Nehemiah

The Holy Prophet Nehemiah was the Jewish official who, in the fifth century before Christ, returned from the Babylonian captivity to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and govern the province.

His Old Testament book says that he was cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes I, at Susa, and that in the twentieth year of the king's reign (445/444 BC) he obtained permission to go to Jerusalem and make it a fortified city again. Arriving there, he inspected the walls by night and set all the people to work, some building while others guarded the builders from enemies, above all Sanballat and others who opposed the work. The wall was finished in fifty-⁠two days. Together with the priest Ezra, Nehemiah strengthened the people in the Law of Moses, had the Law read before them and renewed the covenant with God.

We have no other sources about him than the Book of Nehemiah. He is commemorated on 13 December and on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers.