Bede

The words of Nehemiah, the son of Hacaliah, etc. Nehemiah is interpreted in Latin as "the Lord comforts," or "comforter from the Lord"; who, when he had renewed the walls of Jerusalem and freed the people of God from the insults of their enemies, elevated observance of the divine law; it is evident that in both name and deed and person he fittingly designates the Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who declares himself sent for the comfort of the poor in spirit, when about to ascend to heaven, he says to his disciples: I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that is, consoler (John 14). The Psalmist shows that it is He who builds up the city of God, namely the holy Church, and comforts the mourners when he says: The Lord builds up Jerusalem, and gathers the dispersed of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted (Psalm 147), etc. The figure of Nehemiah also suits the holy preachers, through whose ministry heavenly consolation is conferred upon us, while, after the fall into sin, they promise penitent ones hope of divine pardon and propitiation, as they rebuild the walls of Jerusalem destroyed by enemies. The month of Chislev is the same we call December, and is the ninth month among the Hebrews, the last month of the year with us; whose name, interpreted in Latin "his hope," most clearly matches the desires of him who directed his mind to raising up the ruins of the holy city. For the first foundation of good action is that we have undoubted hope of the Lord's assistance in accomplishing what we desire. It is the same month in which our Lord was born in the flesh, beautifully prefiguring long beforehand by its name that in it the true Nehemiah, that is the comforter from God the Father, so long hoped for by the chosen, would come into the world for the building of the holy Church. But that Nehemiah writes that he was in the citadel of Susa when men came who reported about Jerusalem. Susa is the metropolis of the kingdom of the Persians, as we read in the history of Esther (Esther 1); which Nehemiah calls a citadel, as does the prophet Daniel (Daniel 8); not because the city is a citadel, but because it is built with such strength that it seems to be one. Susa is interpreted as “horsemanship” or “returning”, a name suitably adapted to the fortification of the faithful minds of those especially concerned with the captivity of Jerusalem, that is, the salvation of those who, once snatched from the Church by the devil's snares, have now by penance been brought back to the Church through the grace of God. Such are in the returning citadel, that is, in the strength of a mind called back from weak delights to the desire for the heavenly homeland, from which they fell in the first parent. Such are in the strong host of holy hearts, who bear God as rider. As the prophet says: Riding upon your horses, and your ridership is salvation. The Lord indeed ascends upon his horses when he enlightens the hearts of preachers which he governs with the grace of his piety; and his ridership is salvation, because he leads to eternal salvation those whom he governs, and he makes others too, through them, who are equally governed, partakers of the same eternal salvation. Therefore, Nehemiah inquiring about those who had remained from the captivity of Jerusalem, let us see what follows:

And they said to me: Those who remained and were left, etc. The sense of the letter is clear, because those who had remained from captivity, although they seemed to live in peace with the king of Persia being their friend, whom he had also sent with letters much earlier, who had power in the whole region beyond the river; nevertheless, they were in great affliction of mind, because their enemies reproached them that the holy city still remained in ruins. But now also in the holy Church, it is justly afflicted, and pricked with salutary sadness, they who, themselves repenting from past crimes, consider that their neighbors still lie under vices, so that through the negligence of those who could have benefited many of the corrected, the devil has a free entrance into the Church as if through the walls of a destroyed city. This is all the more necessary to be lamented, if even those who ought to have benefited others by teaching or example, wrongly living, show themselves as an example over destruction to those who see them. For this is what it means for the gates of Jerusalem to be burned with hostile flames, those who ought to have introduced the worthy into the company of the elect by living and teaching well, and kept away the unworthy, to perish by the fire of avarice, lust, pride, contention, envy, and other vices which the malignant enemy is accustomed to incite. But what seems to us to be done about these things, or what ought to be done, is shown when it is immediately added:

And the king said to me: "Why is your face sad?" etc. Just as we have clearly recognized, with Isaiah teaching, that Cyrus, the first king of the Persians, holds the figure of the Lord and Savior because he released the people of God from captivity and commanded the temple to be rebuilt; likewise, we can rightly understand his successor in the same empire, Artaxerxes, who commanded with the same devotion that the city of Jerusalem be rebuilt, as a type of the Lord. The Lord constructs for himself a city from living stones, that is, one church from all the elect, through the office of preachers. Therefore Artaxerxes is well interpreted as testing the light with silence. For the Lord is the light of life, who tests the hearts of His faithful with silence, sometimes enlightening them with the sweetness of heavenly grace, sometimes obscuring them with the hardships of the present life, so that, educated by temporal adversities, they may more fervently desire eternal goods. This year is memorable, in which it was permitted to build Jerusalem, and it is already prefigured in the mystic writings of the prophet Daniel, with the angel saying to him that seventy weeks have been shortened over his people and over his holy city. And shortly after: From the going forth of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. And shortly after: He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. These weeks, therefore, begin from the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, when he gave permission for the rebuilding of Jerusalem; at which time, as Julius Africanus writes, the years of the Persian reign were one hundred and fifteen, and the same number of years remained incomplete until Alexander the Great, when he killed Darius; but it was the one hundred and eighty-fifth year of the captivity of Jerusalem; and they reach up to the times of the Lord's passion, by which the end was put to legal sacrifices and offerings. Indeed, each of these weeks has seven years, that is, four hundred and ninety years according to the lunar course; only in such a way that each one, in a new and unusual manner, has no more than twelve lunar months. Hence, the angel carefully says that seventy weeks are not counted but shortened over his people, which are solar years 475. Concerning this entire prophecy, I have taken care to discuss it as fully as I could in the book of Times.

And Sanballat the Horonite, etc., heard. And the heretics are grieved, and all the enemies of the Church are saddened whenever they see any elected persons working for the sake of the Catholic faith or for the correction of customs, by which the walls of the Church are to be renewed. Indeed, the diversity of souls and matters is to be noted, for it was said above that those who remained from captivity in Judea were in great affliction and reproach; but also Nehemiah led a long fast with weeping and prayers because the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, and its gates were burned with fire. And now, on the contrary, the enemies of that same holy city are in great affliction and are grieved because its buildings are to be restored, and at the same time, the citizens understand that they are to be lifted from the insults of their enemies. From this, it is to be gathered that even in this life, the sentence of the Lord can be fulfilled; He who said: Amen, amen, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy (John 16). For as the world that rejoiced is weeping, the sorrow of the righteous will be turned into joy when the holy affairs of the Church are seen to grow, and those who had strayed by sinning are recognized to return to it by repenting.

And up to the tower of a hundred cubits, etc. For priests build up to the measure of a hundred cubits, when they kindle all whom they instruct with love and desire for eternal things. For the number one hundred, which in the counting of fingers passes from the left to the right, represents heavenly goods, which, in comparison to temporal and lesser goods, are as the right hand to the left. They are also said to have sanctified the gate they built; for it is the duty of priests to make their works specially worthy of sanctification above others, and to act earnestly so that whoever is joined to them may sanctify the name of the Lord in themselves by living well. According to the letter, it seems that the first gate of the flock was either built or sanctified by the priests because it was near the temple and belonged properly to them; for it also seems reasonable that the building of the city should start from the temple. For it is indeed necessary that we first preserve within ourselves the constancy of faith and love for God, and then add works of piety that pertain to the love of our neighbor; thirdly, that is, lastly, we should take care of those things that pertain to the general provision of this life, concerning which the Apostle says: Having food and clothing, let us be content with these (1 Tim 6). But it could also seem probable that the gate of the flock is so called because through it the animals that were to be offered in the temple were usually brought in. Therefore, the priests build the gate of the flock at the beginning of the building of the city of God, when holy preachers imbue their hearers, above all, with the truth of faith which works through love, through which they should introduce the sacrifices of good deeds and offer them to God on the altar of their heart. The construction of this gate, extended to a hundred cubits, is sanctified to the tower of Hananeel, that is, to the grace of God, when from the beginning of faith to the firmness of good action, which is accomplished only with the inspiration and help of God, they extend solely with the intention of eternal retribution. It should be noted, indeed, that our manuscripts have: And they built the gate of the flock. The old translation has: And they built the gate and the pool of Bethesda; of which name John makes mention in his Gospel: Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches; in these lay a great multitude of sick people (John 5), etc. Nor does anything prevent us from understanding that this place is designated here; for the name of the Sheep Gate is not much different from the name Bethesda: for in Greek a sheep is called ‘probaton’. Jerome also mentions this place in his book of Places, writing thus: Bethesda is a pool in Jerusalem, which is called the Sheep Gate, and it can be interpreted by us as pertaining to sheep. It once had five porches; and twin pools are shown, one of which is usually filled with winter rains, and the other, wondrously red, as if with bloody waters, reveals signs of ancient work. For they say that sacrifices used to be washed in it by the priests, hence it received its name. From all these indications, it appears that the Sheep Gate is near the pool of Bethesda, so that by this gate the sacrifices to be washed in that pool were brought in.

They themselves wove it and set up the gates, etc. Returning also to the others which are said to have been built, the gate is repeatedly mentioned frequently; because it is evidently necessary that whoever has begun the construction of good action, should continue adhering to their beginnings up to the peak of perfection, and being alert, should set up the gates, bars, and locks. For gates are set in doors so that, being opened at a fitting time, the citizens may have the ability to enter or exit. Locks and bars are set so that, with the doors stopped up and closed, the enemy may not be able to enter. Thus, in our good works, gates of kind provision are to be set up so that fellow citizens, that is, our neighbors, seeing these, may glorify our Father who is in heaven, and they themselves too learn to follow our examples and walk with us through the walls of virtues. Also, locks and bars are to be set up against the plots and invasions of the enemies, so that we may be diligently fortified on all sides, lest perhaps the ancient enemy, having been unwisely let in, might take our stronghold of virtue by force. Hence it is well said in Proverbs: "A brother helped by his brother is like a fortified city, and judgments are like the bars of cities" (Prov. XII). When indeed both peoples, that is, the Jews and the Gentiles, agree in brotherly love in Christ, they build one Church, namely the city of their Creator. And just as the bars strengthen the gates of cities, so the doctrines of truth defend the Churches throughout the world, which make one Catholic Church, from the incursion of the unbelievers. Likewise, we set up locks and bars on our gates, when we carefully guard against disclosing the secrets of our faith to pigs and dogs, that is, to impure minds, or performing our righteousness for the sake of human favor, and admitting through our good works those who bring more danger by their praise than a helpful support by their observation.

The fish gate was built by the sons of Asnah. He called it the fish gate, which looked towards Joppa and Diospolis, that is, Lydda, and it was closer to the sea among all the routes to Jerusalem, which now is said to be called the gate of David, and is the first of the gates to the west of Mount Zion. To this opinion seem to agree the words of the Chronicles, in which it is written about King Manasseh of Judah: “After this, he built a wall outside the city of David to the west of Gihon in the valley, from the entrance of the fish gate, around to Ophel, and raised it very high” (2 Chr. 33). In a typological sense, just as the flock of the Lord's faithful is so often called fish, hence as He said to Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 21); so also He promised the same to Andrew and the other apostles, saying: “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4). Again, He spoke of these fishermen through a parable, saying: “They chose the good fish and put them into vessels, but threw the bad away” (Matt. 13). Therefore, they built the fish gate in Jerusalem when those steps are ordained in the Church by which the elect are separated from the reprobate, like good fish from bad, to be brought into the fellowship of eternal peace. The fish gate is built when, by the works of virtues, the faithful serve those who see themselves, having been rescued from the waves of turbulence and worldly desire, led into the tranquility and peace of spiritual life. Zephaniah the prophet remembers this gate, saying: “A sound of crying from the fish gate, and wailing from the second” (Zeph. 1). Because what he added, the second, signifies a gate of the second wall in the same area. For in the times of Hezekiah, the wall of the city was doubled, the Chronicles narrate, where it is written: “He built diligently all the wall that had been broken, and raised up towers upon it, and outside another wall” (2 Chr. 32). These things about the literal sense. But according to the allegory of the law, Zephaniah heard the voice of crying from the fish gate and wailing from the second, because he foresaw that both would be thrown down by enemies: for he saw that the faith and works of teachers, by which it was proper for others to be saved from the waves of corruptible life and led into the holy Church, would be overthrown by the snares of the ancient enemy, that is, by the desire for earthly pleasures which would deprive them of heavenly joys. Rightly, indeed, he heard a voice of crying and wailing from both the first and second gate, both from the outer and inner, because he saw that both outward works and the hearts of the negligent within would be overthrown by the devil's attack; but since the Lord lifts up those who are cast down (Ps. 145:14), Nehemiah records that the same fish gate was restored after a long ruin: for even if some of the preachers fall by sinning, there will not be lacking those who, up until the end of the world, succeeding in the place of their predecessors, with the Lord's help, open the gates of righteousness by preaching and living rightly. Rightly, however, it is added about those who destroyed this gate:

And Hanun built up the Valley Gate, etc. We know that the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which was also called Gehenna, that is, the Valley of Hinnom, was to the eastern side of the city of Jerusalem, through which flows the Kidron stream, mentioned in the Gospel (John XVIII), when it receives waters from rain or snow, flowing from the northern to the southern region. But we also read of the Valley of Gihon on the western side of the same city, as the Book of Chronicles says about King Manasseh of Judah, which we have mentioned above: After this, he built a wall outside the City of David to the west of Gihon in the valley (II Chronicles XXXIII). Gihon, moreover, is the name of the spring where Solomon was anointed king outside the city. Therefore, whether Ezra signifies this one, that one, or any other valley of the same city in this place, the mystery is clear, because the Valley Gate is built in Jerusalem, when for those who have been recently initiated into the knowledge of faith, or for those who have been restored to chastity of faith by the truth's teachers who had gone astray, the virtue of humility, among other virtues, is commanded to be observed, through which they may deserve to be elevated by a greater grace of God, as the Holy Scripture says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (I Peter V). And in the Psalm: And the valleys are covered with grain (Psalm LXV), which means, the humble will be abundantly filled with the gifts of heavenly sustenance. And it is fitting that after the Old Gate and the wall of the broad street, the Valley Gate is built; because indeed, after the first principles of the catholic faith, which works through love, humility must be inculcated to us, which is the guardian of virtues, so that according to the wise man's precept, the greater we are, the more we should humble ourselves in all things (Ecclesiasticus III).

And a thousand cubits along the wall up to the Dung Gate, etc. They say that the site of the city of Jerusalem is arranged on such a gentle slope, facing north and east, that rain falling there never remains, but flows like rivers through the eastern gates, carrying with it all the filth of the streets, augmenting the torrent Cedron in the valley of Josaphat. From this, it seems likely that the gate is called the Dung Gate, through which filth and impurities are accustomed to be carried out. It is by no means of less strength and usefulness that all impurities should be carried out of the city of the Lord than that which is pure should be gathered into it. Therefore, they build the Dung Gate in Jerusalem, who ordain those into the ministry of the Holy Church, through whom the filth of vices may be cleansed from the minds of the elect. But also corrupt-minded men should be excluded from the borders of the Church, with the help and weakening of all impurity by the shower of heavenly grace; so that according to the Psalmist, "All who do iniquity may be destroyed from the city of the Lord" (Psalm 10). And since it is a sign of great perfection when someone progresses so much through the merit of humility that they can keenly perceive their errors and effectively cleanse those discovered; it is rightly said that those who built the Valley Gate also constructed a thousand cubits in the wall up to the Dung Gate. For the number a thousand signifies perfection, and a cubit signifies the operation which is done by hands and arms. And they reach a thousand cubits building in the wall of the holy city from the Valley Gate to the Dung Gate, who, having acquired the grace of humility, devote themselves so industriously to the works of perfection that they cast out from themselves all rubble of not only harmful action or useless speech but even superfluous thought.

And the walls of the pool of Siloam in the garden of the king, etc. Therefore, Siloa, which is interpreted as the sent one, where the man born blind and was illuminated, signifies the Lord Savior, who was sent by God the Father for our enlightenment; whose source can most aptly be understood as the same Father, from whom He was born. Concerning which the Psalmist well says: For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we will see light (Psalm 35). And the Fountain Gate is built in Jerusalem when teachers are appointed in the Church, who preach to the people the faith of divine eternity. The walls of the pool of Siloam are also built when the very firm and invincible testimonies of the Scriptures, by which the mystery of the Lord's incarnation is designated, are rooted in the minds of the faithful. These walls of divine utterances reach the king’s garden when, with the mysteries of the Lord's dispensation known, we begin to produce the sprouts of virtues with the help of the most high king, our Lord God. They also reach the steps that descend from the city of David when someone learns to advance from the general life of the faithful to heavenly things with spiritual desires. The steps that descend from the city of David to the lower part of the city of Jerusalem are indeed aids of divine inspiration or protection, by which we are gradually raised to reach the walls of the heavenly kingdom. For David made steps by which we should ascend to his city when divine piety taught us the order of virtues by which we may seek heavenly things, and granted us the gift of performing those virtues. Concerning these steps, the Psalmist undoubtedly said: Blessed is the man whose help is from thee; in his heart he has arranged the ascents in the valley of tears, in the place he has appointed, etc., until he says: They shall go from strength to strength; the God of gods shall be seen in Zion (Psalm 83). Therefore, the builders of the holy city reach these steps, after building the walls of the pool of Siloam and after the king's garden, when after manifesting the sacrament of the Lord's incarnation, by which the blindness of the gentiles from their birth was washed and illuminated, and after beginning through faith the sprouting of good deeds, the holy teachers more diligently show their listeners the progress of virtues over time; by which they ascend to the vision of their Creator, namely strong in hand and desirable, as David will call. The most reverend father, by name and life Benedict, rightly understood that these progressions consist mainly in humility, when interpreting the ladder of the patriarch Jacob, shown with angels ascending and descending on it, as designating our journey to heavenly things; he meticulously and piously distinguished the steps of that ladder by the increments and advancements of good deeds done through humility. The city of David, according to the letter, is called Mount Zion, which, placed to the south, stands out as the fortress of the city, and the larger part of the city lies below the mountain, situated in the plain of a lower hill. Hence it is written in the book of Kings: David began to take the fortress of Zion, this is the city of David. And shortly after: David dwelt in the fortress, and called it the city of David (1 Kings 25).

And up to the pool, etc. The pool, indeed, constructed with great effort, can not be unreasonably understood as divine Scripture; which, created by the work of the Holy Spirit, provides for us a washing to cleanse sins, and at the same time offers a cup of salvific taste. Which if it has been transformed for us by the Lord into wine, that is, translated into a spiritual sense, it inebriates us with the more pleasant sweetness of truth. Wherein also is the house of the strong; for whoever has been accustomed to be refreshed by the frequent streams of divine words by hearing and doing, they are rendered strong and invincible against all the snares of the ancient enemy. Therefore, after the tomb of David, in the holy city a pool constructed with great effort is placed, to which the house of the strong is adjacent; because through the passion of the Lord, the abyss of the Scriptures has been revealed to us, by whose abundance the hearts of the faithful are strengthened, and the city of Christ made impregnable to all enemies. For if the waters fail or are obtained by the enemy, the city is easily captured. And if the ancient enemy removes from us the fountain of the word of God, nothing prevents the fierce attacker and destroyer from immediately ascending the citadel of our mind.

After him Nehemiah built, etc. Note that King David is buried not in Bethlehem, as some assert, but in Jerusalem; and indeed not without a certain reason of mystery. For just as in Bethlehem he was born and anointed as a king, prefiguring that the Lord Christ would be born there from his seed and be adored by the Magi under the guise of a king; so also, having died and been buried in Jerusalem, he signified that the same Lord would suffer and be buried in that city, but would rise again from the grave. Therefore, after the gate of the fountain, and the walls of the pool of Siloam, which reach into the king's garden, and up to the steps that descend from the city of David, even up to the tomb of the same David the measure of the holy city extends; because he who preaches the faith of divine eternity, who declares the dispensation of the Lord's incarnation, who relates the fruitfulness of the Church adhering to Christ; of which he Himself says: A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse (Song of Solomon IV); he declares to the faithful listeners that not only do they need to imitate those steps of good deeds by which they ascend to the eternal homeland; but also they must always recall the sacrament of the Lord's Passion to their memory, that they may recognize that through Him who died and rose again for them, they too are to be raised from the region and shadow of death to life, and to ascend to the heavenly kingdom. It follows well, however: