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:
But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem. Eliashib-concluding that, as Nehemiah had departed from Jerusalem and, on the expiration of his allotted term of absence, had resigned his government, he had gone not to return-began to use great liberties, and, there being none left whose authority or frown he dreaded, allowed himself to do things most unworthy of his sacred office, and which, though in unison with his own irreligious character, he would not have dared to attempt during the residence of the pious governor. Nehemiah resided 12 years as Governor of Jerusalem, and having succeeded in repairing and re-fortifying the city, he, at the end of that period, returned to his duties in Shushan.
In the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon. (See the note at Ezra 6:22.) How long he remained there is not expressly said, but "after certain days," which is a Scripture phraseology for a year or a number of years, he obtained leave to resume the government of Jerusalem; and, to his deep mortification and regret, found matters in the neglected and disorderly state here described. Such gross irregularities as were practiced-such extraordinary corruptions as had crept in-evidently imply the lapse of a considerable time. Besides, they exhibit the character of Eliashib, the high priest, in a most unfavourable light; for while he ought, by his office, to have preserved the inviolable sanctity of the temple and its furniture, his influence had been directly exercised for evil; especially, he had given permission and countenance to a most indecent outrage-the appropriation of the best apartments in the sacred building to a pagan governor, one of the worst and most determined enemies of the people and the worship of God. The very first reform Nehemiah, on his second visit, resolved upon, was the stopping of this gross profanation; and the chamber which had been polluted by the residence of the idolatrous Ammonite was, after undergoing the process of ritual purification (Numbers 15:9), restored to its proper use-a storehouse for the sacred vessels.