Favor with King Artakh’shasta
Nehemiah 2: 1-20
Four or five months after receiving sad news concerning the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah initiates a plan to secure the support of the Persian king for a rebuilding program. That he waited such a long time to act may reflect the delicate nature of his request for the king’s help. As we have already noted, Ezra reports that King Artakh’shasta had issued a decree which ordered work on the walls of Jerusalem to be stopped (to see link click Av – Letters to Ahasuerus and Artakh’shasta). Nehemiah needed to be careful with his planning, waiting for the exact time for approaching the king on that controversial subject. Other examples of careful planning come to mind. Esther planned carefully as she sought to save her people (see the commentary on Esther Bb – The Plot Exposed by Esther); Naomi’s suggestion to Ruth about securing the assistance of Bo’az (see the commentary on Ruth Av – Na’omi’s Wonderful Plan for Ruth’s Life); and the discussion between Bathsheba and Nathan about an effective approach to David so that Solomon would be appointed king (see the commentary on the Life of Solomon Al – A Royal Conspiracy).
King Artakh’shasta responded favorably to Nehemiah, thus reversing his own decree. But Nehemiah would have opposition from three influential leaders: Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the servant, the Ammorite (Nehemiah 2:10 and 19), and Geshem the Arab. No doubt it was this strong opposition to his coming that caused Nehemiah to survey the City by night. Only a secret group of people knew of Nehemiah’s hidden, night tours when he inspected the ruins of Yerushalayim and estimated what could and should be done. When Nehemiah called the people together told them about the sorry state of Tziyon. They accepted his leadership and indicated that they were ready to begin the difficult task of rebuilding.210
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