John Trapp on Nehemiah 2:3

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.