Nehemiah 2:1-8 NIV

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:2

Then I was very sore afraid - Probably the king spoke as if he had some suspicion that Nehemiah harboured some bad design, and that his face indicated some conceived treachery or remorse. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:3

Let the king live for ever - Far from wishing ill to my master, I wish him on the contrary to live and prosper for ever. Aelian, Hist. Var. lib. i. c. 32, uses the same form of speech in reference to Artaxerxes Mnemon, one of the Persian kings, Βασιλευ Αρταξερξη, δι ' αιωνος βασιλευοις , "O King Artaxerxes, may you reign for ever," when speaking of the custom of presenting them annually with an offering of earth and water; as if they had said, May you reign for ever over these! read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:4

So I prayed to the God of heaven - Before he dared to prefer his request to the king, he made his prayer to God, that his suit might be acceptable: and this he does by mental prayer. To the spirit of prayer every place is a praying place. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:5

The city of my fathers ' sepulchres - The tombs of the dead were sacred among the ancients, and nothing could appear to them more detestable than disturbing the ashes or remains of the dead. Nehemiah knew that in mentioning this circumstance he should strongly interest the feelings of the Persian king. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:6

The queen also sitting by him - Who probably forwarded his suit. This was not Esther, as Dean Prideaux supposes, nor perhaps the same Artaxerxes who had taken her to be queen; nor does שגל shegal signify queen, but rather harlot or concubine, she who was chief favourite. The Septuagint translate it παλλακη , harlot; and properly too. See the introduction. I set him a time - How long this time was we are not told; it is by no means likely that it was long, probably... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:8

Asaph the keeper of the king ' s forest - הפרדס hapardes of the paradise of the king. This I believe is originally a Persian word; it frequently occurs in Arabic, ferdoos , and in Greek, παραδεισος , and in both signifies a pleasant garden, vineyard, pleasure garden, and what we call a paradise. Above the hall of audience, in the imperial palace at Dehli, the following Persian couplet is inscribed: - "If there be a paradise on the face of the earth, this is it, this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1

In the month Nisan . The fourth month after Chisleu, corresponding nearly to our April. How it came about that Nehemiah did not put the king's favour to the proof until more than three months had gone by we can only conjecture. Perhaps the court had been absent from Susa, passing the winter at Babylon, as it sometimes did, and he had not accompanied it. Perhaps, though present at the court, he had not been called on to discharge his office, his turn not having arrived. Possibly, though... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

Prayer answered. Three or four months bad passed since Nehemiah first heard of the distressed condition of his brethren at Jerusalem, and began to pray for them, and that he might be permitted to visit and relieve them. So long the answer to his prayer was delayed. But he doubtless continued to pray, and at length the answer came. Meanwhile, he would be able to ripen his plans, and prepare himself for his enterprise. Notice— I. THE OPPORTUNITY AT LENGTH AFFORDED HIM .... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

Sadness. I. THAT IT WAS THE OUTCOME OF A TRUE PATRIOTISM ( Nehemiah 2:2 ). This sadness was not occasioned by temporal loss, by domestic bereavement, or by unfaithful friendship, but by the desolated condition of Jerusalem. The city was "waste." Many cities of our own country are laid waste by sin; the good man cannot be indifferent, he must sympathise with and help the work of moral restoration. If men are anxious about the walls, they ought to be much more so about the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

Gaining the cause. It was a time of great suspense, hardest of all things for human hearts to bear. The future of Jerusalem now hung on the building of the wall, and this depended on Nehemiah's personal interposition and upon Artaxerxes' pleasure. When great events depend on a single circumstance, issues deep and grave on the charge of a regiment, on the skill of a statesman, on the caprice of a king, we may well wait in anxiety. Nothing could be done now for Jerusalem, speaking humanly,... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:6

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Nehemiah 2:8

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

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