John Trapp on Nehemiah 2:1

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.