a canonical book of the Old Testament so called from the name of its author. Nehemiah was born in Babylon, during the captivity, and succeeded Ezra in the government of Judah and Jerusalem. He was a Jew, and was promoted to the office of cup-bearer to Artaxerxes Longimanus king of Persia; when the opportunities he had of being daily in the king's presence, together with the favour of Esther the queen, procured him the favour of being authorized to repair and fortify the city of Jerusalem, in the same manner as it was before its destruction by the Babylonians. On his going to Jerusalem, he finished the rebuilding of the walls in fifty-two days, and dedicated the gates of the city with great solemnity. He then reformed some abuses which had crept in among his countrymen, particularly the extortion of the usurers, by which the poor were so oppressed as to be forced to sell their lands and children for support: after which he returned to Persia, and came back again with a new commission, by virtue of which he regulated every thing relating both to the state and religion of the Jews. The history of these transactions is the subject of this book.