Nehemiah 2:6 - Forerunner Commentary

Nehemiah 2:6

4 Then the king said to me, “What do you request?” So I ^aprayed to the God of heaven.

5 And I said to 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 of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.”

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.

Nehemiah Views the Wall of Jerusalem

11 So I ^acame to Jerusalem and was there three days.

12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode.

Verse Comparison: Nehemiah 2:6

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American Standard Version
And the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Amplified® Bible
The king, beside whom the queen was sitting, asked me, How long will your journey take, and when will you return? So it pleased [him] to send me; and I set him a time.

Contemporary English Version
The queen was sitting beside the king when he asked me, "How long will it take, and when will you be back?" The king agreed to let me go, and I told him when I would return.

Darby English Version
And the king said to me -- the queen also sitting by him, -- For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Good News Bible
The emperor, with the empress sitting at his side, approved my request. He asked me how long I would be gone and when I would return, and I told him.

King James Version
And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

New American Standard Bible
Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, "How long will your journey be, and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time."

New International Version
Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

New King James Version
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 a time.

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, "How long will your journey take, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.

Revised Standard Version
And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), "How long will you be gone, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

Young's Literal Translation
And the king saith to me (and the queen is sitting near him), `How long is thy journey? and when dost thou return?' and it is good before the king, and he sendeth me away, and I set to him a time.

New English Translation
Then the king, with his consort¹ sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was amenable to dispatching me,² I gave him a time.

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