Nehemiah 2:9-20

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls

9 Then I came to ¹the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen.

10 But when ²Sanballat the Horonite and ³Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

11 ⁴So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days.

12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.

13 I went out by night by ⁵the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to ⁶the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem ⁷that were broken down ⁸and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.

14 Then I went on to ⁹the Fountain Gate and to ¹⁰the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass.

15 Then I went up in the night ¹¹by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned.

16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.

17 Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in, ¹²how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer ¹³suffer derision."

18 And I told them ¹⁴of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, "Let us rise up and build."¹⁵So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and ¹⁶Geshem the Arab heard of it, ¹⁷they jeered at us and despised us and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? ¹⁸Are you rebelling against the king?"

20 Then I replied to them, ¹⁹"The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim^[a] in Jerusalem."

Nehemiah 2:9-20 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.

Cross References

• 1. Ezra 8:36
• 2. ver. 19; Nehemiah 4:1, 7; Nehemiah 6:1, 2, 5, 12, 14; Nehemiah 13:28
• 3. Nehemiah 13:4
• 4. Ezra 8:32
• 5. Nehemiah 3:13; 2 Chronicles 26:9
• 6. Nehemiah 3:13, 14; Nehemiah 12:31
• 7. Nehemiah 1:3
• 8. ver. 3, 17
• 9. Nehemiah 3:15; Nehemiah 12:37
• 10. 2 Kings 20:20; [Nehemiah 3:16; 2 Chronicles 32:3, 30]
• 11. 2 Samuel 15:23
• 12. ver. 3, 13; Nehemiah 1:3
• 13. Nehemiah 1:3; Psalms 44:13; Psalms 79:4; Jeremiah 24:9; Ezekiel 5:14, 15; Ezekiel 22:4
• 14. ver. 8
• 15. [2 Samuel 2:7]
• 16. [Nehemiah 6:6]
• 17. Nehemiah 4:1; Psalms 44:13
• 18. Nehemiah 6:6
• 19. ver. 4

Footnotes

• [a]. Or memorial