1Artaxerxes, understanding the cause of Nehemiah's sadness sendeth him with letters and a commission to build the wall of Jerusalem. 9Nehemiah delivereth the letters, and to the grief of the enemies of the Jews cometh to Jerusalem. 12He vieweth the state of the walls secretly by night. 17He encourageth the Jews to build in spite of the scorn of their enemies.
1AND it came to pass in the month 1Nisan, in the twentieth year of 2Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and 3I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime 4sad 5in his presence.
1 Otherwise called Abib, Exod. 13:4.
2 See Ezra 6 on verse 14.
3 Whose turn it was now again to fill out for the king the wine that was set before him. Hereby is intimated the cause why Nehemiah tarried so long.
4 Hebr. evil; that is here, of a sad or sorrowful countenance, and so in the sequel. See Gen. 40 on verse 7.
5 When I was wont to come before the king, or to be in his presence, but (as if he would say) it was otherwise with me now.
2Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I 6was very sore afraid,
6 Out of reverence for the king, for, none must appear before the Persian kings with signs of mourning and sorrow, Esther 4:2; and likewise out of care and trouble about the issue of this matter, which was of great concernment.
3And said unto the king, 7Let the king live 8for ever: 9why should not my countenance be sad, when the 10city, the 11place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
7 A manner of wishing prosperity and happiness, customary in those countries. See Dan. 2:4; 3:9; 5:10; 6:22.
8 That is, long.
9 Or, how. Hebr. why.
10 Namely, Jerusalem, which he thus describes to excuse his own sadness, and to move the king the more.
11 Hebr. house, which is sometimes taken for place. See Exod. 25:27; 2 Sam. 15:17; Prov. 8:2, with the annotations.
4Then the king said unto me, 12For what dost thou make request? So I 13prayed to the God of heaven.
12 Hebr. For what art thou now requesting?
13 Namely, within myself, in mine heart.
5And I said unto the king, 14If it please the king, and if thy servant have found 15favour in thy sight, 16that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
14 Hebr. if it be good with the king; also verse 7. See Ezra 5 on verse 17.
15 Hebr. good.
16 Understand herewith: I do request.
6And the king said unto me, 17(the 18queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it 19pleased the king to send me; and I set him a 20time.
17 Other, since the queen sat next to him.
18 Other, wife, bedfellow.
19 Hebr. was good before the face of the king.
20 Namely, the time of twelve years. See Neh. 5:14; 13:6.
7Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the 21river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
21Euphrates, and so in the sequel.
8And a letter unto Asaph the 22keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the 23house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, 24according to the good hand of my God upon me.
22 That is, forester or keeper of the groves. See 1 Kings 5:6. Garden of pleasure, Hebr. pardesch, that is, paradise, whereby some do understand the region from mount Libanus unto Antilibanus, so called by reason of the singular delight and pleasure of that place, so that there was also a little town or city called the Paradise.
23 Understand the house of God, that is, the temple, of which court (called here, as some perceive, the palace) has until this time laid open. Compare 1 Chron. 29:1; Ezra 10 on verse 9.
24 As Ezra 7:6, 9, 28, etc.
9¶Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10When Sanballat the 25Horonite, and Tobiah the 26servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it 27grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
25 So called from Horonaim, one of the most prominent cities of the Moabites, as appears Isa. 15:5; Jer. 48:3, 5, 34.
26 That is, of the Persian king’s vassal, officer or lieutenant. Both of them were enemies to the Israelites, see 2 Sam. 8 on verse 2; 2 Sam. 12 on verse 31 and had at this time their residence at Samaria, as may be gathered from Neh. 4:2.
27 Hebr. it was (or seemed) evil unto them, with, or yea, a great evil; that is, it displeased them exceedingly.
11So I came to Jerusalem, 28and was there three days.
28 Compare Ezra 8:32.
12¶And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
13And I went out by night by the 29gate of the valley, even before the 30dragon well, and to the 31dung port,a and 32viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the 33gates thereof were consumed with fire.
29 That is, where this gate had formerly been, and was afterward set up again. See Neh. 3:13, 14.
30 Or, serpent fountain. Some do understand by this the fountain of the water of Shiloah, which run very quietly and softly, like the creeping of the serpent or snake. See Neh. 3:16; Isa. 8:6.
31 Through which they carried forth the rubbish into the brook Kidron, as some perceive.
a gate
32 To know properly what they lacked, and what was to be done to them. Other, I brake off the walls, etc., how they were torn, etc. Also likewise verse 15.
33 Namely, of Jerusalem.
14Then I went on to the 34gate of the fountain, and to the king’s 35pool: but there was 36no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
34 Through which they went to the fountain of the water of Shiloah, as some do gather from Neh. 3:15.
35 See 2 Kings 18:17; 20:20; Neh. 3:15, 16.
36 By reason of the heaps of stones from the ruined and broken wall, so that he had to go on foot.
15Then went I up in the night 37by the 38brook, and 39viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
37 Other, through.
38Kidron. See thereof 2 Sam. 15 on verse 23. Or, Gihon, as others perceive; see thereof 2 Chron. 32:30; 33:14.
39 See on verse 13.
16And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the 40nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the 41rest 42that did the work.
40 Hebr. the white ones; that is, who wore fine, elegant garments, as great lords did in the king’s court. See Esther 8:15. Also Neh. 5:7; 6:17; 7:5; 13:17.
41 Hebr. the remnant.
42 City carpenters or builders, or those to whom was committed the oversight, who had the command and authority over the workmen.
17¶Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
18Then I told them of 43the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they 44strengthened their hands for this good work.
43 Compare verse 8.
44 That is, they took courage to go undauntedly about this good and commendable work.
19But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
20Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but 45ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
45 As unbelievers and idolaters of old, ye have no fellowship or communion at all with the church of God, but are strangers from it, yea their enemies, so that we do not have to suit ourselves to you.