Nehemiah 2:11-16

11 And I came into Jerusalem, and I was there three days.
12 And I rose up by night, I and a few men with me, and I showed not to any man (and I told no one), what thing God had given in mine heart, that I would do in Jerusalem; and there was no work beast with me, but the beast that I sat on.
13 And I went out by the gate of the valley by night, and before the well of the dragon, and to the gate of dung; and I beheld the wall of Jerusalem (that was) destroyed, and the gates thereof (that were) wasted by fire. (And I went out at night through the Valley Gate, toward the Dragon Well, and the Dung Gate; and I looked at the wall of Jerusalem, that was broken in many places, and at its gates, that had been destroyed by fire.)
14 And I passed forth to the gate of the well, and to the water conduit of the king, and there was no place for to pass, to the horse, that I sat upon; (And I passed on to the Fountain Gate, and to the King's Pool, but there was no place for the horse that I sat on, to pass through;)
15 and in the night I went up by the strand, and I beheld the wall, and I turned again, and came to the gate of the valley, and I went again (to my lodging). (and then I went up that night by the valley, and I looked at the wall, and then I returned, and came back to the Valley Gate, and went home to my lodging.)
16 Forsooth the magistrates knew not, whither I had gone, either what I would do; but also I had not showed any thing to the Jews, and [the] priests, and to the best men, and [the] magistrates, and to [the] other men that made the work, till that time. (But the magistrates did not know where I had gone, or what I planned to do; and also I had not told anything to the Jews, or the priests, or the leaders, or the magistrates, or the other men who would do the work, up to that time.)

Nehemiah 2:11-16 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.