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. Ver. 1. _And it came to pass in the month Nisan_] Time and place is to be reg... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Ver. 2. _Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad?_] Some would have chided him, and bid him be packing, for they... [ Continue Reading ]
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? Ver. 3. _And I said unto the king_] After he had pulled up his best heart, and recovered his spi... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. Ver. 4. _Then the king said unto me_] Some think that Nehemiah looked thus sad before the king on purpose, to make way to this his request. _ For what dost thou make request?_] Not for any other honour o... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 5. _If it please the king_] Silken words must be given to kings, as the mother of Darius sa... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 6. _And the king said unto me_] He yields for the thing, only indents for the time; as being loth to deny Nehemiah... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 7. _Moreover I said unto the king_] He taketh further boldness upon the former encouragement; so may we with Almighty God, the S... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 9. _Then I came to the governors_] Josephus saith that the next day he took his journey and delivered his letters to Saddeus, governor of Syria, Pho... [ Continue Reading ]
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. _10. When Sanballat the Horonite_] That is, the Moabite, Isa 15:4 Jeremiah 48:3; Jeremiah 48:5; Jeremiah 48:34. His... [ Continue Reading ]
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. Ver. 11. _So I came to Jerusalem_] Thither God brought him, as on eagles' wings, maugre the malice of his enemies. The Jews had great reason to rejoice, and to welcome him with great solemnity; which yet they did not, for aught we read; but that he... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 12. _And I arose in the night_] His cares would not suffer him to sleep, Oυ χρη παννυχιον ... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 13. _By the gate of the valley_] By which men went into the valley of Jehoshaphat, J... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 14. _Then I went to the gate of the fountain_] Or well-gate; where was great plenty of water ponds, watering places, &c. Junius saith it was that whereby men... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 15. _Then went I up in the night_] _sc._ By moonlight; for the moon is mistress of the night, Psalms 136:9, by the brightness she borroweth from the body of... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 16. _And the rulers knew not whither I went_] Taciturnity, in some cases, is a virtue; and everything... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 17. _Then said I unto them_] Then, when I saw it a fit season to say it. It is a... [ Continue Reading ]
Then I told them of the 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 strengthened their hands for [this] good [work]. Ver. 18. _Then I told them of the hand of my God_] _i.e., _ of his gracious providenc... [ Continue Reading ]
But 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? Ver. 19. _But when Sanballat the Horonite, &c._] At first these men were s... [ Continue Reading ]
Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem. Ver. 20. _Then answered I them, and said unto them_] He would not honour them so far as to tell them of the... [ Continue Reading ]