Nehemiah 1:5 - Exposition

And said, I beseech thee . The opening of Nehemiah's prayer follows so closely the thoughts and words of Daniel's ( Daniel 9:4 ), that it is almost impossible to suppose that one of the two writers had not the words of the other before him. As there are no sufficient grounds for questioning the generally received date of Daniel's prophecy, we must suppose Nehemiah familiar with his writings, and an admirer of their tone and spirit. In this verse he differs from Daniel only in substituting "Jehovah" for "Lord" ( Adonai ) , and introducing his own favourite phrase "God of heaven."