Sivan 26 – The region beyond the River

Sivan 26, 5785; from sunset June 21, 2025, to sunset June 22, 2025

(The twenty-sixth day of the third month)

This is an image of a portion of the wall rebuilt by Nehemiah and company.

Sometime during the month of Nisan, Nehemiah went before King Artaxerxes and requested permission to return to Jerusalem and restore the city of his ancestors. The king granted his request and sent letters with him, granting him permission to pass through to the Land. He was also to be given timbers from the keeper of the king’s forest. The Bible does not give us a specific date for the following events – but it would have happened sometime between the months of Nisan and Av – as Nehemiah journeyed back from Shushan to Jerusalem. Today was chosen at random to commemorate the event.

Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel. – Nehemiah 2:7-10 (NKJ)

We hope you’ll stick with us as we start to delve deeper into Nehemiah’s story in the upcoming weeks and months. We’ll remember his midnight ride to scope out the damage to the city, his meeting with the elders, and the men and women who willingly contributed their labors to the reestablishment of the walls and the restoration of the gates.

To read all of our posts on Nehemiah, click on the image above.