Nehemiah 2:1-8

Nehemiah 2:1-8

[1] And it came to pass in the month  Nisan,  in the twentieth  year  of Artaxerxes  the king,  that wine  was before  him: and I took up  the wine,  and gave  it unto the king.  Now I had not been beforetime sad  in his presence.  [2] Wherefore the king  said  unto me, Why is thy countenance  sad,  seeing thou art not sick?  this is nothing else but sorrow  of heart.  Then I was very  sore  afraid,  [3] And said  unto the king,  live  for ever:  why should not my countenance  when the city,  the place  of my fathers'  sepulchres,  and the gates  thereof are consumed  with fire?  [4] Then the king  said  unto me, For what dost thou make request?  So I prayed  to the God  of heaven.  [5] And I said  unto the king,  If it please  the king,  and if thy servant  have found favour  in thy sight,  that thou wouldest send  me unto Judah,  unto the city  of my fathers'  sepulchres,  that I may build  [6] And the king  said  unto me, (the queen  also sitting  by him,)  For how long shall thy journey  be? and when wilt thou 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 God  upon me.

What does Nehemiah 2:1-8 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Nehemiah prayed for four months about conditions in Jerusalem before he spoke to Artaxerxes about them (cf. Nehemiah 1:1; Nehemiah 2:1). Artaxerxes" reign began in the seventh Jewish month, Tishri (late September and early October), of464 B.C. [1] Therefore Nehemiah presented his request in late March or early April of444 B.C.
Nehemiah was probably very fearful ( Nehemiah 2:2) because Artaxerxes could have interpreted sadness in his presence as dissatisfaction with the king (cf. Esther 4:2). [2]
"Persian works of art such as the great treasury reliefs from Persepolis indicate that those who came into the king"s presence did so with great deference, placing the right hand with palm facing the mouth so as not to defile the king with one"s own breath ..." [3]
Nehemiah realized that the moment had arrived for him to ask Artaxerxes to revise his official policy toward Jerusalem ( Nehemiah 1:11; Ezra 4:21). This too could have incurred the king"s displeasure. Nehemiah"s walk with God is evident in that he talked to God as he was conversing with the king ( Nehemiah 2:4; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Nehemiah 2:4 contains a beautiful example of spontaneous prayer, one of the best in the Bible.
"One of the most striking characteristics of Nehemiah was his recourse to prayer (cf. Nehemiah 4:4; Nehemiah 4:9; Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 6:9; Nehemiah 6:14; Nehemiah 13:14)." [4]
"Quick prayers are possible and valid if one has prayed sufficiently beforehand. In this case Nehemiah"s prayer is evidence of a life lived in constant communion with God. Nehemiah had prayed for months, but he knew he was completely dependent on God"s work in the king"s heart at this moment." [5]
Divine working and human planning are not necessarily contradictory.
"Prayer is where planning starts." [6]
Nehemiah returned to Artaxerxes12years after the king had appointed him governor of Judah ( Nehemiah 5:14; Nehemiah 13:6). Nevertheless he may have also gone back sooner than that ( Nehemiah 2:6). One writer calculated the date of Artaxerxes" decree to rebuild Jerusalem as March5 , 444 B.C. [7]
"This date marks the beginning of Daniel"s Seventy Weeks ( Daniel 9:24-27). Sixty-nine of those seventy weeks (173 ,880 days) were literally fulfilled when Jesus entered Jerusalem, presented Himself at His "royal entry" as Israel"s messiah, on March30 , A.D33. The prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled to the very day (cf. Luke 19:40-42). The seventieth week of Daniel , the Tribulation (cf. Matthew 24:4-28; Revelation 6-19), will find its fulfillment in the future." [8]
The fortress by the temple ( Nehemiah 2:8) was a citadel that stood just north of the temple. Its name in Hebrew was Birah (or in Greek, Baris). It was the forerunner of the Antonia Fortress that Herod the Great built and to which Luke referred in the Book of Acts ( Acts 21:37; Acts 22:24). [9]
". . . there were good political reasons for Artaxerxes to grant Nehemiah"s request. Inaros had led a revolt in Lower Egypt in the late460s, aided and abetted by Athens. The Persians had largely squashed this rebellion by455 , but pockets of resistance held out in the delta marshes thereafter. Then, early in the440s, Megabyxos had led a revolt in Syria, which was probably put down just before Nehemiah made his request. Also, just about445 the Athenians negotiated the Peace of Kallias with the Persians and hostilities between the two powers ceased. At this point in time Artaxerxes certainly recognized that a stronger Judah populated by loyal Jews would help to bring greater stability to Syria and would provide a bulwark on the border with Egypt." [10]