Neh 2:3. Why should not my countenance be sad, &c. There is a piety due to one’s own country, which cannot be extinguished by the pleasure or plenty of any other. It is no weakness to be deeply affected with the misfortunes or for the death of our nearest friends and relations, at what distance soever we are from them; nor can any prosperity in another country hinder or excuse a man from being grieved for a calamity which befals his own. Nehemiah was in no mean station when he was cup-bearer to Artaxerxes; and we may very reasonably believe, by the grace and bounty which the king shewed him, that he might have had great preferment in that flourishing empire, if he had asked it; yet, when that great king discerned that there was sorrow of heart in his countenance, and demanded the reason of it, he made no other excuse than this: the place of my fathers’ sepulchres lieth waste: and when the king so graciously invited him to ask some favour worthy of his royal bounty, he would require nothing else but, Send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. A generous spirit can think of nothing but relieving his country, while it is under a general misery, and calamity. Note; (1.) When we take in hand God’s work, we cannot but be deeply concerned for the success. (2.) The afflictions of God’s church and people draw forth the sympathetic tear from every friend of Zion. (3.) In our passage through this mortal vale, the best of men must expect to meet with trials. (4.) There is a king who minutes our sorrows, and will not suffer us to mourn long.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Neh 2:3 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?

Ver. 3. And I said unto the king ] After he had pulled up his best heart, and recovered his spirits, he declareth unto the king the cause of his sadness. How ready should our tongues be to lay open our cares to the God of all comfort, when we see Nehemiah so quick in the expressions of his sorrow to an uncertain ear.

Let the king live for ever ] i.e. Very long. Let him not suspect, by my sadness, that I have any evil intent or treasonable design against him; for I heartily wish his welfare. It was not court holy water (as they call it) wherewith he here besprinkles his prince; it was not counterfeit courtesy; such as was that of Squier the traitor, A.D. 1597, sent by Walpole the Jesuit, to poison the pummel of Queen Elizabeth’s saddle, when she was to ride abroad; which also he did (but without effect), saying cheerfully at the same time, God save the Queen. Saluta libenter greet gladly, is by many practised, from the teeth outward; but by Nehemiah, heartily.

Why should not my countenance be sad? ] In time of common calamities there is just cause of a general sadness, “should we then make mirth?” Eze 21:10 . The Romans severely punished one that showed himself out of a window with a garland on his head in the time of the Punic war, when it went ill with the commonwealth. Justinus, the good emperor of Constantinople, took the downfall of the city of Antioch by an earthquake so much to heart, that it caused him a grievous fit of sickness, A.D. 527. When Pope Clement and his cardinals were imprisoned by the duke of Bourbon’s men in St Angelo, Caesar in Spain forbade all interludes to be played, &c. In France, the duke of Bourbon was condemned of treason, his name and memorial were accursed, his arms pulled down, his lands and goods confiscated. In England, King Henry was extremely displeased. Cardinal Wolsey wept tenderly, and emptied the land of 288,000 pounds to relieve and ransom the distressed pope.

When the city, the place of my fathers’ sepalchres] A good argument to a heathen, who set great store by (as now the Papists keep great stir about) their burial places; as if one place were holier than another for that purpose: a mere device to pick poor men’s purses.

And the gates thereof are consumed with fire ] The Jews at this day, when they build a house, they are, say the Rabbis, to leave one part of it unfinished, and lying rude, in remembrance that Jerusalem and the temple are, at present, desolate (Hist. of Rites of Jews, by Leo Moden.). At least, they use to leave about a yard square of the house unplastered, on which they write in great letters that of the Psalmist, If I forget Jerusalem, then let my right hand forget her cunning, Psa 137:5 , or else these words, Zecher Lechorbon, The memory of the desolation.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Let the king live. The usual Oriental salutation.

lieth waste. Compare Neh 1:3. Impossible if Ezra with his 42,360 returned exiles were already there, and had rebuilt the temple! See notes on Neh 1:2; Neh 5:5, and on the Chronological Structure (p. 617, with the notes on p. 618). See also note on Ezr 4:12, p. 624.

God of heaven. See note on Neh 1:5.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Let the king: Far from wishing ill to my master, I wish him to live forever. 1Ki 1:31, Dan 2:4, Dan 3:9, Dan 5:10, Dan 6:6, Dan 6:21

the city: Neh 1:3, Psa 102:14, Psa 137:6, Lam 2:9

the place: 2Ch 21:20, 2Ch 28:27, 2Ch 32:33

Reciprocal: Gen 47:30 – General Lev 26:31 – And I will make Neh 2:13 – the walls Est 4:8 – request Est 8:6 – the evil Psa 74:3 – the perpetual Psa 137:1 – the rivers Psa 137:5 – I forget Isa 5:5 – I will take Isa 44:26 – and I will Jer 8:21 – the hurt Jer 51:50 – remember

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Neh 2:3. Let the king live for ever My sadness comes not from any disaffection to the king, for whom my hearty prayers are that he may live for ever, but from another cause. Why should I not be sad, when the place of my fathers sepulchres lieth waste? Which by all nations are esteemed sacred and inviolable. He says not a word for the temple, as he spake before a heathen king, who cared for none of these things. There is a regard due to ones own country, which ought not to be extinguished by the pleasure or plenty of any other. It is not a weakness to be deeply affected with the distresses, or for the death of our friends and relations, at what distance secret we are from them; nor can any prosperity in another country excuse a man for not being so much afflicted for any calamity that befalls his own as not to entertain mirth and jollity in his heart. Nehemiah was in no mean station when he was cup-bearer to Artaxerxes, and we may very reasonably suppose, from the grace and bounty which that great king showed him, that he might have had any honour or preferment he would have requested in that great and flourishing empire; yet when that great king discerned that there was sorrow of heart in his countenance, and demanded the reason of it, he made no other excuse but, Jerusalem lay waste: and when the king so graciously invited him to ask some favour worthy of his royal bounty, he would require nothing else but permission and power to go and relieve his country. The grievances of the church, but especially its desolations, ought to be a grief to all good people, and will to all that have a concern for Gods honour, and are of a public spirit.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments