Study note

Nehemiah 1:3

  • The wall of Jerusalem is broken down: This likely refers to a recent event in Jerusalem (see Ezra 4:6–23), not the Babylonian conquest in 586 BC.

  • disgrace: Foreigners could mock the destroyed city, claiming it showed that Israel’s God was too weak to protect it (compare Joel 2:17; Micah 7:8–10).