Charles Ellicott Commentary Nehemiah 2:3

"And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers` sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?" — Nehemiah 2:3 (ASV)

Nehemiah’s family was from Jerusalem. He does not yet betray to the king the deepest desire of his heart, but simply refers to the desecration of his fathers’ tombs, an appeal which had great force with the Persians, who respected the tomb.