Tobiah

9So I went to the governors west of the great river. I gave them the king's letters. The king had also sent army officers and soldiers on horses with me.

Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

NoteSoldiers came along to keep Nehemiah safe on the long road. They also showed everyone that the king had truly sent him.

10Sanballat from Horon and Tobiah, an Ammonite official, heard about this. It upset them very much. They did not like that someone had come to help the people of Israel.

When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.

NoteAmmon was a land close to Judah. An official is someone with an important job for a ruler. These men ruled places near Jerusalem. A strong Jerusalem would make them less important.

19But Sanballat from Horon, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it. They laughed at us and made fun of us. They said, "What are you doing? Are you turning against the king?"

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?

NoteArabs lived in lands to the south and east of Judah. Saying someone was turning against the king was very serious. People could be punished hard for that.

20I answered them, "The God of heaven will help us do well. We are his servants, and we will build. But this city is not yours. You have no share in Jerusalem and no claim here."

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

1Sanballat heard that we were building the wall again. He got very angry. He made fun of the Jews.

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.

NoteCities long ago had a tall stone wall around them. The wall kept enemies out. Jerusalem's wall had been knocked down years before. Sanballat was a powerful man who lived nearby. He did not want the wall built again. The Jews were God's people, come home to Jerusalem at last.

2He talked in front of his friends and the army of Samaria. He said, "What are these weak Jews doing? Can they really build this wall? Will they offer sacrifices to God? Will they finish it in one day? Can they make burned stones new again from these piles of trash?"

And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

NoteSamaria was a land just north of Jerusalem. To offer a sacrifice means to give God a gift, often an animal. People did this to say sorry or thank you. The stones were black and cracked because enemies had burned the city long before.

3Tobiah from Ammon was standing next to him. He said, "Even a fox could climb on their wall. It would fall right down!"

Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.

NoteAmmon was a land east of Jerusalem. Tobiah is saying the wall is so weak a little animal could push it over. He is making a joke to hurt them.

4Nehemiah prayed: "Listen, our God. People look down on us. Turn their mean words back on them. Let them be taken away to a far land."

Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:

NoteYears before, enemies took the Jews far away from home. They had to live in another land for a long time. Nehemiah is asking God to let that happen to these men instead.

5"Do not cover up the wrong they have done. Do not wipe their sin away from your sight. They have made fun of us while we build."

And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

NoteSin means doing what is wrong. To wipe sin away means to forgive it and forget it.

6So we kept building the wall. The whole wall was joined together. It stood half as tall as it should be. The people really wanted to work.

So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

7Then Sanballat and Tobiah heard more news. So did the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the people of Ashdod. They heard the wall was going up. They heard the holes were being filled in. This made them very angry.

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,

NoteAshdod was a city near the sea, west of Jerusalem. The Arabs lived in the dry lands to the south. All these neighbors lived close by and did not want a strong Jerusalem.

8They all made a secret plan together. They would come and fight against Jerusalem. They wanted to stop the work.

And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.

9But we prayed to our God. We also set guards to watch day and night.

Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.

NoteA guard is someone who watches for danger and shouts a warning.

1Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and other enemies heard news. The wall was rebuilt, and no holes were left in it. But Nehemiah had not yet put the doors in the gates.

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;)

NoteSanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem were leaders of lands near Jerusalem. They did not want the city to be strong again. A city wall kept enemies out. But a wall needs heavy doors in its gateways. Without doors, people could still walk right in.

2Sanballat and Geshem sent Nehemiah a message. They said, "Come meet us in a village on the plain of Ono." But they were really planning to hurt him.

That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.

NoteOno was a flat, open place about a day's walk from Jerusalem. It was far from Nehemiah's helpers and guards. Meeting there alone would have been dangerous for him.

3Nehemiah sent messengers back with this answer. "I am doing a big job, so I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it?"

And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

NoteJerusalem sits high on a hill. Leaving the city meant walking downhill. That is why the King James says "come down."

4They sent him the same message four times. Each time he gave them the same answer.

Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.

5The fifth time, Sanballat sent his servant with the message. The servant carried a letter that was not sealed shut.

Then sent Sanballat his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand;

NoteLetters back then were rolled up and sealed with a lump of clay. Only the person it was sent to could open it. This letter had no seal, so anyone could read it. Sanballat wanted everyone to hear the lie about Nehemiah.

6The letter said, "People in other lands are talking. Geshem says it too. They say you and the Jews plan to fight the king. They say that is why you are building the wall. They say you want to be their king.

Wherein was written, It is reported among the heathen, and Gashmu saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel: for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king, according to these words.

NoteThe King James word "heathen" means people from other nations. The king here is the king of Persia, who ruled all these lands. He was the one who let Nehemiah build the wall. Saying Nehemiah wanted to be king was a serious lie.

7You even picked prophets to tell people in Jerusalem, 'Judah has a king!' The king will hear about all this. So come and let us talk it over."

And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah: and now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.

NoteA prophet was someone who said he spoke God's words to people. If real prophets were calling Nehemiah king, the Persian king would be angry.

8Nehemiah sent back this answer. "None of that is true. You are making it up in your own head."

Then I sent unto him, saying, There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.

9They were all trying to make the workers afraid. They hoped the people would grow tired and stop building. So Nehemiah prayed, "My God, make my hands strong."

For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

Note"Strengthen my hands" was a way of saying, "Help me keep working." Tired, weak hands meant giving up on a job.

10Later Nehemiah went to see Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel. Shemaiah was shut inside his house. He said, "Let us hide inside God's temple and lock the doors. Men are coming to kill you tonight!"

Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.

NoteThe temple was God's special house in Jerusalem. Only priests, the men who served God there, could go inside the building. For anyone else to hide in there was breaking God's rule.

11Nehemiah said, "Should a man like me run away? Should a man like me hide in the temple to stay alive? I will not go in."

And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.

NoteNehemiah was not a priest. Running inside the temple would have been wrong. It would also have made him look like a coward.

12Nehemiah understood that God had not sent Shemaiah. Shemaiah spoke against him because Tobiah and Sanballat had paid him.

And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

13They paid him to scare Nehemiah into hiding. Then Nehemiah would have done wrong. Then they could spread a bad story and shame him.

Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have matter for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

14Nehemiah prayed, "My God, remember what Tobiah and Sanballat have done. Remember Noadiah the prophetess too, and the other prophets who tried to scare me."

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.

NoteA prophetess was a woman who said she spoke God's words. Noadiah was using that job to help Nehemiah's enemies.

15So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul. The whole job took only fifty-two days.

So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.

NoteElul was a month on the Jewish calendar, near the end of summer. It falls around our August and September. Fifty-two days is very fast for building a whole city wall.

16All their enemies heard about it, and the nearby nations saw it. They lost their courage and felt very small. They knew that our God had done this work.

And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.

17In those days the important men of Judah wrote many letters to Tobiah. Tobiah wrote letters back to them.

Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.

Note"Nobles" means rich and powerful families in Judah. People listened to what they said.

18Many people in Judah had promised to stand with Tobiah. He had married the daughter of Shechaniah son of Arah. His son Johanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son in law of Shechaniah the son of Arah; and his son Johanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

NoteFamilies back then joined together by marriage. When your daughter married someone, his family became your family. People often made a promise to help each other after that. So many families in Judah felt they had to be nice to Tobiah.

19These men kept telling Nehemiah about the good things Tobiah did. They also told Tobiah what Nehemiah said. And Tobiah kept sending letters to scare him.

Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear.

4Before this, a priest named Eliashib was put in charge of the storerooms at God's house. He was a relative of Tobiah.

And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:

NoteA priest was a man who led the worship at God's house. Storerooms were rooms for keeping food and supplies safe. Tobiah was a man who had tried to stop Nehemiah's work.

5He had made a big room ready for Tobiah to use. That room used to hold grain gifts, sweet-smelling incense, and bowls from God's house. It also held a tenth of the grain, new wine, and oil that people gave. Those gifts were meant for the Levites, who helped at God's house, and for the singers, the gatekeepers, and the priests.

And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.

NoteIncense is a sticky sap from trees. It smells sweet when it is burned. People brought a tenth of their food to God's house. That gift fed the workers there. Levites were men from one family group who helped the priests. Gatekeepers guarded the doors.

6While all this was going on, I was not in Jerusalem. I had gone back to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in his thirty-second year as king. Some time later I asked the king to let me leave.

But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king:

NoteNehemiah worked for the king far away from home. Artaxerxes ruled a huge kingdom that included the city of Babylon. Years were counted from the day a king began to rule.

7So I came back to Jerusalem. Then I learned the wrong thing Eliashib had done for Tobiah. He had given him a room in the yards of God's house.

And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.

NoteThe yards were the open spaces around God's house. Only holy things belonged inside them.

8This upset me very much. So I threw all of Tobiah's things out of that room.

And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.

9Then I gave orders to clean the rooms. I brought back the bowls of God's house, the grain gifts, and the incense.

Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers: and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat offering and the frankincense.

NoteCleaning here meant more than washing off dirt. It made the rooms ready for God's use again.