Nehemiah 1:11

11 Lord, I beseech thee, thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, that will dread thy name; and direct thy servant to day, and give thou mercy to him before this man, that is, Artaxerxes, (the) king. For I was the bottler of the king. (Lord, I beseech thee, let thy ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayers of thy servants, who desire to revere thy name; and give thy servant success today, and give thou mercy to him before this man, that is, King Artaxerxes. For I was the king's butler.)

Nehemiah 1:11 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 1:11

O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the
prayer of thy servant
To the prayer of Nehemiah, put up at this time:

and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name;
the prayer of the Jews in Judea, whose desire was to worship the Lord in his temple, according to his will:

and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day;
meaning himself, who was to wait on the king of Persia that day, and, if he had opportunity, intended to lay the case of the Jews before him, and therefore entreats he might meet with success:

and grant him mercy in the sight of this man;
King Artaxerxes, who was but a man, and whose heart was in the hands of God, and he could easily move him to pity and compassion towards his poor people the Jews:

for I was the king's cupbearer;
in the execution of which office he was often in the king's presence, and hoped to have an opportunity of speaking to him in the behalf of the Jews; this with the Persians was reckoned a very honourable office ^F7. A son of Prexaspes, a very honourable man, was made cupbearer to Cambyses; and so it was with the Greeks and Romans ^F8; and the poets not only make Ganymedes to be Jupiter's cupbearer ^F9, but even Vulcan himself is put into this office ^F11.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Herodot. Thalia, sive, l. 3. c. 34. Xenophon. Cyropaedia, l. 5. c. 36.
F8 Vid. Athenaei Deipnosophist. l. 10.
F9 Homer. Iliad. 21. ver. 234.
F11 Homer. Iliad. 1. prope finem.

Nehemiah 1:11 In-Context

9 and if ye turn again to me, that ye keep my behests, and do those, yea, though ye be led away to the furthest things of heaven, from thence I shall gather you together, and I shall bring you into the place, that I have chosen, that my name should dwell there. (but if ye return to me, and ye keep my commandments, and do them, yea, though ye be led away to the farthest reaches of the heavens, that is, unto the ends of the earth, I shall gather you together from there, and I shall bring you into the place which I have chosen, that my name should be there.)

10 And we be thy servants, and thy people, which thou hast again-bought in thy great strength, and in thy strong hand. (And we be thy servants, and thy people, whom thou hast bought back, that is, redeemed, or rescued, with thy great strength, and with thy strong hand.)

11 Lord, I beseech thee, thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, that will dread thy name; and direct thy servant to day, and give thou mercy to him before this man, that is, Artaxerxes, (the) king. For I was the bottler of the king. (Lord, I beseech thee, let thy ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayers of thy servants, who desire to revere thy name; and give thy servant success today, and give thou mercy to him before this man, that is, King Artaxerxes. For I was the king's butler.)