Nehemiah 1:2

Neh 1:2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and [certain] men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.

Ver. 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 Saviour used that proverb, Physician, heal thyself, the sense is, heal thy country, Luk 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 afterwards Philo the Jew and his colleagues 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.

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, Rom 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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, or his concern for their welfare. He therefore inquires in what condition they were, and whether Jerusalem was again become a flourishing city.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:2 Hanani might have been one of Nehemiah’s blood brothers; this word in Hebrew can also mean “fellow countryman” (e.g., Deut 1:16, “fellow Israelite”). • the Jews who had returned: See Ezra 2:64-65; 8:1-14.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

A Jew as I was.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah--Hanani is called his brother (Neh 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 enquiries, 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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. 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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) 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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That Hanani, one of my brethren,.... Either in natural relation, Neh 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 thence 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hanani seems to have been an actual brother of Nehemiah Neh 7:2.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hanani, a relation, whom Nehemias brought back, chap. vii. 2. --- Came. Some Latin copies add, "to me," (Lyranus) as if a deputation had been sent; but of this the text is silent. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. 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 — Or, 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.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hanani, one of my brethren. Afterwards given the charge of the gates of Jerusalem by Nehemiah. (Neh_7:2)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

one of my brethren one of my companions.

and I asked them about the Jews I asked them about the Jews who had escaped the Babylonian captivity and remained in Jerusalem.

who had escaped because they were saved from the Babylonian exile.

and about Jerusalem And I asked them about the city.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.