Why is there a reference to the queen sitting beside the king? It probably indicates that this meeting was a private one between the king and Nehemiah since women were not ordinarily present at public banquets, although there is an exception in Dan 5.2. In fact, it may not have been the queen but a favored member of the king’s harem since the Hebrew word used here usually refers to a concubine, that is, a woman holding lower status than a wife of the king (see also Jdg 5.30; Psa 45.9 [10 in Hebrew]; Dan 5.2-3, 23). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh therefore translates it as “consort” and Revised English Bible as “queen consort.” Greek historians report that women had a strong influence during the reign of Artaxerxes. It may have been that Nehemiah had used the influence of this person to gain a favorable response from the king. However, in this context and in conformity with most versions, translators should use an equivalent to queen or “empress” and not “concubine.” Revised Standard Version encloses this information in parentheses as though it is an editorial comment, but most versions do not set it apart in this way.

The king answered Nehemiah with two questions: How long will you be gone, and when will you return? It seems that the king approved Nehemiah’s request before he answered the question. This was so understood by Nehemiah in the following statement: So it pleased the king to send me. Nehemiah observes that it was good in the king’s eyes to send him. Nouvelle version Segond révisée translates “It pleased the king to let me go,” while Traduction œcuménique de la Bible says “It seemed good to the king to send me.” The reason it pleased the king may have been the fact that Egypt was in the process of rebelling against Artaxerxes and he needed a loyal, fortified city in the western part of the empire to defend against possible attacks from that direction.

I set him a time is Nehemiah’s response to the king’s questions; that is, Nehemiah said how long he would be gone. Contemporary English Version restructures this to read “I told him when I would return.” In some languages there are idiomatic expressions for indicating time; for example, “I cut the time when I would come back” or “I marked the time.” The time is not given here. Later in 5.14 Nehemiah states that he was governor of Judah for twelve years, but at this time he probably did not anticipate that he would stay that long.

Good News Translation restructures the verse to present the sequence of events in chronological order, and translators may need to do likewise.

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .