person · P0053 · second-temple
Nechemiah נחמיה בן חכליה
Cupbearer to the Persian king who became governor of Yehudah, rebuilt Jerusalem's wall in fifty-two days against armed opposition, and with Ezra led the covenant renewal around the public reading of the Torah. A named member of the Anshei Knesset HaGedolah in Rambam's listing.
Who
- Hebrew
- נחמיה בן חכליה
- Also known as
- Nechemiah ben Chachaliah, Nehemiah
- Era
- second-temple
- Received the mesorah from
- Baruch ben Neriah
- Colleagues
- Ezra
When
- Traditional
- c. 3400–3460 AM (came to Jerusalem 3426 AM)
- Civil (computed)
- 3400–3460 AM · 361–301 BCE (trad.)
- Academic
- governor from 445 BCE (20th year of Artaxerxes I)
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈60 years
- Precision
- approximate
Where
- Places
- Jerusalem
How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| A member of the court of Ezra — the Men of the Great Assembly — in Rambam's enumeration ("Nechemiah ben Chachaliah").
Confidence is for the membership as stated by the Rambam. |
rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Cupbearer to the king, he came to Jerusalem and rallied the people: "Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be a disgrace."
Confidence is for what the biblical text states. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| In his and Ezra's assembly "they read in the book, the Torah of God, clearly, giving the sense, so that they understood the reading" — a foundation-text for the institution of public Torah reading and translation.
Confidence is for what the biblical text states. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Traditional dating puts his arrival at 3426 AM; academically his governorship begins in 445 BCE (20th year of Artaxerxes I), one of the most securely dated points of the era. The ~166-year traditional/academic Persian-period divergence applies; systems stated separately.
Schematic traditional dating alongside a firm academic anchor. |
tradition reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |