Nehemiah 6:7

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Nehemiah 6:7. Saying, There is a king in Judah — We have now a king of our own nation, and are free from the bondage of a foreign yoke. Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel together — That we may impartially examine the matter, that thy innocence may be cleared.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:1-9 Let those who are tempted to idle merry meetings by vain companions, thus answer the temptation, We have work to do, and must not neglect it. We must never suffer ourselves to be overcome, by repeated urgency, to do anything sinful or imprudent; but when attacked with the same temptation, must resist it with the same reason and resolution. It is common for that which is desired only by the malicious, to be falsely represented by them as desired by the many. But Nehemiah knew at what they aimed, he not only denied that such things were true, but that they were reported; he was better known than to be thus suspected. We must never omit any known duty for fear it should be misconstrued; but, while we keep a good conscience, let us trust God with our good name. God's people, though loaded with reproach, are not really fallen so low in reputation as some would have them thought to be. Nehemiah lifted up his heart to Heaven in a short prayer. When, in our Christian work and warfare, we enter upon any service or conflict, this is a good prayer, I have such a duty to do, such a temptation to grapple with; now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands. Every temptation to draw us from duty, should quicken us the more to duty.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The letter was "open," in order that the contents might be generally known, and that the Jews, alarmed at the threats contained in it, might refuse to continue the work.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5-9. Then sent Sanballat his servant … the fifth time with an open letter in his hand—In Western Asia, letters, after being rolled up like a map, are flattened to the breadth of an inch; and instead of being sealed, they are pasted at the ends. In Eastern Asia, the Persians make up their letters in the form of a roll about six inches long, and a bit of paper is fastened round it with gum, and sealed with an impression of ink, which resembles our printers' ink, but it is not so thick. Letters were, and are still, sent to persons of distinction in a bag or purse, and even to equals they are enclosed—the tie being made with a colored ribbon. But to inferiors, or persons who are to be treated contemptuously, the letters were sent open—that is, not enclosed in a bag. Nehemiah, accustomed to the punctillious ceremonial of the Persian court, would at once notice the want of the usual formality and know that it was from designed disrespect. The strain of the letter was equally insolent. It was to this effect: The fortifications with which he was so busy were intended to strengthen his position in the view of a meditated revolt: he had engaged prophets to incite the people to enter into his design and support his claim to be their native king; and, to stop the circulation of such reports, which would soon reach the court, he was earnestly besought to come to the wished-for conference. Nehemiah, strong in the consciousness of his own integrity, and penetrating the purpose of this shallow artifice, replied that there were no rumors of the kind described, that the idea of a revolt and the stimulating addresses of hired demagogues were stories of the writer's own invention, and that he declined now, as formerly, to leave his work.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

There is a king in Judah; we have now a king of our own nation, and are free from the bondage of a foreign yoke. Let us take counsel together, that we may impartially examine the matter, that either thy innocency may be cleared, and false accusations may be prevented; or if thou art guilty, the king may be informed.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem,.... This he said to cover what he and Tobiah had been doing, tampering with, corrupting, and hiring the prophets to discourage him, and put him upon methods, whereby the work would cease:

saying, there is a king in Judah; besides Artaxerxes, whose yoke they were casting off, having got a king of their own, and among them:

and now shall it be reported to the king, according to these words; such a report as this, and in those very words, will soon reach the ears of the king of Persia:

come now, therefore, and let us take counsel together; contrive the best method to put a stop to this report, if a false one, and to wipe off the reproach that is upon thee, and may affect us; and thus partly terrifying him, and partly pretending friendship to him, hoped to get him into his hands.

Geneva Study Bible

And thou hast also appointed {d} 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.

(d) You have bribed and set up false prophets, to make yourself king, and so to defraud the king of Persia of that subjection which you owe to him.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee] There were doubtless prophets in Jerusalem who supported Nehemiah as well as prophets who opposed him (Nehemiah 6:10-14). Sanballat suggests firstly that Nehemiah had bribed prophets to support him, and secondly that their support was of a treasonable nature. Rashi, perhaps jealous of the sacred term ‘prophets,’ says that the word here denotes ‘eloquent’ speakers. The prophet Malachi may well have been one of the prophets referred to.

It would be a mistake to attach too much importance to Sanballat’s malicious words, or to suppose that they contain a popular misrepresentation of such expressions as Zechariah 9:9, ‘Behold, thy King cometh.’

to the king] Implying that the real king Artaxerxes would take summary vengeance for this assumption of royalty by a petty governor.

according to these words] It is natural as in the A.V. and R.V. to take these words closely with ‘shall it be reported.’ If however, as is not unlikely, the phrase occurs here, as in Nehemiah 6:6, to summarize this part of the letter, we must place a comma after ‘king.’ ‘Now shall it be reported to the king, and so forth,’ i.e. the sentences describing the results of the report and the king’s vengeance need not be transcribed at length.

let us take counsel together] As much as to say, we offer you the opportunity of an interview, in the course of which you can clear yourself of these charges which are the talk of every bazaar; and we will do all in our power to contradict them in your name.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - Thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There is a king in Judah. Expressions of the religious teachers of the time, parallel to that of Zechariah, - "Behold, thy king cometh" (Zechariah 9:9), - may have been reported to Sanballat, and misunderstood or purposely misinterpreted. Nehemiah 6:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

It was further said in the letter: "Thou hast also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning thee in Jerusalem, saying, King of Judah; and now it will be reported to the king according to these words (or things). Come, therefore, and let us take counsel together," sc. to refute these things as groundless rumours. By such accusations in an open letter, which might be read by any one, Sanballat thought to oblige Nehemiah to come and clear himself from suspicion by an interview.