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Nehemiah 6:18

in Nehemiah 6

For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah; and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah to wife.

KJV

For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

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This verse in Nehemiah 6

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

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 Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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

For there were many in Judah sworn unto him,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

A sinful love leads to a sinful league. They had the impudence to court Nehemiah himself into a friendship with him: " They reported his good deeds before me, represented him as an intelligent gentleman and well worthy my acquaintance, an honest gentleman and one that I might confide in." We are indeed required to speak ill of no man, but never to speak well of bad men.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Though Tobiah is called “the servant” or “slave” Neh 2:10, Neh 2:19, and was perhaps a bought slave of Sanballat’s, yet he was in such a position that Jewish nobles readily contracted affinity with him. This is quite in harmony with the practice of the East, where slaves often fill high positions and make great marriages.

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כִּי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • רַבִּ֣יםmany [people]

    rabimH7227 →454 times

  • בִּֽיהוּדָ֗הin Judah

    bihudahH3063 →819 times

  • בַּעֲלֵ֤י[were] lords of

    baaleiH1167 →

  • שְׁבוּעָה֙oath

    shevuahH7621 →

  • ל֔וֹto him

    lo

  • כִּי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • חָתָ֥ן[was] a son-in-law

    chatanH2860 →

  • ה֖וּאhe

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • לִשְׁכַנְיָ֣הof Shecaniah

    lishkhanyahH7935 →10 times

  • בֶן־[the] son of

    ven-H1121 →4930 times

  • אָרַ֑חArah

    ʾarachH733 →

  • וִֽיהוֹחָנָ֣ןand Jehohanan

    vihochananH3076 →11 times

  • בְּנ֔וֹson his

    benoH1121 →4930 times

  • לָקַ֕חhe had taken

    lakachH3947 →966 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • בַּת־[the] daughter of

    bat-H1323 →588 times

  • מְשֻׁלָּ֖םMeshullam

    meshulamH4918 →25 times

  • בֶּ֥ן[the] son of

    benH1121 →4930 times

  • בֶּֽרֶכְיָֽה׃Berekiah

    berekhyahH1296 →11 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The walk

6 stops

Each 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 3:4

    Next to them, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, made repairs. Next to him, Meshullam son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs; and next to him, Zadok son of Baana…

    it leads to

    • Ezra 8:33

      On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and sacred articles into the hand of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas…

    • Nehemiah 3:21

      Next to him, Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired another section, from the doorway of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house.

    • Nehemiah 10:15

      Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,

    • Nehemiah 10:7

      Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,

  • Through

    Nehemiah 7:10

    the descendants of Arah, 652;

    it leads to

  • Through

    Ezra 2:5

    the descendants of Arah, 775;

    it leads to

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies2

On this verse

On this chapter

About Nehemiah

Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah Views the Ruins of Jerusalem's Walls, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Nehemiah: the study guide →Read Nehemiah 6 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Nehemiah 6 →