Nehemiah 2:9

NEHEMIAH SHOWS HIS CREDENTIALS TO THE SATRAPS;

ARRIVES IN JERUSALEM; AND SURVEYS THE BROKEN WALLS BY NIGHT

"Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen. And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put in my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackars well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the fountain gate, and to the king's pool.' but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then I went up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rest that did the work."

"And I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king's letters" (Nehemiah 2:9). This must indeed have been a shock to Sanballat and Tobiah. The mention of "captains of the army, and horsemen," (Nehemiah 2:9) indicates a very considerable military escort; and they were strengthened by the full authority, permission and credentials of the king of Persia. This was particularly bad news to Sanballat, who, "According to the Elephantine Papyrus, was governor of Samaria, which at that time included Judea. He was possibly an Ephraimite."[12]

Sanballat would have been a fool not to have read this sudden arrival of Nehemiah in command of a division of the Persian army as the end of his domination of Judah.

"It grieved them exceedingly" (Nehemiah 2:10). Of course, their normal reaction to the situation was to hinder Nehemiah in every possible manner.

"I went out by night by the valley gate" (Nehemiah 2:13). One must admire the skill, wisdom and ability of Nehemiah, who secretly developed his whole program of action, concealing it from every person who might have been in a position to discourage or hinder it.

"The valley gate" (Nehemiah 2:13). This was one of the nine gates of the city, located at the southwest corner of Jerusalem;[13] and Nehemiah's exploration of the walls extended along the southern elevation of the city, past the southeast corner and some distance up the Kidron valley as far as the king's pool. He did not go around the whole city, but turned back and reentered by the valley gate.

"There was no place for the beast that was under me to pass" (Nehemiah 2:14). Recent archaeological discoveries explain why Nehemiah was compelled to dismount and continue a part of his exploration on foot. "Excavations by Kathleen Kenyon[14] have revealed dramatically why Nehemiah's mount could not pass along the eastern wall. The steep slopes had been built up with gigantic stone terraces. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city, those terraces with the buildings constructed on them collapsed into the valley below; and when Nehemiah came the entire area (around that southeastern section) was an incredible mass of fallen stones. Nehemiah abandoned the pre-exilic line of the east wall altogether and constructed a new wall along the crest of the hill."[15]

"And the rulers knew not ..." (Nehemiah 2:16). The `rulers' were the local officials; and the fact that Nehemiah laid his plans secretly, excluding both the priests and the nobles from his confidence, at first, indicates that he was in possession of prior information regarding the opposition to be expected from them. Those people whom he had interviewed in Shushan had probably apprised him of the evil attitude of the priests and nobles.