Nehemiah 2:15

2:9-18 When Nehemiah had considered the matter, he told the Jews that God had put it into his heart to build the wall of Jerusalem. He does not undertake to do it without them. By stirring up ourselves and one another to that which is good, we strengthen ourselves and one another for it. We are weak in our duty, when we are cold and careless.

Then went I up in the night by the brook,.... The brook Kidron: and viewed the wall; that was on that side: and turned back; did not go quite round the wall, the way perhaps being obstructed with rubbish, and was unpassable or he had not time to do it: and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned; into the city, the same way he went out of it, Nehemiah 2:13.

Verse 15. - By the brook . "The brook Kidron," which skirted the city on the east. From this he would be able to "look up at the eastern wall" along its whole length, and see its condition. Following the brook, he was brought to the north-eastern angle of the city; on reaching which he seems to have "turned back" towards the point from which he had started, and skirting the northern wall, to have re-entered by the gate of the valley . Nehemiah 2:15

15 . Then went I up ] The tense in the original denotes the gradual progress. by the brook ] i.e. the ‘nakhal’ or ‘brook’ ( χείμαρρος ) of Kedron. Leaving the ruined line of wall, he goes down to the hollow of the Kedron valley, and proceeds northward ‘up’ the stream, surveying the remains of the walls that crowned the steep declivity on his left. and turned back ] R.V. and I turned back . This word has been taken to mean not a retracing of his steps, but the turn westward in his route, which would lead eventually in the direction from which he had started. After leaving the Kedron valley the journey would not be so difficult, being probably on the more level ground where the ruins had been cleared; or where less destruction had been wrought. The absence of mention of any spot on the N. or N.W. wall has caused others to suppose that Nehemiah ‘turned back,’ having seen enough, without completing his circuit of the walls. More probably we have here an instance of condensation on the part of the compiler who at this point passes at once to the return journey, without giving us sufficient material to judge whether the complete circuit of the walls was made.

15. Then went I up … by the brook—that is, Kedron. and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned—the gate leading to the valley of Jehoshaphat, east of the city. He went out by this gate, and having made the circuit of the city, went in by it again [Barclay, City of the Great King].

Then I((went on) ascending the valley and viewing the wall, and so entered by the valley-gate, and returned. ואהי with the participle expresses the continuance of an action, and hence in this place the continuous ascent of the valley and survey of the wall. The נחל which he ascended was doubtless the valley of Kidron (קדרון נחל, 2 Samuel 20:23 ; 1 Kings 2:37 , and elsewhere). ואבוא ואשׁוּב are connected, שׁוּב expressing merely the idea of repetition (Gesenius, heb. Gram. 142, 3): I came again into the valley-gate. Older expositors incorrectly explain these words to mean, I turned round, traversing again the road by which I had come; Bertheau: I turned to go farther in a westerly direction, and after making the circuit of the entire city, I-re-entered by the valley-gate. This sense is correct as to fact, but inadmissible, as requiring too much to complete it. If we take אשׁוּב adverbially, these completions are unnecessary. Nehemiah does not give the particulars of the latter portion of his circuit, but merely tells us that after having ascended the valley of Kidron, he re-entered by the valley-gate, and returned to his residence, obviously assuming, that from the upper part of the vale of Kidron he could only return to the valley-gate at the west by passing along the northern part of the wall.

## I was the king ’ s cup-bearer; whereby I had opportunity to speak to him, and some favour and freedom with him; which encouraged me to make this prayer, and to hope for some success. ## Nehemiah 2:1 NEHEMIAH CHAPTER 2 Artaxerxes, understanding the cause of Nehemiah’s sadness, Neh_2:1-5, sendeth him with letters to Jerusalem, Neh_2:6-8. Nehemiah, to the grief of the enemies, cometh to Jerusalem, Neh_2:9-11, and secretly by night vieweth the ruins of Jerusalem, ## Neh_2:12-16. He encourageth the Jews to build, Neh_2:17 ,18 . The enemies, deriding, charge them with rebellion against the king, Neh_2:19. Nehemiah’s answer, Neh_2:20. ## In the month Nisan; which was four months after he had heard those sad tidings. The reason of this long silence and delay might be manifold; either because he thought fit that some time should be spent by himself, and possibly others of his brethren, in seeking God by solemn prayer and fasting, for God’s blessing and the good success of this great affair; or because he could not take so long and dangerous a journey in the depth of winter; or because his turn of attending upon the king did not come to him till that time; or because till then he wanted a fit opportunity to move it to the king, by reason of the king’s indisposition, or occasions, or multitude of attendants, among whom there probably were divers enemies to the Jews, who, he feared, might hinder his design and desire.