by Dr. Lloyd T. Anderson
NEHEMIAH
A fter N ehemiah heard of the sad s ta te of Jerusalem, he mourned, fasted and p rayed . He prayed that the Lord would “grant him mercy in the sight of” Artaxer- xes, whose special permission he needed to go to Jerusalem. Meyer, “About four months later Nehemiah’s request to return was granted by the king (w. 1-8). Dur ing all the time, the cupbearer had not mentioned his idea to the ruler, nor had he shown any grief in the monarch’s presence. It may be that for most of the period the king had been at his winter residence. Finally Nehemiah in carrying out his duties was no longer able to conceal his depression of spirit. The king ob served and commented on the fact that Nehemiah was evidently sad. Since he obviously was in good bodily health, the ruler rightly con cluded that the sorrow must come from a condition of the heart rather than the body.” Secular historians have character ized Artaxerxes Longimanus as the mildest and most magnanimous of all Persian monarchs. In this interview with Nehemiah he certainly acted in accordance with this reputation. Im mediately sensing that Nehemiah had a desire to express to him con cerning the situation at Jerusalem, he invited his cupbearer to make his request. The petition Nehemiah made to Artaxerxes was that he be sent to Judah for the purpose of “building” the city of Jerusalem. Intimating that he was willing to grant his cupbearer’s request, the king asked certain questions as to how long the journey would take and the date when Nehemiah expected to return.
Voit, “Nehemiah especially com ments on the fact that this permis sion from the king was granted him in the presence of the queen. His tory indicates that the queens of Persia did not take part in state councils with their husbands. How ever, it should be remembered that this was not an official time of busi ness but rather during a meal. One ancient authority (Plutarch) writes that Artaxerxes married his sister Amytis. Another (Ctesias—a Greek physician who later served in the Persian court) says that his wife was named Damaspia. However, nothing is known about the latter except that she died on the same day as did her husband. Whether the queen of whom Nehemiah writes was one of these or still another woman we do not know.” The journey to Jerusalem is cov ered in few words (vv. 9-11). En route Nehemiah delivered to the dif ferent officials west of the Euphrates the epistles from the king which showed his own authority and pur pose. Verse 10 contains the first refer-
Two of Biota's faculty members Robert Hill (left) teacher of Anthropology and Missions, with Mr. David Hammond, assistant professor of Education and Director of Audio Visual Services for the school.
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