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Their camels, four hundred thirty and five - After this verse St.

Jerome has inserted the following words in the Vulgate: -

Hucusque refertur quid in commentario scriptum fuerit; exin Nehemiae historia texitur.

"Thus far do the words extend which were written in the register; what follows belongs to the history of Nehemiah."

But this addition is not found either in the Hebrew or any of the ancient versions. It is wanting also in the Complutum and Paris Polyglots, but is in the Editio Prima of the Vulgate.

Nehemiah knew that the safety of a city, under God, depends more upon the inhabitants than upon its walls. Every good gift and every good work are from above. God gives knowledge, he gives grace; all is of him, and therefore all must be to him. What is done by human prudence, must be ascribed to the direction of Divine Providence. But woe to those who turn back from the Lord, loving this present world! and happy those who dedicate themselves, and their substance, to his service and glory!