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Nehemiah 2:4-8 (ANIV)
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”
Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favour in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.”
6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

DRAWING NOTES:

TIME OF DAY:
Unspecified I the Bible narrative. I imagine these events occurred in the daytime, perhaps I the morning.

LIGHTING NOTES:
Defuse sunlight (coming in from the marble arches to the right) illuminate this scene. vague shadows fall below and to the left of the figures and objects.

CHARACTERS PRESENT:
From left to right: king Artaxerxes, his queen, Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, a servant girl waving a fan.

RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
This scene is set in the palace of king Artaxerxes, in the citadel of Susa. His queen is sitting by his side (see verse 6), holding his hand as he talks to Nehemiah. I quite liked the idea of the royal couple lounging on a huge, comfy sofa chair! I have given the king and queen very ornate clothing, befitting their status. Nehemiah also has a long, decorated tunic, befitting his status as the cupbearer to the king.

We can see out into some ornamental gardens beyond the pink marble pillars and arches of the king’s palace.

Notice that verse 6 refers to Nehemiah “setting a time”. This refers to him telling the king how long Nehemiah would be away from the Persian court. The Bible text doesn’t tell us the amount of time Nehemiah suggested, probably it was not a long time period, maybe between six months or a year. Implied is Nehemiah’s promise to return to the king, or else he would require his leave of absence to be lengthened. In the same year that Nehemiah left for Jerusaelm he was made governor of the Jews; a task and office he held for the next twelve years, i.e. from the twentieth to the thirty-second year of king Artaxerxes I. This 12 year governorship is confirmed in Nehemiah 5:14.
Nehemiah then returned to the king at Susa; and after staying a short time, had leave to return to Jerusaelm once more, to put a stop to some abuses which Tobiah the Ammonite (and several others) had introduced into the temple (see Nehemiah 13:6, 7).
Having fixed the erroneous implementations of these men in Jerusaelm, Nehemiah likely returned to the Persian king, and probably died in this office of cup-bearer, even though the Bible doesn’t record this event.