Nehemiah 1:11

This day. This phrase probably means no more than “upon this occasion,” and should not be pressed as evidence that here Nehemiah refers to the prayer he uttered on the day of his interview with the king (see Neh. 2).

This man. That is, King Artaxerxes, thus far not mentioned by name, but nevertheless always in the petitioner’s mind. Nehemiah realized that the reproach of Jerusalem could be lifted only through royal intervention, and was convinced that he would have to go to Jerusalem himself in order to change the prevailing situation.

I was the king’s cupbearer. Literally, “I was cupbearer to the king,” not sole cupbearer but one of several. He mentions the fact here, partly to explain the meaning of “this man” to the reader and partly because it was his office that gave him access to Artaxerxes. Nehemiah is one of many examples of exiled Jews attaining to positions of influence and working in the interests of their people. Because cupbearers had contact with the inmates of the royal harem (see Neh. 2:6), most of them were eunuchs. It is possible that Nehemiah was a eunuch. Some manuscripts of the LXX render the Heb. mashqeh, “cupbearer,” as eunouchos, “eunuch,” rather than oinochoos, “cupbearer.”