Nehemiah 6:17
in Nehemiah 6Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came back to them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.
KJV
Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.
⋯
This verse in Nehemiah 6
Commentary
5 notes on this verseMoreover, 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.
This site's exposition
sent many letters unto Tobiah
on Nehemiah 6:17-19
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 record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
5 Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand; 6 Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Nobles of Judah so wicked a thing? It seems great men are not always wise, not always honest. Many in Judah were in a strict but secret confederacy with him to advance the interest of his country, though it would certainly be the ruin of their own.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּ֣ם׀ | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בַּיָּמִ֣ים | baiyamim | in the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָהֵ֗ם | hahem | <the> those | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מַרְבִּ֞ים | marbim | [were] multiplying | H7235 → | 227 times |
| חֹרֵ֤י | chorei | [the] nobles of | H2715 → | 13 times |
| יְהוּדָה֙ | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| אִגְּרֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם | ʾigeroteihem | letters their | H107 → | 10 times |
| הוֹלְכ֖וֹת | holkhot | [which were] going | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| טוֹבִיָּ֑ה | toiyah | Tobiah | H2900 → | 18 times |
| וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר | vaasher | and [those] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לְטוֹבִיָּ֖ה | letoiyah | [belonged] to Tobiah | H2900 → | 18 times |
| בָּא֥וֹת | baot | [were] coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ | ʾaleihem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
גַּ֣ם׀also
gamH1571 →769 times
בַּיָּמִ֣יםin the days
baiyamimH3117 →2304 times
הָהֵ֗ם<the> those
hahemH1992 →553 times
מַרְבִּ֞ים[were] multiplying
marbimH7235 →227 times
חֹרֵ֤י[the] nobles of
choreiH2715 →13 times
יְהוּדָה֙Judah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
אִגְּרֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔םletters their
ʾigeroteihemH107 →10 times
הוֹלְכ֖וֹת[which were] going
holkhotH1980 →1546 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
טוֹבִיָּ֑הTobiah
toiyahH2900 →18 times
וַאֲשֶׁ֥רand [those] which
vaasherH834 →5497 times
לְטוֹבִיָּ֖ה[belonged] to Tobiah
letoiyahH2900 →18 times
בָּא֥וֹת[were] coming
baotH935 →2568 times
אֲלֵיהֶֽם׃to them
ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Nehemiah 5:7and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them
it leads to
- Leviticus 25:36
Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.
- Deuteronomy 23:19–20
Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.
- Exodus 22:25
If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.
- Leviticus 25:36
Through
Nehemiah 3:5Next to him, the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 3:27
And next to them, the Tekoites repaired another section, from a point opposite the great tower that juts out to the wall of Ophel.
- Nehemiah 3:27
Through
Nehemiah 13:28Even one of the sons of Jehoiada son of Eliashib the high priest had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite. Therefore I drove him away from me.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 2:19
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the…
- Nehemiah 12:10
Jeshua was the father of Joiakim, Joiakim was the father of Eliashib, Eliashib was the father of Joiada,
- Nehemiah 6:17–19
Also in those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came back to them.
- Nehemiah 3:1
At the Sheep Gate, Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests began rebuilding. They dedicated it and installed its doors. After building as far as the Tower of the Hundred and the Tower…
- Nehemiah 2:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Nehemiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.