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Nehemiah 2:8
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6 Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), “How long will your journey be? And when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him aa time.  
7 Furthermore I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the agovernors of the region beyond1 the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah,  
8 and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the1 citadel which pertains ato the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.” And the king granted them to me baccording to the good hand of my God upon me.  
9 Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
10 When aSanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel.  
Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
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Nehemiah 2:8

Asaph the keeper of the king ' s forest - hapardes of the paradise of the king. This I believe is originally a Persian word; it frequently occurs in Arabic, ferdoos , and in Greek, , and in both signifies a pleasant garden, vineyard, pleasure garden, and what we call a paradise.

Above the hall of audience, in the imperial palace at Dehli, the following Persian couplet is inscribed: -

\ri720 "If there be a paradise on the face of the earth, this is it, this is it, this is it."

Thus we find that the word is applied to denote splendid apartments, as well as fine gardens; in a word, any place of pleasure and delight. The king' s forest mentioned in the text might have been the same to Artaxerxes, as the New Forest was to William the Conqueror, or Windsor Forest to the late amiable sovereign of the British people, George the Third.

And the king granted me , etc. - This noble spirited man attributes every thing to God. He might have said, I had been long a faithful servant to the king; and he was disposed, in reward of my fidelity, to grant my request; but he would not say so: "He granted my request, because the good hand of my God was upon me." God favored me, and influenced the king' s heart to do what I desired.


 
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