Nehemiah 6:2

Then Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me,.... Messengers: saying, come, let us meet together in some one of the villages; in Cephirim, which Jarchi takes to be the name of a place, perhaps the same

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. Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me.

Let us meet together; to consult about the common service of our master the king of Persia, or to make a friendly accommodation. Ono; a city in the tribe of Benjamin; of which see .

Nehemiah 6:2 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.Ver. 2. That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me] As if solicitous of my safety, and careful of the common good. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him. When he speaketh fair believe him not; for there are seven abominations in his heart, Proverbs 26:24-25. Nehemiah well knew that all this pretended courtesy was but dross upon dirt, Nehemiah 6:13, a fair glove drawn upon a foul hand, a cunning collusion to undo him. He therefore keeps aloof: quia me vestigia terrent, &c. Come, let us meet together] Thus they called him to conference and consultation whiles the doors were not yet upon the gates; purposely to take him off the work; as the fox diverts the huntsman from following the hare; and as our deceitful hearts do too often draw us away from the prosecution of good purposes, by casting many other odd impertinent matters an our way. In the plain of Ono] Which was in the tribe of Benjamin, Nehemiah 11:30-31, near to Jerusalem; that he might the sooner come, and be the more secure; so the Papists appointed Trent for their conventicle, as near to the Reformed Churches; inviting their divines thereunto sub fide publica; under public trust, but that council was carried by the pope and his complices, with such infinite guile and craft, without any sincerity, upright dealing, and truth, as that the Protestants, Calvin, Buret, &c., kept off; as seeing that it was to no purpose to come among them. But they thought to do me mischief] To kill me, or, at least, to captivate me.

(2) Sanballat and Geshem.—In the original of Neh 6:1, Tobiah is not distinguished from Sanballat by another preposition, as Geshem is; and here he is omitted, as not to appear in the conference otherwise than as Sanballat’s secretary. In some one of the villages in the plain of Ono.—Probably, in Hahkiphirem, the name of a village in the plain of Ono, which was on the borders of Philistia, more than twenty miles from Jerusalem.

Verse 2. Come, let us meet together in - the plain of Ono.] They wished to get him out of Jerusalem from among his friends, that they might either carry him off, or murder him. Ono is supposed to have been in the tribe of Benjamin, near Jordan.

2. Sanballat and Geshem] It is noticeable that Tobiah’s name is not also mentioned. Some commentators have held that this omission is to be accounted for by the fact of Tobiah being ‘the mere servant of Sanballat’ (see Nehemiah 2:10). But the explanation seems very improbable when we consider the prominence of Tobiah in Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 2:19, Nehemiah 4:7, Nehemiah 6:17; Nehemiah 6:19, Nehemiah 13:7-8, and the way in which his name is mentioned in Nehemiah 6:12; Nehemiah 6:14. It is better to suppose that Nehemiah’s enemies deputed two of the most crafty of their number to make these overtures for an interview. An invitation to meet and discuss matters with only two of the leaders would wear a friendly and innocent appearance. Perhaps Tobiah and the other conspirators were intended to take advantage of Nehemiah’s absence and to make a surprise attack upon Jerusalem. in some one of the villages] R.V. in one of the villages. According to this translation the invitation leaves it open to Nehemiah to select the place of meeting. But literally the Hebrew gives ‘in the villages (Chephirim)’. It is very possible that this word gives the name of a place (cf. Chephirah, Ezra 2:25), as Rashi long ago suggested. It is certainly natural to expect that Sanballat and Geshem would name a place for the proposed interview; and the form of the Hebrew word favours this explanation. The proposed meeting-place then would be ‘Hacchephirim.’ in the plain of Ono] On Ono, see Ezra 2:33 (Nehemiah 7:37; Nehemiah 11:35; 1 Chronicles 8:12). An interview in the plain of Ono would have necessitated Nehemiah’s absence from Jerusalem during three or four days. The object of his enemies was doubtless to seize or assassinate him at a distance from Jerusalem. thought to do me mischief] ‘thought’ i.e. ‘considered how.’ Cf. Nehemiah 6:6, ‘think to rebel.’ Genesis 50:20, ‘ye thought (R.V. meant) evil against me.’ ‘Mischief,’ lit. ‘evil,’ by which expression Nehemiah hints that his foes plotted to assassinate him. Cf. 1 Samuel 23:9, ‘Saul devised mischief.’ Esther 8:3, ‘the mischief of Haman the Agagite.’

The choice made of Ono, on the skirts of Benjamin, 25 or 30 miles from Jerusalem, as the meeting-place, was, no doubt, in order to draw Nehemiah to a distance from his supporters, that so an attack

2. Let us meet — For conference. Plain of Ono — Probably the same as “the Valley of Craftsmen,” in Nehemiah 11:35; some depression or torrent-bed close by Ono, in which that and other villages seem to have been located.