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Nehemiah 6:14 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

14 My God, H430 think H2142 thou upon Tobiah H2900 and Sanballat H5571 according to these their works, H4639 and on the prophetess H5031 Noadiah, H5129 and the rest H3499 of the prophets, H5030 that would have put me in fear. H3372

Cross Reference

Nehemiah 13:29 STRONG

Remember H2142 them, O my God, H430 because they have defiled H1352 the priesthood, H3550 and the covenant H1285 of the priesthood, H3550 and of the Levites. H3881

2 Timothy 4:14-15 STRONG

Alexander G223 the coppersmith G5471 did G1731 me G3427 much G4183 evil: G2556 the Lord G2962 reward G591 him G846 according to G2596 his G846 works: G2041 Of whom G3739 be G5442 thou G4771 ware G5442 also; G2532 for G1063 he hath G436 greatly G3029 withstood G436 our G2251 words. G3056

Jeremiah 28:1 STRONG

And it came to pass the same year, H8141 in the beginning H7225 of the reign H4467 of Zedekiah H6667 king H4428 of Judah, H3063 in the fourth H7243 year, H8141 and in the fifth H2549 month, H2320 that Hananiah H2608 the son H1121 of Azur H5809 the prophet, H5030 which was of Gibeon, H1391 spake H559 unto me in the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 in the presence H5869 of the priests H3548 and of all the people, H5971 saying, H559

Revelation 19:20 STRONG

And G2532 the beast G2342 was taken, G4084 and G2532 with G3326 him G5127 the false prophet G5578 that wrought G4160 miracles G4592 before G1799 him, G846 with G1722 which G3739 he deceived G4105 them that had received G2983 the mark G5480 of the beast, G2342 and G2532 them that worshipped G4352 his G846 image. G1504 These both G1417 were cast G906 alive G2198 into G1519 a lake G3041 of fire G4442 burning G2545 with G1722 brimstone. G2303

1 John 5:16 STRONG

If G1437 any man G5100 see G1492 his G846 brother G80 sin G264 a sin G266 which is not G3361 unto G4314 death, G2288 he shall ask, G154 and G2532 he shall give G1325 him G846 life G2222 for them that sin G264 not G3361 unto G4314 death. G2288 There is G2076 a sin G266 unto G4314 death: G2288 I do not G3756 say G3004 that G2443 he shall pray G2065 for G4012 it. G1565

2 Timothy 3:8 STRONG

G3739 Now G1161 as G5158 Jannes G2389 and G2532 Jambres G2387 withstood G436 Moses, G3475 so G3779 do G436 these G3778 also G2532 resist G436 the truth: G225 men G444 of corrupt G2704 minds, G3563 reprobate G96 concerning G4012 the faith. G4102

Matthew 24:24 STRONG

For G1063 there shall arise G1453 false Christs, G5580 and G2532 false prophets, G5578 and G2532 shall shew G1325 great G3173 signs G4592 and G2532 wonders; G5059 insomuch that, G5620 if G1487 it were possible, G1415 they shall deceive G4105 the very G2532 elect. G1588

Matthew 24:11 STRONG

And G2532 many G4183 false prophets G5578 shall rise, G1453 and G2532 shall deceive G4105 many. G4183

Matthew 7:15 STRONG

Beware G1161 G4337 of G575 false prophets, G5578 which G3748 come G2064 to G4314 you G5209 in G1722 sheep's G4263 clothing, G1742 but G1161 inwardly G2081 they are G1526 ravening G727 wolves. G3074

Ezekiel 13:16-17 STRONG

To wit, the prophets H5030 of Israel H3478 which prophesy H5012 concerning Jerusalem, H3389 and which see H2374 visions H2377 of peace H7965 for her, and there is no peace, H7965 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069 Likewise, thou son H1121 of man, H120 set H7760 thy face H6440 against the daughters H1323 of thy people, H5971 which prophesy H5012 out of their own heart; H3820 and prophesy H5012 thou against them,

Jeremiah 28:15 STRONG

Then said H559 the prophet H5030 Jeremiah H3414 unto Hananiah H2608 the prophet, H5030 Hear H8085 now, Hananiah; H2608 The LORD H3068 hath not sent H7971 thee; but thou makest this people H5971 to trust H982 in a lie. H8267

Jeremiah 28:10 STRONG

Then Hananiah H2608 the prophet H5030 took H3947 the yoke H4133 from off the prophet H5030 Jeremiah's H3414 neck, H6677 and brake H7665 it.

1 Kings 22:22-24 STRONG

And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto him, Wherewith? And he said, H559 I will go forth, H3318 and I will be a lying H8267 spirit H7307 in the mouth H6310 of all his prophets. H5030 And he said, H559 Thou shalt persuade H6601 him, and prevail H3201 also: go forth, H3318 and do H6213 so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD H3068 hath put H5414 a lying H8267 spirit H7307 in the mouth H6310 of all these thy prophets, H5030 and the LORD H3068 hath spoken H1696 evil H7451 concerning thee. But Zedekiah H6667 the son H1121 of Chenaanah H3668 went near, H5066 and smote H5221 Micaiah H4321 on the cheek, H3895 and said, H559 Which way H335 went H5674 the Spirit H7307 of the LORD H3068 from me to speak H1696 unto thee?

Jeremiah 18:20-23 STRONG

Shall evil H7451 be recompensed H7999 for good? H2896 for they have digged H3738 a pit H7745 for my soul. H5315 Remember H2142 that I stood H5975 before H6440 thee to speak H1696 good H2896 for them, and to turn away H7725 thy wrath H2534 from them. Therefore deliver up H5414 their children H1121 to the famine, H7458 and pour out H5064 their blood by the force H3027 of the sword; H2719 and let their wives H802 be bereaved H7909 of their children, and be widows; H490 and let their men H582 be put H2026 to death; H4194 let their young men H970 be slain H5221 by the sword H2719 in battle. H4421 Let a cry H2201 be heard H8085 from their houses, H1004 when thou shalt bring H935 a troop H1416 suddenly H6597 upon them: for they have digged H3738 a pit H7745 H7882 to take H3920 me, and hid H2934 snares H6341 for my feet. H7272 Yet, LORD, H3068 thou knowest H3045 all their counsel H6098 against me to slay H4194 me: forgive H3722 not their iniquity, H5771 neither blot out H4229 their sin H2403 from thy sight, H6440 but let them be overthrown H3782 before H6440 thee; deal H6213 thus with them in the time H6256 of thine anger. H639

Jeremiah 14:18 STRONG

If I go forth H3318 into the field, H7704 then behold the slain H2491 with the sword! H2719 and if I enter H935 into the city, H5892 then behold them that are sick H8463 with famine! H7458 yea, both the prophet H5030 and the priest H3548 go about H5503 into a land H776 that they know H3045 not.

Jeremiah 14:15 STRONG

Therefore thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 concerning the prophets H5030 that prophesy H5012 in my name, H8034 and I sent H7971 them not, yet they say, H559 Sword H2719 and famine H7458 shall not be in this land; H776 By sword H2719 and famine H7458 shall those prophets H5030 be consumed. H8552

Jeremiah 11:20-23 STRONG

But, O LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 that judgest H8199 righteously, H6664 that triest H974 the reins H3629 and the heart, H3820 let me see H7200 thy vengeance H5360 on them: for unto thee have I revealed H1540 my cause. H7379 Therefore thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of the men H582 of Anathoth, H6068 that seek H1245 thy life, H5315 saying, H559 Prophesy H5012 not in the name H8034 of the LORD, H3068 that thou die H4191 not by our hand: H3027 Therefore thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 Behold, I will punish H6485 them: the young men H970 shall die H4191 by the sword; H2719 their sons H1121 and their daughters H1323 shall die H4191 by famine: H7458 And there shall be no remnant H7611 of them: for I will bring H935 evil H7451 upon the men H582 of Anathoth, H6068 even the year H8141 of their visitation. H6486

Isaiah 9:14-15 STRONG

Therefore the LORD H3068 will cut off H3772 from Israel H3478 head H7218 and tail, H2180 branch H3712 and rush, H100 in one H259 day. H3117 The ancient H2205 and honourable, H6440 H5375 he H1931 is the head; H7218 and the prophet H5030 that teacheth H3384 lies, H8267 he is the tail. H2180

Psalms 140:5-11 STRONG

The proud H1343 have hid H2934 a snare H6341 for me, and cords; H2256 they have spread H6566 a net H7568 by the wayside; H3027 H4570 they have set H7896 gins H4170 for me. Selah. H5542 I said H559 unto the LORD, H3068 Thou art my God: H410 hear H238 the voice H6963 of my supplications, H8469 O LORD. H3068 O GOD H3069 the Lord, H136 the strength H5797 of my salvation, H3444 thou hast covered H5526 my head H7218 in the day H3117 of battle. H5402 Grant H5414 not, O LORD, H3068 the desires H3970 of the wicked: H7563 further H6329 not his wicked device; H2162 lest they exalt H7311 themselves. Selah. H5542 As for the head H7218 of those that compass me about, H4524 let the mischief H5999 of their own lips H8193 cover H3680 them. Let burning coals H1513 fall H4131 H4131 upon them: let them be cast H5307 into the fire; H784 into deep pits, H4113 that they rise not up again. H6965 Let not an evil speaker H376 H3956 be established H3559 in the earth: H776 evil H7451 shall hunt H6679 the violent H2555 man H376 to overthrow H4073 him.

Psalms 63:1 STRONG

[[A Psalm H4210 of David, H1732 when he was in the wilderness H4057 of Judah.]] H3063 O God, H430 thou art my God; H410 early will I seek H7836 thee: my soul H5315 thirsteth H6770 for thee, my flesh H1320 longeth H3642 for thee in a dry H6723 and thirsty H5889 land, H776 where no H1097 water H4325 is;

Psalms 36:11-12 STRONG

Let not the foot H7272 of pride H1346 come H935 against me, and let not the hand H3027 of the wicked H7563 remove H5110 me. There are the workers H6466 of iniquity H205 fallen: H5307 they are cast down, H1760 and shall not be able H3201 to rise. H6965

Psalms 22:1 STRONG

[[To the chief Musician H5329 upon Aijeleth H365 Shahar, H7837 A Psalm H4210 of David.]] H1732 My God, H410 my God, H410 why hast thou forsaken H5800 me? why art thou so far H7350 from helping H3444 me, and from the words H1697 of my roaring? H7581

Nehemiah 5:19 STRONG

Think H2142 upon me, my God, H430 for good, H2896 according to all that I have done H6213 for this people. H5971

Nehemiah 4:4-5 STRONG

Hear, H8085 O our God; H430 for we are despised: H939 and turn H7725 their reproach H2781 upon their own head, H7218 and give H5414 them for a prey H961 in the land H776 of captivity: H7633 And cover H3680 not their iniquity, H5771 and let not their sin H2403 be blotted out H4229 from before H6440 thee: for they have provoked thee to anger H3707 before the builders. H1129

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 6

Commentary on Nehemiah 6 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-9

When Sanballat and the enemies associated with him were unable to obstruct the building of the wall of Jerusalem by Open violence (Neh 4), they endeavoured to ruin Nehemiah by secret snares. They invited him to meet them in the plain of Ono (Nehemiah 6:1, Nehemiah 6:2); but Nehemiah, perceiving that they intended mischief, replied to them by messengers, that he could not come to them on account of the building. After receiving for the fourth time this refusal, Sanballat sent his servant to Nehemiah with an open letter, in which he accused him of rebellion against the king of Persia. Nehemiah, however, repelled this accusation as the invention of Sanballat (Nehemiah 6:3-9). Tobiah and Sanballat, moreover, hired a false prophet to make Nehemiah flee into the temple from fear of the snares prepared for him, that they might then be able to calumniate him (Nehemiah 6:10-14). The building of the wall was completed in fifty-two days, and the enemies were disheartened (Nehemiah 6:15-17), although at that time many nobles of Judah had entered into epistolary correspondence with Tobiah, to obstruct the proceedings of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6:18, Nehemiah 6:19).

Nehemiah 6:1-2

The attempts of Sanballat and his associates to ruin Nehemiah . - Nehemiah 6:1, Nehemiah 6:2. When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of the enemies, heard that the wall was built, and that no breaches were left therein, though the doors were then not yet set up in the gates, he sent, etc. לו נשׁמע , it was heard by him, in the indefinite sense of: it came to his ears. The use of the passive is more frequent in later Hebrew; comp. Nehemiah 6:6, Nehemiah 6:7, Nehemiah 13:27; Esther 1:20, and elsewhere. On Sanballat and his allies, see remarks on Nehemiah 2:19. The “rest of our enemies” were, according to Nehemiah 4:1 (Nehemiah 4:7, A.V.), Ashdodites, and also other hostile individuals. וגו העת עד גּם introduces a parenthetical sentence limiting the statement already made: Nevertheless, down to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates. The wall-building was quite finished, but doors to the gates were as yet wanting to the complete fortification of the city. The enemies sent to him, saying, Come, let us meet together (for a discussion) in the villages in the valley of Ono. - In Nehemiah 6:7, נוּערה of the present verse. The form כּפרים , elsewhere only כּפר , 1 Chronicles 27:25, or כּפר , village, 1 Samuel 6:18, occurs only here. כּפירה , however, being found Ezra 2:25 and elsewhere as a proper name, the form כּפיר seems to have been in use as well as כּפר . There is no valid ground for regarding כּפרים as the proper name of a special locality. To make their proposal appear impartial, they leave the appointment of the place in the valley of Ono to Nehemiah. Ono seems, according to 1 Chronicles 8:12, to have been situate in the neighbourhood of Lod (Lydda), and is therefore identified by Van de Velde ( Mem . p. 337) and Bertheau with Kefr Ana (Arab. kfr ‛ânâ ) or Kefr Anna, one and three-quarter leagues north of Ludd. But no certain information concerning the position of the place can be obtained from 1 Chronicles 8:12; and Roediger (in the Hallische Lit. Zeitung , 1842, No. 71, p. 665) is more correct, in accordance both with the orthography and the sense, in comparing it with Beit Unia (Arab. byt ûniya ), north-west of Jerusalem, not far from Beitin (Bethel); comp. Rob. Pal . ii. p. 351. The circumstance that the plain of Ono was, according to the present verse, somewhere between Jerusalem and Samaria, which suits Beit Unia, but not Kefr Ana (comp. Arnold in Herzog's Realenc . xii. p. 759), is also in favour of the latter view. “But they thought to do me harm.” Probably they wanted to make him a prisoner, perhaps even to assassinate him.

Nehemiah 6:3

Nehemiah sent messengers to them, saying: “I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down thither. Why should the work cease whilst I leave it and come down to you?” That is, he let them know that he could not undertake the journey, because his presence in Jerusalem was necessary for the uninterrupted prosecution of the work of building.

Nehemiah 6:4

They sent to him four times in the same manner ( הזּה כּדּבר , comp. 2 Samuel 15:6), and Nehemiah gave them the same answer.

Nehemiah 6:5-6

Then Sanballat sent his servant in this manner, the fifth time, with an open letter, in which was written: “It is reported ( נשׁמע , it is heard) among the nations, and Gashmu saith, (that) thou and the Jews intend to rebel; for which cause thou buildest the wall, and thou wilt be their king, according to these words.” “The nations” are naturally the nations dwelling in the land, in the neighbourhood of the Jewish community. On the form Gashmu, comp. rem. on Nehemiah 2:19. הוה , the particip., is used of that which any one intends or prepares to do: thou art intending to become their king. על־כּן , therefore, for no other reason than to rebel, dost thou build the wall.

Nehemiah 6:7-8

It was further said in the letter: “Thou hast also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning thee in Jerusalem, saying, King of Judah; and now it will be reported to the king according to these words (or things). Come, therefore, and let us take counsel together,” sc. to refute these things as groundless rumours. By such accusations in an open letter, which might be read by any one, Sanballat thought to oblige Nehemiah to come and clear himself from suspicion by an interview.

Nehemiah 6:8

Nehemiah, however, saw through his stratagem, and sent word to him by a messenger: “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.” בּודאם , a contraction of בּודאם , from בּדא , which occurs again only in 1 Kings 12:33, to invent, to feign, especially evil things.

Nehemiah 6:9

“For,” adds Nehemiah when writing of these things, “they all desired to make us afraid, thinking ( לאמר ) their hands will cease from the work, that it be not done.” The last words, “And now strengthen my hands,” are to be explained by the fact that Nehemiah hastily transports himself into the situation and feelings of those days when he prayed to God for strength. To make this request fit into the train of thought, we must supply: I however thought, or said, Strengthen, O God, my hands. חזּק is imperative. The translation, in the first pers. sing. of the imperfect, “I strengthened” (lxx, Vulg., Syr.), is only an attempt to fit into their context words not understood by the translators.


Verses 10-14

A false prophet, hired by Tobiah and Sanballat, also sought, by prophesying that the enemies of Nehemiah would kill him in the night, to cause him to flee with him into the holy place of the temple, and to protect his life from the machinations of his enemies by closing the temple doors. His purpose was, as Nehemiah subsequently learned, to seduce him into taking an illegal step, and so give occasion for speaking evil of him.

Nehemiah 6:10

“And I came into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up.” Nothing further is known of this prophet Shemaiah. From what is here related we learn, that he was one of the lying prophets employed by Sanballat and Tobiah to ruin Nehemiah. We are not told what induced or caused Nehemiah to go into the house of Shemaiah; he merely recounts what the latter was hired by his enemies to effect. From the accessory clause, “and he was shut up,” we may perhaps infer that Shemaiah in some way or other, perhaps by announcing that he had something of importance to communicate, persuaded Nehemiah to visit him at his house. עצוּר והוּא does not, however, involved the meaning which Bertheau gives it, viz., that Nehemiah went to Shemaiah's house, because the latter as עצוּר could not come to him. The phrase says only, that when Nehemiah entered Shemaiah's house, he found him עצוּר , which simply means shut up, shut in his house, not imprisoned, and still less in a state of ceremonial uncleanness (Ewald), or overpowered by the hand of Jahve - laid hold on by a higher power (Bertheau). It is evident from his proposal to Nehemiah, “Let us go together to the house of God,” etc., that he was neither imprisoned in his house, nor prevented by any physical cause from leaving home. Hence it follows that he had shut himself in his house, to intimate to Nehemiah that also he felt his life in danger through the machinations of his enemies, and that he was thus dissimulating in order the more easily to induce him to agree to his proposal, that they should together escape the snares laid for them by fleeing to the temple. In this case, it may be uncertain whether Shemaiah had shut himself up, feigning that the enemies of Judah were seeking his life also, as the prophet of Jahve; or whether by this action he was symbolically announcing what God charged him to make known to Nehemiah. Either view is possible; while the circumstance that Nehemiah in Nehemiah 6:12 calls his advice to flee into the temple a נבוּאה against him, and that it was quite in character with the proceedings of such false prophets to enforce their words by symbolical signs (comp. 1 Kings 22:11), favours the former. The going into the house of God is more closely defined by ההיכל אל־תּוך , within the holy place; for they (the enemies) will come to slay thee, and indeed this night will they come to slay thee.” He seeks to corroborate his warning as a special revelation from God, by making it appear that God had not only made known to him the design of the enemies, but also the precise time at which they intended to carry it into execution.

Nehemiah 6:11

Nehemiah, however, was not to be alarmed thereby, but exclaimed: Should such a man as I flee? and what man like me could go into the holy place and live? I will not go in. וחי is the perf. with Vav consecutive: that he may live. This word is ambiguous; it may mean: to save his life, or: and save his life, not, expiate such a transgression of the law with his life. Probably Nehemiah used it in the latter sense, having in mind the command, Numbers 18:7, that the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

Nehemiah 6:12

And I perceived, - viz. from the conduct of Shemaiah on my refusal to follow his advice, - and, lo, not God had sent him (i.e., had not commissioned or inspired him to speak these words; לא emphatically precedes אלהים : not God, but himself), but that he pronounced this prophecy against me, because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. The verb שׂכרו (sing.) agrees only with the latter word, although in fact it refers to both these individuals.

Nehemiah 6:13-14

“On this account was he hired that I might be afraid, and do so; and if I had sinned (by entering the holy place), it (my sin) would have been to them for an evil report, that they might defame me.” The use of למאן before two sentences, the second of which expresses the purpose of the first, is peculiar: for this purpose, that I might fear, etc., was he hired. To enter and to shut himself within the holy place would have been a grave desecration of the house of God, which would have given occasion to his enemies to cast suspicion upon Nehemiah as a despiser of God's commands, and so to undermine his authority with the people. - In Nehemiah 6:14 Nehemiah concludes his account of the stratagems of his enemies, with the wish that God would think upon them according to their works. In expressing it, he names, besides Tobiah and Sanballat, the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who, like Shemaiah, would have put him in fear: whence we perceive, 1st, that the case related (Nehemiah 6:10-13) is given as only one of the chief events of the kind ( מיראים , like Nehemiah 6:9, Nehemiah 6:19); and 2 nd , that false prophets were again busy in the congregation, as in the period preceding the captivity, and seeking to seduce the people from hearkening to the voice of the true prophets of God, who preached repentance and conversation as the conditions of prosperity.


Verse 15-16

The wall completed, and the impression made by this work upon the enemies of the Jews. - Nehemiah 6:15 The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, i.e., of the sixth month, in fifty-two days. According to this statement, it must have been begun on the third day of the fifth month (Ab). The year is not mentioned, the before-named (Nehemiah 2:1) twentieth year of Artaxerxes being intended. This agrees with the other chronological statements of this book. For, according to Nehemiah 2:1, it was in Nisan (the first month) of this year that Nehemiah entreated permission of the king to go to Jerusalem; and we learn from Nehemiah 5:14 and Nehemiah 13:6 that he was governor in Jerusalem from the twentieth year onwards, and must therefore have set out for that place immediately after receiving the royal permission. In this case, he might well arrive in Jerusalem before the expiration of the fourth month. He then surveyed the wall, and called a public assembly for the purpose of urging the whole community to enter heartily upon the work of restoration (Nehemiah 2:11-17). All this might take place in the course of the fourth month, so that the work could be actually taken in hand in the fifth. Nor is there any reasonable ground, as Bertheau has already shown, for doubting the correctness of the statement, that the building was completed in fifty-two days, and (with Ewald) altering the fifty-two days into two years and four months.

(Note: Ewald, Gesch . iv. p. 178, thinks that traces of the correct reading of this verse are found in the statement of Josephus, Ant . xi. 5. 7f., that the wall of Jerusalem was finished in two years and four months, and that the word וּשׁנתים may have been omitted from Nehemiah 6:15 by an ancient clerical error, though he is obliged to admit that Josephus in other instances gives no trustworthy dates concerning Nehemiah, whom he makes arrive at Jerusalem in the twenty-fifth, and complete the wall in the twenty-eight year of Xerxes. On the other hand, Bertheau has already remarked, that even if שׁנתים is supplied, no agreement with the statement of Josephus is obtained, since the question still remains how four months can be made out of fifty-two days, or vice versa , fifty-two days of four months. In fact, it is vain to seek for any common ground on which these two different statements can be harmonized; and hence the two years and four months of Josephus can scarcely be regarded as furnishing traces of another reading of the text.)

For we must in this case consider, 1 st , the necessity for hastening the work repeatedly pointed out by Nehemiah; 2 nd , the zeal and relatively very large number of builders - the whole community, both the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Jericho, Tekoa, Gibeon, Mizpah, etc. having combined their efforts; 3 rd , that the kind of exertion demanded by such laborious work and unintermitted watchfulness as are described Neh 4, though it might be continued for fifty-two days, could scarcely endure during a longer period; and lastly, the amount of the work itself, which must not be regarded as the rebuilding of the whole wall, but only as the restoration of those portions that had been destroyed, the repair of the breaches (Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 2:13; Nehemiah 6:1), and of the ruined gates, - a large portion of wall and at least one gate having remained uninjured.). To this must be added that the material, so far as stone was concerned, was close at hand, stone needing for the most part to be merely brought out of the ruins; besides which, materials of all kind might have been collected and prepared beforehand. It is, moreover, incorrect to compute the extent of this fortified wall by the extent of the wall of modern Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 6:16

The news that the wall was finished spread fear among the enemies, viz., among the nations in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem (comp. Nehemiah 4:1; Nehemiah 5:9); they were much cast down, and perceived “that this work was effected with the help of our God.” The expression בעניהם יפּלוּ occurs only here, and must be explained according to פּניו יפּלוּ , his countenance fell (Genesis 4:5), and לב יפּל , the heart fails (i.e., the courage) (1 Samuel 17:32): they sank in their own eyes, i.e., they felt themselves cast down, discouraged.


Verses 17-19

To this Nehemiah adds the supplementary remark, that in those days even nobles of Judah were in alliance and active correspondence with Tobiah, because he had married into a respectable Jewish family.

Nehemiah 6:17

“Also in those days the nobles of Judah wrote many letters ( אגּרתיהם מרבּים , they made many, multiplied, their letters) passing to Tobiah, and those of Tobiah came to them.”

Nehemiah 6:18

For many in Judah were sworn unto him, for he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken (to wife) the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. In this case Tobiah was connected with two Jewish families, - a statement which is made to confirm the fact that many in Judah were שׁבוּעה בּעלי , associates of an oath, joined to him by an oath, not allies in consequence of a treaty sworn to (Bertheau). From this reason being given, we may conclude his affinity by marriage was confirmed by an oath. Shecaniah ben Arah was certainly a respectable Jew of the race of Arah, Ezra 2:5. Meshullam ben Berechiah appears among those who shared in the work of building, Nehemiah 3:4 and Nehemiah 3:30. According to Nehemiah 13:4, the high priest Eliashib was also related to Tobiah. From the fact that both Tobiah and his son Jehohanan have genuine Jewish names, Bertheau rightly infers that they were probably descended from Israelites of the northern kingdom of the ten tribes. With this the designation of Tobiah as “the Ammonite” may be harmonized by the supposition that his more recent or remote ancestors were naturalized Ammonites.

Nehemiah 6:19

“Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him.” טּובתיו , the good things in him, or “his good qualities and intentions” (Bertheau). The subject of the sentence is the nobles of Judah. לו מוציאים , they were bringing forth to him. On this matter Bertheau remarks, that there is no reason for assuming that the nobles of Judah endeavoured, by misrepresenting and distorting the words of Nehemiah, to widen the breach between him and Tobiah. This is certainly true; but, at the same time, we cannot further infer from these words that they were trying to effect an understanding between the two, and representing to Nehemiah how dangerous and objectionable his undertaking was; but were by this very course playing into the hands of Tobiah. For an understanding between two individuals, hostile the one to the other, is not to be brought about by reporting to the one what is the other's opinion of him. Finally, Nehemiah mentions also that Tobiah also sent letters to put him in fear ( יראני , infin. Piel, like 2 Chronicles 32:18; comp. the participle above, Nehemiah 6:9 and Nehemiah 6:14). The letters were probably of similar contents with the letter of Sanballat given in Nehemiah 6:6.