The book of Nehemiah opens with a statement that serves as a heading for the whole book: “The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah” (Neh 1:1). This is the only heading of this nature in the book, so even though the narrative will later switch to a third person narration of what Nehemiah did (e.g., 8:9), no new heading is supplied. Since no new heading is supplied, it is more likely than not that Nehemiah himself switched to the third person, so on the basis of this
Nehemiah 1:1–11