Nehemiah 2:5-15

5 and I asked the king, "If it pleases Your Majesty, and you are willing to grant my request, let me go to Judah, to the city where my ancestors are buried, so that I can rebuild it."

6 Then, while the queen was sitting beside him, the king asked me, "How long will you be gone, and when will you come back?" When I gave him a specific date, he was willing to let me go.

7 I also asked the king, "If it pleases Your Majesty, let me have letters addressed to the governors [of the province] west of the Euphrates River. In the letters tell them to grant me safe conduct until I arrive in Judah.

8 Also, let me have a letter addressed to Asaph, the supervisor of Your Majesty's forest. In the letter order him to give me wood for the gates of the fortress near the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I'll move into." (The king let me have the letters, because God was guiding me.)

9 I went to the governors [of the province] west of the Euphrates River and gave them the king's letters. (The king had sent army officers and cavalry to be with me.)

10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, they were very upset that someone had come to give the people of Israel so much assistance.

11 I went to Jerusalem and was there for three days.

12 During the night I went out with a few men without telling anyone what my God had inspired me to do for Jerusalem. The only animal I had was the one I was riding.

13 I went through Valley Gate that night toward Snake Fountain and Dung Gate and examined the places where the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and where its gates had been burned.

14 Passing through Fountain Gate, I arrived at King's Pool, but the animal I was riding couldn't get through.

15 So I went through the valley that night and examined the wall. Then I turned back, entered Valley Gate, and returned.

Nehemiah 2:5-15 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.