Neemia 2:11 Commento

How Nehemiah wrestled with God and prevailed we read in the foregoing chapter; now here we are told how, like Jacob, he prevailed with men also, and so found that his prayers were heard and answered. I. He prevailed with the king to send him to Jerusalem with a commission to build a wall about it, and grant him what was necessary for it (Neh 2:1-8). II. He prevailed against the enemies that would have obstructed him in his journey (Neh 2:9-11) and laughed him out of his undertaking (Neh 2:19, Neh 2:20). III. He prevailed upon his own people to join with him in this good work, viewing the desolations of the walls (Neh 2:12-16) and then gaining them to lend every one a hand towards the rebuilding of them (Neh 2:17, Neh 2:18). Thus did God own him in the work to which he called him.

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 2 Nehemiah being sorrowful in the king's presence, the reason of it was asked by the king, which he declared, and then took the opportunity to request of the king that he might be sent to Jerusalem to rebuild it, which was granted him, Neh 2:1, upon which he set out, and came to Jerusalem, to the great grief of the enemies of Israel, Neh 2:9 and after he had been three days in Jerusalem, he privately took a survey of it, to see what condition it was in, unknown to the rulers there, Neh 2:12, whom he afterwards exhorted to rise up and build the wall of the city, which they immediately set about, Neh 2:17 not regarding the scoffs and taunts of their enemies, Neh 2:19.

So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. Before he entered on any business, resting himself from the fatigue of the journey, and receiving the visits of his friends, as Ezra before him did, Ezr 8:32. . Nehemiah 2:12 neh 2:12 neh 2:12 neh 2:12And I arose in the might, I and some few men with me,.... Both the season of the night, and the small number of men to accompany him, were chosen for greater secrecy, that the business he came upon might not as yet be known, and so no schemes formed to obstruct or discourage: neither told I any man what God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; he was satisfied that what he had in view was from the Lord, who had stirred him up to it, but thought it prudent for the present to conceal it, until things were prepared to put it in execution: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon; he only rode perhaps on a mule, being not yet recovered quite from the fatigue of his journey, and for the sake of honour; the rest went on foot, that there might be no noise made, and so pass on unheard and unobserved.

"And I came to Jerusalem and was there three days," etc. He wanders through various parts of the destroyed city, carefully scrutinizing each, and considers anxiously how they ought to be repaired. Thus it is with spiritual teachers, often rising at night and by diligent investigation examining the condition of the holy Church while others are resting; so that they may vigilantly inquire how those things which are defiled or ruined by the wars of vices may be corrected and raised by castigating. But the wall of Jerusalem is laid waste, and the conduct of the faithful is soiled by earthly and low affections; the gates are consumed by fire, when even those who ought to open the way of life to others through teaching, abandoning the office of truth, become equally torpid with common inertia, and serve temporal cares.

Artaxerxes, observing the sorrow of Nehemiah, inquires into the cause, Neh 2:1, Neh 2:2. Nehemiah shows him the cause, and requests permission to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Neh 2:3-6. The king grants it, and gives him letters to the governors beyond the river, Neh 2:7, Neh 2:8. He sets out on his journey, Neh 2:9. Sanballat and Tobiah are grieved to find he had got such a commission, Neh 2:10. He comes to Jerusalem; and, without informing any person of his business, examines by night the state of the city, Neh 2:11-16. He informs the priests, nobles, and rulers, of his design and commission, Neh 2:17, Neh 2:18. The design is turned into contempt by Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, Neh 2:19. Nehemiah gives them a suitable answer, Neh 2:20.

ARTAXERXES, UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSE OF NEHEMIAH'S SADNESS, SENDS HIM WITH LETTERS AND A COMMISSION TO BUILD AGAIN THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. (Neh. 2:1-20) it came to pass in the month Nisan--This was nearly four months after he had learned the desolate and ruinous state of Jerusalem (Neh 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.

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 [Neh 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 [Neh 2:13-15].

Nehemiah Journeys to Jerusalem with the King's Permission, and Furnished with Royal Letters. 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).

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.