Nehemiah 2:2–8

2:2 So the king said to me, “Why do you appear to be depressed when you aren’t sick? What can this be other than sadness of heart?” This made me very fearful.

2:3 I replied to the king, “O king, live forever! Why would I not appear dejected when the city with the graves of my ancestors5 lies desolate and its gates destroyed6 by fire?” 2:4 The king responded,7 “What is it you are seeking?” Then I quickly prayed to the God of heaven 2:5 and said to the king, “If the king is so inclined8 and if your servant has found favor in your sight, dispatch me to Judah, to the city with the graves of my ancestors, so that I can rebuild it.” 2:6 Then the king, with his consort9 sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was amenable to dispatching me,10 I gave him a time. 2:7 I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates11 that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah, 2:8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve,12 so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall13 and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests,14 for the good hand of my God was on me.

5	tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 5).
6	tn Heb “devoured” or “eaten” (so also in Neh 2:13).
7	tn Heb “said to me.”
8	tn Heb “If upon the king it is good.” So also in v. 7.
9	tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”
10	tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”
11	tn Heb “across the river,” here and often elsewhere in the Book of Nehemiah.
12	tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.
13	tc One medieval Hebrew ms, the Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate, and the Arabic read here the plural וּלְחוֹמוֹת (ulékhomot, “walls”) against the singular וּלְחוֹמַת (ulékhomat) in the MT. The plural holem vav (וֹ) might have dropped out due to dittography or the plural form might have been written defectively.
14	tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.