something about the author. Even if he had a scribe doing the actual writing on his behalf, and even if later scribes added new material to his account, he directly oversaw much of the composition.
He identifies himself by name, speaks in the first person, and does so in the most direct, idiosyncratic manner.”
The book begins with bad news.
Nehemiah lives in the Persian empire, and his story begins during the 20th years of the king’s reign.
Which king? He doesn’t directly name him, but it's possibly Artaxerxes I (465–424 BCE), the same king who sent Ezra to Zion 12 years earlier. According to these estimates Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in 458 and Nehemiah in 445 BCE.
That would mean that Ezra and Nehemiah may have indeed worked together.
There are other scholars who think it is a different king and different chronology but that’s for another time.
The bad news is delivered to the diaspora by Hanani, the brother of Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah, who arrives with a delegation mid-winter in the Persian capital, traveling from Jerusalem with a report of the restoration project: Walls are still down, there are no gates and the people live in poverty and insecurity.
Upon hearing the sad conditions of the Judeans in their old hometown, Nehemiah bursts into tears, declares a fast, and produces a lengthy prayer to God, asking for help in figuring out how he can help his people in distress.
Like Esther before him (and we’ll come back to her) he understands that he has the privilege of access to power and decides to use it, compromising his comfort in Persian and putting his career, and maybe his life, on the line.
He ends his prayer with a plan, and with a single phrase explains his entry to power and his way of stepping up solidarity:
אָנָּ֣א אֲדֹנָ֗י תְּהִ֣י נָ֣א אׇזְנְךָֽ־קַ֠שֶּׁ֠בֶת אֶל־תְּפִלַּ֨ת עַבְדְּךָ֜ וְאֶל־תְּפִלַּ֣ת עֲבָדֶ֗יךָ הַֽחֲפֵצִים֙ לְיִרְאָ֣ה אֶת־שְׁמֶ֔ךָ וְהַצְלִֽיחָה־נָּ֤א לְעַבְדְּךָ֙ הַיּ֔וֹם וּתְנֵ֣הוּ לְרַחֲמִ֔ים לִפְנֵ֖י הָאִ֣ישׁ הַזֶּ֑ה וַאֲנִ֛י הָיִ֥יתִי מַשְׁקֶ֖ה לַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃
“O God! Let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to hold Your name in awe. Grant Your servant success today, and dispose that man to be compassionate toward him!”
I was the king’s cupbearer at the time.”
Nehemiah 1:11
What does it mean to be the king’s cupbearer?
It indicates very intimate access to the most powerful man in the world. The role was not necessarily to decide which wine is on the table - but to ensure the king is not poisoned - it is likely an earned position of trust.
Like Esther and like Daniel before him, Nehemiah somehow ends up in the inner circles of the empire. He will take advantage of this position in the next chapter and appeal to the king’s kindness - which will also be strategically wise and politically prudent.
Nehemiah’s words, in first person, are a fascinating aspect of this story - giving us hints to the authorial intent and the narrative’s antiquity. But not all readers liked what he had to say.
Wright further elaborates on the unique complexities that the narratives of Nehemiah present:
“Not only are Nehemiah’s diction and his approach unconventional, but he also rails against the family of the high priest and members of the aristocracy. Because his memoir ruffled so many feathers, a revision of Ezra-Nehemiah undertaken in the Hellenistic period (called “First Esdras”) erased his memory from the history of Judah’s restoration.
Much later, the rabbinic sages would find him to be egoistical. Yet the enduring significance of his contribution is evident not only from the opposition it provoked, but also from the fact that later generations preserved his work and expanded it with new material.”
What Wright references is radical.
1 Esdras is the name of a Greek translation or edition of the Book of Ezra-Nehemiah that is considered one of the earliest versions of the original Hebrew text, most likely composed during the 2nd century BCE or a bit earlier - around the same time that this text in the Bible was written or edited. There are several versions of Esdras, hence the numerical attributes - but they all include one major difference with this accepted biblical version -- they do not include the narrative of Nehemiah. While the Hebrew Bible now includes both books of Ezra and Nehmaiah as two separate books - that may not have been the case in earlier editions, as some manuscripts and fragments of scrolls from the Dead Sea caves demonstrate. Discrepancies over these texts as one book or two (or more) offer a fascinating portal into the complexities of biblical research and how these texts and their delivery evolved over time with no actual authentic rock bottom on which to stand.
Whether memoir, myth, fact or fiction - some combination of all - Nehemiah’s story begins with tears, and his political-theological agenda is clear.
In the next chapter, three months after his fast and prayer, he will find the perfect moment to approach the king, royal goblet in hand, with an audacious plan - he wants to be one to restore the walls of Jerusalem. Will he succeed and enter the list of leaders who created the Axial Age?
Image: Nehemiah’s grim and gaunt frame guards the gates of the Church of St. Lazare in Avallon, central France, dating back to the 15th century CE. I was surprised to encounter him there when visited this quaint village a few summer ago.
The guide explained that he’s likely honored for his role as builder of fallen walls - the church originates in the 11th century and has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over.
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