John Trapp on Nehemiah 2:8

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.