1 Artaxerxes, understanding the cause of Nehemiah's sadness, sends him with letters and commission to Jerusalem
9 Nehemiah, to the grief of the enemies, comes to Jerusalem
12 He views secretly the ruins of the walls
17 He incites the Jews to build

Nisan Es 3:7

the twentieth 1:1 Ezr 7:1,7

I took up 1:11 Ge 40:11,21

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,

Why is thy Ge 40:7

sorrow Pr 15:13

Then I (Probably the king spoke as if he had some suspicion that Nehemiah harboured some bad design, and that his face indicated some conceived treachery, or remorse; and, indeed, the words rendered sad, and sorrow of heart, might be rendered evil, and wickedness of heart.)

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?

Let the king (Far from wishing ill to my master, I wish him to live for ever.) 1Ki 1:31 Da 2:4 3:9 5:10 6:6,21

the city 1:3 Ps 102:14 137:6 La 2:9

the place 2Ch 21:20 28:27 32:33

4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

For what 1Ki 3:5 Es 5:3,6 7:2 Mr 10:51

So I prayed 1:4,11 2Sa 15:31 Pr 3:6 Php 4:6

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.

If it please Ezr 5:17 Es 1:19 5:8 7:3 8:5

and if thy Ru 2:13 2Sa 14:22 Pr 3:4

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.

the queen. Heb. the wife (It was probably Esther who was present at this time, and who seconded Nehemiah's request.)

So it pleased 4 1:11 Isa 58:12 61:4 65:24

I set him a time (It is probable that this time was no more than six months, or a year; after which he either returned, or had his leave of absence lengthened, as we find he was twelve years governor of the Jews.) 5:14 13:6

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;

let letters 9 Ezr 6:6 7:21

that they may Ezr 8:22

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.

the wall 17 3:1

the house 3:7 7:2

the king 18 Ge 32:28 Ezr 5:5 6:22 7:6,9,27,28 Pr 21:1 Isa 66:14 Da 1:9 Ac 7:10 26:22 2Co 8:16

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.

to the governors 7

Now the Ezr 8:22

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.

Sanballat 19 4:1-3,7 6:1

Horonite Isa 15:5 Jer 48:5,34

the servant Pr 30:22 Ec 10:7

the Ammonite 13:1

it grieved Nu 22:3,4 Ps 112:10 122:6-9 Pr 27:4 Eze 25:6-8 Mic 7:9,10,16,17 Ac 4:2 5:24 19:26,27

there was come Ezr 4:4

11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.

Ezr 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.

I arose Ge 32:22-24 Jos 10:9 Jud 6:27 9:32 Mt 2:14

neither Ec 3:7 Am 5:13 Mic 7:5 Mt 10:16

my God (This pious and noble-minded man attributes every thing to God. If he purposed any good, it was because God put it into his heart; if he did or received any good, it was because the good hand of his God was upon him; if he expected any good, it was because he earnestly prayed God to remember him for good.) Ezr 7:27 Ps 51:18 122:6 Jer 31:33 32:40 2Co 8:16 Jas 1:16,17 Re 17:17

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.

the gate 15 3:13 2Ch 26:9

the dung port (This was the gate on the eastern side of the city, through which the filth was carried to the brook Kidron and valley of Hinnom.) 3:13,14 12:31

the walls 3,17 1:3 Jer 5:10

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.

the gate of the fountain (The gate leading either to the fountain of Siloam, on the east of the city, or to that of Gihon, on the west.) 3:15 2Ki 18:17 20:20 2Ch 32:30

the king's pool (Probably the aqueduct made by Hezekiah to bring the waters of Gihon to the city of David.)

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.

the brook. The brook Kidron 2Sa 15:23 Jer 31:38-40 Joh 18:1

the gate (The gate leading to the valley of Jehoshaphat, east of the city, through which the brook Kidron flows. It was by this gate he went out; so that he went round the whole of the city, and entered by the same gate.) 13

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.

the rulers 12

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.

Ye see La 2:2,8,9 3:51

come Ezr 5:1,2 10:2-4 Isa 35:3,4

a reproach 1:3 1Sa 11:2 Ps 44:13 79:4,12 89:50,51 Jer 24:9 La 3:45,46 Eze 5:14 22:4,5

18 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.

the hand. See on ver. 8

So they strengthened 2Sa 2:7 1Ch 11:10 19:13 2Ch 32:5 Ezr 6:22 Hag 1:13,14 Eph 6:10 Php 2:13

19 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?

Sanballat 10 6:1,2

Geshem 6:9

Gashmu. they Job 30:1 Ps 44:13,14 79:4 80:6 Jer 20:8 Mr 5:40 Heb 11:36

will ye rebel 6:6 Ezr 4:15,16 Lu 23:2 Joh 19:12 Ac 24:5

20 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.

The God 4 2Ch 26:5 Ps 20:5 35:27 102:13,14 122:6 Ec 7:18

ye have no Ezr 4:3 Ac 8:21

memorial Ex 28:29 Le 2:2 24:7 Nu 10:10 Isa 56:5 Zec 6:14 Ac 10:4,31 (When Nehemiah had prayed for the relief of his countrymen, and perhaps in David's words, Ps. 51:18, 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 do what he could towards it; and here we find that the people were of one heart with Nehemiah. Our prayers must be seconded with our serious endeavours, or else we mock God. Nearly four months had passed, namely, from Chisleu to Nisan (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 a motion till he could pursue it, or because it was so long before his month of waiting upon the king came, and there was no coming into his presence until called for. Es. 4:11. 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.)