Nehemiah 2:11-20

Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls

11 So I ¹came to Jerusalem and was there three days.

12 And I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my ^[a]mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except * the animal on which I was riding.

13 So I went out at night by ²the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon's Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem ³which were broken down and its ⁴gates which were consumed by fire.

14 Then I passed on to ⁵the Fountain Gate and ⁶the King's Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass.

15 So I went up at night by the ⁷ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.

16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.

17 Then I said to them, "You see the bad situation we are in, that ⁸Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach."

18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us arise and build." ⁹So they put their hands to the good work.

19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and ¹⁰Geshem the Arab heard it, ¹¹they mocked us and despised us and said, "What is this thing you are doing? ¹²Are you rebelling against the king?"

20 So I answered them and said to them, "¹³The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, ¹⁴but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem."

Nehemiah 2:11-20 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 8:32
• 2. Nehemiah 3:13
• 3. Nehemiah 1:3
• 4. Nehemiah 2:3, 17
• 5. Nehemiah 3:15
• 6. 2 Kings 20:20
• 7. John 18:1
• 8. Nehemiah 1:3
• 9. 2 Samuel 2:7
• 10. Nehemiah 6:6
• 11. Nehemiah 4:1
• 12. Nehemiah 6:6
• 13. Ezra 4:3
• 14. Nehemiah 2:4; Acts 8:21

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "heart"
• [b]. Lit "Gate of Ash-heaps"
• [c]. Lit "the animal under me"
• [d]. Lit "servant"