The Book of Nehemiah
Nehemiah 2
Chapter II · Vol. II, pp. 907–908
1 Artaxerxes, understanding the cause of Nehemiah's sadness, sendeth him with letters and a commission to build the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Nehemiah, to the grief of the enemies of the Jews, cometh to Jerusalem. 12 He vieweth secretly the ruins of the walls. 17 He encourageth the Jews to build in spite of the scorn of the enemies.
1 And it came to pass in the amonth Nisan, in the btwentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I ctook up the wine, and gave it unto the king.1 Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy dcountenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I ewas very sore afraid,2
3 And said unto the king, fLet the king live for ever:3 why gshould not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
3 Not a mere hyperbole in compliment, but a prayer for the perpetuation of his race and government, as in English law it is said the king never dies.—C.
5 And I said unto the king, iIf 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 kbuild it.
6 And the king said unto me, (the lqueen also sitting by him,4) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So itm pleased the king to send me; and I nset him a time.
l Heb. wife. Perhaps Esther, Es.8.1.
4 In all probability this was Esther, of whose parentage the king was now aware, by her interference to counteract the wicked designs of Haman. Plutarch informs us that in the Persian court only the king's mother and wife were ever permitted to sit at table with him.—C.
m ch.1.11. Is.58.9; 45.11. Ps.65.2; 18.6; 34.4,5.
n ch.5.14; 13.6.
7 Moreover, I said unto the king, If it please the king, let oletters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;5
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 pthe house, and for the qwall of the city,6 and for rthe house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, saccording to the good hand of my God upon me.
p Temple, Ezr.10.6,9.
q ch.iii.
6 This is the first grant for building the wall, that of Cyrus being merely for building the temple. Haweis is followed by Hales in connecting this grant with the great naval victory of Cimon the Athenian (Diod. Sic. lib. 12) over the Persian fleet, which was followed by an ignoble treaty excluding the Persians from the Mediterranean, and might prepare the mind of the king for adopting Jerusalem as a frontier fortress. This is probably true—but Nehemiah disregards the notice of mere human motives, and justly ascribes his success to 'the good hand of God.'—C.
r ch.5.14-16; 7.2.
s Ezr.7.6,22. Pr.3.6; 21.1. Mat.7.7,11.
9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. (Now the king had sent tcaptains of the army and horsemen with me.)7
t Ezr.8.22.
7 See note on Ezr. 8. 22.—C.
10 When Sanballat the uHoronite, and Tobiah xthe servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it ygrieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
12 And I aarose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither btold I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem:8 neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.
a Ps.119.60. Pr.10.4. Ro.12.11. Ec.9.10.
b Mat.10.16. Ep.5.15. Am.6.13. Ec.3.7.
8 Secrecy forms a striking characteristic of Nehemiah, and to a certain extent of every great mind. In Nehemiah it is accompanied with piety towards God, deliberation under his promised direction, self-decision rightly understood, and the absense of that vanity which, impatient for praise, so often defeats itself by premature discovery or empty boasting of its plans.—C.
13 And I went out by night by the cgate of the valley, even before the dragon-well, and to the ddung-port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which ewere broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
14 Then I went on to the fgate of the fountain, and to the gking's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
f ch.3.15. 2 Ch.33.14.
g Is.8.6; 22.9,11. 2 Ki.18.17; 20.20.
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.9
A.M. 3559. B.C. 445.
9 Nehemiah's inspection appears to have embraced the whole circuit of the city. He went out by 'the gate of the valley' of Hinnom, which occupied the site of the present Joppa gate; turning southward he rode round the lower slope of Mount Zion, and then crossed the mouth of the Tyropœon to 'the fountain' of Siloam at the southern end of Ophel. There he entered the Kidron valley, here called 'the brook;' but as the narrow ravine was impassable for the animal he rode, probably on account of the ruins of the ancient wall that had rolled down into it, he dismounted and walked up the Kidron to the high ground on the north of the city, and after examining the wall there he turned back to where he had left his horse, and returned to the west gate.—P.
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.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire: hcome, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more ia reproach.
h Is.35.3,4; 50.4. He.12.12,13. 1 Th.5.14.
i ch.1.3. Ps.80.6; 89.41,50,51.
18 Then I told them kof 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 lstrengthened their hands1 for this good work.
k ver.1-9. Ps.105.2.
l 1 Ch.11.10; 19.13.
1 They strengthened their hands by relying upon God with their hearts, and succeeded in effecting the good work, because they had faith to attempt it. 'Attempt,' said a good man, 'attempt great things for God, and you shall do great things for God.'—C.
19 But when mSanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant,2 the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they nlaughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye orebel against the king?
m ver.10; ch.6.1,2.
2 Horonaim was a considerable town in Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea (Is. 15. 5), of which Sanballat was probably either a native or the resident governor. As Tobiah is called the servant, he is supposed to have been a slave who had obtained his freedom. But whatever Sanballat and Tobiah were, they gave melancholy evidence of that characteristic wickedness of an unconverted heart—'envying and grieving at the good of their neighbours.'—C.
n Job 30.1. Ps.44.13,14. Je.20.7,8. He.11.37.
o ch.6.6. Ezr.4.15,16,19. Lu.23.2. Ac.24.5.
20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will pprosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye qhave no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.
Notes
Reflections.—Strong grief can scarcely be concealed. And it becomes superiors or others to observe the appearances of distress in those around them, and to sympathize with them in it. Even Jesus marks his people's groans, and puts their tears into his bottle. There is therefore no reason either for fear or for shame when sorrow for sin and for the affliction of God's people burden our heart and sadden our countenance. Nothing is more comely than meek and humble answers when given by distressed minds to great men. And pious ejaculations to God are proper to be intermingled with all our important dealings. The prayer of faith is never in vain. God will afford us friends, and help us where we scarcely ever expected it. It is easy with him to render the greatest on earth friendly and helpful to his church in a time of need. But every favour shown to the servants of God awakens the envy and rage of the wicked. They so heartily hate the cause of God that they are vexed exceedingly if any take it by the hand and zealously promote it, and are ready to attack them with every arrow of envenomed malice, derision, slander, and threatening. What strong faith in God, zeal for his glory,? bold courage, and prudent discretion, are then necessary, in attempting any noted work for the Lord and his church. In this manner we bid fair to animate even cowards and sluggards to join with us in it! Many will second the labours of one that is zealous and active who had no courage to lead. Let us therefore instantly begin, as delays are dangerous: and let us carefully observe and acknowledge the kind interposals of Providence in all that we meet with.