Nehemiahchapter 2
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Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
A.A sad face before the king, and a prayer between two sentencesvv. 1-8
1 Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence, 2 so the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This could only be sadness of the heart.” I was overwhelmed with fear 3 and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 “What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven 5 and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.” 6 Then the king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time. 7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may letters be given to me for the governors west of the Euphrates, so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah. 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy.” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
B.Riding the ruins by night and telling no onevv. 9-16
9 Then I went to the governors west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me. 10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites. 11 After I had arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days, 12 I set out at night with a few men. I did not tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with me was the one on which I was riding. 13 So I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Well of the Serpent and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to get through; 15 so I went up the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I headed back and reentered through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.
C.Let us rise and build: the God of heaven will prosper usvv. 17-20
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me. “Let us start rebuilding,” they replied, and they set their hands to this good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 So I answered them and said, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no portion, right, or claim in Jerusalem.”
Chapter summary
Four months later, in Nisan, Nehemiah carries his grief into the throne room, and the king asks why his countenance is sad: 'Then I was very sore afraid.' He answers plainly: the city of his fathers' sepulchres lies waste.
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Chapter summary
Four months later, in Nisan, Nehemiah carries his grief into the throne room, and the king asks why his countenance is sad: 'Then I was very sore afraid.' He answers plainly: the city of his fathers' sepulchres lies waste.
Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴
Four months later, in Nisan, Nehemiah carries his grief into the throne room, and the king asks why his countenance is sad: 'Then I was very sore afraid.' He answers plainly: the city of his fathers' sepulchres lies waste. Asked what he requests, he prays mid-conversation ('So I prayed to the God of heaven'), then asks for letters of passage and timber from the king's forest, granted 'according to the good hand of my God upon me.' Sanballat and Tobiah are grieved. In Jerusalem he rides out alone by night to survey the ruined gates, telling no man, then calls the city: 'Come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.'
Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.
Context
History · Nehemiah — Nehemiah overview
- A. 1–8 A sad face before the king, and a prayer between two sentences
- B. 9–16 Riding the ruins by night and telling no one
- C. 17–20 Let us rise and build: the God of heaven will prosper us
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
Nehemiah 25 verses
- Nehemiah 2:3and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
- Nehemiah 2:4“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven
- Nehemiah 2:9Then I went to the governors west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.
- Nehemiah 2:17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
- Nehemiah 2:19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
- Read Nehemiah 2 →
Nehemiah 14 verses
- Nehemiah 1:1These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,
- Nehemiah 1:3And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
- Nehemiah 1:4When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
- Nehemiah 1:11O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)
- Read Nehemiah 1 →
Ezra 74 verses
- Ezra 7:1Many years later, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,
- Ezra 7:6this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
- Ezra 7:21I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all the treasurers west of the Euphrates: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, it must be provided promptly,
- Ezra 7:27Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,
- Read Ezra 7 →
Ezra 83 verses
- Ezra 8:22For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.”
- Ezra 8:32So we arrived at Jerusalem and rested there for three days.
- Ezra 8:36They also delivered the king’s edicts to the royal satraps and governors of the region west of the Euphrates, who proceeded to assist the people and the house of God.
- Read Ezra 8 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
Nehemiah 62 verses
- Nehemiah 6:1When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—
- Nehemiah 6:6that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,
- Read Nehemiah 6 →
Jeremiah 312 verses
- Jeremiah 31:33“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
- Jeremiah 31:38“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
- Read Jeremiah 31 →
2 Chronicles 322 verses
- 2 Chronicles 32:5Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.
- 2 Chronicles 32:30It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.
- Read 2 Chronicles 32 →
Proverbs 151 verse
- Proverbs 15:13A joyful heart makes a cheerful countenance, but sorrow of the heart crushes the spirit.
- Read Proverbs 15 →
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.