Chapter 6
Plots against Nehemiah. 1 When it had been reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and that not a single breach was left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come here and confer with us in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” Their intention was clearly to do me harm.
3 Therefore, I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am engaged in a great project, and I cannot come down to you at this particular time. Why should the work come to a grinding halt while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 They sent me the same invitation four times, and on each occasion I gave them the same reply.
5 Then, for the fifth time, Sanballat sent his servant to me with the same message, but this time in an unsealed letter. 6 In it was written: “It has been reported among the nations, and Geshem[a] confirms it, that you and the Jews are planning a rebellion, that this is the reason you are building the wall, and that you are intending to become their king. 7 We have also heard that you have appointed prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim you king. Needless to say, such rumors will be brought to the attention of the king. So come at once and let us discuss this together.”
8 I sent the following reply to him: “No such thing that you are suggesting has taken place. It is all in your imagination.” 9 They all were trying to frighten us, hoping that we would become lax in our work and the job would not be completed. But instead I became more determined than ever.
10 One day I went to the house of Shemaiah, the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined to his house. He said to me:
“Let us meet in the house of God
inside the sanctuary,
and let us lock the doors of the temple.
For men are coming to kill you;
they are coming to kill you tonight.”
11 However, I said: “Should a man like me run away? Or should a man like me go into the temple to save his life?”
12 Then I realized that God had not sent Shemaiah to say this, but rather that Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He had been bribed to intimidate me and make me sin by acting in this way. Then they could ruin my reputation and discredit me.
14 Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, according to those things they did, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets whose purpose was to intimidate me.
15 Conclusion of the Work. The wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul.[b] It was completed in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, and all the surrounding nations were completely aware of what had been happening, they realized that all this work had been completed with the help of God.
17 At the same time, however, the nobles of Judah were sending many letters to Tobiah, and in turn, letters from Tobiah kept coming to them, 18 for many in Judah were bound to him by oath, because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah, son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam, son of Berechiah. 19 They were always praising Tobiah’s good deeds in my presence, and they reported my words to him. Furthermore, Tobiah also sent letters to me in an attempt at intimidation.
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 6:6 Geshem: the Hebrew has Gashmu.
- Nehemiah 6:15 Elul: September–October. Fifty-two days: the work was certainly carried out very energetically by all the people, but we must remember that the destruction had not been total and that the rebuilding had not begun with Nehemiah (see the decree of Artaxerxes in Ezr 4:17-22).