But in all this, I was not at Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king; and after some days I asked leave of the king,
Parallel Translations
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But in all this, I was not at Jerusalem; for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king; and after some days I asked leave of the king,
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But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king:
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But in all this time I was not at Jerusalem; for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went unto the king, and after certain days asked I leave of the king;
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Nehemiah 13:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Nehemiah 5:14 Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brothers have not eaten the bread of the governor.
- Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”
- 2 Chronicles 24:17-18 Now after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came, and bowed down to the king. Then the king listened to them. They abandoned the house of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and the idols, so wrath came on Judah and Jerusalem for this their guiltiness.
- Ezra 6:22 and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; because Yahweh had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of God, the God of Israel’s house.
- Nehemiah 2:1 In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I picked up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.
- Nehemiah 2:5-6 I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may build it.” The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), “How long will your journey be? When will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time for him.
- Matthew 13:25 but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Called also Darius, Ezra 7:1.
Called also Darius, Ezra 7:1.
Or, at the year’s end.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Neh 13:6 But in all this [time] was not…
Neh 13:6 But in all this [time] was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king:
Ver. 6. But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem] And thence it was that things grew so far out of order. So when Moses was gone into the mount, the people set up the golden calf; they turned aside quickly, saith God, Exo 32:8. So were the Corinthians and Galatians so soon as St Paul’s back was but turned upon them, Gal 1:6, Levitate prorsus desultoria. And so were these Jews, notwithstanding their better purposes, promises, covenants; yea, and beginnings of reformation. See Neh 10:30.
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And after certain days] Heb. At the end of days; that is, at a year’s end, as Vatablus and Genebrard expound it. No longer than a year was Nehemiah away from his government (to show his dutiful respect to his master, the king of Persia, and to negotiate for his nation), but all things were out of frame, so well had the devil and his instruments bestirred them. But Junius rendereth the text, exactis aliquot annis, certain years being past; and Lyra thus, at the end of his days, or of his life, when he now waxed old, he had a desire to go and reform things amiss at Jerusalem, and to die and lay his bones there. So likewise Funccius, the eighth year after his return to Artaxerxes, which was also the last year of his reign. And indeed one would wonder how in less than one year’s time things so well settled should be so far disjointed; but that the devil is οο πονηρος, the great troubler, and had by sin hurled, at first, confusion over the whole creation in an instant.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain All this time was not I at Jerusalem; and…
All this time was not I at Jerusalem; and Eliashib took the occasion of my absence to do these things, supposing that I would no more return thither.
Came I unto the king, to wit, from Jerusalem; where he had been once and again.
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After certain days, Heb. in the end of days, or of a year, as that word oft signifies.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And I came to Jerusalem,.... Through the king's leave,…
And I came to Jerusalem,.... Through the king's leave, and with a commission from him:
and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah; was informed of the mal-administration of his office:
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in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God; whereby it was profaned and polluted.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain But, &c. - Eliashib took the occasion of my…
But, &c. - Eliashib took the occasion of my absence to do these things. Came I - From Jerusalem; where he had been once and again.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Was not I at Jerusalem] Nehemiah came…
Verse 6. Was not I at Jerusalem] Nehemiah came to Jerusalem in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes, and remained there till the thirty-second year, twelve years: then returned to Babylon, and staid one year; got leave to revisit his brethren; and found matters as stated in this chapter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Neh 13:6. But in all this time was I…
Neh 13:6. But in all this time was I not at Jerusalem — Which gave Eliashib the opportunity of doing these things; for unless Nehemiah had been absent, he durst not have done them. For in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes, came I unto the king — Namely, from Jerusalem, where he had been once and again; and after certain days obtained I leave of the king — To return to Jerusalem. In the Hebrew it is, At the end of days; that is, at the year’s end: for so the word ימים, jamim, (days,) often signifies in Scripture.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Artaxerxes king of Babylon - See Neh 1:1. Compare…
Artaxerxes king of Babylon - See Neh 1:1. Compare Ezr 6:22, where Darius Hystaspis is called “king of Assyria.”
After certain days - Or, “at the end of a year,” which is a meaning that the phrase often has Exo 13:10; Lev 25:29-30; Num 9:22. Nehemiah probably went to the court at Babylon in 433 B.C., and returned to Jerusalem 432 B.C.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Days. Prefixed (chap. ii. 6.) I asked. Hebrew, "was…
Days. Prefixed (chap. ii. 6.) I asked. Hebrew, "was required to attend by the king," for about ten years. After which period, I returned and found such disorders. Some believe that Nehemias had been at Babylon, a long while before the 32d year of the king.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain But in all this was not I at Jerusalem--Eliashib…
But in all this was not I at Jerusalem--Eliashib (concluding that, as Nehemiah had departed from Jerusalem, and, on the expiry of his allotted term of absence, had resigned his government, he had gone not to return) began to use great liberties, and, there being none left whose authority or frown he dreaded, allowed himself to do things most unworthy of his sacred office, and which, though in unison with his own irreligious character, he would not have dared to attempt during the residence of the pious governor. Nehemiah resided twelve years as governor of Jerusalem, and having succeeded in repairing and refortifying the city, he at the end of that period returned to his duties in Shushan. How long [Nehemiah] remained there is not expressly said, but "after certain days," which is a Scripture phraseology for a year or a number of years, he obtained leave to resume the government of Jerusalem; to his deep mortification and regret, he found matters in the neglected and disorderly state here described. Such gross irregularities as were practised, such extraordinary corruptions as had crept in, evidently imply the lapse of a considerable time. Besides, they exhibit the character of Eliashib, the high priest, in a most unfavorable light; for while he ought, by his office, to have preserved the inviolable sanctity of the temple and its furniture, his influence had been directly exercised for evil; especially he had given permission and countenance to a most indecent outrage--the appropriation of the best apartments in the sacred building to a heathen governor, one of the worst and most determined enemies of the people and the worship of God. The very first reform Nehemiah on his second visit resolved upon, was the stopping of this gross profanation [by Eliashib]. The chamber which had been polluted by the residence of the idolatrous Ammonite was, after undergoing the process of ritual purification (Num 15:9), restored to its proper use--a storehouse for the sacred vessels.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. All this time was not I at Jerusalem…
6. All this time was not I at Jerusalem — Else such profanation of the temple would not have been tolerated.
Two and thirtieth year — After having been governor of Jerusalem for twelve years. See Neh_5:14.
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King of Babylon — Artaxerxes is so called, because he ruled all the dominions of the ancient kingdom of Babylon. See note on Ezr_6:22.
Came I unto the king — When Nehemiah left the Persian court he set a time for his return, Neh_2:6, note. The time originally set may have been extended, but after twelve years’ absence, loyalty to the king required his return to the court.
After certain days — Hebrew, at the end of days; an indefinite period, perhaps several years.
Obtained I leave — The Hebrew indicates that he obtained leave of absence this second time only by an earnest petitioning. See margin.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. was not I] R.V. I was not.
6. was not I] R.V. I was not.
the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes] i.e. b.c. 433, twelve years since his appointment to be governor of Judea (Neh_2:6).
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king of Babylon] For this title applied to Artaxerxes king of Persia, cf. Ezr_6:22, ‘the king of Assyria.’ Babylon being by far the largest and most important city in the western portion of the Persian dominion, the expression was a natural one in the lips of a Jew. It hardly affords sufficient foundation for the assumption that king Artaxerxes happened to be residing at Babylon at the time of Nehemiah’s application for leave of absence.
came I] R.V. I went. We are left to suppose that Nehemiah had some time previously returned from Jerusalem to his post at Susa. That his governorship of Judea was only for a limited period is plainly hinted at by the king’s question in Neh_2:6, ‘And when wilt thou return?’ How long it lasted we are not told with any definiteness. From Neh_5:14 we may assume that he was governor for the greater part of 12 years.
after certain days] Literally, ‘at the end of days.’ A general expression, denoting a considerable interval. To restrict its meaning to ‘a year’ on the strength of certain passages (e.g. Exo_13:10; Lev_25:29; Num_9:22; Jdg_17:10) gives a very improbable explanation of the phrase, which is often used of a much more considerable period, e.g. ‘in process of time’ Gen_4:3, ‘after a while’ 1Ki_17:7.
obtained I leave] R.V. I asked leave. Perhaps in consequence of disquieting information which had reached him.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Was not I at Jerusalem.—Parenthetical explanation of this…
(6) Was not I at Jerusalem.—Parenthetical explanation of this disorderly state of things.
King of Babylon.—Probably it was at Babylon that Nehemiah found the court, and therefore he does not say “King of Persia.”
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After certain days.—The time is left indefinite. But the “two and thirtieth year” shows that he had been in Jerusalem twelve years before his return to the king.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain In all this time. Literally, "during all this while…
In all this time. Literally, "during all this while all this was being done. The reference seems to be solely to the affair of Eliashib and Tobiah. Artaxerxes, king of Babylon. The title "king of Babylon," which was certainly borne by Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius Hystaspis, may have continued in use down to the time of Nehemiah, or even later. If he visited Artaxerxes at Babylon, the court happening to be there at the time, he would naturally think and speak of him as "king of Babylon." After certain days. Literally, "at the end of days," which is thought to mean at the expiration of a year." I obtained leave of the king. Gesenius and Professor Lee render, "I asked leave of the king; Houbigant, Rambach, and others, "I was asked for from the king," i.e. "the Jews asked to have me sent back to govern them."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 But in all this time I was not in…
But in all this time I was not in Jerusalem
"During the time all this was happening, I was away from Jerusalem"
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I was not
Here "I" refers to Nehemiah.
a storeroom in the courts of the house of God
This was a room which had previously been purified to store offering supplies (Nehemiah 13:5).
translationWords
Jerusalem
Artaxerxes
king
Babylon
evil
court
house of God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 13:6 Nehemiah had returned to Persia after twelve years…
13:6 Nehemiah had returned to Persia after twelve years of service in Jerusalem (445–433 BC). The text does not say how long he stayed there, but it was probably no longer than a year or two. When he arrived back in Jerusalem, he found Tobiah living in the Temple storeroom (13:1-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.