This invocation occurs numerous times in Scripture (1 Kings 1:31; Daniel 2:4; Daniel 3:9; Daniel 5:10; Daniel 6:6, Daniel 6:21). This suggests it was common for such a wish to be expressed in the presence of the king as a conversation was begun. With this statement, Nehemiah acknowledges that the king has connections to the deity, so that he (unlike his suppliant) has access to unending earthly life.
3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”