Nehemiah 2:6-7

2:6 Then the king, with his consort ¹  sitting beside him, replied, “How long would your trip take, and when would you return?” Since the king was amenable to dispatching me, ²  I gave him a time. 2:7 I said to the king, “If the king is so inclined, let him give me letters for the governors of Trans-Euphrates ³  that will enable me to travel safely until I reach Judah,

Nehemiah 2:16

2:16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had been doing, for up to this point I had not told any of the Jews or the priests or the nobles or the officials or the rest of the workers.

¹ tn Or “queen,” so most English versions (cf. HALOT 1415 s.v. שֵׁגַל); TEV “empress.”

² tn Heb “It was good before the king and he sent me.”

³ tn Heb “across the river,” here and often elsewhere in the Book of Nehemiah.