That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
Hanani seems to have been an actual brother of Nehemiah Neh 7:2.
Source: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
see each other two. I asked them concerning the Jews]Josephus gives a probable account of this business: “Nehemiah, being somewhere out of Susa, seeing some strangers, and hearing them converse in the Hebrew tongue, he went near; and finding they were Jews from Jerusalem, he asked them how matters went with their brethren in that city, and what was their state?” And the answer they gave him is, in substance, that recorded in the text; though with several aggravations in Josephus. – Joseph. Ant. lib. xi., c. 5.
Source: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
One of my brethren; of my family, or tribe, or nation.
That had escaped out of the slavery which they endured in strange lands.
Which, were left of the captivity; the remnant of those numerous captives.
Source: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2, 3. Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah Hanani is called his brother(Ne 7:2). But as that term was used loosely by Jews as well as other Orientals, it is probable that no more is meant than that he was of the same family. According to JOSEPHUS, Nehemiah, while walking around the palace walls, overheard some persons conversing in the Hebrew language. Having ascertained that they had lately returned from Judea, he was informed by them, in answer to his eager inquiries from him, of the unfinished and desolate condition of Jerusalem, as well as the defenseless state of the returned exiles. The commissions previously given to Zerubbabel and Ezra extending only to the repair of the temple and private dwellings, the walls and gates of the city had been allowed to remain a mass of shattered ruins, as they had been laid by the Chaldean siege.
Ne1:4-11. HIS PRAYER.
Source: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
That Hanani, one of my brethren,…. Either in natural relation, Ne 7:2, or being a Jew of the same nation and religion; so Jarchi interprets it, one of my companions or acquaintance:
he and certain men of Judah; who came from then to Shushan on some account or another:
and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity; who were returned from it to their own land; he inquired of their health and prosperity, in what circumstances they were, whether prosperous or adverse, whether they flourished, or were in distress:
and concerning Jerusalem; whether it was rebuilt, the houses and walls of it, and in what condition it was.
Source: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(two) He and certain men of Judah.From Judah: Hanani was Nehemiah’s own brother (Neh. 7:1). He and his companions came from the province of Judah (Neh. 1:3); nothing is said as to their motive in coming; and certainly there is no intimation that they had been sent to the Persian court on account of recent disturbances.
Source: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
two. Hanani, one of my brethren Called emphatically his own brother in Neh 7:2.
I asked them Hence it does not seem that they were sent, as some suggest, expressly to inform Nehemiah of the sad state of things at Jerusalem.
Jews that had escaped Those that had survived all the calamities and dangers to which the new community at Jerusalem had been exposed.
Which were left of the captivity Oh, which remained. This further defines the preceding clause, as meaning those returned exiles who were still to be found in Judea; those who remained out of multitudes that had fallen.
Source: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Neh 1:2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
See 2. That Hanani ]A gracious man, according to his name ( Nomine tu, quin sis natura Gratius, ac te Gratius hoc Christi gratia praestet, Amen), and zealous for his country; which indeed is a man’s self; and therefore when our Savior used that proverb, Physician, heal thyself, the sense is, heal thy country, Luke 4:23 .
One of my brethren
]Not by race, perhaps, but surely by grace and place; a Jew, and that inwardly, and therefore intrusted, after this, by Nehemiah with a great charge, Neh 7:2 .
Came, he and certain men of Judah
]Upon some great suit, likely, for their country; because they took so long and troublesome a journey in the winter, not without that Roman resolution of Pompey in like case, Necesse est ut eam, non ut vivam. It is necessary that I go not that I live. Whatever their business was, these men had better success than Philo the Jew and his colleagues afterwards had in their embassy to Caligula the emperor; who cast them out with contempt, and would not hear their apology against Appion of Alexandria, their deadly enemy of him.
And I asked them concerning the Jews
]The Church was his care; neither could he enjoy aught so long as it went ill with Zion. He was even sick of the affliction of Joseph; and glad he had got any of whom to inquire; he asked them, not out of an itch after news; but of an earnest desire to know how it fared with God’s poor people, that he might cum singulis pectus suum copulate, with singleness of purpose, having bound him, as Cyprian speaketh, rejoice with them that rejoiced, and weep with those that wept, Romans 12:15 a sure sign of a sound member.
Which were left of the captivity
]One of whom he well knew to be more worth than a rabble of rebels, a world of wicked persons; as the Jews rise to say of those seventy souls that went down with Jacob into Egypt, that they were better worth than all the seventy nations of the world besides.
Source: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hanani. Shortened form of Hananiah. Compare Neh 7:2. See note above, and compare Dan 1:3, Dan 1:6.
I asked. Not about Ezra, and the 42,360 who are supposed to have already been in the Province of Judah: this Nehemiah would surely have done if they had really been there.
the Jews. Mentioned eleven times in this book (Neh 1:2; Neh 2:16; Neh 4:1, Neh 4:2, Neh 4:12; Neh 5:1, Neh 5:8, Neh 5:17; Neh 6: 6; Neh 13:23, Neh 13:24).
escaped: ie from the lands of their captivity. See Jer 44:13, Jer 44:14. Why escape if already set free (Ezr 1:3)?
Source: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Hanani: Neh 7:2
I asked: Psa 122:6-9, Psa 137:5, Psa 137:6
that had escaped: Ezr 9:8, Ezr 9:9, Ezr 9:14, Jer 44:14, Eze 6:9, Eze 7:16, Eze 24:26, Eze 24:27
Reciprocal: Deu 9:19 – For I Isa 30:17 – till ye Jer 51:50 – remember
Source: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Neh 1:2. I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped Either concerning those who were not carried captives when others were, but remained in the land; or rather, those that had escaped out of the slavery which they had endured in Assyria, Babylon, and other strange lands. Which were left of the captivity The remnant of those numerous captives, now returned and settled in Jerusalem, and other parts of Judea. Though Nehemiah lived in ease, honour, and affluence himself, he could not forget that he was an Israelite, nor shake off the thoughts of his brethren from him, or his concern for their welfare from him. He therefore inquires into what condition they were, and whether Jerusalem was again become a flourishing city.
Source: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1:2 That Hanani, one of my {b} brethren, came, he and men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
(b) A Jew as I was.