Nehemiah 1:5-11

Nehemiah's Prayer

This prayer falls into five portions: (1) the opening address, Nehemiah 1:5; (2) the humble approach, Nehemiah 1:6 a; (3) the confession of sins, Nehemiah 1:6 b, Nehemiah 1:7; (4) the appeal to the Divine Promise, Nehemiah 1:8-10; (5) the closing supplication for (a) the people, and (b) Nehemiah as their representative at the royal court, Nehemiah 1:11.

Points of resemblance may be noted with the prayer of Ezra (Ezra 9:5-15), and, in particular, with that of Daniel (Daniel 9:4-19). The opening words (Nehemiah 1:5), which are almost word for word the same as we find in Daniel 9:4 (the only variations being -Adonai" for -Jehovah" and the additional title -God of heaven"), were very probably a recognised formula of prayer based on the language of Deuteronomy.