Nehemiah 2:1-8

Nehemiah 1:11 b - Nehemiah 2:8. Nehemiah Receives Permission from Artaxerxes to Go to Jerusalem and Rebuild the City Walls.

Nehemiah 1:1. the twentieth year of Artaxerxes: 444 B.C. I had not been aforetime sad: this cannot be got out of the Heb. which says simply I was not sad; the meaning would appear to be that Nehemiah, knowing as a courtier that it was contrary to usage at court for a royal servant to appear sad in the presence of the king, had determined that he would not offend in this manner even though he had received the bad news about his brethren in Judah; nevertheless, his looks betrayed him in spite of his resolution; hence his words, then I was very sore afraid when the king noticed this. To the best of his knowledge Nehemiah had not appeared sad.

Nehemiah 1:2. And the king said. : better, nevertheless the king said..

Nehemiah 1:3. Let the king live for ever: cf. Daniel 2:4; Daniel 3:9.

Nehemiah 1:6. For how long shall. : Nehemiah 5:14 *.

Nehemiah 1:8. the castle: cf. Nehemiah 7:2; the word in Heb., birah, is a loan-word, perhaps from the Babylonian; in the Greek it is called baris, so too, by Josephus. This castle was intended as a defence for the Temple (the house). That Nehemiah should have had all these particulars ready to explain to the king without ever having been in Jerusalem is not easy to account for. Probably the Chronicler's hand has to some extent filled in the details.