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Nehemiah 2:9

in Nehemiah 2

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Nehemiah 2

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
Then I came to the governors beyond the river,.... Who these governors were, whether the same who were in the second year of this king's reign eighteen years ago, Tatnai and Shetharboznai, is not certain: now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me; both to do him honour, and for his safety; and coming thus attended, must serve to recommend him to the governor, who received him from them at the river Euphrates, and conducted him to Judah.

This site's exposition

may letters be given to me

on Nehemiah 2:7-9

Nehemiah asks for two kinds of paper. Letters "for the governors west of the Euphrates" grant safe passage, and a letter to Asaph, "keeper of the king’s forest," secures timber. The king grants it all, and Nehemiah names the reason: "the gracious hand of my God was upon me" (2:8).

This site's exposition

gave them the king’s letters

Gill leaves open whether these governors west of the Euphrates were Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai of Ezra 5. The letters opened their provinces to the king's servant. In Gill's reading the officers and cavalry served his honour as well as his safety, and handed him on to the governors.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), both for his guard and to show that he was a man whom the king did delight to honour, that all the king's servants might respect him accordingly. Those whom the King of kings sends he thus protects, he thus dignifies with a host of angels to attend them. How he was received by the country he was sent to.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

I set him a time--Considering the great despatch made in raising the walls, it is probable that this leave of absence was limited at first to a year or six months, after which he returned to his duties in Shushan.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Now Sanballat etc., heard When they heard that I had come to request good for Israel and to build the walls of Jerusalem it displeased them greatly, for they were the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Nehemiah 2:10:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וָֽאָב֗וֹאand I went

    vaavo'H935 →2568 times

  • אֶֽל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • פַּֽחֲווֹת֙[the] governors of

    pachavotH6346 →28 times

  • עֵ֣בֶרbeyond

    ʾeverH5676 →90 times

  • הַנָּהָ֔רthe River

    hanaharH5104 →119 times

  • וָאֶתְּנָ֣הand I gave !

    vaetenahH5414 →2011 times

  • לָהֶ֔םto them

    lahem

  • אֵ֖ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • אִגְּר֣וֹת[the] letters of

    ʾigerotH107 →10 times

  • הַמֶּ֑לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וַיִּשְׁלַ֤חand he had sent

    vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times

  • עִמִּי֙with me

    ʾimiH5973 →1050 times

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • שָׂ֥רֵיcommanders of

    sareiH8269 →421 times

  • חַ֖יִל[the] army

    chayilH2428 →246 times

  • וּפָרָשִֽׁים׃ פand horsemen

    ufarashimH6571 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Ezra 8:22

    For 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…

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 3:12

      For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

    • Psalms 33:18–19

      Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion

    • 2 Chronicles 16:9

      For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in…

    • Psalms 34:15–16

      The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.

    • Lamentations 3:25

      The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

Where this verse is studied

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 2 →

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Nehemiah 2 →