Nehemiah 2:2

2 so he asked me, "Why the long face? You're not sick are you? Or are you depressed?"

Nehemiah 2:2 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 2:2

Wherefore the king said unto me, why is thy countenance sad,
seeing thou art not sick?
&c.] He had no disorder upon him to change his countenance and make him sorrowful, and therefore asks what should be the reason of it:

this is nothing else but sorrow of heart;
this is not owing to any bodily disease or pain, but some inward trouble of mind; or "wickedness of heart" ^F16, some ill design in his mind, which being conscious of, and thoughtful about, was discovered in his countenance; he suspected, as Jarchi intimates, a design to kill him, by putting poison into his cup:

then I was very sore afraid;
lest the king should have suspicion of an ill design on him; or lest, since he must be obliged to give the true reason, he should not succeed in his request, it being so large, and perhaps many about the king were no friends to the Jews.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (bl er) (ponhria kardiav) , Sept. "malum nescio quod in corde tuo est", V. L.

Nehemiah 2:2 In-Context

1 It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king. At the hour for serving wine I brought it in and gave it to the king. I had never been hangdog in his presence before,

2 so he asked me, "Why the long face? You're not sick are you? Or are you depressed?"

3 I said, "Long live the king! And why shouldn't I be depressed when the city, the city where all my family is buried, is in ruins and the city gates have been reduced to cinders?"

4 The king then asked me, "So what do you want?"

5 I said, "If it please the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it."