Nehemiah 2:4

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) So I prayed to the God of heaven.—The first note of that habit of ejaculatory prayer which is a characteristic of this book.

Benson Commentary

Nehemiah 2:4. Then the king said, For what dost thou make request? — Something thou wouldest have, what is it? The king had an affection for him, and was not pleased to see him dejected, and thus gave him encouragement to tell his mind. So I prayed to the God of heaven — I silently in my mind besought God to direct my thoughts and words, and to incline the king’s heart to grant my request.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:1-8 Our prayers must be seconded with serious endeavours, else we mock God. We are not limited to certain moments in our addresses to the King of kings, but have liberty to go to him at all times; approaches to the throne of grace are never out of season. But the sense of God's displeasure and the afflictions of his people, are causes of sorrow to the children of God, under which no earthly delights can comfort. The king encouraged Nehemiah to tell his mind. This gave him boldness to speak; much more may the invitation Christ has given us to pray, and the promise that we shall speed, encourage us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven, as infinitely above even this mighty monarch. He lifted up his heart to that God who understands the language of the heart. Nor should we ever engage in any pursuit in which it would be wrong for us thus to seek and expect the Divine direction, assistance, and blessing. There was an immediate answer to his prayer; for the seed of Jacob never sought the God of Jacob in vain.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I prayed to the God of heaven - Mentally and momentarily, before answering the king.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2-5. the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad?—It was deemed highly unbecoming to appear in the royal presence with any weeds or signs of sorrow (Es 4:2); and hence it was no wonder that the king was struck with the dejected air of his cupbearer, while that attendant, on his part, felt his agitation increased by his deep anxiety about the issue of the conversation so abruptly begun. But the piety and intense earnestness of the man immediately restored [Nehemiah] to calm self-possession and enabled him to communicate, first, the cause of his sadness (Ne 2:3), and next, the patriotic wish of his heart to be the honored instrument of reviving the ancient glory of the city of his fathers.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I prayed to the God of heaven, to direct my thoughts and words, and to incline the king’s heart to grant my request.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then the king said unto me, for what dost thou make request?.... The king supposed that there was a meaning in those looks and words of his, that he had a favour to ask of him, and therefore encourages him to it; or the king of himself moved this, as being desirous of doing anything for him he would propose, to make him easy:

so I prayed to the God of heaven; secretly, in an ejaculatory way, giving him thanks for thus disposing the king's heart towards him, and entreating he might be directed what to ask, and in a proper manner, and that he might succeed.

Geneva Study Bible

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed {e} to the God of heaven.

(e) I desired God in my heart to prosper my enterprise.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. For what dost thou make request] See Esther 4:8; Esther 7:1; Esther 7:7. The king is favourable, and asks how he can render assistance.

So I prayed] Literally, ‘And I prayed’. Nehemiah instantaneously turns from the great king of Persia to the King of kings. The simplicity with which Nehemiah narrates this little incident of his momentary ejaculatory prayer adds wonderfully to the vividness of the scene. For Nehemiah’s habit of recourse to prayer see ch. Nehemiah 4:4; Nehemiah 4:9, Nehemiah 5:19, Nehemiah 6:9; Nehemiah 6:14, Nehemiah 13:14.

It is not easy to parallel this act of ejaculatory prayer from the Old Testament. In the New Testament we turn to the examples of our Lord, e.g. John 11:41; John 12:27; Luke 23:34; and St Stephen, Acts 7:60.

The object of his prayer is doubtless for wisdom to make his request aright and for a favourable assent from the king. He could not but expect that the king would be startled by the magnitude of a request, first to nominate his cupbearer as the royal commissioner at Jerusalem, and then to empower him to rebuild its walls and defences.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? Artaxerxes understood that a complaint was contained in Nehemiah's speech, and that he must have a request to make. With gracious kindliness he facilitates its utterance. So I prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah was emphatically a man of prayer. In every danger, in every difficulty, still more at any crisis, prayer rose to his lips (see Nehemiah 4:4, 9; Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 6:9, 14; Nehemiah 13:14, etc.). Sometimes, as now, the prayer was offered silently and swiftly. Nehemiah 2:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Then the king, feeling interested, asked him: For what dost thou make request? על בּקּשׁ, to make request for or concerning a thing, like Ezra 8:23; Esther 4:8; Esther 7:7. The question shows that the king was inclined to relieve the distress of Jerusalem which had been just stated to him. "And so I prayed to the God of heaven," to ensure divine assistance in the request he was about to lay before the king. Then Nehemiah answered (Nehemiah 2:5), "If it please the king, and if thy servant is well-pleasing before thee, (I beg) that thou wouldest send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it." לפני ייטב, here and Esther 5:14, is of like meaning with בּעיני ייטב or טּוב, Esther 8:5; 2 Samuel 18:4 : if thy servant is right in thine eyes, i.e., if he thinks rightly concerning the matter in question. The matter of his request is directly combined with this conditional clause by אשׁר, the connecting term, I beg, being easily supplied from the king's question: For what dost thou beg?