Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Nehemiah 2

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Introduction

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.
Verse 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.
Nisan
Esther 3:7
the twentieth
1:1, Ezra 7:1,7
I took up
1:11, Genesis 40:11,21
Verse 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
Genesis 40:7
sorrow
Proverbs 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.
Verse 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.
1 Kings 1:31, Daniel 2:4, 3:9, 5:10, 6:6,21
the city
1:3, Psalms 102:14, 137:6, Lamentations 2:9
the place
2 Chronicles 21:20, 28:27, 32:33
Verse 4

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
For what
1 Kings 3:5, Esther 5:3,6, 7:2, Mark 10:51
So I prayed
1:4,11, 2 Samuel 15:31, Proverbs 3:6, Philippians 4:6
Verse 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
Ezra 5:17, Esther 1:19, 5:8, 7:3, 8:5
and if thy
Ruth 2:13, 2 Samuel 14:22, Proverbs 3:4
Verse 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, Isaiah 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
Verse 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, Ezra 6:6, 7:21
that they may
Ezra 8:22
Verse 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, 3:1-32
the house
3:7, 7:2
the king
18, Genesis 32:28, Ezra 5:5, 6:22, 7:6,9,27,28, Proverbs 21:1, Isaiah 66:14, Daniel 1:9, Acts 7:10, 26:22, 2 Corinthians 8:16
Verse 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
Now the
Ezra 8:22
Verse 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
Isaiah 15:5, Jeremiah 48:5,34
the servant
Proverbs 30:22, Ecclesiastes 10:7
the Ammonite
13:1
it grieved
Numbers 22:3,4, Psalms 112:10, 122:6-9, Proverbs 27:4, Ezekiel 25:6-8, Micah 7:9,10,16,17, Acts 4:2, 5:24, 19:26,27
there was come
Ezra 4:4-23
Verse 11

So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
Ezra 8:32
Verse 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
Genesis 32:22-24, Joshua 10:9, Judges 6:27, 9:32, Matthew 2:14
neither
Ecclesiastes 3:7, Amos 5:13, Micah 7:5, Matthew 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.
Ezra 7:27, Psalms 51:18, 122:6, Jeremiah 31:33, 32:40, 2 Corinthians 8:16, James 1:16,17, Revelation 17:17
Verse 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, 2 Chronicles 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, Jeremiah 5:10
Verse 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, 2 Kings 18:17, 20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:30
the king's pool
Probably the aqueduct made by Hezekiah to bring the waters of Gihon to the city of David.
Verse 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.
2 Samuel 15:23, Jeremiah 31:38-40, John 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.
Verse 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
Verse 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
Lamentations 2:2,8,9, 3:51
come
Ezra 5:1,2, 10:2-4, Isaiah 35:3,4
a reproach
1:3, 1 Samuel 11:2, Psalms 44:13, 79:4,12, 89:50,51, Jeremiah 24:9, Lamentations 3:45,46, Ezekiel 5:14, 22:4,5
Verse 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
So they strengthened
2 Samuel 2:7, 1 Chronicles 11:10, 19:13, 2 Chronicles 32:5, Ezra 6:22, Haggai 1:13,14, Ephesians 6:10, Philippians 2:13
Verse 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, Psalms 44:13,14, 79:4, 80:6, Jeremiah 20:8, Mark 5:40, Hebrews 11:36
will ye rebel
6:6, Ezra 4:15,16, Luke 23:2, John 19:12, Acts 24:5
Verse 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, 2 Chronicles 26:5, Psalms 20:5, 35:27, 102:13,14, 122:6, Ecclesiastes 7:18
ye have no
Ezra 4:3, Acts 8:21
memorial
Exodus 28:29, Leviticus 2:2, 24:7, Numbers 10:10, Isaiah 56:5, Zechariah 6:14, Acts 10:4,31, Nehemiah:; 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; because:; to the throne of grace we never come unseasonably.

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