Nehemiah 6:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Nehemiah 6:1
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;)
hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
heard
נִשְׁמַ֣עnish.Ma'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
builded
בָנִ֙יתִי֙va.Ni.ti
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
wall
הַ֣חוֹמָ֔הha.cho.Mah
H2346
a wall of protection · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
breach
פָּ֑רֶץPa.retz
H6556
a break (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
left
נ֥וֹתַרNo.tar
H3498
to jut over or exceed · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
though
גַּ֚םgam
H1571
properly · adverb
time
הָעֵ֣תha.'Et
H6256
time · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
up
הֶעֱמַ֥דְתִּיhe.'e.Mad.ti
H5975
to stand · verb, hiphil perfect, 1st person common singular
doors
דְּלָת֖וֹתde.la.Tot
H1817
something swinging · noun, common feminine plural absolute
gates
בַשְּׁעָרִֽיםva.she.'a.Rim
H8179
an opening · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Nehemiah 2:10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to see…
Nehemiah 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despi…
Nehemiah 4:1 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
Nehemiah 3:1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doo…
Nehemiah 3:3 But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the…
Nehemiah 4:6-7 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
Nehemiah 3:6 Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the d…
Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince sh…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Nehemiah 6:1-9
Two plots upon Nehemiah we have here an account of, how cunningly they were laid by his enemies and how happily frustrated by God's good providence and his prudence.
I. A plot to trepan him into a snare. The enemies had an account of the good forwardness the work was in, that all the breaches of the wall were made up, so that they considered it as good as done, though at that time the doors of the gates were off the hinges (Neh 6:1); they must therefore now or never, by one bold stroke, take off Nehemiah. They heard how well guarded he was, so that there was no attacking him upon the spot; they will therefore try by all the arts of wheedling to get him among them. Observe, 1. With what helli…
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,.... Quite finished it:
and that there was no breach left therein; but all was made up firm and strong:
though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates; not upon all of them, though some might by the particular builders of them; and they all of them might be ready made, though not as yet put upon the hinges.
Keil & Delitzsch on Nehemiah 6:1-9
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 (Neh 6:1, Neh 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 (Neh 6:3-9). Tobiah and Sanballat, moreover, h…
Now it happened that when Sanaballat and Tobiah heard, etc. The enemies of the holy city urge Nehemiah to descend to the plains and enter into a covenant of peace with them, with calves slain together as a testimony of the contracted covenant. However, he, to avoid neglecting the religious work, perseveres in the mountains. Similarly, heretics and false Catholics seek to have the companionship of peace with true Catholics on the condition that the true Catholics do not consent to ascend to the stronghold of ecclesiastical faith or operation, but rather force those who dwell in the heights of virtues to descend from the depths of wicked works or doctrines. And it is well that they wish to make a pact with Nehemiah in one field; because undoubtedly they desire to release all those whom they can seduce into the same liberty of a more luxurious life, which they themselves follow. It is fitting that they wish to make the same pact with him with calves slain together because false brothers eagerly offer sacrifices of their prayer or action with true Catholics to God so that, being truly believed as faithful themselves, they can corrupt the same true Catholics through the proximity of communion. However, Nehemiah representing the role of faithful teachers, senses neither to descend to the profane nor to be tainted by their sacrifices, but devoutly persists in the conceived works of virtues; and the more ferociously the enemies tried to frighten him, the more he strives to become formidable to the same enemies by doing good works. Hence it is also said in the following.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Geshem — Or Gashmu, firmness, probably chief of the Arabs south of Palestine, one of the enemies of the Jews after the return from Babylon (Neh. 2:19; 6:1, 2). He united with Sanballat and Tobiah in opposing…
Moabite — The designation of a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:37). From Zoar, the cradle of this tribe, on the south-eastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on…
Gashmu · Al — Al
Geshem · Opposed Nehemiah in building — Opposed Nehemiah in building
Tobiah · .Conspires to injure and intimidate Nehemiah — .Conspires to injure and intimidate Nehemiah
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Nehemiah 6:1-19
With the financial crisis solved (ch 5), the narrative returns to how the enemies of rebuilding tried to intimidate or eliminate Nehemiah.
Rashi on Nehemiah 6:1
and no breach was left therein in the wall of the city.
I had not erected that doors were not made in the gates of the city.
