Let the king live. The usual Oriental salutation.
lieth waste. Compare Nehemiah 1:3. Impossible if Ezra with his 42,360 returned exiles were already there, and had rebuilt the temple! See notes on Nehemiah 1:2; Nehemiah 5:5, and on the Chronological Structure (p. 617, with the notes on p. 618). See also note on Ezra 4:12, p. 624.
God of heaven. See note on Nehemiah 1:5.