Nehemiah 2:8-18

8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's ¹forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of ²the fortress which is by the ^[a]temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go." And the king granted them to me because ³the good hand of my God was on me.

9 Then I came to ⁴the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now ⁵the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

10 When ⁶Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite ^[b]official heard about it, it was very * displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls

11 So I ⁷came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

12 And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except * the animal on which I was riding.

13 So I went out at night by ⁸the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem ⁹which were broken down and its ¹⁰gates which were consumed by fire.

14 Then I passed on to ¹¹the Fountain Gate and ¹²the King's Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass.

15 So I went up at night by the ¹³ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.

16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.

17 Then I said to them, "You see the bad situation we are in, that ¹⁴Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach."

18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us arise and build." ¹⁵So they put their hands to the good work.

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Nehemiah 2:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

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, Ne 2:1-8, upon which he set out, and came to Jerusalem, to the great grief of the enemies of Israel, Ne 2:9-11 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, Ne 2:12-16, whom he afterwards exhorted to rise up and build the wall of the city, which they immediately set about, Ne 2:17,18 not regarding the scoffs and taunts of their enemies, Ne 2:19,20.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 15

1. Ecclesiastes 2:5, 6
2. Nehemiah 7:2
3. Ezra 7:6; Nehemiah 2:18
4. Nehemiah 2:7
5. Ezra 8:22
6. Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:1
7. Ezra 8:32
8. Nehemiah 3:13
9. Nehemiah 1:3
10. Nehemiah 2:3, 17
11. Nehemiah 3:15
12. 2 Kings 20:20
13. John 18:1
14. Nehemiah 1:3
15. 2 Samuel 2:7

Footnotes 5

[a]. Lit "house"
[b]. Lit "servant"
[c]. Lit "heart"
[d]. Lit "Gate of Ash-heaps"
[e]. Lit "the animal under me"