*H And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king: that wine was before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king: and I was as one languishing away before his face.
Ver. 1. Year. It seems the Persians began the year with Tizri, since both Casleu (the third) and Nisan (the seventh month of the civil year) fall on the twentieth of the king. — Wine. These kings drunk only that of Syria. Strabo xv. — People of distinction were appointed cup-bearers; and even the children of kings did not esteem the office beneath them. Herod. iii. 34. Athen. x. 6. Homer, &c. C. — I was. Prot. "I had not been before-time sad in his presence." H. — Heb. lit. "I was not evil." Sept. "an enemy, or stranger." Arab. "disagreeable." Syr. "sorrowful." Sept. also, "there was not another ( ουκ ην ετερος ) present," C. v. 6. S. Jerom seems not to have read the negation. H.
*H And the king said to me: Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou dost not appear to be sick? this is not without cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in thy heart. And I was seized with an exceeding great fear:
Ver. 2. Is not. Heb. "nothing but sorrow of heart;" (Syr. C. Prot.) or rather, thou art meditating only treason. Sept. "This is nothing but wickedness of heart," (H.) which often shews itself on the countenance. The king might suspect that he was giving him poison. M. — Hence Nehemias feared, (C.) dreading such suspicions, (H.) and aware lest the company might frustrate his good design, as contrary to the interests of the crown. T.
*H And I said to the king: O king, live for ever: why should not my countenance be sorrowful, seeing the city of the place of the sepulchres of my fathers is desolate, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire?
Ver. 3. Live; an usual salutation. Dan. iii. 9. and v. 10. So Ælian (var. i. 32.) says, "O king Artaxerxes, mayst thou reign for ever." — Father, v. 5. He knew that the Persians shewed great regard to the dead, (C. T.) whose bodies they sometimes cover with wax, and keep in their house, (Cic. Tusc. i. Alex. Genial iii. 2.) or inter. Herod. i. 140.
*H Then the king said to me: For what dost thou make request? And I prayed to the God of heaven,
Ver. 4. Heaven, a fervent ejaculation, in secret, (T.) to touch the king's heart, (C.) and to enable me to speak in a proper manner. M.
*H And the king said to me, and the queen that sat by him: For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king, and he sent me: and I fixed him a time.
Ver. 6. And, &c. In private the queen might dine with her husband, but not in public. Est. i. C. — Queen; probably Esther, if she were married to this king. M. — But this is uncertain. H. — Usher thinks it was Damaspia, mentioned by Ctesias. C. — Time, when I should return. Some say a year (T.) or two afterwards; but it is generally believed that he begged to be absent twelve years. He then waited on the king eight or ten years, and returned into Judea towards the end of the reign of Artaxerxes. C. xiii. 6. C. — He perhaps asked permission to visit Jerusalem for only a short period, at first, but his presence being deemed necessary, he was permitted to continue there as governor full twelve years. M.
*H And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors of the country beyond the river, that they convey me over, till I come into Judea:
Ver. 7. Over; give me a guard, (H.) or accompany me to Jerusalem. M.
*H And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, to give me timber that I may cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house that I shall enter into. And the king gave me according to the good hand of my God with me.
Ver. 8. Forest. Heb. pordes, "paradise," or garden planted with trees. Pliny (v. 23.) mentions a "paradise," in Cœlosyria. Grot. — But Nehemias might petition to be supplied with cedars from Libanus, (T.) as they had been given for the temple. 1 Esd. iii. 7. H. — Tower. Heb. bira, means also "a palace or temple." It may designate the porch of the temple, which was 120 cubits high; (2 Par. iii. 4. C.) though that had been lately repaired by Esdras. M. — Others think the doors of the courts are meant, as they were as strong as those of towers. Vatab. — They were not yet finished. C. x. 9. Many believe that (C.) Nehemias speaks of the royal palace, which had been almost contiguous to the temple, (M.) where he intended to build one for himself, while he should reside in the city. T. — But this might give umbrage to the king. C. — He could not, however, intend his favourite to remain without a suitable palace; and the latter seems to have designed not only to repair that which Solomon had founded, but also to erect another house for the governor. H. — Good hand; favour, (M.) and powerful aid. H.
*H And Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, heard it, and it grieved them exceedingly, that a man was come, who sought the prosperity of the children of Israel.
Ver. 10. Horonite, a native, not (C.) a petty king (Grot.) of Horonaim, in the country of Moab. Jer. xlviii. 3. He must have been very old, if he lived till the temple was built at Garizim: (Josephus and Scaliger) but Petau supposes that there were two of the name. — Servant; an officer appointed over the Samaritans, as well as Sanaballat. The Persian monarchs styled all their subjects servants or slaves. C. — Grieved. Thus unbelievers repine when any one endeavours to propagate the truth, (H.) or to establish the Church. W.
*H And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, and I told not any man what God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem, and there was no beast with me, but the beast that I rode upon.
Ver. 12. Any man, at Jerusalem, (v. 16) though he had informed the king, v. 8. H. — No beast; that none might be alarmed.
*H And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, and before the dragon fountain, and to the dung gate, and I viewed the wall of Jerusalem which was broken down, and the gates thereof which were consumed with fire.
Ver. 13. Valley of Cedron, on the east, (C.) or west, near Calvary. M. T. — Dragon. Heb. Tannin, or "great fish," which might be kept there, unless the fountain was famous for the appearance of some dragon, or the water proceeded from the mouth of a brazen one. Sept. have read thanim, "figs." The fountain of Siloe might have many names. C. — Viewed. Sept. "I walked upon the wall of Jerusalem, which these men are demolishing or clearing away," &c. H.
*H And I passed to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's aqueduct, and there was no place for the beast on which I rode to pass.
Ver. 14. Aqueduct, or reservoir, made by Ezechias. 2 Par. xxxii. 30.
*H And I went up in the night by the torrent, and viewed the wall, and going back I came to the gate of the valley, and returned.
Ver. 15. Torrent of Cedron, having gone round the city. C.
*H But the magistrates knew not whither I went, or what I did: neither had I as yet told any thing to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the rest that did the work.
Ver. 16. Magistrates. Sept. "guards." Seganim denotes various officers. C. — Work, or to any workmen. H. — None were now employed. T.
*H And I shewed them how the hand of my God was good with me, and the king's words, which he had spoken to me, and I said: Let us rise up, and build. And their hands were strengthened in good.
Ver. 18. Hand. God had manifested his goodness and power, at the court of Persia. W.
*H But Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, and Gossem the Arabian heard of it, and they scoffed at us, and despised us, and said: What is this thing that you do? are you going to rebel against the king?
Ver. 19. Arabian governor. He afterwards accuses Nehemias. C. vi. 6. C.
*H And I answered them, and said to them: The God of heaven he helpeth us, and we are his servants: let us rise up and build: but you have no part, nor justice, nor remembrance in Jerusalem.
Ver. 20. Answered. Sept. "returned them an account ( λογον ) ...we are his pure servants, and we will build." H. — Part, or business. 1 Esd. iv. 4. — Justice, or right to the city. C. — You may mind your own affairs. T. — Remembrance. It was esteemed a high honour to be a citizen of Jerusalem. Ps. lxxxvi. 5.