Risen City

Sanballat hears about Nehemiah’s project of rebuilding Jerusalem after the exile, he becomes angry and mocks the Jews: “Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of dust even the burned ones” (Nehemiah 4:2).

The taunt is theologically significant. “Finish” is kalah, the verb that describes the completion of heaven and earth (Genesis 2:1-2) and the completion of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:33). Can they remake the world of Jerusalem in a day? Sanballat taunts. The original day of completion was the Sabbath, which adds another dimension to the taunt: “Do these feeble Jews think they can bring in the day of rest and safety?”

Raising stones from heaps of dust also conjures a creation image: Adam being formed from the dust and receiving the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). Do these feeble Jews think they are God, who can raise up a whole city from heaps of dust, from the ashes of the fire?

Sanballat’s taunt is a mocking version of Yahweh’s question to Ezekiel: Can these bones live? And the answer is, Yes: Relying on Yahweh, Nehemiah can “complete” the new creation; by Yahweh’s life-giving power, the city can be raised from the dead.