Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Nehemiah 2:1

Clarke's Commentary

CHAPTER II

Artaxerxes, observing the sorrow of Nehemiah, inquires into the

cause, 1, 2.

Nehemiah shows him the cause, and requests permission to go and

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 3-6.

The king grants it, and gives him letters to the governors beyond

the river, 7, 8.

He sets out on his journey, 9.

Sanballat and Tobiah are grieved to find he had got such a

commission, 10.

He comes to Jerusalem; and, without informing any person of his

business, examines by night the state of the city, 11-16.

He informs the priests, nobles, and rulers, of his design and

commission, 17, 18.

The design is turned into contempt by Sanballat, Tobiah, and

Geshem, 19.

Nehemiah gives them a suitable answer, 20.

NOTES ON CHAP. II

Verse Nehemiah 2:1. Month Nisan — Answering to a part of our March and April.

I took up the wine — It is supposed that the kings of Persia had a different cup-bearer for each quarter of the year, and that it had just now come to Nehemiah's turn.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

1:1-2:10 NEHEMIAH RETURNS TO JERUSALEM

Thirteen years had now passed since Artaxerxes issued his decree giving Ezra authority to go to Jerusalem and reform Israel (Ezra 7:7; Nehemiah 2:1). Ezra’s work had some early success, but when the Jews tried to strengthen Jerusalem’s defences by rebuilding the city wall, their enemies accused them of planning to rebel against Persia. They reported the matter to Artaxerxes, with the result that the king issued a decree commanding that the work stop immediately (Ezra 4:7-23).

Meanwhile in Persia, Nehemiah, a Jewish official in the king’s palace, had risen to the trusted rank of cupbearer (GNB: wine steward; see 1:11). When the Jews heard that one of their own people was in a position to speak to the king, they came to Persia to see him. In particular they told him of the distress that the Jews’ opponents had created in Jerusalem through carrying out the king’s decree (1:1-3; cf. Ezra 4:23). That decree allowed the king to reverse his decision at a later date if he desired (Ezra 4:21), and the Jewish representatives from Jerusalem no doubt hoped that Nehemiah could persuade the king to become favourable to them again.

But Nehemiah was not a mere opportunist. He was a man of God and a man of prayer. He knew that his people’s troubles were largely a result of their sins, and in a spirit of humble confession he brought the matter before God and asked his help (4-11).
For four months Nehemiah prayed about the matter. He was therefore fully prepared when an opportunity arose for him to speak to the king about it. The result was that he received permission to return and carry out the reconstruction work he had planned. He was also given the necessary building materials (2:1-8). This was probably the time when he was appointed governor of Jerusalem (see 5:14).

Circumstances surrounding Nehemiah’s return were different from those that had surrounded Ezra’s return, and Nehemiah felt it wise to accept the king’s offer of an armed escort (9; cf. Ezra 8:21-23). Officials who previously controlled the Jerusalem district were hostile when they found they had lost this area to Nehemiah. Besides being Jewish, he had authority from the Persian king that made him independent of them (10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

NEHEMIAH ARRIVES IN JERUSALEM WITH
AUTHORITY TO REBUILD THE WALLS OF THE CITY;
ARTAXERXES GRANTED NEHEMIAH'S REQUEST

"Now I was cupbearer to the king. And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was beside him, that I took up the wine and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. And the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid. And I 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? Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. And the king said unto me (the queen sitting beside 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. Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they let me pass through till I come unto Judah; 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 castle that pertaineth 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." (Nehemiah 1:11 b-2:8)

In all of the wonderful things that God did for the children of Israel, there are few things any more astounding than this. That a Persian king should have reversed a former decision stopping the work of the Jews on the walls of their city, and then have sent a trusted emissary, accompanied by a military escort, and endowed with full authority to reconstruct the walls and fortify the city of Jerusalem - only God could have caused a thing like that to happen.

"In the month Nisan" This was four months after the time mentioned in Nehemiah 1:1, during which time Nehemiah had fasted and prayed "night and day" that something could be done to aid Jerusalem. During this period, Nehemiah had diligently tried to maintain his customary happy appearance; but his great grief finally became evident in his appearance.

"I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king" Jamieson has a description of how a cupbearer performed his service. "He washed the cup in the king's presence, filled it with wine, then poured from the cup into his own left hand a sufficient amount. Then he drank that in the king's presence and handed the cup of wine to the king."Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, p. 295.

"Then I was sore afraid" "It was contrary to court behavior for a servant to appear sad."Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 330."Being sad in the king's presence was a serious offense in Persia (Esther 4:2); and, besides that, Nehemiah was well aware that the request which he would ultimately make of the king might indeed anger him."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 436.

"The place of my fathers' sepulchres lieth waste" This reply kept Nehemiah's concern in the personal, rather than the political, sector.

"For what dost thou make request" This was the moment of truth for Nehemiah. If the king was displeased, Nehemiah would lose his head; and therefore his first reaction was that, "I prayed to the God of heaven." There can be no doubt that God answered his prayer; because, "That prayer brought about one of the most astonishing reversals of royal policy in all history."Ibid.Furthermore, it happened in Persia, of all places, where their favorite proverb was, "The law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not."

"Send me unto Judah… that I may build it" A more daring request was never made. It had been only a few years since, "Artaxerxes had commissioned Rehum and Shimshai to bring a stop to the rebuilding and fortifying of Jerusalem (Ezra 4:8-23)."Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 473The amazing thing is that Artaxerxes granted Nehemiah's request, lock, stock and barrel - all of it.

Perhaps it is permissible for us to speculate a little on why Artaxerxes did so. Of course, the great reason is that God willed it; but, as is always the case, God uses ordinary men and events to achieve his purpose. Some of the satraps beyond the River had grown too powerful. "There is evidence that Megabyzos, one of the satraps beyond the River, had recently revolted; and the creation of a strengthened and fortified Jerusalem under a friendly governor might have appeared to Artaxerxes at that particular time as a wise strategy."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 405.Also, by separating Judah from the powerful coalition of the peoples known collectively as "Samaritans," and by fortifying it, the aggressiveness of the Samaritan coalition would be dramatically checkmated. And of course, Artaxerxes' commission to Nehemiah definitely "Involved the separation of Judea from Samaria."Ibid. This substantially weakened the power of Sanballat.

"The castle which appertaineth to the house" This is a reference to the combination palace and fortress, "That protected the Temple and overlooked the northwest corner of the courts… Herod later rebuilt it in N.T. times, and it was known as the Tower of Antonio. Nehemiah contemplated using it as his residence."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 437.

Some critics have questioned how it came about that Nehemiah was in possession of such detailed knowledge of specific buildings in Jerusalem; but a man in Nehemiah's high official position was in possession of all kinds of options for procuring any kind of information that he might have desired.

"The queen also sitting beside him" Polygamy was popular among Persian kings, nevetheless they also had one principal wife whom they designated as "the Queen." "The legitimate queen of Artaxerxes was Damaspia."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Vol. 16, p. 180.Williamson noted that the word is used here in the plural, and that upon occasions the word was applied to some favorite woman in the harem, or even to the queen-mother of the king, as in the Book of Daniel. Some have concluded that the presence of the queen here indicated that this was a private banquet. Rawlinson's comment was that, "It appears that Artaxerxes Longimanus had only one legitimate wife, a certain Damaspia."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 7c, p. 10.He backed this up with a reference to a statement by Ctesias in Persian history.

"And I set him a time" Nehemiah's first term as governor lasted twelve years; but it seems unlikely that he would have set such a time for his journey. Nehemiah evidently promised to return within a much shorter period, after which his leave of absence was extended. The speed with which he tackled the problem of building the wall suggests this. The journey itself would require three or four months each direction, and allowing enough time for the fortifications, suggests that his request must surely have been for, "a year or two."Ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Nisan was the name given by the Persian Jews to the month previously called “Abib,” the first month of the Jewish year, or that which followed the vernal equinox. It fell four months after Chisleu Nehemiah 1:1.

The twentieth year - As Artaxerxes ascended the throne in 465 B.C., his 20th year would correspond to 445-444 B.C.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

"You've never been sad in my presence before, what's wrong with you?" And so Nehemiah opened up his heart. Actually, the king had asked him a question and the king discerned. He said, "It's obviously a sorrow of heart. What's wrong?" And so Nehemiah answered:

Let the king live for ever ( Nehemiah 2:3 ):

And he told the king of the plight of his countrymen. Those that had gone back and of the news that he had received, and the heaviness of his heart because of the condition of Jerusalem, that beloved city. And so he said:

I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king ( Nehemiah 2:4-5 ),

So he's talking to the king, and then while he's talking, he throws up this prayer to God. "And I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the king, 'I would like to have permission to go back for a period of time to Jerusalem myself to see what I might be able to do to help the people there.' And so the king says, 'Well, how long are you going to be gone?'" And so he gave him a specified time to return. And so the king gave unto him letters of authority and he was made the Tirshatha, which was the governor appointed by the king to go back to Jerusalem and to be governor over that area. It turned out to be a period of twelve years that he had come back. And so the king gave to him the commandment to go back and to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem, the authority, the commandment.

Now this is one of the most important dates in history, the date that the king gave the commandment to Nehemiah to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem. Because we are told in Daniel the ninth chapter that there are seventy sevens determined upon the nation Israel, and from the time of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto the coming of the Messiah the Prince would be seven sevens, and sixty-two sevens, or 483 years ( Daniel 9:24-25 ). So here on the fourteenth of March 445 B.C. the commandment was given to Nehemiah to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem. One of the most important dates in the history of the world because from this date it can be ascertained the date of the coming of the Messiah.

It would be 483 years. Here is the commandment given the restoration of Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the city. So just as was prophesied in the word of God, 483 years later, Babylonian years of 360-day years, Jesus came in His triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem on April 6, 32 A.D.

Now Daniel said, "But the Messiah will be cut off and receive nothing for Himself" ( Daniel 9:26 ). And the people will be dispersed. And even as the prophecy of Daniel was so accurate, Jesus came the very day. So He was also cut off, He was crucified without receiving the kingdom and the Jews ended up in the dispersion. So this is a very important date in history.

The king granted me, [he said,] according to the good hand of the Lord upon me ( Nehemiah 2:8 ).

And so he came with some of the captains and the soldiers of the Persian army, and as he came there were a couple of fellows, Tobiah and Sanballat, who were very upset over his coming. One was a Moabite and the other was a Ammonite. The Horonite is actually from the Horon in Moab, and they were immediately antagonistic to Nehemiah because he sought the welfare of the Jews. In other words, they hated anybody who was seeking to help the Jews.

Now it is interesting and tragic that there are people today who hate the Jews and they really don't know why. And they hate anybody who loves the Jews or anybody who seeks to help the Jews.

This week in Salt Lake City we had quite a confrontation with some Palestinians because of the film, Future Survival. It was shown Sunday night and they came and they were all filled with anger and hostility because we dared to say that God's Word was being fulfilled in the return of the Jews to Israel. That God said He would bring them back into the land, and this just absolutely angered them. And there was, well, there was just a lot of shouting and accusations and all, and it was quite a scene. These Palestinians were so upset that a film would be shown that would be pro-Israel or at least give the Israeli position from a biblical standpoint.

But there are many people who have this kind of antagonism towards the Jewish people, and Tobiah and Sanballat were two. Because he sought the welfare of the Jews, they were very upset with his coming. And so Nehemiah came to Jerusalem and he just visited with them for three days, not letting anybody know what was the purpose of his trip.

And then after three days, at night after everybody had settled down, without letting anybody know, he took some of the men that had come from Persia with him, and he was riding on his animal as they were walking around the city walls as he was observing the condition of the walls, the gates. And they finally got to a place where the rubble was so thick that they just couldn't go any further. And so they came on back into the city and didn't let anybody know of their little midnight journey or junket around the city. And then Nehemiah called the leaders together and he unfolded to them his plan for the rebuilding of the city. And it involved, actually, all of the people working together--each family group taking a certain section of the wall and working on it. And so the priests were to start there at the sheep gate. And then next to them the families that would be working, on down to the various gates. And there are ten gates that are listed. And then later on, the gate of Ephraim is listed and then another gate is listed. So probably twelve gates in all. And the various families that would be working on this gate and on the wall. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. The request of Nehemiah 2:1-8

Nehemiah prayed for four months about conditions in Jerusalem before he spoke to Artaxerxes about them (cf. Nehemiah 1:1; Nehemiah 2:1). Artaxerxes’ reign began in the seventh Jewish month, Tishri (late September and early October), of 464 B.C. [Note: Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, pp. 28-30, 161.] Therefore Nehemiah presented his request in late March or early April of 444 B.C.

Nehemiah was probably very fearful (Nehemiah 2:2) because Artaxerxes could have interpreted sadness in his presence as dissatisfaction with the king (cf. Esther 4:2). [Note: J. Carl Laney, Ezra and Nehemiah, p. 77.]

"Persian works of art such as the great treasury reliefs from Persepolis indicate that those who came into the king’s presence did so with great deference, placing the right hand with palm facing the mouth so as not to defile the king with one’s own breath . . ." [Note: Edwin Yamauchi, "Ezra-Nehemiah," in 1 Kings-Job, vol. 4 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 684.]

Nehemiah realized that the moment had arrived for him to ask Artaxerxes to revise his official policy toward Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:11; Ezra 4:21). This too could have incurred the king’s displeasure. Nehemiah’s walk with God is evident in that he talked to God as he was conversing with the king (Nehemiah 2:4; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Nehemiah 2:4 contains a beautiful example of spontaneous prayer, one of the best in the Bible.

"One of the most striking characteristics of Nehemiah was his recourse to prayer (cf. Nehemiah 4:4; Nehemiah 4:9; Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 6:9; Nehemiah 6:14; Nehemiah 13:14)." [Note: Ibid., p. 685.]

"Quick prayers are possible and valid if one has prayed sufficiently beforehand. In this case Nehemiah’s prayer is evidence of a life lived in constant communion with God. Nehemiah had prayed for months, but he knew he was completely dependent on God’s work in the king’s heart at this moment." [Note: Breneman, p. 176.]

Divine working and human planning are not necessarily contradictory.

"Prayer is where planning starts." [Note: J. White, Excellence in Leadership, p. 35.]

Nehemiah returned to Artaxerxes 12 years after the king had appointed him governor of Judah (Nehemiah 5:14; Nehemiah 13:6). Nevertheless he may have also gone back sooner than that (Nehemiah 2:6). One writer calculated the date of Artaxerxes’ decree to rebuild Jerusalem as March 5, 444 B.C. [Note: Harold W. Hoehner, "Daniel’s Seventy Weeks and New Testament Chronology," Bibliotheca Sacra 132:525 (January-March 1975):64.]

"This date marks the beginning of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks (Daniel 9:24-27). Sixty-nine of those seventy weeks (173,880 days) were literally fulfilled when Jesus entered Jerusalem, presented Himself at His ’royal entry’ as Israel’s messiah, on March 30, A.D. 33. The prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled to the very day (cf. Luke 19:40-42). The seventieth week of Daniel, the Tribulation (cf. Matthew 24:4-28; Revelation 6-19), will find its fulfillment in the future." [Note: Laney, pp. 78-79.]

The fortress by the temple (Nehemiah 2:8) was a citadel that stood just north of the temple. Its name in Hebrew was Birah (or in Greek, Baris). It was the forerunner of the Antonia Fortress that Herod the Great built and to which Luke referred in the Book of Acts (Acts 21:37; Acts 22:24). [Note: See Dan Bahat, "Jerusalem Down Under: Tunneling along Herod’s Temple Mount Wall," Biblical Archaeology Review 21:6 (November-December 1995):45-46. This interesting article walks the reader through archaeological discoveries along the Western Wall of Herod’s Temple Mount from south to north.]

". . . there were good political reasons for Artaxerxes to grant Nehemiah’s request. Inaros had led a revolt in Lower Egypt in the late 460s, aided and abetted by Athens. The Persians had largely squashed this rebellion by 455, but pockets of resistance held out in the delta marshes thereafter. Then, early in the 440s, Megabyxos had led a revolt in Syria, which was probably put down just before Nehemiah made his request. Also, just about 445 the Athenians negotiated the Peace of Kallias with the Persians and hostilities between the two powers ceased. At this point in time Artaxerxes certainly recognized that a stronger Judah populated by loyal Jews would help to bring greater stability to Syria and would provide a bulwark on the border with Egypt." [Note: Vos. p. 91.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And it came to pass in the month Nisan; in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes,.... It was still but in the twentieth year of his reign; for though Nisan or March was the first month of the year with the Jews, and from whence the reigns of their kings were dated l; yet, with other nations, Tisri or September was the beginning of the reigns of their kings m; so that Chisleu or November being since, see Nehemiah 1:1, it was no more in Nisan or March than the twentieth of the said king's reign, and was three or four months after Nehemiah had first heard of the distress of his people; which time he either purposely spent in fasting and prayer on that account, or until now his turn did not come about to exercise his office, in waiting upon the king as his cupbearer: but now it was

that wine was before him; the king; it was brought and set in a proper place, from whence it might be taken for his use:

and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king; according to Xenophon n, the cupbearer with the Persians and Medes used to take the wine out of the vessels into the cup, and pour some of it into their left hand, and sup it up, that, if there was any poison in it, the king might not be harmed, and then he delivered it to him upon three fingers o:

now I had not been before time sad in his presence; but always pleasant and cheerful, so that the sadness of his countenance was the more taken notice of.

l Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 3. m T. Bab. Rashhashanah, fol. 3. 1. n Cyropaedia, l. 1. c. 11. o Vid. Heliodor. Ethiopic. l. 7. c. 27.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.   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.

      When Nehemiah had prayed for the relief of his countrymen, and perhaps in David's words (Psalms 51:18, Build thou the walls of Jerusalem), he did not sit still and say, "Let God now do his own work, for I have no more to do," but set himself to forecast what he could do towards it. Our prayers must be seconded with our serious endeavours, else we mock God. Nearly four months passed, from Chisleu to Nisan (from November to March), before Nehemiah made his application to the king for leave to go to Jerusalem, either because the winter was not a proper time for such a journey, and he would not make the motion till he could pursue it, or because it was so long before his month of waiting came, and there was no coming into the king's presence uncalled, Esther 4:11. Now that he attended the king's table he hoped to have his ear. We are not thus limited to certain moments in our addresses to the King of kings, but have liberty of access to him at all times; to the throne of grace we never come unseasonably. Now here is,

      I. The occasion which he gave the king to enquire into his cares and griefs, by appearing sad in his presence. Those that speak to such great men must not fall abruptly upon their business, but fetch a compass. Nehemiah would try whether he was in a good humour before he ventured to tell him his errand, and this method he took to try him. He took up the wine and gave it to the king when he called for it, expecting that then he would look him in the face. He had not used to be sad in the king's presence, but conformed to the rules of the court (as courtiers must do), which would admit no sorrows, Esther 4:2. Though he was a stranger, a captive, he was easy and pleasant. Good men should do what they can by their cheerfulness to convince the world of the pleasantness of religious ways and to roll away the reproach cast upon them as melancholy; but there is a time for all things, Ecclesiastes 3:4. Nehemiah now saw cause both to be sad and to appear so. The miseries of Jerusalem gave him cause to be sad, and his showing his grief would give occasion to the king to enquire into the cause. He did not dissemble sadness, for he was really in grief for the afflictions of Joseph, and was not like the hypocrites who disfigure their faces; yet he could have concealed his grief if it had been necessary (the heart knows its own bitterness, and in the midst of laughter is often sad), but it would now serve his purpose to discover his sadness. Though he had wine before him, and probably, according to the office of the cup-bearer, did himself drink of it before he gave it to the king, yet it would not make his heart glad, while God's Israel was in distress.

      II. The kind notice which the king took of his sadness and the enquiry he made into the cause of it (Nehemiah 2:2; Nehemiah 2:2): Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? Note, 1. We ought, from a principle of Christian sympathy, to concern ourselves in the sorrows and sadnesses of others, even of our inferiors, and not say, What is it to us? Let not masters despise their servants' griefs, but desire to make them easy. The great God is not pleased with the dejections and disquietments of his people, but would have them both serve him with gladness and eat their bread with joy. 2. It is not strange if those that are sick have sad countenances, because of what is felt and what is feared; sickness will make those grave that were most airy and gay: yet a good man, even in sickness, may be of good cheer if he knows that his sins are forgiven. 3. Freedom from sickness is so great a mercy that while we have that we ought not to be inordinately dejected under any outward burden; yet sorrow for our own sins, the sins of others, and the calamities of God's church, may well sadden the countenance, without sickness.

      III. The account which Nehemiah gave the king of the cause of his sadness, which he gave with meekness and fear. 1. With fear. He owned that now (though it appears by the following story that he was a man of courage) he was sorely afraid, perhaps of the king's wrath (for those eastern monarchs assumed an absolute power of life and death, Daniel 2:12; Daniel 2:13; Daniel 5:19) or of misplacing a word, and losing his request by the mismanagement of it. Though he was a wise man, he was jealous of himself, lest he should say any thing imprudently; it becomes us to be so. A good assurance is indeed a good accomplishment, yet a humble self-diffidence is not man's dispraise. 2. With meekness. Without reflection upon any man, and with all the respect, deference, and good-will, imaginable to the king his master, he says, "Let the king live for ever; he is wise and good, and the fittest man in the world to rule." He modestly asked, "Why should not my countenance be sad as it is when (though I myself am well and at east) the city" (the king knew what city he meant), "the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste?" Many are melancholy and sad but can give no reason for being so, cannot tell why nor wherefore; such should chide themselves for, and chide themselves out of, their unjust and unreasonable griefs and fears. But Nehemiah could give so good a reason for his sadness as to appeal to the king himself concerning it. Observe, (1.) He calls Jerusalem the place of his fathers' sepulchres, the place where his ancestors were buried. It is good for us to think often of our fathers' sepulchres; we are apt to dwell in our thoughts upon their honours and titles, their houses and estates, but let us think also of their sepulchres, and consider that those who have gone before us in the world have also gone before us out of the world, and their monuments are momentos to us. There is also a great respect owing to the memory of our fathers, which we should not be willing to see injured. All nations, even those that have had no expectation of the resurrection of the dead, have looked upon the sepulchres of their ancestors as in some degree sacred and not to be violated. (2.) He justifies himself in his grief: "I do well to be sad. Why should I not be so?" There is a time even for pious and prosperous men to be sad and to show their grief. The best men must not think to antedate heaven by banishing all sorrowful thoughts; it is a vale of tears we pass through, and we must submit to the temper of the climate. (3.) He assigns the ruins of Jerusalem as the true cause of his grief. Note, All the grievances of the church, but especially its desolations, are, and ought to be, matter of grief and sadness to all good people, to all that have a concern for God's honour and that are living members of Christ's mystical body, and are of a public spirit; they favour even Zion's dust, Psalms 102:14.

      IV. The encouragement which the king gave him to tell his mind, and the application he thereupon made in his heart to God, Nehemiah 2:4; Nehemiah 2:4. The king had an affection for him, and was not pleased to see him melancholy. It is also probable that he had a kindness for the Jews' religion; he had discovered it before in the commission he gave to Ezra, who was a churchman, and now again in the power he put Nehemiah into, who was a statesman. Wanting therefore only to know how he might be serviceable to Jerusalem, he asks this its anxious friend, "For what dost thou make request? Something thou wouldst have; what is it?" He was afraid to speak (Nehemiah 2:2; Nehemiah 2:2), but this gave him boldness; much more may the invitation Christ has given us to pray, and the promise that we shall speed, enable us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Nehemiah immediately prayed to the God of heaven that he would give him wisdom to ask properly and incline the king's heart to grant him his request. Those that would find favour with kings must secure the favour of the King of kings. He prayed to the God of heaven as infinitely above even this mighty monarch. It was not a solemn prayer (he had not opportunity for that), but a secret sudden ejaculation; he lifted up his heart to that God who understands the language of his heart: Lord, give me a mouth and wisdom; Lord, give me favour in the sight of this man. Note, It is good to be much in pious ejaculations, especially upon particular occasions. Wherever we are we have a way open heaven-ward. This will not hinder any business, but further it rather; therefore let no business hinder this, but give rise to it rather. Nehemiah had prayed very solemnly with reference to this very occasion (Nehemiah 2:1; Nehemiah 2:11), yet, when it comes to the push, he prays again. Ejaculations and solemn prayers must not jostle out one another, but each have its place.

      V. His humble petition to the king. When he had this encouragement he presented his petition very modestly and with submission to the king's wisdom (Nehemiah 2:5; Nehemiah 2:5), but very explicitly. He asked for a commission to go as governor to Judah, to build the wall of Jerusalem, and to stay there for a certain time, so many months, we may suppose; and then either he had his commission renewed or went back and was sent again, so that he presided there twelve years at least, Nehemiah 5:14; Nehemiah 5:14. He also asked for a convoy (Nehemiah 2:7; Nehemiah 2:7), and an order upon the governors, not only to permit and suffer him to pass through their respective provinces, but to supply him with what he had occasion for, with another order upon the keeper of the forest of Lebanon to give him timber for the work that he designed.

      VI. The king's great favour to him in asking him when he would return,Nehemiah 2:6; Nehemiah 2:6. He intimated that he was unwilling to lose him, or to be long without him, yet to gratify him, and do a real office of kindness to his people, he would spare him awhile, and let him have what clauses he pleased inserted in his commission, Nehemiah 2:8; Nehemiah 2:8. Here was an immediate answer to his prayer; for the seed of Jacob never sought the God of Jacob in vain. In the account he gives of the success of his petition he takes notice, 1. Of the presence of the queen; she sat by (Nehemiah 2:6; Nehemiah 2:6), which (they say) was not usual in the Persian court, Esther 1:11. Whether the queen was his back friend, that would have hindered him, and he observes it to the praise of God's powerful providence that though she was by yet he succeeded, or whether she was his true friend, and it is observed to the praise of God's kind providence that she was present to help forward his request, is not certain. 2. Of the power and grace of God. He gained his point, not according to his merit, his interest in the king, or his good management, but according to the good hand of his God upon him. Gracious souls take notice of God's hand, his good hand, in all events which turn in favour of them. This is the Lord's doing, and therefore doubly acceptable.