Nehemiah 2:3

Let the king live for ever For this formula opening an address to a king see Daniel 2:4; Daniel 3:9. Cf. 1 Kings 1:31.

why should not my countenance be sad? i.e. how could it be otherwise than sad?

the place of my fathers" sepulchres -the place," literally -the house:" compare 1 Samuel 25:1; 1 Kings 2:34, where Samuel and Joab are said to have been buried each -in his own house." This is explained by comparing 2 Kings 21:18, -Manasses … was buried in the garden of his own house," with 2 Chronicles 33:20, -they buried him (Manasses) in his own house." Rich families had their own private places of sepulture (rock-hewn tombs, caves and the like). Nehemiah's words would be particularly appropriate if he was, as some have supposed, a descendant of the royal house. The tombs of David and the kings of Jerusalem seem to have been cut out of the rock on the S. side of the Ophel hill, cf. Nehemiah 3:16.

consumed Literally -eaten up," as in Nehemiah 2:13. The more usual phrase is -burned," as in Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 2:17.