10 And I went unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, 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.
And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of Jehovah:
They speak falsehood every one with his neighbor: With flattering lip, and with a double heart, do they speak.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
Then the Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; and he spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thy house.
With his mouth the godless man destroyeth his neighbor; But through knowledge shall the righteous be delivered.
The wicked plotteth against the just, And gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
And against the wall of the house he built stories round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle; and he made side-chambers round about.
These are of them that rebel against the light; They know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, Saying, No eye shall see me: And he disguiseth his face. In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light. For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
And I discerned, and, lo, God had not sent him; but he pronounced this prophecy against me: and Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.
And `of' the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.
He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them.
And he was with her hid in the house of Jehovah six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Nehemiah 6
Commentary on Nehemiah 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
The cries of oppressed poverty being stilled, we are now to enquire how the building of the wall goes forward, and in this chapter we find it carried on with vigour and finished with joy, notwithstanding the restless attempts of the gates of hell to hinder it. How the Jews' enemies were baffled in their design to put a stop to it by force we read before, ch. 4. Here we find how their endeavours to drive Nehemiah off from it were frustrated.
Such as these were the struggles between the church and its enemies. But great is God's cause and it will be prosperous and victorious.
Neh 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.
In the midst of his complaint of their malice, in endeavouring to frighten him, and so weaken his hands, he lifts up his heart to Heaven in this short prayer: Now therefore, O God! strengthen my hands. It is the great support and relief of good people that in all their straits and difficulties they have a good God to go to, from whom, by faith and prayer, they may fetch in grace to silence their fears and strengthen their hands when their enemies are endeavouring to fill them with fears and weaken their hands. When, in our Christian work and warfare, we are entering upon any particular services or conflicts, this is a good prayer for us to put up: "I have such a duty to do, such a temptation to grapple with; now therefore, O God! strengthen my hands.' Some read it, not as a prayer, but as a holy resolution (for O God is supplied in our translation): Now therefore I will strengthen my hands. Note, Christian fortitude will be sharpened by opposition. Every temptation to draw us from duty should quicken us so much the more to duty.
Neh 6:10-14
The Jews' enemies leave no stone unturned, no way untried, to take Nehemiah off from building the wall about Jerusalem. In order to this they had tried to fetch him into the country to them, but in vain; now they try to drive him into the temple for his own safety; let him be any where but at his work. Observing him to be a cautious man, they will endeavour to gain their point by making him cowardly. Observe,
Neh 6:15-19
Nehemiah is here finishing the wall of Jerusalem, and yet still has trouble created him by his enemies.