Nehemiah

Nehemiah, the Jewish cup-bearer of Artaxerxes Longimanus, King of Babylon, heard at Susa in 445 B.C. of the sad state of Jerusalem, and the next year obtained leave to go there as governor. He built up the walls, brought in the population, especially the Levites, and instituted the Feast of Dedication. He paid a second visit twelve years later, and instituted many reforms, chiefly in the direction of keeping the race distinct and the observation of the Sabbath. These reforms probably caused the secession of the Samaritans. The book of Nehemiah forms a series with Ezra and Chronicles, but it is difficult to arrange the events narrated in their due order.