of...Artaxerxes That was Darius, and because of his kingship he was called this.

wine before him They brought wine before the king in the court.

and I carried the wine And I carried the cup of wine and gave it to the king, and so is the custom, that the one who brings wine into the king’s court does not carry it and give it to the king, but the chief butler receives it from the hand of the one who brings it, and carries it and gives it to the king.

And I had never been sad in his presence And I was not accustomed to being sad in his presence, to have a sad face, but to be happy and cheerful, but now I was sad with a sad face.

You are not ill Is it not so that you are not ill?

This is nothing This incident is only wickedness of heart, that you have in your heart to put me to death by poisoning this cup.

And I became very frightened And I became very frightened about this, lest the king accuse me falsely.

Why should my countenance not be sad [as translated,] why should my countenance not be sad.

when the city Jerusalem, which is the place of the graves of my forefathers, is laid waste.

For what do you make request What do you request of me and I shall do it for you.

And I prayed And I said before the king in my prayer, “May it be Your will, O God of the heavens, that You fulfill my petition and my request.”

that you send me that you grant me permission to ascend to Jerusalem and build it.

And the king said to me At the time the king spoke to me, his wife, the queen, was sitting beside him.

and the queen Heb. וְהַשֵּׁגָל, his wife the queen, as it is stated (Dan. 5:2): “...his queen (שֵּׁגְלָתֵהּ) and his concubine,” for it is customary for Scripture to write “the queen,” next to “the concubine”; his wives and his concubines, like (Song 6:9): “מְלָכוֹת וּפִּילַגְשִּׁים, queens and concubines. “

How long will your trip take When is it your intention to return?

and when will you return? When is it your intention to return?

and he sent me He gave me permission to go.

and I gave him a time I gave him a time of return.

may letters be given to me [Let] your scribes [give me letters] by your sanction and your knowledge, sealed with your signet to the governors of the land beyond the river, on the side of the land of Israel.

that they escort me through and escort me in peace.

until I come to Jerusalem, which is in the province of Judea.

And a letter to Asaph and that you send a letter to Asaph.

the guardian of the king’s orchard He was appointed over the king’s forests.

to make beams This is the intensive conjugation: to make ceilings and beams for the gates of the castles of the Temple Mount, for they had built the Temple as it should be built, but the gates of the walls of the Temple Mount and the wall for the court surrounding the Temple had not yet been built.

and for the wall of the city and to make beams for the wall of the city.

and for the house to which I shall go and to make a house in which I shall dwell for my needs.

and the king gave me all I asked him for.

according to the good hand according to the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, which was good upon me, to cause me to succeed.

and I gave them the king’s letters in order that they escort me in peace.

officers of the army and horsemen the king sent with me [officers] in my honor, in order that I go in peace.

Now Sanballat etc., heard When they heard that I had come to request good for Israel and to build the walls of Jerusalem it displeased them greatly, for they were the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin.

and I was there for three days I was in Jerusalem for three days, and at the end of three days, I and a few men with me arose at night, and I did not tell any person what the Holy One, blessed be He, had put into my heart.

and there were no animals with me The few men who were with me went by foot and I alone rode on an animal. They did not ride their horses because they wanted to leave the city in secret, without anyone knowing. They went to break and cast down the walls of the city at night and to increase their breaches in order that on the morrow, the people of the city would be eager and agree unanimously with Nehemiah to build the walls of the city. So it appears from the text.

And I went out through the Gate of the Valley I went out through that gate at night with the men who were with me toward En Hattannin and the Dung Gate in the wall of the city; and I broke the wall, and the wall was easily cast down and broken because it had been burned with fire.

which were breached which are those places that were breached, and they breached them more.

And I passed to the Fountain Gate And I wished to pass to those places in the wall of the city and in those breaches, and there was no place in those breaches for riders on animals to pass through because they were so small.

And I ascended And I was ascending from one side at night, and I was breaking the wall with the men who were with me.

and I returned and came And when I returned, I came by way of the Gate of the Valley.

And the prefects who were in the city did not know where I had gone to and what I had done.

yet Heb. עַד כֵּן, until now.

And I said to them On the morrow I said to them.

and we shall no longer be a reproach that our adversaries should not plunder and pillage us.

the hand of my God who gave me favor and success before the king.

for good They intended everything for good—to build the wall of the city and its towers.

and they mocked When our adversaries heard the news of the building of the walls of the city, they mocked us.

are...against the king Are you rebelling against the king by building the wall of the city in order to rebel against him?

but you have no share What do you have in the building of the wall of this city, for you have no share in it.