From the early Church Fathers to now.
1 Jewish · 2 Reformed · 1 Methodist · 1 Catholic
“And the king said to me: Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou dost not appear to be sick? this is not without cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in thy heart. And I was seized with an exceeding great fear:”
“You are not ill Is it not so that you are not ill? This is nothing This incident is only wickedness of heart, that you have in your heart to put me to death by poisoning this cup. And I became very frightened And I became very frightened about this, lest the king accuse me falsely.”
“Wherefore the king said unto me, why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick?.... He had no disorder upon him to change his countenance and make him sorrowful, and therefore asks what should be the reason of it: this is nothing else but sorrow of heart; this is not owing to any bodily disease or pain, but some inward trouble of mind; or "wickedness of heart" (p), some ill design in his mind, which being conscious of, and thoughtful about, was discovered in his countenance; he suspected, as Jarchi intimates, a design to kill him, by putting poison into his cup: then I was very sore afraid; lest the king should have suspicion of an ill design on him; or lest, since he must be obliged to give the true reason, he should not succeed in his request, it being so large, and perhaps many about the king were no friends to the Jews. (p) , Sept. "malum nescio quod in corde tuo est", V. L.”
“Then I was very sore afraid - Probably the king spoke as if he had some suspicion that Nehemiah harboured some bad design, and that his face indicated some conceived treachery or remorse.”
“Is not. Hebrew, “nothing but sorrow of heart;” (Syriac; Calmet; Protestants) or rather, thou art meditating only treason. Septuagint, “This is nothing but wickedness of heart,” (Haydock) which often shews itself on the countenance. The king might suspect that he was giving him poison. (Menochius) — Hence Nehemias feared, (Calmet) dreading such suspicions, (Haydock) and aware lest the company might frustrate his good design, as contrary to the interests of the crown. (Tirinus)”
“the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad?--It was deemed highly unbecoming to appear in the royal presence with any weeds or signs of sorrow (Est 4:2); and hence it was no wonder that the king was struck with the dejected air of his cupbearer, while that attendant, on his part, felt his agitation increased by his deep anxiety about the issue of the conversation so abruptly begun. But the piety and intense earnestness of the man immediately restored [Nehemiah] to calm self-possession and enabled him to communicate, first, the cause of his sadness (Neh 2:3), and next, the patriotic wish of his heart to be the honored instrument of reviving the ancient glory of the city of his fathers.”
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.