Chapter 2

2:1  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.

Nisan

first month i.e. April.

2:10  When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

Tobiah

Two Tobiahs are distinguished by many:

(1) "Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite," Nehemiah 2:10 Nehemiah 2:19 ; Nehemiah 4:3 Nehemiah 4:7 Nehemiah 6:1 Nehemiah 6:12 Nehemiah 6:14 .

(2) A Jew, unable to prove his genealogy. But the reference to the latter ( Nehemiah 7:62 ) indicates that he was already dead. But one Tobiah, and he the Ammonite, is active in this book.

2:19  But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

laughed

The obstacle of ridicule.