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Nehemiah Arrives at Jerusalem
v. 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, not only on account of his rank as cupbearer of the king, but also as deputy governor of Judea, which he was on this trip.
v. 10. When Sanballat the Horonite, apparently a Moabite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, a freedman raised to some official dignity, assistant to the former, who seems to have been governor of Samaria, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel, who were just then in a bad way, a fact which gave the Samaritans the upper hand.
v. 11. So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days, resting and casting up in his mind just bow he might undertake the work of reconstruction, for there was need of it everywhere.
v. 12. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, just a few trusted attendants; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, both the general plans and the special action that he had determined upon during the three days of his visit; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. The survey of the ruined walls was to be made in all secrecy, lest the enemies, who had relatives in the city, might find out about it.
v. 13. And I went out by night by the Gate of the Valley, most likely that of Hinnom toward the southeast, even before the Dragon Well, a fountain or pool on the opposite side of the valley, and to the Dung Port, the gate where the rubbish of the city was cast out and burned, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, lying in ruins, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
v. 14. Then I went on to the Gate of the Fountain, in front of the pool of Siloam, where the ancient wall turned northward from its southeastern corner, and to the King's Pool, Siloam itself; but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass, heaps of broken stones and rubbish everywhere were so high that his mule could not pick a path.
v. 15. Then went I up in the night by the brook, he was obliged to go down along the Kidron, and viewed the wall, that on the eastern side, and turned back, and entered by the Gate of the Valley, where he had set forth, now probably the Jaffa Gate, and so returned.
v. 16. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did, he kept this survey a strict secret; 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, neither the executive officers of the province nor the church officials, nor any others engaged in the public service had been informed of the purpose of his visit.
v. 17. Then said I unto them, in a meeting called for that purpose, in which Nehemiah produced his credentials and addressed them in an inspiring manner, Ye see the distress that we are in, the evil that had befallen them, 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, objects of scorn and derision on the part of the enemies.
v. 18. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, how the Lord had so obviously prospered him in his undertaking up to this time, as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they, inspired by his energy, said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work, being filled with vigor and energy, with every vestige of drooping spirits removed.
v. 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, with bitter taunts and scoffing ridicule, and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king? This was a mean insinuation, for the Jews had no intention of throwing off the yoke of the Persians.
v. 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. They had cut themselves off from the true worship of Jehovah and therefore had nothing in common with the true worshipers. The activity of the Church often is made the object of rude jesting on the part of its enemies. But the only proper stand is that of an uncompromising aloofness in favor of the truth.