1:2). Judging from their response (1:3), it seems clear that Nehemiah’s fellow Jews also closely connect the physical state of Jerusalem with the situation and reputation of the remnant: the “shame” of the latter is directly related to the shattered physical fabric of the city’s walls and gates (cf. Nehemiah’s own assessment in 2:17). That this sad state of affairs relates not to Jerusalem’s original depredation in 586/587 BCE but a more recent setback—quite possibly the intervention of Rehum and