Nehemiah 2:2-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:2

Sorrow and its Consoler. "This is nothing else but sorrow of heart." I. SORROW OF HEART MAY CO - EXIST WITH EXTERNAL WELL - BEING . Nehemiah was healthy, honoured, rich, yet sad. So are many in similar circumstances. The sorrows of sympathy, patriotism, and piety, as Nehemiah's were; those of penitence or remorse; of wounded affection or disappointed confidence; those occasioned by family troubles, etc; may invade the hearts of the most prosperous. And it is well... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:3

May the king live for ever . A common form of Oriental compliment ( 1 Kings 1:31 ; Daniel 2:4 ; Daniel 3:9 , etc. ), but said now with special intention to conciliate, and meant to express a deep interest in the royal life and person. The city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres . We see by this that Nehemiah's family must have belonged to the capital. The Persians, like the Jews, had a great respect for the tomb, and regarded its violation with horror. Artaxerxes would naturally... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:3

Sadness, when and how far justifiable. "Why should not my countenance be sad?" I. SADNESS IS OFTEN JUSTIFIABLE , OR EVEN COMMENDABLE . 1. Under great troubles. Stoicism is neither natural nor Christian. Troubles are meant to trouble us. If they do not, they afford no trial to faith and patience, and cannot effect their purpose for discipline and improvement. 2. Under the consciousness of sin. In view of its essential evil as committed against God, his rights,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Nehemiah 2:2

I was very sore afraid - A Persian subject was expected to be perfectly content so long as he had the happiness of being with his king. A request to quit the court was thus a serious matter. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Nehemiah 2:3

The city ... of my fathers’ sepulchres - We may conclude from this that Nehemiah was of the tribe of Judah, as Eusebius and Jerome say that he was. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Nehemiah 2:2

Nehemiah 2:2. The king said, Why is thy countenance sad? His fasting, joined with inward grief, had made a sensible change in his countenance. Then I was sore afraid It was an unusual and ungracious thing to come into the king of Persia’s presence with any token of sorrow. And he feared a disappointment, because his request was great and invidious, and odious to most of the Persian courtiers. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Nehemiah 2:3

Nehemiah 2:3. Let the king live for ever My sadness comes not from any disaffection to the king, for whom my hearty prayers are that he may live for ever, but from another cause. Why should I not be sad, when the place of my fathers’ sepulchres lieth waste? Which by all nations are esteemed sacred and inviolable. He says not a word for the temple, as he spake before a heathen king, who cared for none of these things. There is a regard due to one’s own country, which ought not to be... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-10

1:1-2:10 NEHEMIAH RETURNS TO JERUSALEMThirteen years had now passed since Artaxerxes issued his decree giving Ezra authority to go to Jerusalem and reform Israel (Ezra 7:7; Nehemiah 2:1). Ezra’s work had some early success, but when the Jews tried to strengthen Jerusalem’s defences by rebuilding the city wall, their enemies accused them of planning to rebel against Persia. They reported the matter to Artaxerxes, with the result that the king issued a decree commanding that the work stop... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Nehemiah 2:2

sorrow of heart. See Proverbs 15:13 . read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Nehemiah 2:3

Let the king live. The usual Oriental salutation. lieth waste. Compare Nehemiah 1:3 . Impossible if Ezra with his 42,360 returned exiles were already there, and had rebuilt the temple! See notes on Nehemiah 1:2 ; Nehemiah 5:5 , and on the Chronological Structure (p. 617, with the notes on p. 618). See also note on Ezra 4:12 , p. 624. God of heaven. See note on Nehemiah 1:5 . read more

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