prophetic weeks of Daniel, which are reckoned "from the
going forth of the commandment to restore and to build
Jerusalem." Dan. 9:25. It cannot be considered as exactly
ascertained, but may be placed somewhere from B.C. 454 to B.C.
446. See the commentators on Dan. 9:24-27. How long Nehemiah's
administration continued after his visit to the court of Persia,
in the twelfth year of his rule, is not known.

27. The book, as its title testifies, was written by Nehemiah, not
earlier than his return from the court of Persia (ch. 13:6; 5:14); how
much later cannot be known. From the general character of style and
diction which belongs to the second division (chaps. 8-10), as well as
from the absence of Nehemiah's peculiar forms of speech, some have
thought that Ezra, as the chief actor in the reading of the law and
renewal of the national covenant, wrote the account of the transaction,
and that Nehemiah incorporated it into his work. To this supposition
there is no serious objection. We must remember, however, that arguments
based on supposed differences of style cannot amount to much where the
materials from which a conclusion is to be drawn are so scanty.

The genealogical notice in ch. 12:10, 11, which gives the
lineage of the high priests from Joshua to Jaddua, who is
apparently the high priest described by Josephus as having met
Alexander the Great on his march to Jerusalem, is thought by
many to be an addition made after Nehemiah's death as a matter
of public interest. See above, Chap. 15, No. 17. The same
judgment is passed by some on 1 Chron. 3:19-24. But the
interpretation of this latter passage is very uncertain.

VII. ESTHER.

28. This book, the author of which is unknown, records the wonderful
manner in which the plot of Haman the Agagite to destroy the Jews was
not only overthrown, but turned to their enlargement and honor. It is
remarkable that the author refrains throughout from mentioning the name
of God, although he manifestly designs to represent this deliverance as
effected by his providence, and that too in answer to the fervent
prayers of the Jews in connection with a fast of three days'
continuance. He prefers, as it would seem, to let the facts speak for
themselves. The book closes with an account of the establishment, under
the auspices of Mordecai and Esther, of the feast of Purim, in
commemoration of the deliverance which it records; and we