--- title: "Nehemiah 2 - Study King James Bible with bullingers companion bible notes" description: "Read Nehemiah 2 with bullingers companion bible notes commentary. 1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2" --- [ Read](/kjv/nehemiah/2)[ Commentary](/study/nehemiah/2)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/nehemiah/2) Audio 1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, *that* wine *was* before him: and I took up the wine, and gave *it* unto the king. Now I had not been *beforetime* sad in his presence. 2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why *is* thy countenance sad, seeing thou *art* not sick? this *is* nothing *else* but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, 3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, *lieth* waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? 4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. 6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.* 7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which *appertained* to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. 9 ¶ Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me. 10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard *of it*, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. 11 So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12 ¶ And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I *any* man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither *was there any* beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13 And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14 Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but *there was* no place for the beast *that was* under me to pass. 15 Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and *so* returned. 16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told *it* to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. 17 ¶ Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we *are* in, how Jerusalem *lieth* waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for *this* good *work*. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard *it*, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What *is* this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? 20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem. [Nehemiah 1](/study/nehemiah/1) [Nehemiah 3](/study/nehemiah/3) ## Commentary To verse 1 **Nisan.** The first month (Abib, [Exodus 12:2](/kjv/exodus/12/2) , &c), called Nisan after the Captivity. This was four months after receiving the news (see App-51 .) **the twentieth year.** The "seventy sevens" of [Daniel 9:24-27](/kjv/daniel/9/24-27) begin here (454 B.C.) The "seven sevens" ([Daniel 9:25](/kjv/daniel/9/25) ), or forty-nine years begin here, and end in 405 B.C.; marked by the completion and dedication of the second Temple. The "threescore and two sevens" ([Daniel 9:26](/kjv/daniel/9/26) ), or 434 years begin (or rather, follow on) in 405 B. C, and end in A.D. 29, the year of the Cross. The last "seven "is therefore, still future. The first four of the "seven sevens" ended in 426 B. C, marked by the Decree of Cyrus, which ended the Babylonian Servitude of seventy years. See App-50 , App-57 ,and App-58 . **Artaxerxes** = the great king. An appellative (like Pharaoh, Czar, &c.) used of several kings of Persia. Synonymous with Artachshast (Arta = great, and Kshatza = king, preserved in the modern "Shah"). See App-57 and App-58 . This Artaxerxes was the great king ASTYAGES (of Herodotus), and ARSAMES (of Darius Hystaspis' Inscription), the husband of Esther, and father of Cyrus. He was also the Ahasuerus of [Esther 1:1](/kjv/esther/1/1) , which means "the venerable king"; and he was also the "Darius the Mede" of [Ezra 6:14](/kjv/ezra/6/14) and [Daniel 5:31](/kjv/daniel/5/31) . See App-57 and App-58 . **wine.** Hebrew. *yayin.* See App-27 . ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2","name":"Nehemiah 2 - Study King James Bible with bullingers companion bible notes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Nehemiah 2 with bullingers companion bible notes commentary. 1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes","name":"bullingers companion bible notes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah","name":"Nehemiah"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/nehemiah/2","name":"2"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```