Atlas Biblica

    Nehemiah · 20 verses

    Nehemiah 2

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    A king grants a rebuilding mission, letters, timber, and cavalry; then the man carrying it out slips into Jerusalem by night and finds his inspection stopped by the simple fact that his animal cannot get through.

    A request before the kingvv. 1–10

    In the month of Nisan, the king notices that his servant is sad, and the servant, frightened, tells him why: the city where his fathers are buried lies in ruins. A prayer to the God of heaven is tucked neatly between the king’s question and the answer. The request grows as it is spoken—first permission to go to Judah, then letters for the governors west of the Euphrates, then timber from Asaph for gates, walls, and a house. The king grants it all, and even sends army officers and cavalry. Sanballat and Tobiah are deeply disturbed that anyone has come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.

    The inspection by nightvv. 11–16

    After three days in Jerusalem, the inspection begins quietly, with a few men and one animal. Nobody is told what has been laid on the man’s heart to do. The walls and burned gates are examined in the dark, route by route, until the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool produce the chapter’s most practical obstacle: there is no room for the animal. The rider goes up the valley instead and returns through the Valley Gate, while the officials remain entirely unaware of both destination and purpose.

    The wall and its enemiesvv. 17–20

    Only after the private circuit does the appeal become public. Jerusalem’s trouble is placed before the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, and workers, and they answer by setting their hands to the work. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem then arrive with mockery and the splendidly ominous question of rebellion against the king. The reply leaves the work, its success, and the trespassers’ lack of portion, right, or claim in Jerusalem in their proper places.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Neh 2:1Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,

    2. Neh 2:2so the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This could only be sadness of the heart.” I was overwhelmed with fear

    3. Neh 2:3and replied to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should I not be sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”

    4. Neh 2:4“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven

    5. Neh 2:5and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”

    6. Neh 2:6Then the king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time.

    7. Neh 2:7I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may letters be given to me for the governors west of the Euphrates, so that they will grant me safe passage until I reach Judah.

    8. Neh 2:8And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy.” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

    9. Neh 2:9Then I went to the governors west of the Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

    10. Neh 2:10But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were deeply disturbed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites.

    11. Neh 2:11After I had arrived in Jerusalem and had been there three days,

    12. Neh 2:12I set out at night with a few men. I did not tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with me was the one on which I was riding.

    13. Neh 2:13So I went out at night through the Valley Gate toward the Well of the Serpent and the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that had been broken down and the gates that had been destroyed by fire.

    14. Neh 2:14Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to get through;

    15. Neh 2:15so I went up the valley by night and inspected the wall. Then I headed back and reentered through the Valley Gate.

    16. Neh 2:16The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.

    17. Neh 2:17Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

    18. Neh 2:18I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me, and what the king had said to me. “Let us start rebuilding,” they replied, and they set their hands to this good work.

    19. Neh 2:19But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

    20. Neh 2:20So I answered them and said, “The God of heaven is the One who will grant us success. We, His servants, will start rebuilding, but you have no portion, right, or claim in Jerusalem.”

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 175 passages were voted onto 19 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 18Philippians 2:13For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.
    • 20Ezra 4:3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other heads of the families of Israel replied, “You have no part with us in building a house for our God, since we alone must build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us.”
    • 20Acts 8:21You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God.
    • 181 Chronicles 19:13Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.”
    • 182 Chronicles 32:5Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.
    • 18Ephesians 6:10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
    • 4Philippians 4:6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
    • 18Haggai 1:13–14Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, delivered the message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD.
    • 20Nehemiah 2:4“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven
    • 17Ezekiel 5:14I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
    • 19Nehemiah 6:6that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,
    • 20Isaiah 56:5I will give them, in My house and within My walls, a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.
    • 20Acts 10:31and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God.
    • 4Nehemiah 1:4When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
    • 4Proverbs 3:6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
    • 8Isaiah 66:14When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.

    Onward

    Keep reading

    Next chapterNehemiah 332 verses.Named hereValley GateEverything the graph connects to this name.BookNehemiahAll 13 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.