Nehemiah 2:16

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did ..... The rulers of the city of Jerusalem, who seem to be officers of the king of Persia, since they are distinguished from Jewish rulers in the next clause:

neither had I as yet told it to the Jews ; what he came about and designed to do:

nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers ; the principal men among the Jews, both ecclesiastical and civil:

nor to the rest that did the work ; of building and repairing; neither those that were employed in it, nor those that overlooked it.