Bible Strands
Nehemiah 13:6
While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to Artaxerxes king of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah addresses the Judahite community regarding his physical absence from Jerusalem while temple provisions were being misappropriated. He notes this gap occurred during the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes' reign and clarifies that he later secured royal permission to return.
The words — The Hebrew לֹא (lo') negates the verb הָיִיתִי (hayiti), literally rendering "I was not" in Jerusalem. The numeral שְלֹשִׁים (sheloshim) specifies the exact regnal year of the Persian monarch, anchoring the timeline of his departure.
The thread — The narrative of a leader's absence and subsequent return to address corruption parallels Moses' delay on Sinai (Exodus 32:1) and the post-Jehoiada leadership vacuum in Judah (2 Chronicles 24:17). Nehemiah's own administrative timeline is cross-referenced with his earlier governorship under Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 5:14).
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that institutional corruption often advances precisely when oversight is removed. It demands immediate accountability and structural correction once authority is restored, without excuse for the interim neglect.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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:
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 5:14 Furthermore, from the day King Artaxerxes appointed me to be their governor in the land of Judah, from his twentieth year until his thirty-second year (twelve years total), neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor.
- Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him!”
- 2 Chronicles 24:17 After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.
- Ezra 6:22 For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.
- Nehemiah 2:1 Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence,
- Nehemiah 2:5 and answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city where my fathers are buried, so that I may rebuild it.”
- Matthew 13:25 But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away.