Nehemiah 6
Sanballat tries to scare Nehemiah
When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem (the Arab), and the rest our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that all its gaps were mended (even though the doors hadn’t been installed to the gates yet), Sanballat and Geshem approached me saying, “Let’s go meet together at Hakkephirim in the Ono plain.” But they intended to harm me. I sent them messengers saying, “I am busy doing all this work and can’t meet with you. Why should we stop construction just so I can meet with you?” They messaged me four times like this, and I gave them the same answer each time. And then on the fifth time, Sanballat sent a servant with a letter that read:
“Geshem and the countries are saying that you and the Jews plan to rebel and that’s why you’re building the wall. Our sources say that you hope to become their king. And you established prophets to spread the word that ‘Judah has a king now.’ The king will hear about these reports, so come and lets hold a meeting about this.”
Then I replied saying, “We haven’t done any of those things. You are inventing them in your own head.” They all wanted to scare us, thinking, “They’ll stop working and won’t finish.” But now, oh God, strengthen my hands.
Now Shemaiah (Delaiah’s son and Mehetabel’s grandson) was confined to his home, and when I went there he said, “Let’s meet together in the temple of God’s house and close the temple doors because they’re coming to kill you by night.” But I replied, “Should a man in my position run away? What man in my position would ever go live in the temple? I refuse.” And then I realized that he hadn’t been sent from God, but rather he gave me that prophesy because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. They hired him to scare me into acting this way and sinning so they could taint my reputation and make fun of me for it. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, oh God, and these things they did, along with the prophetess Noadiah and the other prophets who tried to scare me.
Wall is completed
So after 52 days, the wall was finally finished on the 25th day of the month of Elul. When our enemies heard about it, all our neighboring countries were scared and felt insecure because they thought the reason we completed construction was because our God had helped us. At that time, Judah’s nobles and Tobiah exchanged many letters. Many of Judah’s people had taken an oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah (Arah’s son) and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam (Berechiah’s son). They told me about his good deeds and reported my words to him. Tobiah kept sending me letters to try to scare me.