Nehemiah 2
Nehemiah 2 is the second chapter of the Book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, or the 12th chapter of the book of Ezra-Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, which treats the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah as one book. Jewish tradition states that Ezra is the author of Ezra-Nehemiah as well as the Book of Chronicles, but modern scholars generally accept that a compiler from the 5th century BCE (the so-called "Chronicler") is the final author of these books. From the time he hears about Jerusalem during the  month of Kislev (November/December), Nehemiah waited until the month of Nisan (March/April) to petition Artaxerxes I of Persia to be allowed to go and help the rebuilding of Jerusalem. His petition is granted by the king, and although with less authority than Ezra over the officials of "Beyond-the-River", Nehemiah was given an official position with an escort of officers and cavalry. Text. This chapter is divided into 20 verses. The original text of this chapter is in the Hebrew language. Textual witnesses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the  Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis (1008). There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; formula_1; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: formula_1; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; formula_1; 5th century). Wise as serpents (2:1–8). The scene of this part is the banqueting hall of King Artaxerxes, where Nehemiah carries out his duties as a cup-bearer. H. E. Ryle suggests that Nehemiah is the king's "favourite cup-bearer". Nehemiah is sad, and the king asks  why. McConville argues that the display of a long face before the king shows three significant aspects of Nehemiah: courage, godliness and wisdom, which bear dire risk of his life (cf. Esther before Ahasuerus, ). Reconnaissance and Opposition (2:9–20). This part describes Nehemiah's journey to Jerusalem, and his first actions when he arrived there, especially his preliminary reconnaissance of the walls at night, and the revelation of his plan to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The resentment from local people (verses 10–12) recalls Ezra 1–6. Verse 9. The military escort given by the king to Nehemiah consisted of officers ("captains ; sārê"), army ("ḥayil"), and cavalry ("horsemen"; "pārāšîm"). The evidence of Persian soldiers stationed in Judah is shown in the cist-type tombs which otherwise can only be found in Persian archaeological sites. The three enemies geographically surrounded Nehemiah: Sanballat the Horonite to the north, Tobiah the Ammonite to the east, and Geshem ("Kedarites") to the south. Good versus evil. According to J Gordon McConville, a conflict between good ("tob") and evil ("ra’") underlies the action of this chapter which is not immediately obvious in the English translation: Nehemiah's face is "sad" (verses 1–3) is actually described using the word  evil, which is also used for the word "trouble" of Jerusalem (verse 17, or in 1:3), whereas the expression "it pleased the king" (verses 6 & 7) is literally "it was "good" to the king", as also in "the "good" hand of God is upon Nehemiah" (verses 8, 18), or "the good work" (verse 18), which is simply "the good" (or "the good thing”"). Verse 10 shows most pointed contrast, where "it displeased them" is literally "it was evil to them", whereas "welfare" of the Jews is "their "good"". In this context, the king's decision and the rebuilding of the  walls are "good", whereas the broken walls, Nehemiah's grief, or the conspiration of Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, are "evil".