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1 ¶ And it came to pass
in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that
wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king.
Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore 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 was very sore afraid,
.3
And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance
be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste,
and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
4 Then the king said
unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. |
3
- Let the king live for ever Nehemiah was diplomatic and
a wise administrator as we see in the rest of the book. He was also faithful
to the God of heaven.
4
- So I prayed This confirms for us that we may lift our hearts
in petition to the Father even while talking with someone. |
5
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have
found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto
the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.
6 And the king said
unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey
be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I
set him a time.
7 Moreover I said unto
the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors
beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
8 And a letter unto
Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make
beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for
the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the
king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. |
6
- The queen also The Hebrew word actually means concubine
(a woman kept for the physical pleasure of the king). It's quite possible
that she was primarily responsible for the favorable decision or Nehemiah
would not likely have mentioned her. The Old Testament world was not as
much male dominated as some casual readers claim.
8
- The king granted ... Notice, in the verse, who Nehemiah
recognized as the source of this blessing. |
.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.
10 When Sanballat the
Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved
them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children
of Israel. |
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.11
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
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.
13 And I went out by
night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the
dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and
the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
.14
Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but
there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
15 Then went I up in
the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered
by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
.16
And 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 nobles, nor to
the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. |
12
- Arose in the night Nehemiah had, so far, told no one but
the king of Persia about his purpose for coming. Having personal information
gave him insight and prepared him for possible opposition from those who
would be asked to work on the walls. Being a man of prayer, we may expect
that he committed the whole project to the guidance of the Lord.
16
- Jews According to 1:2, these were people living in the
area who had escaped the captivity. |
