Nehemiah 6

The wall is nearly done, so Nehemiah’s enemies change tactics: first an invitation to a trap, then slander, then a false prophet, all meant to frighten him off. Nehemiah stays at his work, refuses to be moved, and prays. The wall is finished in fifty-two days, and even the nations see God’s hand in it.

Nehemiah 6:1

The wall is built and no gap remains. Only the doors are still to be hung. The enemies hear this and know their open opposition has failed. The danger is not over, because the last stretch of any work often draws the sharpest attack.

BSA: gap (“breach or break”): A breach was the weak spot where enemies could enter, so a wall without one meant real safety for the city.

Nehemiah 6:2

Sanballat and Geshem invite Nehemiah to a friendly meeting far from Jerusalem, on the plain of Ono. It sounds like peacemaking, but the writer tells us plainly that they meant to harm him. Kind words can hide a trap.

BSA: planning (“thinking, devising”): The harm was carefully plotted in advance; the invitation was part of a scheme.

Nehemiah 6:3

Nehemiah answers with a question that needs no argument. He calls the rebuilding a great work, and he will not leave it for a meeting that gains nothing. A clear sense of calling makes it easier to say no to good-sounding distractions.

BSA: great (“important, significant”): Nehemiah sees the work as weighty, which is why he will not let it be neglected.

Nehemiah 6:4

The enemies press the same invitation four times, and Nehemiah gives the same answer each time. Steady refusal wears down repeated pressure. He does not bargain or change his reply to suit them.

Nehemiah 6:5-7

The fifth time the message comes as an open letter, so everyone along the way can read it. It accuses Nehemiah of planning revolt and making himself king. The charge was dangerous, for a Persian king would take such a report seriously. The “invitation” has turned into a threat.

BSA: unsealed (“open, not sealed”): The letter was left open so the rumor would spread to many people before Nehemiah could answer. revolt (“rebel, resist authority”): The charge struck at Nehemiah’s loyalty to the Persian king, who had sent him.

Nehemiah 6:8

Nehemiah answers briefly and bluntly. The accusation is false, and he says the enemies made it up themselves. He does not try to win a long argument. A clear conscience can simply state the truth.

BSA: inventing (“fabricating”): The story was manufactured; it had no basis in anything Nehemiah had done.

Nehemiah 6:9

Nehemiah sees the real aim: to frighten the builders until their hands go weak. His answer is a short prayer. He does not ask for the trouble to disappear, only for God to give him strength to carry on.

BSA: strengthen (“empower, make strong”): Nehemiah asks God to supply the strength he lacks, not just to remove the threat. hands (“ability, capacity”): Hands stand for the power to get work done, so he is asking for lasting ability to finish.

See also: Isaiah 41:10.

Nehemiah 6:10

Shemaiah, shut up in his house, speaks as if he had a message from God. He urges Nehemiah to hide in the temple and bar the doors, claiming assassins are coming at night. It looks like concern for Nehemiah’s safety, but it is another trap.

BSA: confined (“shut up, restrained”): Shemaiah may have been staging a sign of special insight or danger to make his word more convincing.

Nehemiah 6:11

Nehemiah refuses on two grounds. A leader should not run from danger, and he should not enter the temple to save his own skin. Only priests were allowed in the sanctuary itself, so the plan would also have broken God’s law. Courage here is shaped by obedience.

BSA: run away (“flee in fear, escape”): Flight would have shown fear and told the people that their leader had lost heart.

See also: Numbers 18:7.

Nehemiah 6:12-13

Nehemiah recognizes that Shemaiah’s words did not come from God, since they pointed away from God’s will. Tobiah and Sanballat had paid him. The aim was to make Nehemiah afraid, lead him into sin, and then use his failure to ruin his good name.

BSA: hired (“paid, bribed”): The so-called prophecy was bought, which exposed it as a fraud. sin (“miss the mark, go wrong”): Fear was the lever meant to push Nehemiah off the path God had set for him.

See also: Deuteronomy 13:1-3.

Nehemiah 6:14

Nehemiah does not take revenge. He hands the matter to God in prayer, naming Tobiah, Sanballat, Noadiah and the other prophets. It shows that more than one so-called prophet had been trying to scare him. He leaves justice with God.

BSA: remember (“think upon, recall”): He asks God to take notice of what was done and to deal with it Himself.

See also: Romans 12:19.

Nehemiah 6:15

The wall is finished in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth of Elul, which falls around late summer or early autumn. Such speed was remarkable for a broken wall that had stood in ruins for a long time. Steady work, through all the opposition, got it done.

BSA: completed (“finished”): The enemies had said it would never be finished, and now it stands finished.

Nehemiah 6:16

The neighboring nations lose their nerve. They see that this was more than human effort. They conclude that Israel’s God had done it. The work that opposition could not stop became a witness to those who watched it.

BSA: accomplished (“done, completed”): The enemies credit the finished work to God rather than to Nehemiah or the builders.

Nehemiah 6:17-19

Trouble was also inside the city. Some nobles of Judah kept up friendly letters with Tobiah, tied to him by oath and by marriage. They spoke well of him to Nehemiah and told Tobiah what Nehemiah said. Tobiah kept sending threatening letters. Divided loyalties weaken God’s people from within.

BSA: oath (“a promise, a vow”): These ties were formal commitments, so loyalty to Tobiah pulled against loyalty to the work of God. intimidate (“put fear into, threaten”): Even after the wall was finished, Tobiah kept trying to frighten Nehemiah.