Nehemiah 2 commentary

Our prayers must be seconded with serious endeavours, else we mock God. We are not limited to certain moments in our addresses to the King of kings, but have liberty to go to him at all times; approaches to the throne of grace are never out of season. But the sense of God's displeasure and the afflictions of his people, are causes of sorrow to the children of God, under which no earthly delights can comfort. The king encouraged Nehemiah to tell his mind. This gave him boldness to speak; much more may the invitation Christ has given us to pray, and the promise that we shall speed, encourage us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven, as infinitely above even this mighty monarch. He lifted up his heart to that God who understands the language of the heart. Nor should we ever engage in any pursuit in which it would be wrong for us thus to seek and expect the Divine direction, assistance, and blessing. There was an immediate answer to his prayer; for the seed of Jacob never sought the God of Jacob in vain.

When Nehemiah had considered the matter, he told the Jews that God had put it into his heart to build the wall of Jerusalem. He does not undertake to do it without them. By stirring up ourselves and one another to that which is good, we strengthen ourselves and one another for it. We are weak in our duty, when we are cold and careless.

The enmity of the serpent's seed against the cause of Christ is confined to no age or nation. The application to ourselves is plain. The church of God asks for our help. Is it not desolate, and exposed to assaults? Does the consideration of its low estate cause you any grief? Let not business, pleasure, or the support of a party so engage attention, as that Zion and her welfare shall be nothing to you.

CHAPTER 2

Ne 2:1-20. Artaxerxes, Understanding the Cause of Nehemiah's Sadness, Sends Him with Letters and a Commission to Build Again the Walls of Jerusalem.

1. it came to pass in the month Nisan--This was nearly four months after he had learned the desolate and ruinous state of Jerusalem (Ne 1:1). The reasons for so long a delay cannot be ascertained.

I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king--Xenophon has particularly remarked about the polished and graceful manner in which the cupbearers of the Median, and consequently the Persian, monarchs performed their duty of presenting the wine to their royal master. Having washed the cup in the king's presence and poured into their left hand a little of the wine, which they drank in his presence, they then handed the cup to him, not grasped, but lightly held with the tips of their thumb and fingers. This description has received some curious illustrations from the monuments of Assyria and Persia, on which the cupbearers are frequently represented in the act of handing wine to the king.

2-5. the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad?--It was deemed highly unbecoming to appear in the royal presence with any weeds or signs of sorrow (Es 4:2); and hence it was no wonder that the king was struck with the dejected air of his cupbearer, while that attendant, on his part, felt his agitation increased by his deep anxiety about the issue of the conversation so abruptly begun. But the piety and intense earnestness of the man immediately restored [Nehemiah] to calm self-possession and enabled him to communicate, first, the cause of his sadness (Ne 2:3), and next, the patriotic wish of his heart to be the honored instrument of reviving the ancient glory of the city of his fathers.

6-9. the queen also sitting by him--As the Persian monarchs did not admit their wives to be present at their state festivals, this must have been a private occasion. The queen referred to was probably Esther, whose presence would tend greatly to embolden Nehemiah in stating his request; and through her influence, powerfully exerted it may be supposed, also by her sympathy with the patriotic design, his petition was granted, to go as deputy governor of Judea, accompanied by a military guard, and invested with full powers to obtain materials for the building in Jerusalem, as well as to get all requisite aid in promoting his enterprise.

I set him a time--Considering the great despatch made in raising the walls, it is probable that this leave of absence was limited at first to a year or six months, after which he returned to his duties in Shushan. The circumstance of fixing a set time for his return, as well as entrusting so important a work as the refortification of Jerusalem to his care, proves the high favor and confidence Nehemiah enjoyed at the Persian court, and the great estimation in which his services were held. At a later period he received a new commission for the better settlement of the affairs of Judea and remained governor of that province for twelve years (Ne 5:14).

10. Sanballat the Horonite--Horonaim being a town in Moab, this person, it is probable, was a Moabite.

Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite--The term used indicates him to have been a freed slave, elevated to some official dignity. These were district magistrates under the government of the satrap of Syria; and they seem to have been leaders of the Samaritan faction.

11-12. So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days--Deeply affected with the desolations of Jerusalem, and uncertain what course to follow, he remained three days before informing any one of the object of his mission [Ne 2:17, 18]. At the end of the third day, accompanied with a few attendants, he made, under covert of night, a secret survey of the walls and gates [Ne 2:13-15].

13-15. I went out by night by the gate of the valley--that is, the Jaffa gate, near the tower of Hippicus.

even before the dragon well--that is, fountain on the opposite side of the valley.

and to the dung port--the gate on the east of the city, through which there ran a common sewer to the brook Kedron and the valley of Hinnom.

16-18. the rulers knew not--The following day, having assembled the elders, Nehemiah produced his commission and exhorted them to assist in the work. The sight of his credentials, and the animating strain of his address and example, so revived their drooping spirits that they resolved immediately to commence the building, which they did, despite the bitter taunts and scoffing ridicule of some influential men.

Month Nisan - Answering to a part of our March and April.

I took up the wine - It is supposed that the kings of Persia had a different cup-bearer for each quarter of the year, and that it had just now come to Nehemiah's turn.

Then I was very sore afraid - Probably the king spoke as if he had some suspicion that Nehemiah harboured some bad design, and that his face indicated some conceived treachery or remorse.

Let the king live for ever - Far from wishing ill to my master, I wish him on the contrary to live and prosper for ever. Aelian, Hist. Var. lib. i. c. 32, uses the same form of speech in reference to Artaxerxes Mnemon, one of the Persian kings, Βασιλευ Αρταξερξη, δι' αιωνος βασιλευοις, "O King Artaxerxes, may you reign for ever," when speaking of the custom of presenting them annually with an offering of earth and water; as if they had said, May you reign for ever over these!

So I prayed to the God of heaven - Before he dared to prefer his request to the king, he made his prayer to God, that his suit might be acceptable: and this he does by mental prayer. To the spirit of prayer every place is a praying place.

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.

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 no more than six months or a year; after which he either returned, or had his leave of absence lengthened; for in the same year we find he was made governor of the Jews, in which office he continued twelve years, viz., from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, Neh 5:14. He then returned to Susa; and after staying a short time, had leave to return to rectify some abuses that Tobiah the Ammonite had introduced into the temple, Neh 13:6, Neh 13:7, and several others of which the people themselves were guilty. After having performed this service, it is likely he returned to the Persian king, and died in his office of cup-bearer; but of this latter circumstance we have no mention in the text.

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 is it, this is it."

Thus we find that the word is applied to denote splendid apartments, as well as fine gardens; in a word, any place of pleasure and delight. The king's forest mentioned in the text might have been the same to Artaxerxes, as the New Forest was to William the Conqueror, or Windsor Forest to the late amiable sovereign of the British people, George the Third.

And the king granted me, etc. - This noble spirited man attributes every thing to God. He might have said, I had been long a faithful servant to the king; and he was disposed, in reward of my fidelity, to grant my request; but he would not say so: "He granted my request, because the good hand of my God was upon me." God favored me, and influenced the king's heart to do what I desired.

Sanballat the Horonite - Probably a native of Horonaim, a Moabite by birth, and at this time governor of the Samaritans under the king of Persia.

Tobiah the servant - He was an Ammonite; and here, under the Persian king, joint governor with Sanballat. Some suppose that the Sanballat here mentioned was the same who persuaded Alexander to build a temple on Mount Gerizim in favor of the Samaritans. Pelagius thinks there were two governors of this name.

The dragon well - Perhaps so called because of the representation of a dragon, out of whose mouth the stream issued that proceeded from the well.

Dung port - This was the gate on the eastern side of the city, through which the filth of the city was carried into the valley of Hinnom.

The gate of the fountain - Of Siloah.

The king's pool - Probably the aqueduct made by Hezekiah, to bring the waters of Gihon to the city of David. See 2Chr 32:30.

By the brook - Kidron.

By the gate of the Valley - The valley through which the brook Kidron flowed. It was by this gate he went out; so he went all round the city, and entered by the same gate from which he had gone out.

The rulers knew not whither I went - He made no person privy to his design, that he might hide every thing as much as possible from their enemies till he had all things in readiness; lest they should take measures to defeat the work.

Then I told them - He opened to them his design and his commission.

Geshem the Arabian - Some chief of the Arabs contiguous to Samaria, who had joined with Sanballat and Tobiah to distress the Jews, and hinder their work.

Will ye rebel against the king? - This they said in order to raise jealousies in the king's mind, and induce him to recall his ordinance.

Ye have no portion, nor right - To be a citizen of Jerusalem was a high honor; and they would not permit those who did not belong to the tribes of Israel to dwell there. Zerubbabel gave the same answer to the Samaritans, Ezr 4:3.

Nisan - Four months after he had heard those sad tidings. The reason of this long delay might be either that his turn of attending upon the king did not come 'till that time: or that 'till then he wanted a fit opportunity to move it to him.

Sad - His fasting joined with inward grief had made a sensible change in his countenance. Afraid - It was an unusual and ungrateful 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.

Why should, &c. - All the grievances of the church, but especially its desolations, ought to be matter of grief to all good people, to all that have a concern for God's honour, and are of a public spirit.

Let, &c. - 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. Sepulchres - Which by all nations are esteemed sacred and inviolable. He saith not a word of the temple as he spake before a Heathen king who cared for none of these things. I prayed - To direct my thoughts and words, and to incline the king's heart to grant my request.

The queen - Which is here noted, as an unusual thing; for commonly the kings of Persia dined alone, and perhaps because the queen expressed some kindness to him, and promoted his request. How long - This question shewed the king's affection to him, and that he was not willing to want his attendance longer than was necessary. A time - He built the walls in fifty two days, chap.6:15, and probably not long after returned to the king, by whom he was sent a second time with a more ample commission.

King's forest - Of the forest of Lebanon, famous for choice trees. Palace - Of the king's palace, which was adjoining to the house of God. Enter - That I shall build to dwell in while I am there.

Horonite - So called either, from the place of his birth or rule, which is supposed to be Horonaim, an eminent city of Moab. The servant - So called probably from the condition from which he was advanced to his present power and dignity: which also may be mentioned as one reason why he now carried himself so insolently, it being usual for persons suddenly raised from a low state, so to demean themselves.

Night - Concealing both his intentions as long as he could, knowing that the life of his business lay in secrecy and expedition. Beast - To prevent noise.

I went - The footmen who accompanied him directing and leading him in the way. His design was to go round the city, to observe the compass and condition of the walls and gates, that he might make sufficient provisions for the work.

No place - The way being obstructed with heaps of rubbish.

That did - Or, were to do, whom he intended to employ in it.

Rise up - Let us do it with vigour, and diligence, and resolution, as those that are determined to go through with it. Their hands - Their own and one anothers.

No portion - You have no authority over us, nor interest in our church and state, but are aliens from the common - wealth of Israel. Memorial - No testimony, or monument, either of your relation to us by birth or religion, or of your kindness to us, or to this place.

1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan , in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.

Which was four months after he had heard those sad ridings. The reason of this long silence and delay might be manifold; either because he thought fit that some time should be spent by himself and possibly others of his brethren in seeking God by solemn Prayer and fasting for Gods blessing and the good success of this great affair: or because he could not take so long and dangerous a journey in the depth of Winter: or because his turn of attending upon the King did not come to him till that time: or because till then he wanted a fit opportunity to move it to the King by reason of the Kings indisposition or occasions or multitude of attendants, among whom there probably were diverse enemies to the Jews who, he feared, might hinder his design and desire.

Artaxerxes Longimanus the Son of the great Xerxes, who reigned both with his Father and after his death alone: whence the years of his reign are computed two ways, one from the death of Xerxes; and the other from his first entrance upon the administration of the Kingdom, which was committed to him in the 5th year of Xerxes when he began the Grecian war and left his Son King or Viceroy in his stead, as the manner of the Persians was. It may seem doubtful and is not much material which way of computation is here used. Others understand this of Artaxerxes Nemon.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 3. 7.

2 Wherefore the king said unto me, why is thy countenance sad , seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid ,

His fasting joyned with inward grief had made a sensible change in his very countenance.

Partly being daunted by the Majesty of the King and the suddenness and sharpness of his question: partly fearing lest there was arising some jealousy or ill opinion in the King concerning him; partly because it was an unusual and ungrateful thing to come into the King of Persia's presence with any badges or tokens of sorrow, Esth. 4. 2. and principally from his doubts or fears of disappointment, because his request was great and invidious and odious to the most of the Persian Courtiers, and might be represented as dangerous, and might seem improper for a time of feasting and jollity.

3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever ? why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers sepulchers , lieth wast, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire.

My sadness comes not from any discontent with my own condition or any disaffection to the King, for whom my hearty Prayers are that he may live for ever, but from another cause.

Which by all Nations are esteemed sacred and inviolable and honourable. He saith not a word of the Temple or of Religion, for he wisely considered that he spake before a heathen King and Court who cared for none of those things.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1+ letters]. 31. [illegible: 1 word] 2. 4. & [illegible: 1 word].; [illegible: 1 word]. [illegible: 1 word].

4 Then the King said unto me, For what dost thou make request? so I prayed to the God of heaven ?

To direct my thoughts and words, and to incline the Kings heart to grant my request.

5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king , and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight , that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers sepulchers, that I may build it.

My request whatsoever it is I humbly and wholly submit it to the Kings good pleasure being resolved to acquiesce in it.

I pretend no merit, but am an humble suppliant for thy grace and favour, whereof having received some tokens I am thereby emboldened to make this further request.

6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him ) For how long shall thy journey be! and when wilt thou return ? So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time .

Which is here noted, partly as an unusual thing; for commonly the Kings of Persia dined alone, and their Queens seldom dined with them, as Historians note: and peradventure, because the Queen expressed some kindness to him and promoted his request with the King.

This question shewed the Kings respect and affection to him, and that he was not willing to want his attendance longer than was necessary.

Either that 12 years mentioned, ch. 5. 14. & 13. 6. or rather a far shorter time: for which cause▪ among others, he built the walls with such dispatch, even in 52 days, ch. 6. 15. and probably not very long after that returned to the King, by whom he was sent a second time with more ample Commission and for the Kings service and the Government of that part of his dominions.

Marginal references: Heb wife.

7. Moreover, I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to governours beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah:

That they may safely conduct me through their several territories.

8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the kings forrest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace, which appertained to the house , and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into . And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Of the forest of Libanus famous for pleasure and for plenty of choice trees.

To wit of the Kings palace, which was adjoyning to the house of God. Or, of the Tower or sence belonging to the house of God, to wit, for the gates of the Courts of the Temple: for though the Temple was built, the Courts and other buildings belonging to the Temple might yet be unfinished.

Wherewith I may build an house in which I may dwell whilst I am there, and which I may dispose of as I see fit.

Marginal references: Heb. of the kings orchard. So Gr.; Ezr. 7. 9.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite , and Tobiah the servant the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

So called either from his family, or from the place of his birth or rule, which is supposed to be Horonaim, an eminent City of Moab, Isa. 15. 5. Ier. 48. 3.

So called probably from his servile original, or condition from which he was advanced to his present power and dignity: which also may be mentioned as one reason why he now carried himself so insolently and perversly towards the Jews; it being, usual for Persons suddenly raised from a mean to an high estate so to demean themselves.

11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days .

Resting my self after my long journey and enquiring into the state of the City.

12 And I arose in the night , I and some few men with me, neither told I any man what God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon .

Concealing both his intentions and actions as far and as long as he could, as knowing that the life of his business lay in secrecy, and expedition,

To prevent noise and the notice of what I did.

13 And I went out by night , by the gate of the valley , even before the dragon-well , and to the dungport , and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.

The footmen which accompanied him directing and leading him in the way. His design was to go round about the City, to observe the compass and condition of the Walls and Gates, that he might make sufficient provisions for the work.

Of which see ch. 3. 13.

A fountain or water so called either from some figure of a Dragon or Serpent which was by it: or from some living Dragon which abode there when the City was desolate: for Dragons delight to be in desolate places▪ and nigh to springs of water, as divers have observed.

Through which they used to carry the dung out of the City.

14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain , and to the kings pool : but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass .

i. e. Which led to the fountain, to wit, of Siloah or Gihon.

That which King Hezekiah had made: of which see 2 Chron. 32. 3. 30.

The way being obstructed with heaps of rubbish.

15 Then went I up in the night by the brook , and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entred by the gate of the valley, and so returned .

Of Kidron; of which see on 2 Sam. 15. 23.

Having gone found about the City.

16 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 rulers, nor to the rest that did the work .

Or, were to do, or should do, i. e. Whom he intended to imploy in it.

Here following of building the Walls.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian i heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king ?

Do you design to fortify this City against the King?

k Either the Kings Lieutenant in Arabia, as Tobiah was among the Ammonites, and Sanballat among the Moabites: Or rather an Arabian by his birth. And it seems probable that both he, and Sanballat, and Tobiah were chief men or Governours among the Samaritans, or in their Army. See ch. 4. 1, 2, 3.

20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right , nor memorial in Jerusalem.

You have no authority over us, nor interest in our Church or State, or City, but are meer aliens from the Common-Wealth of Israel. We disown and detest that mungrel-Worship and Religion which you have set up. We desire not your favour, or friendship, or help in this matter. And you have nothing to do to enquire into, or meddle with our concerns, or to hinder us in our present undertaking.

Here no Testimony or Monument either of your Relation to us by Birth or Religion, or of your kindness to us or to this place. But we have many memorials of your Malice and Enmity against us.

Marginal references: Ezra 4. 3.

He Makes a Survey of the Walls, and Resolves to Undertake the Work of Building Them - Nehemiah 2

Three months after receiving the tidings concerning Jerusalem, Nehemiah perceived a favourable opportunity of making request to the king for leave to undertake a journey to the city of his fathers for the purpose of building it, and obtained the permission he entreated, together with letters to the governors on this side the Euphrates to permit him to pass through their provinces, and to the keeper of the royal forests to supply wood for building the walls and gates, and an escort of captains of the army and horsemen for his protection (Neh 2:1-9), to the great vexation of Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite (Neh 2:10). In the third night after his arrival at Jerusalem, Nehemiah rode round the city to survey the walls, and incited the rulers of the people and the priests to undertake the work of rebuilding them (Neh 2:11-18). Sanballat and other enemies of the Jews expressed their contempt thereat, but Nehemiah encountered their ridicule with serious words (Neh 2:19, Neh 2:20).

Neh 2:1

In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, Nehemiah as cupbearer took the wine and handed it to the king. Nisan is, according to the Hebrew calendar, the first month of the year; yet here, as in Neh 1:1-11, the twentieth year of Artaxerxes is named, and the month Chisleu there mentioned (Neh 1:1), which, after the Hebrew method of computing the year, was the ninth month and preceded Nisan by three months, is placed in the same year. This can only be explained on the grounds that either the twentieth year of Artaxerxes did not coincide with the year of the calendar, but began later, or that Nehemiah here uses the computation of time current in anterior Asia, and also among the Jews after the captivity in civil matters, and which made the new year begin in autumn. Of these two views we esteem the latter to be correct, since it cannot be shown that the years of the king’s reign would be reckoned from the day of his accession. In chronological statements they were reckoned according to the years of the calendar, so that the commencement of a year of a reign coincided with that of the civil year. If, moreover, the beginning of the year is placed in autumn, Tishri is the first, Chisleu the third, and Nisan the seventh month. The circumstances which induced Nehemiah not to apply to the king till three months after his reception of the tidings which so distressed him, are not stated. It is probable that he himself required some time for deliberation before he could come to a decision as to the best means of remedying the distresses of Jerusalem; then, too, he may not have ventured at once to bring his request before the king from fear of meeting with a refusal, and may therefore have waited till an opportunity favourable to his desires should present itself. לפניו יין, “wine was before the king,” is a circumstantial clause explanatory of what follows. The words allude to some banquet at which the king and queen were present. The last sentence, “And I have not been sad before him” (רע according to רעים פּניך of Neh 2:2, of a sad countenance), can neither mean, I had never before been sad before him (de Wette); nor, I was accustomed not to be sad before him; but, I had not been sad before him at the moment of presenting the cup to him (Bertheau), because it would not have been becoming to serve the king with a sad demeanour: comp. Est 4:2. The king, however, noticed his sadness, and inquired: “Why is thy countenance sad, since thou art not sick? this is nothing but sorrow of heart, i.e., thy sadness of countenance can arise only from sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid;” because the unexpected question obliged him to explain the cause of his sorrow, and he could not tell how the king would view the matter, nor whether he would favour his ardent desire to assist his fellow-countrymen in Judah.

Neh 2:3

He nevertheless openly expressed his desire, prefacing it by the accustomed form of wishing the king prosperity, saying: “Let the king live for ever;” comp. Dan 2:4; Dan 3:9. “Why should not my countenance be sad? for the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and its gates are burned with dire.” The question, Why ... ? means: I have certainly sufficient reason for sadness. The reason is, that (אשׁר) the city where are the graves of my fathers lieth waste.

Neh 2:4-5

Then the king, feeling interested, asked him: For what dost thou make request? על בּקּשׁ, to make request for or concerning a thing, like Ezr 8:23; Est 4:8; Est 7:7. The question shows that the king was inclined to relieve the distress of Jerusalem which had been just stated to him. “And so I prayed to the God of heaven,” to ensure divine assistance in the request he was about to lay before the king. Then Nehemiah answered (Neh 2:5), “If it please the king, and if thy servant is well-pleasing before thee, (I beg) that thou wouldest send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.” לפני ייטב, here and Est 5:14, is of like meaning with בּעיני ייטב or טּוב, Est 8:5; 2Sa 18:4 : if thy servant is right in thine eyes, i.e., if he thinks rightly concerning the matter in question. The matter of his request is directly combined with this conditional clause by אשׁר, the connecting term, I beg, being easily supplied from the king’s question: For what dost thou beg?

Neh 2:6

The king and the queen, who was sitting near him (שׁגל, Psa 45:10), grant him permission to depart after he has, in answer to their inquiry, fixed the period of his absence. Nehemiah makes the result of the conversation, “And it pleased the king,” etc., follow immediately upon the question of the king and queen: For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? before telling us what was his answer to this question, which is not brought in till afterwards, so that זמן לו ואתּנה must be understood as expressing: since I had determined the time.

Neh 2:7-8

Hereupon Nehemiah also requested from the king letters to the governors beyond (west of) the river (Euphrates), to allow him to travel unmolested through their provinces to Judah (לי יתּנוּ, let them give me = let there be given me; העביר, to pass or travel through a country, comp. Deu 3:20); and a letter to Asaph, the keeper (inspector) of the royal forests, to give him timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, and for the walls of the city, and for the governor’s own house. These requests were also granted. פּרדּס in Sol 4:13; Ecc 2:5, signifies a park or orchard; it is a word of Aryan origin (in Armenian pardez, the garden round the house, in Greek παράδεισος), and is explained either from the Sanscrit parta-dêça, a superior district, or (by Haug) from the Zend. pairi-daêza, a fenced-in place. In Old-Persian it probably denoted the king’s pleasure-grounds, and in our verse a royal wood or forest. Of the situation of this park nothing reliable can be ascertained. As wood for extensive buildings was to be taken from it, the sycamore forest in the low plains, which had been the property of King David (1Ch 27:28), and became, after the overthrow of the Davidic dynasty, first a Babylonian, and then a Persian possession, may be intended.Older expositors supposed a regio a Libano ad Antilibanum protensa et arboribus amoenissimus consita to be meant. In this view, indeed, they followed Sol 4:13, but incorrectly. Cler. thought it to be a tractus terrarum in Judaea, qui Paradisus regius dicebatur. Josephus speaks (Ant. viii. 7. 3) of fine gardens and ponds at Etham, seven miles south of Jerusalem, where Solomon often made pleasure excursions. Hence Ewald (Gesch. iv. p. 169, comp. iii. p. 328) thinks that the פּרדּס which belonged to the king must have been Solomon’s old royal park at Aetham, which in the time of Nehemiah had become a Persian domain, and that the hill town lying not far to the west of it, and now called by the Arabs Fureidis, i.e., paradisaic, may have received its Hebrew name Beth-Kerem, i.e., house of vineyards, from similar pleasure-grounds. Hereupon Bertheau grounds the further conjecture, that “the whole district from Aetham to the hill of Paradise, situate about a league east-south-east of Aetham, may from its nature have been once covered with forest; and no hesitation would be felt in connecting the name of the mountain Gebel el-Fureidis or el-Feridis (Paradise-hill - hill which rises in a Pardes) with the Pardes in question, if it could be proved that this name was already in existence in prae-Christian times.” All these conjectures rest on very uncertain bases. The Dshebel Fureidis is also called the Hill of the Franks. See the description of it in Robinson’s Palestine, ii. p. 392f., and Tobler, Topographie von Jerusalem, ii. pp. 565-572. לקרות, to timber, to overlay, to cover with beams (comp. 2Ch 34:11) the gates of the citadel which belongs to the house, i.e., to the temple. This citadel - בּירה, in Greek Βᾶρις - by the temple is mentioned here for the first time; for in 1Ch 29:1, 1Ch 29:19, the whole temple is called בּירה. It was certainly situate on the same place where Hyrcanus I, son of Simon Maccabaeus, or the kings of the Asmonean race, built the akro'polis and called it Baris (Jos. Ant. xv. 11. 4, comp. with xviii. 4. 3). This was subsequently rebuilt by Herod when he repaired and enlarged the temple, and named Antonia, in honour of his friend Mark Antony. It was a citadel of considerable size, provided with corner towers, walls, chambers, and spacious courts, built on a north-western side of the external chambers of the temple, for the defence of that edifice, and did not extend the entire length of the north side of the present Haram, as Robinson (see Biblical Researches, p. 300) seeks to show; comp., on the other hand, Tobler, Topographic von Jerusalem, i. p. 688f., and Rosen, Haram von Jerusalem, p. 25f. וּלחומת is coordinate with לקרות: “and for the walls of the city;” the timber not being used for building the wall itself, but for the gates (Neh 3:3, Neh 3:6). “And for the house into which I come (to dwell).” This must be Nehemiah’s official residence as Pecha. For though it is not expressly stated in the present chapter that Nehemiah was appointed Pecha (governor) by Artaxerxes, yet Nehemiah himself tells us, Neh 5:14, that he had been Pecha from the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. Former governors had perhaps no official residence becoming their position. By לבּית the temple cannot, as older expositors thought, be intended. This request also was granted by the king, “according to the good hand of my God upon me;” comp. rem. on Ezr 7:6.

Neh 2:9

Nehemiah delivered the letter when he came to the governors on this side Euphrates. The king had also sent with him captains of the army and horsemen. The second half of Neh 2:9 contains a supplementary remark, so that ויּשׁלח must be expressed by the pluperfect. Ezra had been ashamed to request a military escort from the Persian monarch (Ezr 8:22); but the king gave to the high dignitary called Pecha a guard of soldiers, who certainly remained with him in Jerusalem also for his protection (Ezr 4:17). Besides these, there were in his retinue his brethren, i.e., either relations or fellow-countrymen, and servants, comp. Neh 4:10; Neh 5:10. That this retinue is not mentioned in the present verses, is owing to the fact that the journey itself is not further described, but only indirectly alluded to.

Neh 2:10

When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite heard of his coming, it caused them great annoyance (להם ירע is strengthened by גּדולה רעה, as in Jon 4:1) that a man (as Nehemiah expresses himself ironically from their point of view) was come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. Sanballat is called the Horonite either after his birthplace or place of residence, yet certainly not from Horonaim in Moab, as older expositors imagined (Isa 15:5; Jer 48:34), since he would then have been called a Moabite, but from either the upper or nether Beth-horon, formerly belonging to the tribe of Ephraim (Jos 16:3, Jos 16:5; Jos 18:13), and therefore in the time of Nehemiah certainly appertaining to the region of the Samaritans (Berth.). Tobiah the Ammonite is called העבד, the servant, probably as being a servant or official of the Persian king. These two individuals were undoubtedly influential chiefs of the neighbouring hostile nations of Samaritans and Ammonites, and sought by alliances with Jewish nobles (Neh 6:17; Neh 13:4, Neh 13:28) to frustrate, whether by force or stratagem, the efforts of Ezra and Nehemiah for the internal and external security of Judah. Nehemiah mentions thus early their annoyance at his arrival, by way of hinting beforehand at their subsequent machinations to delay the fortifying of Jerusalem.Nehemiah’s arrival at Jerusalem. He surveys the wall, and resolves to restore it. -

Neh 2:11

Having arrived at Jerusalem and rested three days (as Ezra had also done, Ezr 8:32), he arose in the night, and some few men with him, to ride round the wall of the city, and get a notion of its condition. His reason for taking but few men with him is given in the following sentence: “I had told no man what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem.” Although he had come to Jerusalem with the resolution of fortifying the city by restoring its circumvallation, he spoke of this to no one until he had ascertained, by an inspection of the wall, the magnitude and extent of the work to be accomplished. For, being aware of the hostility of Sanballat and Tobiah, he desired to keep his intention secret until he felt certain of the possibility of carrying it into execution. Hence he made his survey of the wall by night, and took but few men with him, and those on foot, for the sake of not exciting attention. The beast on which he rode was either a horse or a mule.

Neh 2:13 “And I went out by night by the valley-gate, and towards the dragon-well, and to the dung-gate.” אל־פּני, in the direction towards. The dragon-well only occurs here by this name. Judging from its position between the valley-gate and the dung-gate, it is either identical with the well of Gihon (Robinson, Palestine, ii. p. 166), whose waters supply the upper and lower pools in the valley of Gihon, the present Birket el Mamilla and Birket es Sultan, or situate in its immediate neighbourhood. The valley-gate is the modern gate of the city leading to the valley of Gihon, and situated at or near the present Jaffa gate; see rem. on Neh 3:13. The dung-gate (האשׁפּת שׁער), which in Neh 3:13 also is placed next the valley-gate, and was a thousand cubits distant therefrom, must be sought for on the south-western side of Zion, where a road, to the south of Nebi Dâûd and the Zion gate, now descends into the valley of Hinnom, towards Sûr Baher. “And I viewed the walls of Jerusalem which lay broken down, and its gates which were consumed by fire.” The word שׁבר, which the lxx read, “I was breaking down,” gives no tolerable sense; for it cannot mean, I broke through the walls, or, I made a path through the ruins. Many MSS, however, and several editions, offer שׂבר; and R. Norzi informs us that D. Kimchi and Aben Ezra read שׁבר. שׂבר, of which only the Piel occurs in Hebrew, answers to the Aramaean סבר, to look to something; and to the Arabic sbr, to investigate; and ב סבר means to look on, to consider, to direct the eyes and thoughts to some object. In the open מ of הם Hiller conjectures that there is a trace of another reading, perhaps מפרצים; comp. Neh 1:3.

Neh 2:14 “And I went on to the fountain-gate, and to the king’s pool, and there was no room for the beast to come through under me.” The very name of the fountain-or well-gate points to the foundation of Siloah (see rem. on Neh 3:15); hence it lay on the eastern declivity of Zion, but not in the district or neighbourhood of the present Bâb el Mogharibeh, in which tradition finds the ancient dung-gate, but much farther south, in the neighbourhood of the pool of Siloah; see rem. on Neh 3:15. The King’s pool is probably the same which Josephus (bell. Jud. v. 4. 2) calls Σολομῶνος κολυμβήθρα, and places east of the spring of Siloah, and which is supposed by Robinson (Palestine, ii. pp. 149, 159) and Thenius (das vorexil. Jerus., appendix to a commentary on the books of the Kings, p. 20) to be the present Fountain of the Virgin. Bertheau, however, on the other hand, rightly objects that the Fountain of the Virgin lying deep in the rock, and now reached by a descent of thirty steps, could not properly be designated a pool. He tries rather to identify the King’s pool with the outlet of a canal investigated by Tobler (Topogr. i. p. 91f.), which the latter regards as a conduit for rain-water, fluid impurities, or even the blood of sacrificed animals; but Bertheau as an aqueduct which, perhaps at the place where its entrance is now found, once filled a pool, of which, indeed, no trace has as yet been discovered. But apart from the difficulty of calling the outlet of a canal a pool (Arnold in Herzog’s Realencycl. xviii. p. 656), the circumstance, that Tobler could find in neither of the above-described canals any trace of high antiquity, tells against this conjecture. Much more may be said in favour of the view of E. G. Schultz (Jerusalem, p. 58f.), that the half-choked-up pool near Ain Silwan may be the King’s pool and Solomon’s pool; for travellers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries mention a piscina grandis foras and natatoria Siloë at the mouth of the fountain of Siloah (comp. Leyrer in Herzog’s Realencycl. xvi. p. 372). See also rem. on Neh 3:15. Here there was no room for the beast to get through, the road being choked up with the ruins of the walls that had been destroyed, so that Nehemiah was obliged to dismount.

Neh 2:15

Then I (went on) ascending the valley and viewing the wall, and so entered by the valley-gate, and returned. ואהי with the participle expresses the continuance of an action, and hence in this place the continuous ascent of the valley and survey of the wall. The נחל which he ascended was doubtless the valley of Kidron (קדרון נחל, 2Sa 20:23; 1Ki 2:37, and elsewhere). ואבוא ואשׁוּב are connected, שׁוּב expressing merely the idea of repetition (Gesenius, heb. Gram. §142, 3): I came again into the valley-gate. Older expositors incorrectly explain these words to mean, I turned round, traversing again the road by which I had come; Bertheau: I turned to go farther in a westerly direction, and after making the circuit of the entire city, I re-entered by the valley-gate. This sense is correct as to fact, but inadmissible, as requiring too much to complete it. If we take אשׁוּב adverbially, these completions are unnecessary. Nehemiah does not give the particulars of the latter portion of his circuit, but merely tells us that after having ascended the valley of Kidron, he re-entered by the valley-gate, and returned to his residence, obviously assuming, that from the upper part of the vale of Kidron he could only return to the valley-gate at the west by passing along the northern part of the wall.

Neh 2:16-17

He had spoken to no one of his purpose (Neh 2:12); hence the rulers of the city knew neither whither he was going nor what he was doing (i.e., undertaking) when he rode by night out of the city gate accompanied by a few followers. As yet he had said nothing either to the Jews (the citizens of Jerusalem), the priests, the nobles, the rulers, or the rest who did the work. החרים and הסּגנים are connected, as in Ezr 9:2 השּׂרים and הסּגנים. The nobles (חרים, nobiles) or princes are the heads of the different houses or races of the people; סגנים, the rulers of the town, the authorities. המּלאכה עשׂה, the doers of the work, are the builders; comp. Ezr 3:9. When these are, in comparison with the priests, nobles, and rulers, designated as יתר, the remnant, this is explained by the fact that the priests and rulers of the people were not actively engaged in building. המּלאכה, the work in question, i.e., here the building of the walls. כּן עד, until thus, i.e., until now, until the time apparent from the context. Nehemiah then, having inspected the condition of the ruined walls, and being now persuaded of the possibility of restoring them, made known his resolution to the nobles, the rulers, and the community, i.e., to a public assembly called together for this purpose (Neh 2:17). “Ye see (have before your eyes, know from experience) the distress that we are in, that Jerusalem lieth waste: come (לכוּ), let us build up the walls of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.” In other words: Let us by building our walls put an end to the miserable condition which gives our adversaries occasion to reproach us.

Neh 2:18

To gain the favourable regard of the assembly for his design, he informs them how God had so far prospered his undertaking: I told them of the hand of my God, that it = that the hand my God had graciously provided for me, i.e., that God had so graciously arranged my journey to Jerusalem; and the king’s words that he had spoken to me, sc. with respect to the building of the wall, of which we are told Neh 2:8 only thus much, that the king gave orders to the keeper of the royal forest to give him wood for building. Encouraged by this information, the assembly exclaimed, “Let us arise and build;” and “they strengthened their hands for good,” i.e., they vigorously set about the good work.

Neh 2:19

When the adversaries of the Jews heard this, they derided their resolution. Beside Sanballat and Tobiah (comp. Neh 2:10), Geshem the Arabian is also named as an adversary: so, too, Neh 6:1-2, and Neh 6:6, where Gashmu, the fuller pronunciation of his name, occurs. He was probably the chief of some Arab race dwelling in South Palestine, not far from Jerusalem (comp. the Arabians, Neh 6:1). These enemies ironically exclaimed: What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? The irony lies in the fact that they did not give the Jews credit for power to build fortifications, so as to be able to rebel. Comp. Neh 6:6, where Sanballat, in an open letter to Nehemiah, again reproaches them with rebellion.

Neh 2:20

Nehemiah replied with impressive gravity: “The God of heaven, He will prosper us, and we His servants will arise and build; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.” צדקה like 2Sa 19:29. זכּרון, memorial; only members of the congregation, who may hope to live in their descendants in Jerusalem, can be said to have a memorial there. The Building of the Walls and Gates of Jerusalem - Neh 3:1

In these two chapters is described the building of the walls and gates of Jerusalem: the individuals and families who performed the work, and the portion of wall and the gates on which different families were respectively employed, being specified in Neh 3; ; while the attempts of Sanballat and his associates to obstruct the building and the defensive measures resorted to by Nehemiah follow, 4:1-17.

Verses 1-32. The enumeration of the builders, and of the gates and portions of wall built, begins with the sheep-gate and the portion of the wall adjoining it, built by the priests (Neh 3:1 and Neh 3:2), and concludes with the goldsmiths and merchants who built up to the sheep-gate (Neh 3:32). Throughout it is almost constantly said of the several parties of builders that they built ידו על, by the side of, next to, the party previously named. Hence we are justified in inferring that the course of the wall is adhered to in this statement, and that the gates are mentioned in the actual order in which they were found in the walls.This description of the walls of Jerusalem, together with the short statements in Neh 2:13-15 and Neh 12:27-40, forms the chief authority for the topography of ancient Jerusalem (before the captivity), and has been frequently discussed and explained. Comp. a summary of recent topographical investigations on this subject by Arnold in Herzog’s Realencycl. xviii. p. 620f. Among the numerous plans of ancient Jerusalem, the best is: A plan of the town and environs of Jerusalem, constructed by C. W. M. Van de Velde; with Memoir by Dr. Titus Tobler, 1858, Gotha.

Nehemiah's Request to the King. (b. c. 445.)

1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. 2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, 3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? 4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. 6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. 7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

When Nehemiah had prayed for the relief of his countrymen, and perhaps in David's words (Ps. li. 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 Jerusalem, either because the winter was not a proper time for such a journey, and he would not make the motion till he could pursue it, or because it was so long before his month of waiting came, and there was no coming into the king's presence uncalled, Esth. iv. 11. Now that he attended the king's table he hoped to have his ear. We are not thus limited to certain moments in our addresses to the King of kings, but have liberty of access to him at all times; to the throne of grace we never come unseasonably. Now here is,

I. The occasion which he gave the king to enquire into his cares and griefs, by appearing sad in his presence. Those that speak to such great men must not fall abruptly upon their business, but fetch a compass. Nehemiah would try whether he was in a good humour before he ventured to tell him his errand, and this method he took to try him. He took up the wine and gave it to the king when he called for it, expecting that then he would look him in the face. He had not used to be sad in the king's presence, but conformed to the rules of the court (as courtiers must do), which would admit no sorrows, Esth. iv. 2. Though he was a stranger, a captive, he was easy and pleasant. Good men should do what they can by their cheerfulness to convince the world of the pleasantness of religious ways and to roll away the reproach cast upon them as melancholy; but there is a time for all things, Eccl. iii. 4. Nehemiah now saw cause both to be sad and to appear so. The miseries of Jerusalem gave him cause to be sad, and his showing his grief would give occasion to the king to enquire into the cause. He did not dissemble sadness, for he was really in grief for the afflictions of Joseph, and was not like the hypocrites who disfigure their faces; yet he could have concealed his grief if it had been necessary (the heart knows its own bitterness, and in the midst of laughter is often sad), but it would now serve his purpose to discover his sadness. Though he had wine before him, and probably, according to the office of the cup-bearer, did himself drink of it before he gave it to the king, yet it would not make his heart glad, while God's Israel was in distress.

II. The kind notice which the king took of his sadness and the enquiry he made into the cause of it (v. 2): Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? Note, 1. We ought, from a principle of Christian sympathy, to concern ourselves in the sorrows and sadnesses of others, even of our inferiors, and not say, What is it to us? Let not masters despise their servants' griefs, but desire to make them easy. The great God is not pleased with the dejections and disquietments of his people, but would have them both serve him with gladness and eat their bread with joy. 2. It is not strange if those that are sick have sad countenances, because of what is felt and what is feared; sickness will make those grave that were most airy and gay: yet a good man, even in sickness, may be of good cheer if he knows that his sins are forgiven. 3. Freedom from sickness is so great a mercy that while we have that we ought not to be inordinately dejected under any outward burden; yet sorrow for our own sins, the sins of others, and the calamities of God's church, may well sadden the countenance, without sickness.

III. The account which Nehemiah gave the king of the cause of his sadness, which he gave with meekness and fear. 1. With fear. He owned that now (though it appears by the following story that he was a man of courage) he was sorely afraid, perhaps of the king's wrath (for those eastern monarchs assumed an absolute power of life and death, Dan. ii. 12, 13; v. 19) or of misplacing a word, and losing his request by the mismanagement of it. Though he was a wise man, he was jealous of himself, lest he should say any thing imprudently; it becomes us to be so. A good assurance is indeed a good accomplishment, yet a humble self-diffidence is not man's dispraise. 2. With meekness. Without reflection upon any man, and with all the respect, deference, and good-will, imaginable to the king his master, he says, "Let the king live for ever; he is wise and good, and the fittest man in the world to rule." He modestly asked, "Why should not my countenance be sad as it is when (though I myself am well and at ease) the city" (the king knew what city he meant), "the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste?" Many are melancholy and sad but can give no reason for being so, cannot tell why nor wherefore; such should chide themselves for, and chide themselves out of, their unjust and unreasonable griefs and fears. But Nehemiah could give so good a reason for his sadness as to appeal to the king himself concerning it. Observe, (1.) He calls Jerusalem the place of his fathers' sepulchres, the place where his ancestors were buried. It is good for us to think often of our fathers' sepulchres; we are apt to dwell in our thoughts upon their honours and titles, their houses and estates, but let us think also of their sepulchres, and consider that those who have gone before us in the world have also gone before us out of the world, and their monuments are momentos to us. There is also a great respect owing to the memory of our fathers, which we should not be willing to see injured. All nations, even those that have had no expectation of the resurrection of the dead, have looked upon the sepulchres of their ancestors as in some degree sacred and not to be violated. (2.) He justifies himself in his grief: "I do well to be sad. Why should I not be so?" There is a time even for pious and prosperous men to be sad and to show their grief. The best men must not think to antedate heaven by banishing all sorrowful thoughts; it is a vale of tears we pass through, and we must submit to the temper of the climate. (3.) He assigns the ruins of Jerusalem as the true cause of his grief. Note, All the grievances of the church, but especially its desolations, are, and ought to be, matter of grief and sadness to all good people, to all that have a concern for God's honour and that are living members of Christ's mystical body, and are of a public spirit; they favour even Zion's dust, Ps. cii. 14.

IV. The encouragement which the king gave him to tell his mind, and the application he thereupon made in his heart to God, v. 4. The king had an affection for him, and was not pleased to see him melancholy. It is also probable that he had a kindness for the Jews' religion; he had discovered it before in the commission he gave to Ezra, who was a churchman, and now again in the power he put Nehemiah into, who was a statesman. Wanting therefore only to know how he might be serviceable to Jerusalem, he asks this its anxious friend, "For what dost thou make request? Something thou wouldst have; what is it?" He was afraid to speak (v. 2), but this gave him boldness; much more may the invitation Christ has given us to pray, and the promise that we shall speed, enable us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Nehemiah immediately prayed to the God of heaven that he would give him wisdom to ask properly and incline the king's heart to grant him his request. Those that would find favour with kings must secure the favour of the King of kings. He prayed to the God of heaven as infinitely above even this mighty monarch. It was not a solemn prayer (he had not opportunity for that), but a secret sudden ejaculation; he lifted up his heart to that God who understands the language of his heart: Lord, give me a mouth and wisdom; Lord, give me favour in the sight of this man. Note, It is good to be much in pious ejaculations, especially upon particular occasions. Wherever we are we have a way open heaven-ward. This will not hinder any business, but further it rather; therefore let no business hinder this, but give rise to it rather. Nehemiah had prayed very solemnly with reference to this very occasion (ch. i. 11), yet, when it comes to the push, he prays again. Ejaculations and solemn prayers must not jostle out one another, but each have its place.

V. His humble petition to the king. When he had this encouragement he presented his petition very modestly and with submission to the king's wisdom (v. 5), but very explicitly. He asked for a commission to go as governor to Judah, to build the wall of Jerusalem, and to stay there for a certain time, so many months, we may suppose; and then either he had his commission renewed or went back and was sent again, so that he presided there twelve years at least, ch. v. 14. He also asked for a convoy (v. 7), and an order upon the governors, not only to permit and suffer him to pass through their respective provinces, but to supply him with what he had occasion for, with another order upon the keeper of the forest of Lebanon to give him timber for the work that he designed.

VI. The king's great favour to him in asking him when he would return, v. 6. He intimated that he was unwilling to lose him, or to be long without him, yet to gratify him, and do a real office of kindness to his people, he would spare him awhile, and let him have what clauses he pleased inserted in his commission, v. 8. Here was an immediate answer to his prayer; for the seed of Jacob never sought the God of Jacob in vain. In the account he gives of the success of his petition he takes notice, 1. Of the presence of the queen; she sat by (v. 6), which (they say) was not usual in the Persian court, Esth. i. 11. Whether the queen was his back friend, that would have hindered him, and he observes it to the praise of God's powerful providence that though she was by yet he succeeded, or whether she was his true friend, and it is observed to the praise of God's kind providence that she was present to help forward his request, is not certain. 2. Of the power and grace of God. He gained his point, not according to his merit, his interest in the king, or his good management, but according to the good hand of his God upon him. Gracious souls take notice of God's hand, his good hand, in all events which turn in favour of them. This is the Lord's doing, and therefore doubly acceptable.

Nehemiah's Journey to Jerusalem; the Malice of Sanballat, &c. (b. c. 445.)

9 Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. 11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12 And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. 15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. 16 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 rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. 17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? 20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

We are here told,

I. Now Nehemiah was dismissed by the court he was sent from. The king appointed captains of the army and horsemen to go with him (v. 9), both for his guard and to show that he was a man whom the king did delight to honour, that all the king's servants might respect him accordingly. Those whom the King of kings sends he thus protects, he thus dignifies with a host of angels to attend them.

II. How he was received by the country he was sent to.

1. By the Jews and their friends at Jerusalem. We are told,

(1.) That while he concealed his errand they took little notice of him. He was at Jerusalem three days (v. 11), and it does not appear that any of the great men of the city waited on him to congratulate him on his arrival, but he remained unknown. The king sent horsemen to attend him, but the Jews sent none to meet him; he had no beast with him, but that which he himself rode on, v. 12. Wise men, and those who are worthy of double honour, yet covet not to come with observation, to make a show, or make a noise, no, not when they come with the greatest blessings. Those that shortly are to have the dominion in the morning the world now knows not, but they lie hid, 1 John iii. 1.

(2.) That though they took little notice of him he took great notice of them and their state. He arose in the night, and viewed the ruins of the walls, probably by moon-light (v. 13), that he might see what was to be done and in what method they must go about it, whether the old foundation would serve, and what there was of the old materials that would be of use. Note, [1.] Good work is likely to be well done when it is first well considered. [2.] It is the wisdom of those who are engaged in public business, as much as may be, to see with their own eyes, and not to proceed altogether upon the reports and representations of others, and yet to do this without noise, and if possible unobserved. [3.] Those that would build up the church's walls must first take notice of the ruins of those walls. Those that would know how to amend must enquire what is amiss, what needs reformation, and what may serve as it is.

(3.) That when he disclosed his design to the rulers and people they cheerfully concurred with him in it. He did not tell them, at first, what he came about (v. 16), because he would not seem to do it for ostentation, and because, if he found it impracticable, he might retreat the more honourably. Upright humble men will not sound a trumpet before their alms or any other of their good offices. But when he had viewed and considered the thing, and probably felt the pulse of the rulers and people, he told them what God had put into his heart (v. 12), even to build up the wall of Jerusalem, v. 17. Observe, [1.] How fairly he proposed the undertaking to them: "You see the distress we are in, how we lie exposed to the enemies that are round about us, how justly they reproach us as foolish and despicable, how easily they may make a prey of us whenever they have a mind; come, therefore, and let us build up the wall." He did not undertake to do the work without them (it could not be the work of one man), nor did he charge or command imperiously, though he had the king's commission; but in a friendly brotherly way he exhorted and excited them to join with him in this work. To encourage them hereto, he speaks of the design, First, As that which owed it origin to the special grace of God. He takes not the praise of it to himself, as a good thought of his own, but acknowledges that God put it into his heart, and therefore they all ought to countenance it (whatever is of God must be promoted), and might hope to prosper in it, for what God puts men upon he will own them in. Secondly, As that which owed its progress hitherto to the special providence of God. He produced the king's commission, told them how readily it was granted and how forward the king was to favour his design, in which he saw the hand of his God good upon him. It would encourage both him and them to proceed in an undertaking which God had so remarkably smiled upon. Thus he proposed it to them; and, [2.] They presently came to a resolution, one and all, to concur with him: Let us rise up and build. They are ashamed that they have sat still so long without so much as attempting this needful work, and now resolve to rise up out of their slothfulness, to bestir themselves, and to stir up one another. "Let us rise up," that is, "let us do it with vigour, and diligence, and resolution, as those that are determined to go through with it." So they strengthened their hands, their own and one another's, for this good work. Note, First, Many a good work would find hands enough to be laid to it if there were but one good head to lead in it. They all saw the desolations of Jerusalem, yet none proposed the repair of them; but, when Nehemiah proposed it, they all consented to it. It is a pity that a good motion should be lost purely for want of one to move it and to break the ice in it. Secondly, By stirring up ourselves and one another to that which is good, we strengthen ourselves and one another for it; for the great reason why we are weak in our duty is because we are cold to it, indifferent and unresolved. Let us now see how Nehemiah was received,

2. By those that wished ill to the Jews. Those whom God and his Israel blessed they cursed. (1.) When he did but show his face it vexed them, v. 10. Sanballat and Tobiah, two of the Samaritans, but by birth the former a Moabite, the latter an Ammonite, when they saw one come armed with a commission from the king to do service to Israel, were exceedingly grieved that all their little paltry arts to weaken Israel were thus baffled and frustrated by a fair, and noble, and generous project to strengthen them. Nothing is a greater vexation to the enemies of good people, who have misrepresented them to princes as turbulent, and factious, and not fit to live, than to see them stand right in the opinion of their rulers, their innocency cleared and their reproach rolled away, and that they are thought not only fit to live, but fit to be trusted. When they saw a man come in that manner, who professedly sought the welfare of the children of Israel, it vexed them to the heart. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved. (2.) When he began to act they set themselves to hinder him, but in vain, v. 19, 20. [1.] See here with what little reason the enemies attempted to discourage him. They represented the undertaking as a silly thing: They laughed us to scorn and despised us as foolish builders, that could not finish what we began. They represented the undertaking also as a wicked thing, no better than treason: Will you rebel against the king? Because this was the old invidious charge, though now they had a commission from the king and were taken under his protection, yet still they must be called rebels. [2.] See also with what good reason the Jews slighted these discouragements. They bore up themselves with this that they were the servants of the God of heaven, the only true and living God, that they were acting for him in what they did, and that therefore he would bear them out and prosper them, though the heathen raged, Ps. ii. 1. They considered also that the reason why these enemies did so malign them was because they had no right in Jerusalem, but envied them their right in it. Thus may the impotent menaces of the church's enemies be easily despised by the church's friends.

CHAP. II. Verſe 1. And it came to paſſe in the moneth Niſan]

TIme and place is to be regiſtred of ſpecial mercies received. This ſhall be written for the generation to come: and the people which ſhall be created ſhall praiſe the Lord, Pſal. 102.18.

In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes] Sirnamed Longhand; as our Edward, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Omnium hominum pulcherrimus. Aemil. Prob. the firſt was called Long-ſhanks, and another Longeſpes or Long-ſword. This Long-hand is renowned for the faireſt among men in that age: and no wonder, if he were (as is generally thought) the ſonne of that faireſt Eſther.

That wine was before him] There was a feaſt, as verſe 6. Not by chance, but by Gods providence: who of ſmall occaſions worketh greateſt matters many times; as he put ſmall thoughts into the heart of Ahaſhueroſh for great purpoſes, Eſth. 6.1.

And I took up the wine, &c.] As Eſther was come to the Kingdome, ſo Nehemiah to this office, for ſuch a time as this, Eſther 4.14. Though he were a priſoner, a ſtranger, one of another Religion, yet is he the Kings Cup-bearer and taſter: an office of great truſt, and credit. This was a ſtrange work of God, to cauſe heathen Princes thus to favour the Religion that they knew not; and to defend that people, which their ſubjects hated.

Now I had not beene before-time ſad in his preſence] Princes are uſually ſet upon the merry pin; and all deviſes are uſed by Jeſters and otherwiſe, to make them merry: no mourner might be ſeen in Ahaſhueroſh his Court, Eſth. 4.4. But good Nehemiah had been, for certaine moneths ſpace, afflicting his ſoul, and macerating his body, as in the former Chapter: Hence his preſent ſadneſſe, which the King (being a wiſe man, and a loving maſter) ſoon obſerved.

Verſe 2. Wherefore the King ſaid unto me, Why is thy countenance ſad?] Some would have chid him, and bid him be packing, for they liked not his looks; there might be treaſon hatching in his heart: he was a man of an ill aſpect. But love thinketh no evil.

Seeing thou art not ſick] Sickneſſe will cauſe ſadneſſe in the beſt. Thoſe Stoicks that ſaid a wiſe man muſt be merry, though ſick, when ſickneſſe came, were convinced, ſe magnificentiùs locutos eſſe quàm veriùs, Tull. that they ſpake rather bravely, then truly. And therefore Cicero to a merry life requireth three things. 1. To enjoy health. 2. To poſſeſſe honour. 3. Not to ſuffer neceſſity. Faith in Chriſt is more to the purpoſe, then any, or all of theſe.

This is nothing elſe but ſorrow of heart] The heart commonly ſitteth in the countenance; and there ſheweth how it ſtands affected. Momus needeth not carp at mans make; and wiſh a window in his breaſt that his thoughts might be ſeene: for a merry heart maketh a chearful countenance: but by ſorrow of heart, the ſpirit is broken, Prov. 15.13. The Hebrews ſay, that a mans inſide is turned out and diſcovered, in oculis, in loculis, in poculis, in his eyes, purſe, and cup.

Then I was very ſore afraid] Grieved before, now afraid. Thus, aliud ex alio malum: fluctus fluctum trudit, One ſorrow followeth another, and a Chriſtians faith and patience is continually exerciſed. But in the multitude of Nehemiahs perplexed thoughts within him, Gods comforts refreſhed his ſoul, Pſal. 94.19. he caſts his ſuit or his burthen upon the Lord, Pſal. 55.22. and doubteth not, but he will effect his deſire.

Verſe 3. And I ſaid unto the King] After he had pull'd up his beſt heart, and recovered his ſpirits, he declareth unto the King the cauſe of his ſadneſſe. How ready ſhould our tongues be to lay open our cares to the God of all comfort, when we ſee Nehemiah ſo quick in the expreſſions of his ſorrow to an uncertain ear.

Let the King live for ever] i. e. Very long. Let him not ſuſpect by my ſadneſſe, that I have any evil intent or treaſonable deſigne againſt him: for I heartily wiſh his welfare. It was not Court-holy-water (as they call it) wherewith he here beſprinkleth his Prince; it was not counterfeit courteſie; ſuch as was that of Squier the Traytor, Anno 1597. ſent by Walpoole the Jeſuite,Speed. to poyſon the pummel of Queen Elizabeths ſaddle, when ſhe was to ride abroad: which alſo he did (but without effect) ſaying chearfully at the ſame time, God ſave the Queen. Saluta libentèr is by many practiſed, from the teeth outward; but by Nehemiah, heartily.

Why ſhould not my countenance be ſad?] In time of common calamities there is juſt cauſe of a general ſadneſſe, ſhould we then make mirth? Ezek. 21.10? The Romanes ſeverely puniſhed one that ſhewed himſelf out of a window with a garland on his head in the time of the Punick warre, when it went ill with the Common-wealth. Juſtinus the good Emperour of Conſtantinople, Func. Chron. took the downfal of the City of Antioch by an Earth-quake, ſo much to heart, that it cauſed him a grievous fit of ſickneſſe, Anno Dom. 527. When Pope Clement and his Cardinals were impriſoned by the Duke of Burbons men in Saint Angelo, Ceſar in Spain forbad all enterludes to be plaid, &c. In France, the Duke of Burbon was condemned of treaſon, his name and memorial were accurſed, his armes pull'd down, his lands and goods confiſcated, In England King Henry was extremely diſpleaſed. Cardinal Wolſey wept tenderly,Speed. 1027. and emptied the Land of twelveſcore thouſand pounds to relieve and ranſome the diſtreſſed Pope.

When the City, the place of my fathers ſepulchers] A good argument to an Heathen, who ſet great ſtore by (as now the Papiſts keep great ſtir about) their burial-places; as if one place were holier then another for that purpoſe; a meer deviſe to pick poor mens purſes.

And the gates thereof are conſumed with fire] The Jews at this day, when they build an houſe, they are, ſay the Rabbines, to leave one part of it unfiniſhed, & lying rude; in remembrance that Jeruſalem and the Temple are, at preſent, deſolate. At leaſt, they uſe to leave about a yard ſquare of the houſe unplaiſtered, on which they write in great letters that of the Pſalmiſt, If I forget Jeruſalem, then let my right hand forget her cunning, Pſal. 137.Hiſt of Rites of Jews by Leo Moden. or elſe theſe words, Zecher Lechorban, The memory of the Deſolation.

Verſe 4. Then the King ſaid unto me] Some think that Nehemiah looked thus ſad before the King on purpoſe, to make way to this his requeſt.

For what doeſt thou make requeſt?] Not for any other honour or great office about the Court, or in the Countrey: nor for any private friend, or the like, but the good of the Church. Thus Nebridius in Hierome (though a Courtier and Nephew to the Empreſſe,Tom. 1. Ep. 6. yet) never made ſuit but for the relief of the poor afflicted. Thus Terence, that Noble General under Valens the Emperour, being bidden to aske what he would, asked nothing but that the Church might be diſempeſtered of Arians. And when the Emperour, being himſelf an Arian, tore his Petition, he ſaid he would never aske any thing for himſelf, if he might not prevaile for the Church.Theodor. l. c. 32.

So I prayed to the God of heaven] Darting up an ejaculation, a ſudden and ſecret deſire to God, to order and ſpeed his Petition. Begin all with prayer; and then expect a bleſſing. Call in the Divine help, if it be but by darting out our deſires to God.Crebras habere orationes, ſed breviſſimas & raptim ejaculatas. Thus Moſes cryed to God, yet ſaid nothing, Exod. 14.15. Hannah was not heard, and yet ſhe prayed. Auſtin reports the cuſtome of the Egyptian Churches, to pray frequently and fervently, but briefly, and by way of ejaculation, ne fervor langueſceret, leſt their heat ſhould abate.

Verſe 5. If it pleaſe the King] Silken words muſt be given to Kings, as the mother of Darius ſaid: neither muſt they be rudely and roughly dealt with, as Joab dealt with David, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. 2 Sam. 19.5. who therefore could never well brook him afterward, but ſet another in his place.

And if thy ſervant have found favour] Pellican obſerveth here, that Nehemiah was a great favourite of this Kings: as appeareth in that having ſo many Nobles, he choſe him to this Office, rather then any of them. He therefore pleads it as a pledge of further favour: ſo may we with God, as being no ſmall favourites in the beloved One, Epheſians 1.5.

That thou wouldeſt ſend me unto Judah] Not only give me leave to go, but alſo ſend me with a Commiſſion to be Governour. This was a bold requeſt, but modeſtly propoſed, and eaſily obtained. The King is not he that can deny you any thing, Jer. 38.5. Love is liberal, charity is no churle.

Verſe 6. And the King ſaid unto me] He yeelds for the thing, only indents for the time: as being loth to deny Nehemiah his ſuit, and yet as loth to forgo ſo faithful a ſervant. Ipſe aſpectus viri boni delectat. Seneca.

The Queene alſo ſitting by him] And aſſiſting his cauſe likely. Some think this was Eſther the Queen-mother. But the Hebrew word here is, Wife: Now the Kings of Perſia were noted for uxorious.

For how long, &c.] The departure of a dear friend is ſo grievous, that Death it ſelf is called by that name.

So it pleaſed the King to ſend me] As a Governour, chap. 5.14. This was the fruit of prayer, and therefore ſo much the ſweeter.

And I ſet him a time] ſc. Twelve years, chap. 5.14. But more probably a ſhorter time at firſt.

Verſe 7. Moreover I ſaid unto the King] He taketh further boldneſſe upon the former encouragement: ſo may we with Almighty God, the Sunne of our righteouſnes, the Sea of our ſalvation. Conclude as ſhe did, A company comes. God never left bating, till Abraham left begging.

Let letters be given me to the Governours] Thoſe neareſt neighbours, but greateſt enemies.

That they may conveigh me over] He committed himſelf to God, and yet petitions the King for a Convoy. In all our enterprizes God is ſo to be truſted, as if we had uſed to means: and yet the means is ſo to be uſed, as if we had no God to truſt in.

Verſe 8.Epit H[illegible: 1 letter]ſt. Gall c. 114. Keeper of the Kings forreſt] Heb. Paradiſe; probably ſo called, for the pleaſantneſſe of it. The French Proteſtants called their Temple or Church at Lyons, Paradiſe Davids delight, Pſal. 27. and 84.

Of the palace that appertained to the houſe] Id eſt, To the Temple, which is called The houſe, by an excellency: as the Scriptures are called the Bible, that is, the Book, as being the onely beſt Book, in compariſon whereof all other books in the World are no better then waſt paper.

And for the houſe that I ſhall enter into] Id eſt, A dwelling houſe for my ſelf, when once the publike is ſerved. Junius underſtands it of a Common-hal or Shire-houſe, wherein he might ſit and judge cauſes brought before him.

And the King granted me] It was but ask and have, and ſo it is betwixt God and his people. When there was a ſpeech among ſome holy men, what was the beſt trade? One anſwered, Beggery: it is the hardeſt & richeſt trade. Common beggery is indeed the pooreſt and eaſieſt; but prayer, he meant. A courtier gets more by one ſute oft, then a tradeſman or merchant, haply with twenty years labour: ſo doth a faithfull prayer, &c.

According to the good hand] He calleth him, his God, as if he loved or cared more for him then for the reſt of the World. It is the property of true faith, [non-Latin text not transcribed] to make all its own, that it can lay hold upon. See the Note on Ezra 7.6.

Verſ. 9. Then I came to the Governours] Joſephus ſaith, that the next day he took his journey and delivered his letters to Saddeus Governour of Syria, Phoenicia and Samaria. A ſtrange example, ſaith one, to ſee a Courtier leave that wealth, eaſe and authority that he was in, and go dwell ſo far from Court in an old, Torn, and decayed City, among a rude poor people, where he ſhould not live quietly, but toyl and drudge like a day-labourer, in dread and danger of his life. But this is the caſe of earneſt, and zealous men in Religion, &c.

Now the King had ſent Captains] This was more then Nehemiah had deſired: and as much as he could have done for the greateſt Lord in the Land. God is likewiſe uſually better to his people, than their prayers: and when they ask but one talent, he (Naaman-like) will force them to take two.

Verſe 10. When Sanballet the Horonite] That is, the Moabite, Iſa. 15.5. Jer. 48.3, 5.34. His name ſignifieth, ſaith one, a pure Enemy: he was come of that ſpiteful people, who were anciently irked becauſe of Iſrael, Num. 22.3, 4. or did inwardly fret and vex at them, as Exod. 1.12. who yet were allied unto them, and did them no hurt in their paſſage by them, yea had done them good by the ſlaughter of the Amorites, their encroaching Neighbours.

And Tobiah the ſervant] A ſervant or bond-ſlave once he had been, though now a Toparch, a Lieutenant to the King of Perſia. Now ſuch are moſt troubleſome, Prov. 30. ver. 22.

Aſperius nihil eſt humili, cùm ſurgit in altum A'[non-Latin text not transcribed]. Dio. lib. 60. Rer. Rom.

Heard it] As they might ſoon do by means of their Wives, who were Jeweſſes. And the Jewes to this day are generally found the moſt nimble and Mercurial wits in the World. Every Viſier and Baſha of State among the Turkes uſeth to keep a Jew of his private counſel: whoſe malice, wit and experience of Chriſtendome, with their continual intelligence is thought to adviſe moſt of that miſchief, which the Turk puts in execution againſt us. Blounts Voy[illegible: 1 letter] P. 114.

It grieved them exceedingly] Heb. It ſeemed to them an evil, a great evil: It diſpleaſed them ſore, and vexed them at the very heart, ſuch was their ſpleen and ſpite. Envy is a deadly miſchief: and becauſe it cannot feed upon other mens hearts, it feedeth upon its own; drinking up the moſt part of its own venome. The envious man is not like the mayd in Avicen, who feeding upon poiſon, was her ſelf healthy; yet infected others with her venemous breath: But like the Serpent Porphyrius, which is full of poyſon; but, wanting teeth, hurteth none but himſelf: or as the hill Aetna, &c.

That there was come a man to ſeek the welfare, &c.] This they looked upon with an evil eye, and were vexed. Invidiâ Siculi, &c. Who can ſtand before envy, Prov, 27.4? It eſpieth with great grief the ſmalleſt things the good mandoth or hath? and is therefore abſolutely the beſt thing to clear the eye-ſight, ſaid Actius Sincerus a Noble-man, to King Frederike.

Verſe 11. So I came to Jeruſalem] Thither God brought him as on Eagles wings; maugre the malice of his Enemies. The Jewes had great reaſon to rejoyce, and to welcome him with great ſolemnity; which yet they did not, for ought we read: but that, hetaketh not for any diſcouragement; his reward was with God. He was of another ſpirit then his Countrey-men, who were all for their own ends, and intereſts, and little cared for the publike.

And was there three dayes] Reſting his body (Quod caret alterna requie, &c. See the Note on Ezra 8.32.) But caſting about in his mind how beſt to effect that he came for,Ovid. and to perſwade with others to joyn with him. And now he found that he was come from the Court to the Cart, from a pleaſant life, to a careful and cumberſome.

Verſe 12. And I aroſe in the night] His cares would not ſuffer him to ſleep ([non-Latin text not transcribed], &c.) but up he gets, and about the Walles: taking the Night,Homer. as fitteſt for ſecrecy, and ſafety.

I and ſome few men with me] He went not alone, leſt he ſhould fall into ſome danger of life, Vae ſoli: Not yet with many, leſt he ſhould make a diſturbance, and bewray his counſel. Be wiſe as Serpents. Matth. 10.

Neither told I any man what God had put into my heart] That the thing was of God, he nothing doubted: hence his fervour in following it: he knew there was a curſe to thoſe that do the Lords work negligently. That he might not be defeated of his purpoſe, he telles no man. He that would have his counſel kept, let him keep it to himſelf. Hardly ſhall a man meet with ſuch a Counſel-keeper as he was, who being upbrayded with his ſtinking breath, anſwered, that he had kept his friends ſecrets committed to him ſo long in his breaſt, that there they rotted: and thence was the unſavourineſſe of his breath.

Si ſapis, arcano vina reconde cado. Qui ſapit, arcano gaudeat ipſe ſinu.

Neither was there any beaſt] For the avoyding of noyſe.

Verſe 13. By the gate of the valley] By which men went into the Valley of Jehoſhaphat, Joel 3.2, 12. The Septuagint call it Portam Galilae; the gate of dead mens ſculles; becauſe that way they went out to Golgotha.

Even before the Dragon-well] So called, either becauſe ſome venemous Serpent had been found there; or becauſe the waters ran out of the mouth of a braſen Serpent; or becauſe they ran creepingly, ſoftly, as the waters of Siloe, Iſa. 8.6.

And to the Dung-port] Where was their common dunghil: a Voyder to the City: near whereunto ran the Brook Cedron, or the Town-ditch.

And viewed the Walls of Jeruſalem] Junius rendreth it, Ʋbi effringebam de muris, Where I brake off a piece of the Wall: ſc. that I might try the ſoundneſſe or unſoundneſſe of that which remaineth of it, that I might know whether it needed to be all pulled down, or whether it might be built upon. Our Tranſlatours read it, ſober, not ſhober; and thence the different interpretation.

Which were broken down] Aſher hem perutſim: Hem with an open Mem which is not uſual; to ſet forth (as ſome think) the rupture and openneſſe of the Walles, [non-Latin text not transcribed] pro [non-Latin text not transcribed] ſo much bewailed by this good man in this chapter.

Verſe 14. Then I went to the Gate of the Fountain] Or Well-gate; where was great plenty of Water-ponds, Watering-places, &c. Junius ſaith it was that, whereby men went out to the pool of Siloah, and Rogel.

And to the Kings-pool] The Water-courſe made (or repayred at leaſt) by King Hezekiah, 2 King. 20.20.

But there was no place for the beaſt, &c.] There was ſo much rubbiſh, and ſuch ruines: This was the fruit of ſin, which makes of a City an heap, (as the Prophet ſpeakes) and hurleth ſuch confuſion over the World, that had not Chriſt (our true Nehemiah) undertaken the ſhattered condition thereof to uphold it, it had ſurely fallen about Adams ears.

Verſe 15. Then went I up in the night] Sc. by Moon-light; for the Moon is Miſtreſſe of the Night, Pſal. 136.9. by the brightneſſe ſhe [illegible: 1 letter]orroweth from the body of the Sun, which the Moon receiveth and reflecteth, like a looking-glaſſe.

And viewed the Wall] That which was left of it, [non-Latin text not transcribed] as Scaligers Epitaph is, Scaligeri quod reliquum eſt, Scaligers reliques.

And entred by the Gate of the Valley] Where he firſt went out: ſo he walked the round, not earing to obſerve that Rule of Pythagoras, Eâdem viâ quâ progreſſ us fueris ne regrediare, Go not back the ſame way thou cameſt forth.

Verſe 16. And the Rulers knew not whither I went] Taciturnity, in ſome caſes, is a vertue: and every thing is beautifull in its ſeaſon. There is a time to keep ſilence, and a time to ſpeak, Eccleſ. 3.7. And he is a truly wiſe man, that can diſcern his ſeaſon for both. Diſcamiu priùs non loqui, ſaith Hierome, Let us firſt learn not to ſpeak, that we may afterwards open our mouths and minds with diſcretion. Silence is by Solomon firſt ſet before ſpeaking; and firſt takes its time and turn, as it did here in Nehemiah the prudent. See the Note on ver. 12. The word here rendred Rulers is rather Chaldee, then Hebrew.

Nor to the Nobles] Heb. White ones. Among the Jewes great men affected to go in white; as among the Romans in purple or ſcarlet. Hence Pilates Souldiers clad Chriſt in purple: Herods in white, Luk. 23.11. Mat. 27.28.

Nor to the reſt, &c.] So, as to ask their adviſe.

Verſe 17. Then ſaid I unto them] Then when I ſaw it a fit ſeaſon to ſay it. It is an excellent skill to time a word, Iſa. 50.4. To circumſtantiate it aright, Prov. 25.11. That it may run as upon wheels: Nehemiah's words do ſo, notably. Verba priùs ad limam revocata, quàm ad linguam, words well weighed ere uttered. Neſcit poenitenda loqui qui proferenda priùs ſuo tradidit examini; He cannot but ſpeak wiſely, who ſpeaketh warily.

Jeruſalem lyeth waſt] Id eſt, open to the ſpoyler: as the Pope made account this Land was in Henry the eighth his time, when he had given it primo ocoupaturo, to him that ſhould firſt invade and ſeize it.

Come and let us build, &c.] With forces united, with one ſhoulder, Multorum manibus grande levatur onus.

That we be no more a reproach] Quàm multa quàm paucis! How much in a little! ſaid Tully of Brutus his Laconical Epiſtle: and the like may we ſay of this pithy and pathetike ſpeech. Thoſe that love to hear themſelves talk, (ſaith a reverend Man upon this Text) and with many words to colour their ill meaning, may here learn how a ſimple ttuth plainly told in few words,B. Pilkington. worketh more in good mens hearts, then a painted tale, that hath little truth, and leſſe good meaning in it. An honeſt matter ſpeaketh for it ſelf, and needeth no colouring: and he that uſeth moſt flattering and ſubtle words maketh wiſe men miſtruſt the matter to be ill. A few words well placed are much better then a long unſavoury tale. Thus he.

Verſe 18. Then I told them of the hand of my God] Id eſt, of his gracious providence in proſpering me in all.

As alſo the Kings words] Which were likewiſe very gracious, and comfortable. Now he that hath both God and the King on his ſide, what would he have more?

And they ſaid, Let us ariſe and build] So forcible are right words, delivered in a mild and moderate manner, as here. Let us riſe, ſay they. Let us linger no longer, but ſpeedily fall to labour: and recover that with our diligence, that our Fathers loſt by their diſobedience.

So they ſtrengthened their hand for this good work] They took courage, and went an end with it. So much good may one man of place, power and zeal do for the Church, by [illegible: 2 letters]irring up to love and good works. It is ſaid of the precious ſtone Pyrites, that it puts not ſorth its fiery power, till well rubbed: and then it is ſo hot, that it burneth ones fingers.

Verſe 19. But when Sanballat the Horonite, &c.] At firſt theſe men were ſad: but now mad with malice. Wicked men grow worſe and worſe, in pejus proficiunt, but they ſhal proceed no further: for their madneſs ſhall appear to all men.

And Geſhem the Arabian] Lieutenant of Arabia for the King of Perſia He alſo joyns himſelf to the two former to hinder the work in hand. Such oppoſition met Luther with, when he began to reform. The Pope excommunicated him: the Emperour proſcribed him: Henry King of England, and Lewis King of Hungary wrote againſt him: but the work went on, nevertheleſſe, becauſe it was of God.

They laughed us to ſcorn and deſpiſed us] As a company of Fools, that could never effect what we attempted. So Eraſmus, and Sr. Tho. Moor thought to have mockt the Lutherans out of their Religion. Notum eſt Eraſmi dicterium, Qualem a ſe decimū Capito fore ſperat? &c. This the Scripture calleth Cruel mocking; and ranketh it with bloody perſecution. Indeed the favourableſt perſecution (ſaith One.) of any good cauſe,H[illegible: 1 letter]b. 11 36. is the laſh of lewd tongues; whether by bitter taunts, or ſcurrilous invectives: which it is as impoſſible to avoyd, as neceſſary to contemn, &c. Bravely contemn (ſaith another Worthy) all contumelies and contempts for thy conſcience; taking them as crowns and confirmations of thy conformity to Chriſt

And ſaid, what is this thing that ye do?] Scoffingly they ſaid it: like as Pilat ſaid to our Saviour, What's truth? Oh how eaſie is it to wagge a wicked tongue?Nibil tàm volucre quàm maledictum, nibil faciliùs emittitur. Cic. One while they charge this people with folly; another while, with treachery. If to accuſe a man onely were ſufficient to make him guilty, none ſhould be innocent.

Will ye rebel againſt the King? This was ever; ſaith Lipſius, Ʋnicum crimen eorum, qui crimine vacabant, The onely and ordinary charge laid upon the moſt innocent.In Tacit. Elias is a Troubler, Jeremy a Traytour, Paul a Peſt, Luther a Trumpet of rebellion, all the Orthodox, Antimagiſtratical. To colour the maſſacre of Paris, and to excuſe it to the World, there was coyn ſtamped in the forepart, whereof (together with the Kings picture) was this inſcription; Virtus in Rebelles Valour againſt the Rebels; and on the other ſide, Pietas excitavit Juſtitiam, Piety hath excited Juſtice.

Verſe 20. Then anſwered I them, and ſaid unto them] He would not honour them ſo farre, as to tell them of the Kings licence; but ſhapes them a ſharp anſwer,Camd. Eliſ. Fol. 163. and ſhakes them up as having nothing there to do. This was true Chriſtian courage; this was right, and much better then rayling for rayling: for that were but lutum luto purgare, to waſh off one dirt with another.

The God of heaven] Who doeth whatſoever he pleaſeth in Heaven and earth: who looketh and laugheth at your malice.

He will proſper us] He will break his Heavens, and come down amongſt us, and give good ſucceſſe. O the force of an heroick faith! Though ſenſe ſayes, It will not be, Reaſon, it cannot be; yet Faith gets above and ſayes, It ſhall be: God will proſper us. It eates its way thorough the Alpes of whatſoever difficulties.

But you have no portion] Nothing to do here, neither ought you to interpoſe in aliena republica, as buſy braggers and quarellers: meddle where you have command.

Nor right] Sc. Of intereſt or any good deſert.

Nor memoriall] Or enrollement there, as free deniſons: therefore we neither accept you as Friends, nor fear you as Enemies, &c.