1:1 The words of. The introductory phrase does not mean that the Book of Nehemiah was originally separate. It may indicate the beginning of personal records or memoirs by Nehemiah (Introduction: Author).

Nehemiah. The name means “the Lord has comforted.”

Chislev . . . twentieth year. November-December 446 b.c., the twentieth year of Artaxerxes I (2:1; Ezra 7:1).

Susa. This city was a winter residence of the Persian kings (Esth. 1:2 note).