Nehemiah, the books central character, was a Jewish cupbearer to the king of Persia, Artaxerxes. A cupbearer enjoyed the unreserved confidence of the king, for it was his duty to see that the king was not poisoned by food or drink. As the book opens, Nehemiah is serving the king in the Persian city of Susa.
Three men who opposed Nehemiah were Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshen. Sanballat was governor of Samaria, a people to the immediate north of Judah who fiercely opposed the reemergence of Israel. Tobiah was an Ammonite, from the neighboring land of Ammon which lay immediately east of Judah. The precise identification of Geshen is more difficult, but he was probably an influential leader of a northern Arabian confederacy encompassing territory southern Palestine to northeastern Egypt. He may have feared Israel's potential impact on his trade routes to the north.
Ezra the priest also appears in this book. This is the same Ezra in the book by his name.
