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captivity as being delivered from, or spared, captivity. In Ezra ix 14 the word
"escaped" is practically synonymous with a "remnant" and consequently Nehemiah may
refer to those who by some means had avoided transportation and so remained in their
desolated and ruined city. This meaning is confirmed by the reply of Hanani,
"The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the Province are in great affliction
and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof burned
with fire" (Neh. 1: 3).
We read of this company in Jer. 40: There they are called "The people that were left
in the land" (6); "The poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to
Babylon" (7); "a remnant of Judah" left by the king of Babylon (11); and "The Jews
which are gathered" (15). Judæa, the portion of the royal tribe of Judah, is now called
"The Province", and is so referred to by the letter sent by Tatnai to Darius the king
(Ezra 5: 5). It was but one of the "hundred and twenty and seven provinces", referred to
in Esther 1: 1. Over the whole kingdom Darius had set a hundred and twenty princes,
ruled over by three presidents "of whom Daniel was first" (Dan. 6: 1, 2). The difference
between the hundred and twenty-seven provinces and the hundred and twenty princes is
left unexplained, but this is an evidence of truth rather than of a discrepancy, for there
might have been many reasons to account for it, well known to all at the time, whereas a
forger would have seen to it that the number in both accounts was the same. This
remnant left in Jerusalem were in "affliction and reproach", and, moreover, the wall and
the gates of the city being destroyed, the private life of the people was invaded, and the
observance of the law hindered, as may be seen from the command of Nehemiah in
chapter 13: 17-22. While the gates with their locks and bars remained unrepaired, it
was not possible to enforce the keeping of the sabbath against the intrusion of those who
sold wares. Upon hearing this grievous news, Nehemiah tells us that he sat down and
wept and mourned certain days and fasted, and then addressed himself by prayer to "The
God of heaven". This divine title is peculiar to the times of the Gentiles, it suggests that
God had withdrawn Himself from among His people and ruled from afar, even as
Nebuchadnezzar had been forced to acknowledge that "The heavens do rule"
(Dan. 4: 26, 35). The title occurs in II Chron. 36: 23, and Psalm 136: 26, where
the deliverance of Israel from Pharaoh and other enemies is the theme. The bulk of the
occurrences is found in Ezra (eight occurrences), Nehemiah (four occurrences) and
Daniel (four occurrences).