Nehemiahchapter 6
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Key verse
Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
It stands in scene A of the chapter, verses 1 to 9.
The chapter
Chapter summary
Four times Sanballat and Geshem summon him to the plain of Ono, and four times comes the same answer: 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease?' The fifth message arrives as an open letter charging rebellion and a plot to be crowned king; Nehemiah replies that they invent it out of their own heart, and prays, 'Now therefore, O God, strengthen thou my hands.' A hired prophet urges him to hide inside the temple: 'Should such a man as I flee?… I will not go in.' The wall was finished in fifty and two days, and the nations 'perceived that this work was wrought of our God.'
Context
History · Nehemiah · Nehemiah overview
Where the chapter sits
Nehemiah 6 falls in Rebuilding the walls (chapters 1–7). Nehemiah's prayer; his commission from Artaxerxes; Jerusalem's walls in ruin; the wall built in fifty-two days amid external threats (Sanballat) and internal pressures (debt crisis); the dedication.
The walls finished. Fifty-two days; ‘they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.’
After it: Covenant renewal under Ezra's teaching, chapters 8–10.
The whole shape of Nehemiah→The world behind this chapter
Nehemiah 6The history
The attacks in this chapter are all aimed at one man. Four invitations to meet in a village on the plain of Ono, neutral ground a day's travel away, out of the city and away from his guards. Then an open letter, deliberately unsealed so anyone could read it, accusing him of building the wall in order to make himself king and hiring prophets to proclaim it. That charge, if it reached Artaxerxes, was the one that had stopped the work before.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
Then a hired prophet named Shemaiah tries to get him to hide in the temple with the doors shut. Nehemiah was a layman; entering the sanctuary would have been a public disqualification, which is exactly why he was offered the door. He names the tactic outright: they hired him so that Nehemiah would sin and they would have matter for an evil report.
The chapter also shows how deep the entanglement went. Tobiah had married into a leading Judean family and his son into another, and nobles in Jerusalem were writing to him and reporting Nehemiah's words back.
What it meant to them
The answer he keeps giving to the invitations is the most quoted sentence in the book: "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down."
The wall was finished in fifty-two days, and the effect on the neighbours is recorded precisely: they were cast down in their own eyes, for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. A fast job is a testimony that a slow one is not.
Sources cited
- Edwin Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible
- K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews (Whiston translation)
People1
Places1
A. Come meet me in Ono: I am doing a great work and cannot come down
1. (vv. 1-2)
Nehemiah 6:2, 1 voiceWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Nehemiah 6:2
“Come, let us meet together in - the plain of Ono - They wished to get him out of Jerusalem from among his friends, that they might either carry him off, or murder him. Ono is supposed to have been in the tribe of Benjamin, near Jordan.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a.no breach left therein: Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem the Arabian hear that the wall stands with no breach left in it, though the doors are not yet hung on the gates. The work is finished in substance before it is finished in every detail, and the enemies switch from open opposition to a friendly-sounding invitation. Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono reads as neighborly, but the narrator states the aim plainly: they thought to do me mischief. Gill and Clarke both read the summons as a plan to draw Nehemiah away from Jerusalem and his own people before striking him.
2. (vv. 3-4)
Nehemiah 6:3, 1 voice
Nehemiah 6:3
“I am doing a great work - Though he knew their design, he does not think it prudent to mention it. Had he done so, they would probably have gone to extremities, finding that they were discovered; and perhaps in a formidable body attacked Jerusalem, when ill provided to sustain such a shock. They wished to effect their purpose rather by treachery than by open violence.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a.I am doing a great work: Nehemiah answers with the line the whole chapter turns on: I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. The clause why should the work cease, whilst I leave it stands as reason enough on its own, with no accusation made and no plot named aloud. Henry reads this as a true reason given without exposing that Nehemiah already sees through the design, refusing his enemies the satisfaction of a quarrel. The invitation comes four times and is refused four times in the same words, patience wearing down persistence rather than the other way round.
3. (vv. 5-7)
Nehemiah 6:5, 2 voices
Nehemiah 6:5
“Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time,.... In his own name, neither Tobiah nor Geshem joining with him, he being more solicitous and anxious to get him into his hands than any of them; and it may be, as some think, pretending more friendship for him than the rest, and therefore writes alone, as if they knew nothing of his writing: with an open letter in his hand: which having in it an intimation of Nehemiah being guilty of treason, anyone that would might read it, and so spread the defamation.”
Nehemiah 6:5
“Letters were, and are still, sent to persons of distinction in a bag or purse, and even to equals they are enclosed--the tie being made with a colored ribbon. But to inferiors, or persons who are to be treated contemptuously, the letters were sent open--that is, not enclosed in a bag.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Nehemiah 6:7, 1 voice
Nehemiah 6:7
“Thou hast also appointed prophets - Persons who pretend to be commissioned to preach to the people, and say, Nehemiah reigneth! Come now therefore, and let us take counsel - Come and justify yourself before me. This was a trick to get Nehemiah into his power.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a.with an open letter in his hand: The fifth approach drops the pretense of friendliness. Sanballat sends an open letter, unsealed so any hand could read it, carrying a charge meant to spread before Nehemiah could answer it: it is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel. The letter claims Nehemiah has hired prophets to proclaim him king in Judah and dares him to come explain himself, the same trap set at Ono with a sharper edge. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown and Gill both note that the open letter was itself an insult, a form used for inferiors rather than equals, its missing seal the first accusation before a word is read.
4. (vv. 8-9)
Nehemiah 6:9, 1 voice
Nehemiah 6:9
“It is the great support and relief of good people that in all their straits and difficulties they have a good God to go to, from whom, by faith and prayer, they may fetch in grace to silence their fears and strengthen their hands when their enemies are endeavouring to fill them with fears and weaken their hands.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.thou feignest them out of thine own heart: Nehemiah answers the charge in one flat sentence: there are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart. He names the tactic without flattering it, a fabrication built to weaken the builders' hands and stop the work before an enemy needed to lift a weapon. Then the memoir does what it always does under pressure and turns report into prayer: now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. Wesley calls this the right prayer for entering any conflict, and Henry reads the whole exchange as proof that a plain answer, given once, does more against fear than argument does.
B. A hired prophet who would have made him sin by hiding
1. (vv. 10-12)
Nehemiah 6:10, 2 voices
Nehemiah 6:10
“Who was shut up - Lived in a sequestered, solitary state; pretending to sanctity, and to close intercourse with God. Let us meet together in the house of God - The meaning is, “Shut yourself up in the temple; appear to have taken sanctuary there, for in it alone can you find safety.” This he said to discourage and disgrace him, and to ruin the people; for, had Nehemiah taken his advice, the people would have been without a leader, their enemies would have come upon them at once, and they would have been an easy prey.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nehemiah 6:10
“Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah, &c.--This man was the son of a priest, who was an intimate and confidential friend of Nehemiah. The young man claimed to be endowed with the gift of prophecy.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Nehemiah 6:11, 1 voice
Nehemiah 6:11
“Would go into the temple to save his life - Rather “could go into the temple and live.” For a layman to enter the sanctuary was a capital offence (see Num 18:7).”
Nehemiah 6:12, 2 voices
Nehemiah 6:12
“The existence of a party among the Jews who sided with Sanballat and lent themselves to his schemes, is here for the first time indicated. Compare Neh 6:14, Neh 6:17-19; Neh 13:4-5, Neh 13:28.”
Nehemiah 6:12
“Two things Nehemiah says he dreaded in that which he was advised to:-- (1.) Offending God: That I should be afraid, and do so, and sin. Note, Sin is that which above any thing we should dread; and a good preservative it is against sin to be afraid of nothing but sin.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.who was shut up: Nehemiah visits Shemaiah, a man shut up in his own house who claims fear of assassination and urges a plan that sounds like safety: let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors. The advice is a trap, since only a priest could lawfully enter that part of the temple and Nehemiah was not one. His answer is the chapter's sharpest line: should such a man as I flee, and who is there, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life. Then comes the discernment that closes the scene: I perceived that God had not sent him, for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him, a plain man reading a false prophecy by the counsel it served rather than by any sign.
2. (vv. 13-14)
Nehemiah 6:14, 2 voices
Nehemiah 6:14
“My God, think thou on Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works,.... Their wicked counsels and schemes, and not only confound and disappoint them, but reward them as they deserve: and on the prophetess Noadiah: whom Aben Ezra takes to be the same with Shemaiah, because he said, נועד, "let us meet", &c.”
Nehemiah 6:14
“And on the prophetess Noadiah - Whether this was a prophet or prophetess, we cannot tell; the Hebrew text only makes her a prophetess; all the versions have Noadiah the prophet, except the Arabic which has Younadaa the prophet. I think the ה he at the end of נביאה nebiah is a mistake, and that we should read Noadiah the prophet.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a.that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin: The reason for the plot is stated outright: Shemaiah was hired so that Nehemiah should be afraid, and do so, and sin, giving his enemies matter for an evil report to reproach him with. Fear was meant to produce a real trespass, not a rumor, since a governor caught inside the forbidden precinct would have handed his accusers a true charge instead of a false one. Nehemiah answers with a short prayer rather than a defense: my God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear. Gill records a tradition identifying Noadiah with Shemaiah's own household, though the text itself only names her as one more hired voice against the wall.
C. Fifty-two days, and the nations lose their confidence
1. (v. 15)
Nehemiah 6:15, 1 voice
Nehemiah 6:15
“Elul - The sixth month, corresponding to the latter part of August and the beginning of September. In fifty and two days - Josephus states that the repairs of the wall occupied two years and four months. But Nehemiah’s narrative is thoroughly consistent with itself, and contains in it nothing that is improbable. The walls everywhere existed at the time that he commenced his task, and only needed repairs. The work was partitioned among at least 37 working parties, who labored simultaneously, with material ready at hand; and, notwithstanding all menaces, uninterruptedly.”
a.in fifty and two days: So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days, a single sentence closing five chapters of siege and slander. Elul falls in late summer, the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar, so the whole campaign from Nehemiah's first night ride around the ruins to the last stone set runs inside one working season. Henry credits the enemies' own threats with quickening the pace, since fear of attack pressed the builders to finish before danger could arrive. Keil sets the fifty two days against Josephus's much longer figure and finds Nehemiah's own count, tied to a named month and a named king's reign, the more reliable record.
2. (v. 16)
Nehemiah 6:16, 1 voice
Nehemiah 6:16
“God fighteth for Israel and worketh with them. [2.] To believe that God's work would be perfect. When the perceived that the work was of God they expected no other than that it would go on and prosper. [3.] To conclude that, if it were of God, it was to no purpose to think of opposing it; it would certainly prevail and be victorious.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.this work was wrought of our God: The enemies hear of it and are much cast down in their own eyes, for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. The verdict carries weight because of who speaks it: men who spent five chapters trying to stop the wall now read its speed and its survival as evidence no human effort alone explains. Clarke calls the confession remarkable precisely because it comes from hostile witnesses rather than a friendly one. This is the hand of our God formula answered in brick and mortar, the same claim Ezra kept making about caravans and grants now standing where the watching nations can see it.
3. (vv. 17-19)
Nehemiah 6:17, 2 voices
Nehemiah 6:17
“Moreover, in those days,.... While the wall was building: the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them; letters passed between them frequently, they informing him how things went on at Jerusalem, and he advising them to what was detrimental to the true interest of their nation; such false friends had Nehemiah about him, and yet the work succeeded under him; which showed it the more to be of God.”
Nehemiah 6:17
“The nobles of Judah sent many letters - The circumstances marked in this and the following verses show still more clearly the difficulties which Nehemiah had to encounter; he had enemies without and false friends within. A treacherous correspondence was carried on between the nobles of Judah and the Ammonites; and had almost any other man been at the head of the Jewish affairs, Jerusalem had never been re-established.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nehemiah 6:18, 1 voice
Nehemiah 6:18
“He was the son-in-law of Shechaniah - Previously to the coming of Nehemiah, the Jews seemed to be fast intermixing with the heathen, by intermarriages with Ashdodites, Ammonites, and Moabites; see Neh 13:23. Ezra had many evils of this kind to redress, (Ezr 9:3, etc.), chiefly among the common people, though there were both chiefs and priests in that trespass. But here we find the heathen and Jewish nobles interlinked; and the latter were so far imbued with the spirit of idolatry, that they forgot God, his service, their brethren, and their own souls.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nehemiah 6:19, 1 voice
Nehemiah 6:19
"Thou knowest their hearts, and art the avenger of falsehood and wrong; take cognizance of this cause; judge between me and them, and take what way and time thou mayest please to call them to an account for it." Note, Whatever injuries are done us we must not avenge ourselves, but commit our cause to him that judgeth righteously.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a.sent many letters unto Tobiah: The wall stands finished, but the chapter will not let the story end there: in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them, a correspondence running the whole time the wall was rising. Tobiah had married into Judah's own leadership, son in law to Shechaniah and father in law to a son married to Meshullam's daughter, so the enemy held a family claim inside Jerusalem as well as a political one. Those same nobles kept reporting Tobiah's good deeds to Nehemiah and repeating Nehemiah's own words back to him, and Tobiah answered by sending letters meant to put him in fear even after the building was done. Clarke reads the passage as proof that Nehemiah's harder fight was never the siege outside the wall but the compromised friendships inside it, and Gill notes the same pattern of intermarriage Ezra had to unwind returning here among the very nobility that should have guarded against it.
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Nehemiah 6. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther and Matthew Henry.
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