Nehemiah 13:6

6 And in all these things I was not in Jerusalem; for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I came to the king, and in the end of days I prayed the king. (And at this time I was not in Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon, I went and reported to the king, but after some number of days, I was granted leave to return to Jerusalem.)

Nehemiah 13:6 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:6

But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem
Nehemiah, who was absent all the while these things were done by Eliashib, or otherwise they would not have been suffered:

for in the thirty second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, came I
unto the king from Jerusalem;
after he had governed there twelve years, to whom he came to give an account of affairs there; this was not Xerxes, as some ^F2 have thought, for he reigned but twenty one years; but Darius Hystaspis, who reigned thirty six years, according to Ptolemy's canon, and with which Herodotus ^F3 agrees; he is called king of Babylon, because that, with the whole empire, was in the hands of the king of Persia, as it had been from the times of Cyrus:

and after certain days obtained I leave of the king;
to return to Jerusalem again; not after five years, as Dr. Prideaux ^F4 thinks; for it is not likely that Nehemiah would stay so long ere he asked leave of the king to return to Jerusalem, which was so much his care, and on whose prosperity his heart was so much set; rather at most it was but a full year he stayed ere he got leave to return, as Vatablus and Piscator interpret it; in which sense the phrase of certain days is used in ( Leviticus 25:29 ) , and in other places quoted by the last mentioned interpreter.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Apud Ganz. Tzemach David, par. 2. fol. 8. 2.
F3 Polymnia, sive, l. 7. c. 1.
F4 Connect. par. 1. p. 397.

Nehemiah 13:6 In-Context

4 And upon these things was Eliashib, the priest, that was sovereign in the chamber of the house of our God, and was the neighbour of Tobiah . (And upon these things was the High Priest Eliashib, who was the ruler, or the overseer, of the storerooms of the House of our God, and was the neighbour, or the friend, of Tobiah.)

5 Therefore he made to him a great chamber in the house of God; and there before him were men that kept the gifts that were offered, and incense, and diverse vessels, and the tithe of wheat, of wine, and of oil, and the parts of deacons, and of singers, and of porters, and the first fruits of priests. (And so Eliashib gave Tobiah a large room at the House of God, that was used to store the grain offerings, and the incense, and the Temple vessels, and the tithes of corn, and of wine, and of oil, that is, the portions, or the contributions, for the Levites, and the singers, and the guards, or the doorkeepers, and the first fruits for the priests.)

6 And in all these things I was not in Jerusalem; for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I came to the king, and in the end of days I prayed the king. (And at this time I was not in Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes, the king of Babylon, I went and reported to the king, but after some number of days, I was granted leave to return to Jerusalem.)

7 And I came into Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliashib had done to Tobiah, to make to him a chamber in the porches of God's house; (And so I came back to Jerusalem, and I learned of the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah's sake, by giving him a room in one of the courtyards of the House of God;)

8 and to me it seemed full evil. And I casted forth the vessels of the house of Tobiah out of the chamber; (and I was greatly angered by that. And I threw all of Tobiah's things out of the room;)