Nehemiah 6:14

_MY GOD, THINK THOU UPON TOBIAH AND SANBALLAT ACCORDING TO THESE THEIR WORKS, AND ON THE PROPHETESS NOADIAH, AND THE REST OF THE PROPHETS, THAT WOULD HAVE PUT ME IN FEAR._ My God, think thou ... and on the prophetess Noadiah. [Furst ('Concordance,' sub voce) doubts or rejects the reading, _ HANªBIY'AAH_ (H5031), the prophetess. And so also does the Septuagint too Nooadia too profeetee, Noadias, the prophet.] This plot-together with a secret collusion between the enemy and the nobles of Judah who were favourably disposed toward the bad Samaritan, in consequence of his Jewish connections (Nehemiah 6:18) - the undaunted courage and vigilance of Nehemiah were enabled, with the blessing of God, to defeat, and the erection of the walls thus built in troublous times ...

10-14 The greatest mischief our enemies can do us, is, to frighten us from our duty, and to lead us to do what is sinful. Let us never decline a good work, never do a bad one. We ought to try all advice, and to reject what is contrary to the word of God. Every man should study to be consistent. Should I, a professed Christian, called to be a saint, a child of God, a member of Christ, a temple of the Holy Ghost, should I be covetous, sensual, proud, or envious? Should I yield to impatience, discontent, or anger? Should I be slothful, unbelieving, or unmerciful? What effects will such conduct have upon others? All that God has done for us, or by us, or given to us, should lead us to watchfulness, self-denial, and diligence. Next to the sinfulness of sin, we should dread the scandal....

Verse 14. _AND ON THE PROPHETESS NOADIAH_] Whether this was a _prophet_ or _prophetess_, we cannot tell; the _Hebrew_ text only makes her a _prophetess_; all the _versions_ have _Noadiah the prophet,_ except the _Arabic_ which has [Arabic] _Younadaa the prophet_. I think the ה _he_ at the end of נביאה _nebiah_ is a _mistake_, and that we should read _Noadiah the prophet_....

Noadiah is not elsewhere mentioned. The examples of Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Anna, show that the prophetical gift was occasionally bestowed upon women (2 Kings 22:14 note)....

EXPOSITION SECRET PROCEEDINGS OF SANBALLAT AND HIS FRIENDS TO HINDER THE BUILDING OF THE WALL, AND THEIR FAILURE. THE WALL COMPLETED (Nehemiah 6:1.). When the open opposition failed, when it was found that Nehemiah's arrangements for guarding the wall (Nehemiah 4:13) were such that success was not likely to attend the employment of force by the confederates, with such resources as they had at their disposal, and the idea of an assault was therefore give

CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The attempt to entice Nehemiah (Nehemiah 6:1)_ 2. The attempt to intimidate him (Nehemiah 6:5) 3. The attempt through a false prophet (Nehemiah 6:10) 4. The wall finished (Nehemiah 6:15) 5. The conspiracy between Jewish nobles and Tobiah (Nehemiah 6:17) Nehemiah 6:1. Defeated in all previous efforts to hinder the work and to do harm to the builders of the wall, the enemies made new attempts to make

A FURTHER ATTEMPT TO ENTRAP NEHEMIAH. This section is very compressed; important links in the narrative are wanting, so that it is impossible to grasp the details of what happened. The general sense, however, is that Sanballat induced one Shemaiah to try and convince Nehemiah that his life was in danger owing to a plan to kill him at night, for which reason Shemaiah was to urge Nehemiah to seek asylum in the inner sanctuary. But no layman (let alone a man who was ceremonially unclean like Shemaiah) was permitted by the Law to enter here; only priests might do so. If, therefore, Nehemiah could be induced to enter with Shemaiah he would be guilty of a grave breach of the Law and thereby become discredited in the eyes of the people. But Nehemiah sees through the plan and avoids the danger. Nehemiah 6:10. was shut up: _i.e._ he was ceremonially unclean (_cf._...

THINK. Figure of speech _Anthropopatheia._ Compare Nehemiah 5:19....

_My God, think thou upon_ R.V. REMEMBER, O MY GOD. Tobiah's name stands before Sanballat's. Cf. Nehemiah 6:12. _and on the prophetess_ R.V. AND ALSO THE PROPHETESS. Noadiah's name only occurs here. We know from the case of Huldah and Anna that women were sometimes privileged to possess the gift of prophecy (2 Kings 22:14; Luke 2:36). Noadiah seems to have acted with -the rest of the prophets," who were probably bribed to intimidate Nehemiah. Sanballat had accused Nehemiah of obtaining popular influence by suborning prophets to support him (Nehemiah 6:7). Nehemiah's words in this verse show that the religious teachers of t

3. Tobiah tries his hand at discrediting Nehemiah. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 6:10-14 10 And when I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are corning to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night. 11 But I said, Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. 12 Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. 14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah