Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Nehemiah 2:8 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 8. 8And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse requests timber from Asaph and attributes the king's grant to God's good hand working through imperial resources.
Read It With
- Nehemiah 2:1–2:8
Read Nehemiah 2:1–2:8 together. This verse requests timber from Asaph and attributes the king's grant to God's good hand working through imperial resources. Read Nehemiah 2:1–2:8 as one complete scene: Artaxerxes notices Nehemiah's sadness; Nehemiah fears, explains Jerusalem's condition, prays briefly, requests leave and resources, and receives them.
Why This Verse Appears Here
A dated court encounter moves from visible sorrow through prayer and a defined request to royal authorization, timetable, letters, and timber. Its placement advances the book. The narrated 'good hand' of God works through a risky conversation and explicitly imperial permissions and materials rather than bypassing politics. Within that movement, this verse requests timber from Asaph and attributes the king's grant to God's good hand working through imperial resources.
Read Nehemiah 2:1–8 together
Why these verses belong together: A dated court encounter moves from visible sorrow through prayer and a defined request to royal authorization, timetable, letters, and timber.
Verse 1. 1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Verse 2. 2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
Verse 3. 3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Verse 4. 4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Verse 5. 5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
Verse 6. 6 And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
Verse 7. 7 Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
Verse 8. 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Follow the Context
- Artaxerxes notices Nehemiah's sadness; Nehemiah fears, explains Jerusalem's condition, prays briefly, requests leave and resources, and receives them.
- The narrated 'good hand' of God works through a risky conversation and explicitly imperial permissions and materials rather than bypassing politics.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Nehemiah 2:8 does not stand alone from Nehemiah 2:1–2:8. This favor does not prove that every royal policy is just or that prayer guarantees approval from powerful officials.
What Remains True
Within Nehemiah 2:1–2:8, Nehemiah 2:8 requests timber from Asaph and attributes the king's grant to God's good hand working through imperial resources. Faithful initiative can combine prayer, preparation, candor, realistic scope, and transparent use of institutional authority.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Nehemiah 2:8, attend to how the verse requests timber from Asaph and attributes the king's grant to God's good hand working through imperial resources. Bring a decision-maker a truthful problem statement, a bounded timeline, exact resource needs, and an accountable plan.
Teach It Back
Explain Nehemiah 2:8's precise role in Nehemiah 2:1–2:8. Include the first historical horizon, the surrounding verses, one person or cost that could be obscured, material uncertainty, and one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Nehemiah 2:1–2:8 — The cupbearer asks the king for time, letters, and timberSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The king is normally reconstructed as Artaxerxes I, but the verse names only Artaxerxes; the queen's identity and the precise route of authority remain uncertain.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Nehemiah 2:1–2:8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Nehemiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, repeated roots, Persian titles, names, and translation controls.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Neh.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 2:1–2:8
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Nehemiah with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: A unit-bounded KJV comparison plus only the lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, literary, or older-English notes actually printed for these verses; silence in the notes is not treated as positive evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Nehemiah PDF, printed p. 764, translation text and any translator notes printed for 2:1–2:8
Open source ↗