Nehemiah 2:3

3 I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city of my ancestors' burial site is ruined and her gates are consumed by fire?"

Nehemiah 2:3 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 2:3

And I said unto the king, let the king live for ever
Which some think he said to take off the king's suspicion of his having a design upon his life, though it seems to be a common salutation of the kings in those times, see ( Daniel 6:6 Daniel 6:21 ) ,

why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my
fathers' sepulchres, [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are
consumed with fire?
a man's native place, and where his ancestors lie interred, being always reckoned near and dear, the king and his nobles could not object to his being concerned for the desolations thereof.

Nehemiah 2:3 In-Context

1 It happened in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I carried the wine and gave it to the king. And I had never been sad before the king.

2 So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad since you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart." And I was very much afraid.

3 I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city of my ancestors' burial site is ruined and her gates are consumed by fire?"

4 Then the king said to me, "What is your request?" So I prayed to the God of the heavens.

5 Then I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has [found] favor in your presence, [I ask] that you send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors' burial sites, so that I may rebuild it."

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "fathers'"
• [b]. Hebrew "sites"