Nehemiah 2:8

8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he give trees to me, that I may cover (with it) the gates of the tower of the house, and of the wall of the city, and the house, into which I shall enter. And the king gave (the letters) to me, by the good hand of my God, (that was) with me. (and also a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forests, ordering him to give me wood, or timber, so that I can make beams for the gates of the stronghold, or the fortress, and for the city wall, and for the house in which I shall live. And the king gave me the letters, by the good hand of my God, who was with me.)

Nehemiah 2:8 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 2:8

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest
The forest or mountain of Lebanon, which, because of its odoriferous and fruit bearing trees, was more like an orchard or paradise, as this word signifies, and so it is translated in ( Ecclesiastes 2:5 ) ( Song of Solomon 4:13 ) and at the extreme part of it, it seems, there was a city called Paradisus ^F18; such an officer as here was among the Romans, called Saltuarius ^F19, and is now among us:

that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace
which appertaineth to the house;
not the king's palace near the temple, for that might have occasioned suspicion in the king, that his view was to set up himself as king in Judea; but for the gates of the courts adjoining to the temple, and of the wall of the outward court, and of the wall which was to encompass the mountain of the house, the whole circumference of it:

and for the wall of the city;
to make gates of in various places for that, where they stood before:

and for the house which I shall enter into;
and dwell in during his stay at Jerusalem:

and the king granted me;
all the above favours:

according to the good hand of my God upon me;
the kind providence of God, which wrought on the heart of the king, and disposed it towards him, and overruled all things for good.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F18 Ptolem. Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23.
F19 Vid. Servium in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 2. ver. 485.

Nehemiah 2:8 In-Context

6 And the king said to me, and the queen sat beside him, Unto what time shall thy way be, and when shalt thou turn again? And it pleased to the king, and he sent me forth, and I set to the king a time of coming again; (And the king said to me, as the queen sat beside him, How long shalt thy be away, and when shalt thou return? And so it pleased the king, and he sent me forth, and I set a time when I would return to the king;)

7 and I said to the king, If it seemeth good to the king, give he epistles, or letters, to me to the dukes of the country beyond the flood, that they lead me over, till I come into Judah; (and I said to the king, If it seemeth good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, with orders to help me get to Judah;)

8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he give trees to me, that I may cover (with it) the gates of the tower of the house, and of the wall of the city, and the house, into which I shall enter. And the king gave (the letters) to me, by the good hand of my God, (that was) with me. (and also a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forests, ordering him to give me wood, or timber, so that I can make beams for the gates of the stronghold, or the fortress, and for the city wall, and for the house in which I shall live. And the king gave me the letters, by the good hand of my God, who was with me.)

9 And I came to the dukes of the country beyond the flood, and I gave to them the letters of the king. Soothly the king had sent with me the princes of knights, and (some) horsemen. (And I came to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, and I gave them the king's letters. And the king had sent with me the leaders of the horsemen, and some horsemen as well.)

10 And Sanballat (the) Horonite, and Tobiah, the servant, (the) Ammonite, heard, and they were sorrowful by great torment, that a man was come, that sought prosperity of the sons of Israel. (And Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite servant, heard of it, and they were greatly vexed that a man had come, who sought to do good for the Israelites.)