Sanballat

The great enemy to Israel after their return from the captivity of Babylon: (see Neh. 2: 10.19. and ch. vi.) The name is not strictly derived from the Hebrew: it hath been thought that as Sene means bush, and Lut, to hide, the union of those words forming a suitable name for the enemies of God’s people, Sanballat was so called to imply an enemy in secret.

the governor of the Cuthites or Samaritans, and an enemy to the Jews. He was a native of Horon, a city beyond Jordan, in the country of the Moabites, Neh 2:10; Neh 2:19; Neh 4:6.

Sanbal´lat, a native of Horonaim, beyond the Jordan (Neh 2:10), and probably also a Moabitish chief, whom (perhaps from old national hatred) we find united in council with the Samaritans, and active in attempting to deter the returned exiles from fortifying Jerusalem (Neh 4:1, sq.; 6:1. sq.). Subsequently, during the absence of Nehemiah in Persia, a son of Joiada, the high priest, was married to his daughter (Neh 13:28).

Sanbal’lat. (strength). A Moabite, of Horonaim. Neh 2:10; Neh 2:13; Neh 13:28. He held, apparently, some command in Samaria, at the time Nehemiah was preparing to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, B.C. 445, Neh 4:2, and from the moment of Nehemiah’s arrival in Judea, he set himself to oppose every measure, for the welfare of Jerusalem. The only other incident in his life is his alliance with the high priest’s family, by the marriage of his daughter, with one of the grandsons of Eliashib; but the expulsion from the priesthood of the guilty son of Joiada by Nehemiah promptly followed. Here the scriptural narrative ends.

A Moabite of Horonaim (Neh 2:10; Neh 2:19; Neh 13:28). Seemingly he had some command over "the army of Samaria" (Neh 4:2) under Artaxerxes. A perpetual opponent of Nehemiah from the time of his arrival in Judaea. (See NEHEMIAH.) Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian (Neh 2:19; Neh 4:7; Neh 4:6) were in league with him. His daughter married the high-priest Eliashib’s grandson, Joiada’s son; therefore Nehemiah chased him from him (Neh 13:28). Tobiah had formed a similar alliance with Eliashib, so that it looks as if Eliasbib concerted with the Samaritan party to thwart Nehemiah’s reforming plans. Josephus’ account of a Sanballat 100 years later under Alexander the Great seems unhistorical.

Sanballat (san-băl’lat), heroes. A satrap of the king of Persia, in Samaria. He was a native of Horonaim, a town of Moab. He endeavored by every means to hinder Nehemiah in the work of rebuilding Jerusalem. Neh 2:10; Neh 4:1; Neh 6:1-14; Neh 13:28.

[Sanbal’lat]

A Horonite, who seemed to act as a governor under the Persian king when Nehemiah returned from exile to rebuild Jerusalem. He was an enemy of the Jews, and by plots and guile hindered the work as far as he could. A descendant of the priests had become his son-in-law, whom Nehemiah rejected. His case is an illustration of the way in which, whenever God has work in progress, Satan finds an agent to oppose it. Neh 2:10; Neh 2:19; Neh 4:1; Neh 4:7; Neh 6:1-14; Neh 13:28. See SAMARIA.

By: Joseph Jacobs, Ira Maurice Price

One of the chief opponents of Nehemiah when he was building the walls of Jerusalem and carrying out his reforms among the Jews. "Sanballat," according to Sayce (in Hastings, "Dict. Bible," s.v.), is connected with the Assyrian "Sinballidh," and means "Sin has vivified." He was called also "the Horonite," and was associated with Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian (Neh. ii. 19, iv. 7). But his home was evidently at Samaria, from whatever "Horon" he may have come.

The first arrival at Jerusalem of Nehemiah and his escort aroused the sleeping enmity of these opponents of the Jews. They were grieved (ib. ii. 10) that the welfare of the Jews should be fostered. When Nehemiah actually disclosed his intention of building the walls of Jerusalem they laughed him to scorn (ib. ii. 19), and said, "Will ye rebel against the king?" Nehemiah resented their insinuation, and gave them to understand that they had no right in Jerusalem, nor any interest in its affairs. As soon as Sanballat and his associates heard that Nehemiah and the Jews were actually building the walls, they were angry (ib. iv. 1-3); and Sanballat addressed the army of Samaria with a contemptuous reference to "these feeble Jews." Tobiah appeased him by saying that a jackal climbing on the wall they were building would break it down. Nehemiah and his builders, the Jews, vigorously hurried the work, while Sanballat and his associates organized their forces to fight against Jerusalem (ib. iv. 8). Nehemiah prepared to meet the opposition and continued the work on the walls. Five different times Sanballat and his confederates challenged Nehemiah and the Jews to meet them in battle in the plain of Ono (ib. vi. 1-7). Nehemiah was equal to the emergency and attended strictly to his work. Then Sanballat, with Jews in Jerusalem who were his confederates, attempted to entrap Nehemiah in the Temple (ib. vi. 10-13); but the scheme failed. These treacherous Jews, however, kept Sanballat and Tobiah informed as to the progress of the work in Jerusalem. Nehemiah's far-sighted policy and his shrewdness kept him out of the hands of these neighbor-foes. In his reforms, so effectively carried out, he discovered that one of the grandsons of the high priest Eliashib had married a daughter of this Sanballat, and was thus son-in-law of the chief enemy of the Jews (ib. xiii. 28). The high priest was driven out of Jerusalem on the ground that he had defiled the priesthood.

Josephus ("Ant." xi. 7, § 2) gives a different story, placing Sanballat later on in Persian history, during the reign of Darius Codomannus. His story is probably a traditional account of the origin of the Temple on Mt. Gerizim.

SANBALLAT (Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] Sin-ballit = ‘Sin, save the life’).—The most inveterate of the opponents of Nehemiah. He was a native of Beth-horon, and apparently belonged to an old Bab. [Note: Babylonian.] family holding office under the Persian government. When Nehemiah came to Jerusalem to repair the walls, he, with his allies (Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian), met him with derision; and after the work was well under way he stirred up the garrison of Samaria and planned an attack against the builders. This was prevented by the watchfulness of Nehemiah and the workmen. Several devices aimed against the life of Nehemiah were also thwarted by the sagacity of the latter. On Nehemiah’s second visit he banished from Jerusalem Manasseh (a son-in-law of Sanballat, and grandson of Eliashib), who founded the Samaritan sect. See Neh 2:10; Neh 2:19; Neh 4:1 ff.; Neh 4:6; Neh 13:28.

J. F. McCurdy.

san-bal´at (סנבלּט, ṣan^ebhallaṭ; Greek and Vulgate (Jerome’s Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) Sanaballát; Peshitta, Samballat): Sanballat the Horonite was, if the appellation which follows his name indicates his origin, a Moabite of Horonaim, a city of Moab mentioned in Isa 15:5; Jer 48:2, Jer 48:5, Jer 48:34; Josephus, Ant., XIII, xiii; XIV, ii. He is named along with Tobiah, the Ammonite slave (Neh 4:1), and Geshem the Arabian (Neh 6:1) as the leading opponent of the Jews at the time when Nehemiah undertook to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 2:10; Neh 4:1; Neh 6:1). He was related by marriage to the son of Eliashib, the high priest at the time of the annulment of the mixed marriages forbidden by the Law (Neh 13:28).

Renewed interest has been awakened in Sanballat from the fact that he is mentioned in the papyri I and II of Sachau (Die aramaischen Papyrusurkunden aus Elephantine, Berlin, 1908, and in his later work, Aramaische Papyrus und Ostraka, Leipzig, 1911; compare Staerk’s convenient edition in Lietzmanns Kleine Texte, Number 32, 1908) as having been the governor (paḥath) of Samaria some time before the 17th year of Darius (Nothus), i.e. 408-407 BC, when Bagohi was governor of Judah. His two sons, Delaiah and Shelemiah, received a letter from Jedoniah and his companions the priests who were in Yeb (Elephantine) in Upper Egypt. This letter contained information concerning the state of affairs in the Jewish colony of Yeb, especially concerning the destruction of the temple or synagogue (agora) which had been erected at that place.

The address of this letter reads as follows: “To our lord Bagohi, the governor of Judea, his servants Jedoniah and his companions, the priests in the fortress of Yeb (Elephantine). May the God of Heaven inquire much at every time after the peace of our lord and put thee in favor before Darius the king,” etc. The conclusion of the letter reads thus: “Now, thy servants, Jedoniah and his companions and the Jews, all citizens of Yeb, say thus: If it seems good to our lord, mayest thou think on the rebuilding of that temple (the agora which had been destroyed by the Egyptians). Since it has not been permitted us to rebuild it, do thou look on the receivers of thy benefactions and favors here in Egypt. Let a letter with regard to the rebuilding of the temple of the God Jaho in the fortress of Yeb, as it was formerly built, be sent from thee. In thy name will they offer the meal offerings, the incense, and the burnt offerings upon the altar of the God Jaho; and we shall always pray for thee, we and our wives and our children and all the Jews found here, until the temple has been rebuilt. And it will be to thee a meritorious work (c^edhāḳāh) in the sight of Jaho, the God of Heaven, greater than the meritorious work of a man who offers to him a burnt offering and a sacrifice of a value equal to the value of 1,000 talents of silver. And as to the gold (probably that which was sent by the Jews to Bagohi as a baksheesh) we have sent word and given knowledge. Also, we have in our name communicated in a letter all (these) matters unto Delaiah and Shelemiah, the sons of Sanballat, governor of Samaria. Also, from all that has been done to us, Arsham (the satrap of Egypt) has learned nothing.

The 20th of Marcheshvan in the 17th year of Darius the king.”

Sanballat is the Babylonian Sin-uballit, “may Sin give him life,” a name occurring a number of times in the contract tablets from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonidus, and Darius Hystaspis. (See Tallquist, Neubabylonisches Namenbuch, 183.)