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Nehemiah
Chapter 2
1a
And it came to pass in the month Nisan,
in
the twentieth year of Artaxerxes/'Artachshashta'
the
king,
that
wine was before him.
And
I took up the wine,
and
gave it unto the king.
{Note: Artaxerxes/'Artachshashta' is the son of King Xerxes who was the son of Darius I. They are all great Persian kings and referred to in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:39 as the strong 'arms of silver'. He will send Nehemiah to Jerusalem in this chapter.}
1b Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2
Therefore the king said unto me,
"Why
is your countenance sad . . .
seeing
you are 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 forever.
{standard greeting to the king - you don't say it you die}
Why
should not my countenance be sad,
when
the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers,
lies
in waste,
and
the gates thereof are consumed with fire?"
4
Then the king said unto me,
"Why/'For
what' do you make this request?"
So I prayed to the 'Elohiym/Godhead of heaven.
5
And I said unto the king,
"If
it please the king,
and
if your servant has found grace/favor
in
your sight . . .
that
you would send me unto Judah,
unto
the city of my fathers' sepulchers,
that
I may build it."
6
And the king said unto me,
(the
queen also sitting by him)
"For
how long shall your journey be?
And when will you 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 'Elohiym/Godhead upon me.
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 'Elohiym/Godhead
had
put in my heart to do at Jerusalem . . .
neither
was there any animal/beast with me,
save
the animal/beast that I rode upon.
13
And I went out by night by the gate of the valley,
even
before the crocodile well {tanniyn - the crocodile}
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 animal/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 where 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,
"You
see the distress that we are in,
how
Jerusalem lies 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 'Elohiym/Godhead
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 you do?
Will you rebel against the king?"
20
Then answered I them, and said unto them,
"The
'Elohiym/Godhead of heaven . . .
He
will prosper us.
Therefore we . . . His servants . . . will arise and build.
But
you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."
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