Nehemiah 2:5-8 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

When Nehemiah had prayed for the relief of his countrymen, and perhaps in David's words (Ps. 51:18; Build thou the walls of Jerusalem), he did not sit still and say, ?Let God now do his own work, for I have no more to do,? but set himself to forecast what he could do towards it. Our prayers must be seconded with our serious endeavours, else we mock God. Nearly four months passed, from Chisleu to Nisan (from November to March), before Nehemiah made his application to the king for leave to go to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:5

And I said unto the king; if it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight ,.... He submits what he had to say wholly to the pleasure of the king, and puts it upon his unmerited favour, and not on any desert of his own: that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it ; the wall of it, and the houses in it; the favour was, that he might have leave to go thither, and set about such a work, for which he was so much... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:6

And the king said unto me, the queen also sitting by him ,.... Which it seems was not very common for the queens of Persia to dine with the kings their husbands; though this may be observed, not so much for the singularity of it, as for the providence of God in it, that so it should be, she having a good respect for Nehemiah, and the Jewish nation, and forwarded the king in his grant to him: if this king was Darius Hystaspis, this his queen was Atossa, daughter of Cyrus F17 Herodot.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:7

Moreover, I said unto the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river ,.... The river of Euphrates, on that side of it towards the land of Judea: that they may convey me over till I come into Judah ; furnish him with provisions, and a guard to protect him. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:8

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest ,.... The forest or mountain of Lebanon, which, because of its odoriferous and fruit bearing trees, was more like an orchard or paradise, as this word signifies, and so it is translated in Ecclesiastes 2:5 and at the extreme part of it, it seems, there was a city called Paradisus F18 Ptolem. Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. ; such an officer as here was among the Romans, called Saltuarius F19 Vid. Servium... 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 2:1-8

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

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Nehemiah 2:8

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 2:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Nehemiah 2:1-8

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