Nehemiah 1:11

The special Intercession (a) generally, that the prayer of Nehemiah and his countrymen might be heard, (b) particularly, that Nehemiah's application to the king might be successful.

O Lord The Hebrew word -Adonai" is also used for the Divine name in Neh. (Nehemiah 3:5) Nehemiah 8:10; Nehemiah 10:29: see also note on Ezra 10:3.

The use of -Adonai" by itself as a Divine title is common in poetry and in prophetical writings (e.g. Job 28:28; Psalms 16:2; Psalms 35:23; Psalms 37:13 &c.; Isaiah 3:17-18; Isaiah 8:7 &c.; Jeremiah 2:22; Ezekiel 18:25; Ezekiel 18:29; Amos 1:8; Amos 5:16; Micah 1:2, and in Lamentations chaps. 2, 3. passim). It is generally used in prayer or humble address, as in Genesis 18:3; Genesis 18:27; Genesis 18:30-32; Exodus 4:10; Exodus 4:13; Exodus 5:22; Exodus 34:9; Numbers 14:17; Joshua 7:8; Judges 6:15; Jdg 13:8; 2 Samuel 7:19; 1 Kings 8:53; Psalms 39:7; Psalms 51:15; Daniel 9:4; Daniel 9:7-8; Daniel 9:16-17; Daniel 9:19.

I beseech thee see note on Nehemiah 1:5.

who desire to fear thy name R.V. who delight &c.

The R.V. gives the true rendering. The Hebrew word is more generally used of -delight in" a person or a thing, e.g. 1 Samuel 19:2; Psalms 22:8; Psalms 112:1; Isaiah 1:11; but it is also found with an infin., e.g. Psalms 40:8 -I delight to do thy will, O God." Isaiah 58:2 -delight to know my ways." Esther 6:6 &c. -the king delighteth to honour."

-delight to fear." The union of fear and joy is the paradox of spiritual service. Cf. Psalms 2:11 -Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling," Psalms 22:23 -Ye that fear the Lord praise him."

thy name i.e. Thy nature and Thy attributes. As often in the O. T. For -fear thy name," comp. Psalms 86:11; Malachi 4:2.

this day The same word as in Nehemiah 1:6 -at this time," and to be understood here in the same sense. There is an obvious interval of time between ch. 1. and ch. 2.

and grant him mercy The idiom here employed, literally -and give him to mercy" occurs with the word here used for -mercy" (rachamim = -bowels" or -mercies," τὰ σπλάγχνα) in 1 Kings 8:50; Psalms 106:46. The sense strictly is -and give him over for purposes, or as an object, of mercy and kindness," just as in Nehemiah 4:4 -give them up to spoiling" represents an opposite thought.

in the sight of this man i.e. the king; the final words of the prayer are explained by the parenthetical clause which follows. The word -this" shows that the prayer was the petition of Nehemiah at the king's court, not necessarily in his presence.

For I was&c. R.V. ( Now I was, &c.) The clause in the Hebrew is parenthetical.

the king's cupbearer R.V. cupbearer to the king. The article is wanting before -cupbearer." Nehemiah stood in the relation of -cupbearer" to the Persian king, but there were others holding the same office. Compare the use of the plural, -cupbearers," 1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chronicles 9:4; the title of -chief butler," i.e. chief of the cupbearer, in Genesis 40, 41; and the title Rab-shakeh (chief cupbearer) in 2 Kings 18:17. This last passage shows the important place occupied at the court by the head of these functionaries. For, although the title probably represents the Assyrian - Rab-sak" = -Generalissimo," the Hebrew transliteration of it, based on the similarity of sound conveyed the idea of -chief cupbearer" to Hebrew readers, and presupposed his prominence among the ministers of an Oriental king.

A good representation of the duties of a -cupbearer" at the Persian court is given by Xenophon (Cyrop.i. 3, 4). See note on Nehemiah 2:1.

The majority of such attendants at an Oriental court were eunuchs. We must certainly admit the probability that the Jews who occupied places of distinction at the court like Nehemiah, Daniel and his companions (Daniel 1:7), Mordecai (Esther 2:5; Esther 2:19, &c.), Zerubbabel (Esther 3:14; 1EEsther 4:13), belonged to this class. The words of consolation addressed by the Prophet of the Exile (Isaiah 56:4-5) to pious Jews, who according to the strict letter of the law were excommunicate, were applicable to such cases.

LXX. οἰνοχόος : Vulg. pincerna. The old Rabbinic explanation of the word -Tirshatha," as equivalent to -cupbearer" and therefore applied to Nehemiah, is an illustration of obsolete methods of derivation (see Ezra 2:63).