king’s previous decision (Ezra 4:21), which must, of necessity, be amended. All Artaxerxes asks is, “For how long will your journey be, and when will you return?” And Nehemiah gives him a definite time—twelve years (Nehemiah 2:6; 5:14; 13:6). Allowing Nehemiah to go to Judah will mean great personal loss to Artaxerxes. This has caused some writers to conclude that there must be an error in the text, for Artaxerxes, they reason, would certainly not allow such a valuable employee to be gone from court