Nehemiah 2:6

6 And the king, and his concubine that sat next to him, said to me, For how long will thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? and was pleasing before the king, and he sent me away, and I appointed him a time.

Nehemiah 2:6 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 2:6

And the king said unto me, the queen also sitting by him
Which it seems was not very common for the queens of Persia to dine with the kings their husbands; though this may be observed, not so much for the singularity of it, as for the providence of God in it, that so it should be, she having a good respect for Nehemiah, and the Jewish nation, and forwarded the king in his grant to him: if this king was Darius Hystaspis, this his queen was Atossa, daughter of Cyrus ^F17, who might be the more friendly to the Jews, on account of her father's great regard unto them:

for how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return?
what time would he ask to do this business in? this shows the king had a great respect for him, and was loath to part with him, at least for any great length of time:

so it pleased the king to send me,
when he promised to return unto him, not in twelve years, which was the time of his government in Judea, but in a lesser space, perhaps a year at most, since in less than two months the wall of Jerusalem was finished; and it may be that he then returned to the king of Persia, who sent him again under the character of a governor, finding it was for his interest to have such a man in those parts.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Herodot. Polymnia, sive l. 7. c. 1.

Nehemiah 2:6 In-Context

4 And the king said to me, For what dost thou ask thus? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

5 And I said to the king, If good to the king, and if thy servant shall have found favour in thy sight, that wouldest send him into Juda, to the city of the sepulchres of my fathers; then will I rebuild it.

6 And the king, and his concubine that sat next to him, said to me, For how long will thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? and was pleasing before the king, and he sent me away, and I appointed him a time.

7 And I said to the king, If good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors beyond the river, so as to forward me till I come to Juda;

8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the garden which belongs to the king, that he may give me timber to cover the gates, and for the wall of the city, and for the house into which I shall enter. And the king gave to me, according as the good hand of God .